Arrow Season 7: 4 Ups & 1 Down From ‘Spartan’

1. Breathing New Life Into John Diggle

John Diggle was introduced way back at the beginning of Arrow when he was recruited to serve as Oliver Queen's bodyguard. Since then, he has become one of the core members of Team Arrow and has been involved in countless major storylines. Unfortunately for him, recent years haven't been kind to him as the writers went round in circles with his character and haven't been able to make him relevant since Season 3. Thankfully, they found a way to do just that this week.

When Diggle turned to his secret stepfather, General Stewart, it unearthed a ton of the character's backstory that not even Oliver was aware of and, in doing so, it presented him with a truly rich opportunity to venture into uncharted territory as the writers explored his childhood in a way that hadn't been done before.

Moreover, it gave this character (who has spent the past three years stuck in the same place) the opportunity to learn from the past and develop - something he did when he learned that his stepfather really did have his best interests at heart.

Alongside Stephen Amell and Katie Cassidy Rodgers, David Ramsey is Arrow's longest-standing series regular and, after all this time, it was rewarding to see him given some truly fresh material to work with. Together, he and Ghostbusters veteran Ernie Hudson were a joy to watch on screen.

Welcome back, John.

Now, for the negative...