Arrow ended its fifth season on one hell of a cliffhanger with the fates of pretty much everybody hanging in the balance.
If you haven’t seen season 5 of Arrow and want to avoid spoilers, we suggest you stop reading now. If you have seen it and want to hear our thoughts on the next season, keep reading.
Oliver (Stephen Amell) headed to Lian Yu to rescue his friends and his son with the help of frenemy Slade (Manu Bennett). Adrian Chase (Josh Segarra) had taken them hostage and rigged the entire island with C4 warning that if he died, so would everyone else. Oliver caught Chase on a boat and retrieved William (Jack Moore) but he couldn’t stop Chase from detonating the C4 when he shot himself in the head.
Oliver and William watched in horror as the island exploded potentially killing lots of people. Obviously some people will make it out alive but at the moment it’s not clear who!
With the lives of Diggle (David Ramsey), Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards), Malcolm (John Barrowman), Thea (Willa Holland), Curtis (Echo Kellum), Quentin (Paul Blackthorne), Rene (Rick Gonzalez), Nyssa (Katrina Law), Evelyn (Madison McLaughlin), Dinah (Juliana Harkavy), Black Siren (Katie Cassidy), Talia (Lexa Doig), Samantha (Anna Hopkins), Digger (Nick E. Tarabay) and Slade (Manu Bennett) under threat, we could see a very different Arrow when the show returns.
I’ve put together a list of the 10 things I want to see when the show returns…
1. No more flashbacks. At all. Ever. The show runners have promised that the weekly flashbacks won’t be part of this season and I hope they stay true to their word. I’ve always thought that Arrow has been hampered by the dual timeline and season 4 was the show at its worst. Season 5 at least tried to tie things back to season 1 but I’m over it. Stay in the present!
2. Oliver to get the chance to be a father. If I were a betting man, I would say that it’s safe to assume Samantha won’t make it off the island. That tragic twist would force Oliver to become a father to William and impact massively on his double life. I’d like to see him face that challenge next season.
3. A shock death. Arrow has a few too many characters right now. John Barrowman has confirmed he won’t be back as Malcolm so it’s likely he will finally be killed off. The lack of Thea last season left me wondering if her death would bother me all that much and I’m not sure it would, but it would directly hit Oliver in a potentially compelling way. When it comes to the newer supporting characters, I’m not particularly tied to any of them!
4. Olicity to get out of turbulence. Clearly Oliver and Felicity are the show’s end game and unlike some fans, I’m fan with that. Having said that, I don’t want to endure endless drama with their relationship. They’re reunited and I’d be happy for it to stay that way and their relationship woes to take a back seat in season 6.
5. Returning faces. Stephen Amell has hinted that a character we haven’t seen since season 1 will be back. Personally I’d like to see Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) come back but I don’t think that’s likely. Vixen (Megalyn Echikunwoke) would be fun to have back too but it may prove confusing having a different version of that character on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
6. The show to get back to basics. I don’t know about you, but I miss season 1 of Arrow. It was darker, grittier and a little more grounded in reality. The shared universe with The Flash, Supergirl etc makes that difficult now but there’s no reason why Arrow can’t stick closer to its roots. Season 5 was the best season for a while so I hope the quality continues to remain high in season 6 and the show gets back to what it does best – action set pieces, edge-of-the-seat plots and great villains.
7. Black Siren to not essentially fill Laurel Lance’s place in everyone’s lives. I’m nervous about the rumours that Black Siren will be ‘redeemed’ during season 6. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to have Katie Cassidy back (she should never have been killed off in the first place) but I don’t want to see her go from villain to mellow new member of Team Arrow during the course of the season.
8. Diggle to have a purpose. The writers seem to have no idea how to best serve the character any more and that’s such a shame. David Ramsey is a great actor and Diggle used to be one of the most interesting characters. Put him back in the frontline with Oliver, give us less drama about his marriage, and let him kick some ass!
9. Thin out the cast. Viewers were divided last season by the influx of new characters and supporting ones being made regulars. I’m yet to take to Dinah and the addition of Ragman, Wild Dog and Evelyn was messy to say the least. Curtis is basically a male Felicity, which makes me question why he’s necessary. Streamline Team Arrow and focus on what made us love them in the first place.
10. Oliver to just embrace his darker side. You know what, Oliver has been through a pretty horrific time over the past 5 seasons and yet he still struggles with letting his dark side take over. You can’t do the job he’s doing as Green Arrow without getting your hands dirty. Shoot lots of Arrows and just be a badass Oliver!
Arrow will return for a sixth season on The CW in the US and Sky 1 HD in the UK later this year.
[brid video=”151996″ player=”531″ title=”Arrow Season 5 “Break The Rules” Trailer (HD)”]
