Arrow Season 8 Review: 7 Ups & 2 Downs From 'Present Tense'

5. The New Dynamics

Watching 'Present Tense' was like watching a spin-off show in and of itself simply because of all the new dynamics that unfolded on our screens between characters who had never really interacted before.

Naturally, the most obvious of these new dynamics came when Oliver interacted with the adult versions of his children. The fact that he quickly bonded with William made for an interesting contrast to his relationship with his daughter, whom he struggled to connect with due to the fact that, in her timeline, she grew up without him. The same could be said for John and Connor, as the former struggled to comprehend the fact that he was destined to end up adopting a child he had just met a few days beforehand and the fact that this could lead to his biological son's descent into villainy.

But it wasn't just the parent/children interactions that stood out, as Mia ended up sharing quite a poignant scene with Laurel (with whom she had only interacted with once in the future scenes) as the latter used her own experience to inform her of how dark and lonely a path of revenge can be. And the Earth-2 Black Canary even shared her first scene with adult William too - as did Curtis.

You would think that, eight seasons in, Arrow would have exhausted all possibilities when it comes to its cast, but it was so refreshing to see so many new dynamics in an episode so late into its run. And it revitalized what is already shaping up to be a great season.