Arrow Season 7: 7 Ways It Has Reinvigorated The Show

When Arrow returned to The CW for its highly-anticipated seventh season, it didn't just return strong, it was better than it had been in years. As the originator of The CW's Arrowverse, the show has often struggled to maintain a high standard and has, in recent years, been overshadowed by all of its larger-than-life spin-offs. But that has all changed with the arrival of Season 7.

Focusing on Oliver Queen's wrongful imprisonment at Slabside Super Maximum Security Prison, the season has allowed us to see a different side to the show's protagonist while also giving us the chance to see how the remaining heroes (and villains) dealt with the permanent absence of the Green Arrow. While all this was going on, Season 6's Big Bad, Ricardo Diaz, returned and this time, he brought some friends with him: The Longbow Hunters.

After a few decent years (and one dreadful one), Season 7 has finally breathed new life into Arrow. With a new tone, better focus on its characters and a storyline unlike anything it has given us before, the show has finally returned to form. And with the season almost ready to return, let's take a look at how it managed to accomplish this long-awaited feat.

Collectively, the Arrowverse has prided itself on its ability to make us solve a good mystery. Unfortunately, some of them haven't been as enticing as others (we're looking at you Arrow Season 4) and, as a result, some seasons have ultimately failed as a whole. Thankfully, that doesn't appear to be the case with Arrow's latest offering.

Thanks to the arrival of the new Green Arrow, and the unexpected debut of the flash-forward narrative (more on that later), we were given two new juicy mysteries to solve. However, these mysteries weren't contrived, redundant or larger-than-life. They were smaller, more personal to the characters involved and made us ask the necessary questions: Why is the new Green Arrow saving Star City? Where was she all this time?

While the flash-forward storyline does have somewhat of a bigger feel, given it involves a desolated Star City, the writers decided to focus on the personal consequences. Why has William started searching for Felicity? Why did he travel to Lian Yu? What happened between Rene and Zoe?

There are no evil geniuses or master plans that leave the fate of the world hanging in the balance, and there are most definitely no half-cocked whodunit arcs that risk destroying the show's credibility. Instead, we have two equally compelling and equally grounded mysteries that help return Arrow to the gritty self-contained show that it was always supposed to be. In doing so, they ensure that each episode has kept us hooked so far. Long may it continue.