Arrow's 7th season begins with the new status quo of Oliver serving time in prison for his actions as the Green Arrow, Felicity & William in a sort of "witness protection" courtesy of Argus, Dinah as the new Police Captain of the Star City PD, Evil Laurel is hiding in plain sight as the DA, Curtis with an actual job, and Rene back in the Glades, teaching the youth how to defend themselves and survive the Glades themselves...with a little help from Daddy's Little Girl. Plus---instead of all these flashbacks we've had during the series' initial 5 seasons...we get a jump forward about 20 years! More on that in a bit.
We open up with Oliver doing his best to keep his nose clean, head down, and just do his time. Easier said than done when a wrongly convicted guy named Stanley is getting roughed up by Diaz's men (they're everywhere! I swear, it's amazing how freaking connected the guy is). As much as Ollie would love to help, he refuses. That is, until he just can't help himself. Ollie can NEVER stay outta trouble. It's going to follow him wherever he is. The fight scenes in the prison were crisp, and Ollie kicking ass and taking names is typical Oliver...though it DOES mean he gets to extend his stay in prison. The particular guard that likes to harass him refers to him as "Inmate 4587". Not sure if there's an easter egg for that yet...I've yet to see the significance, but there has to be than just a random number that was assigned to him. I could be reaching.
I dug Felicity's punk rock look---a throwback to HER early days as a renegade hacker. Though, honestly, the girl NEEDS to stay away from computers. You're SUPPOSED to be IN HIDING, lady---staying AWAY from anything related to a computer or the internet should be your main priority. That, and protecting William. It's all for naught, though, as her and William are found by Diaz, and he shows up looking to kill them both. I'll say this for Felicity---she grew some balls between Ollie's arrest and lock up, and her and William going into hiding. Despite taking a shot or two from Diaz, she managed to take him on enough to allow her and William to escape. Thanks to Diggle and ARGUS, William is now in hiding once again, and in boarding school. It will keep him off canvas for awhile while Felicity, who visits Ollie in prison, vows to fight for their family, and that means taking Diaz down.
Rene is enjoying teaching the youth of the Glades self defense, and spending time with his daughter. He's struggling financially, but hanging in there. Though he's doing what he can to keep safe, trouble finds him as well. Rene sees a new Green Arrow delivering vigilante justice on the streets---something he feels is needed. Dinah, however, has managed just fine without suiting up as Black Canary again. She decides to set up a sting op to get this new Arrow, but Rene suits up for the first time in 5 months, and helps him escape. Dinah warns him that if he does it again, she won't hesitate to arrest him.
Diggle and Ollie's chats are to the point, every time. Diggle assures Ollie he's doing all he can to help keep Felicity and William safe. He's also recruited Curtis to ARGUS as tech support to help out as well. I'd like to see more interaction between Diggle and Curtis this year...see how THAT dynamic works.
Earth 2 Laurel has done a masterful job of taking over THIS Earth's Laurel's role as DA. It keeps her hiding in plain sight, and Diaz can't really touch her, without bringing the police AND Team Arrow down on him. It also allows her to manipulate Dinah and the team in her own way from her position. She will be someone to watch out for as the season progresses.
The twist at the end was new---instead of the typical flashbacks we got, we jump forward in time 20 years...to see a now very much adult William land on Lian Yu. There, he discovers the man who we presume is the Green Arrow running around Star City at the moment. William shows this Arrow a rock symbol of some sort given to him by Felicity. When we see the hooded man remove the hood, we see that it's an older Roy Harper! Okay...why we got a 20 year jump is beyond me in this story, and I didn't see it coming. But I will be curious as to what they do this season to fill in that 20 year space between what's going on NOW, and William meeting up with Roy 20 years down the road.
Overall, the fight scenes were great---especially the prison ones, which looked just BRUTAL. People forget that for all the growing Ollie has done as a person since he left Lian Yu, his time in Russia, and his initial beginning in Star City, he's VERY bad ass, and can snap anyone like a twig if you piss him off just enough. He made that evidently clear towards the end of the episode. Rene NOT giving up on the belief in the vigilante justice is what will keep him and Dinah on opposite sides for probably the first half of this season, as she tries to stay on the right side of the law, and not abuse her badge. Felicity's renewed vow to see Diaz put down, and her willingness to go toe to toe with him is refreshing. She's not sitting on the sidelines anymore. She needed to take charge, and she's doing it. Was also good to see Bronze Tiger, Brick, and Derek Sampson again. Always cool to see Cody Rhodes make an appearance on the show. Glad that they've weaved Tiger back into the show, as he was "off limits" by Warner Bros. because of the Suicide Squad movie. Ridiculous. Your TV universe is kicking your DCEU's ass by leaps and bounds. Should've followed THIS formula for the movies. Oh well....
The one thing I look forward to seeing is where Roy fits into all of this. We all knew Roy was coming back, but not sure in what capacity. Going to be real fun unveiling THAT mystery.
Until next week...keep your sights on the bullseye!
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