Arrow Season Seven Premiere | Review

Welcome back to The nerd shelf!

Today's post is going to be on the season seven premiere of Arrow, and I know, it was a while ago this premiere aired. I'm behind okay, but I haven't watched the rest of the episodes that have aired since yet. If you haven't seen it the show follows Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), billionaire playboy of Starling City, who is discovered on the mysterious island of Lian Yu five years after he and his father were shipwrecked and presumed dead. When he returns he's a changed man, determined to clean up the city as a hooded vigilante with a bow and arrow. If you like superhero shows you should definitely give this a shot. It's darker than Supergirl, The Flash and Legends Of Tomorrow but it is the show that started the Arrowverse.

I'm going to be honest, this is my least favorite show of the Arrowverse. I still love it, I'm just drawn to watch the others more. I like that the other shows are kind of lighter and funnier, but I still love the darkness that Arrow has. This premiere was great. Last season wasn't my favorite but this premiere made me really excited for this season.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

Last season ended with Oliver going to prison. I actually liked that turn of events because it's something we've never seen before. What I didn't like was the fact that Diaz (Kirk Acevedo) got away. It's the first time that the main villain of a season has gone on to the next season. Why I didn't like it was because I honestly didn't like him that much as a villain and I found his story kind of boring. But I'm hopeful that the writers can turn it around and make him interesting.

So let's start off with Oliver. The episode opens up with him waking up in prison and we see his routine he does every day. He works out in his cell, he's threatened by the other inmates, inmates take his food, he looks at a picture of Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) and William (Jack Moore), and he crosses off every day on the wall. He has a routine and he tries to stick to it while keeping his head down so that he can get out as soon as possible. He's in a prison with a shit ton of people that he put there. That shit is fucking terrifying. But why did they put him in gen pop? They must have known who was there? But I guess they didn't care. Three guys, Turner (Michael Jai White), Brickwell (Vinnie Jones) and Sampson (Cody Runnels), gets some other guys to fight so that they can attack Oliver. I recognize all of these dudes but I can't place them in the show. I don't remember their storylines but I know that Oliver put them in prison. He kind of doesn't fight back. He just blocks their punches and then puts a knife on Turner and gets him thrown into solitary. I really liked how they choreographed and shot this scene.

The guy, Stanley Dover (Brendan Fletcher), that comes up to Oliver and asks for his to protection really pissed me off. I understand that he's afraid and he wants to survive this place but come on, can't you read Oliver at all. Oliver says that he should leave him alone and you'd think he'd know, especially after those guys attacked Oliver, but no. He tries to sit with him when Brickwell and Sampson come up and tries to use him to persuade Oliver to do what they want. They beat the shit out of him but Oliver just stands up and walks away. You can see through that it's hard for him. He's used to fighting for the little guy, to save people, but if he wants his sentence reduced he has to stay out of trouble. Also, I don't know if I believe Stanley's story of him being wrongly accused of murder. It's something about him that feels like they have placed him there for a reason, to get Oliver into trouble. It wouldn't surprise me if Stanley ends up being a bad guy.

So the rest of the team is laying low. They haven't gone out as their vigilante selves since Oliver gave himself up. Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) is the new police captain. Fucking Laurel/Black Siren (Katie Cassidy) is playing her part as the old Laurel and is the D.A. Diggle (David Ramsey) and Curtis (Echo Kellum) is working for A.R.G.U.S. René (Rick Gonzalez) is running a boxing gym for kids and he's teaching them self-defense. One of the kids he's teaching, Tony (Ricky He) ios frustrated and you can tell that he's going to go out and do something stupid like, oh I don't know, buy a fucking gun. Thankfully René goes after him and stops him but not before this new arrow comes in and fucks shit up. René and Dinah do not agree on what they should be doing with this new arrow. René thinks that they should help him, not hunt him, but Dinah is set on not going to jail. That was the deal, they stay out of their costumes, Oliver goes to jail, and they are free. But René is itching for action. I see both sides in their argument. Dinah doesn't want to screw up the deal that Oliver sacrificed himself to get them. But René is in the parts of the city where all this shit goes down and he feels like he can't help anyone. In the end, René helps this new arrow out and Dinah sees him. I don't want them to be on opposite sides on this but they are very different people so there is probably some good drama coming up. As to who this new vigilante is I have no fucking clue.

Felicity and William have been placed in the witness protection program since Diaz is still out there. Felicity is working at a coffee shop and she has fake piercings and pink hair. I love the fact that she kind of put on her old persona that she had when she was younger, at least in the looks. Both Felicity and Willam are fucking miserable. They miss their old school and job, and they just miss their home. And they miss Oliver. I love how far William has gotten over just last season. The bond that he and Oliver has now is amazing. I love that. And the way that he has bonded with Felicity is amazing. And I really love that she's not lying to him when he asks how much longer they have to stay there. She just says "I don't know". It would have driven me crazy if she would have said something like "Not much longer" or "We'll be home soon". And it probably would have driven William crazy.

The shower fight scene was fucking amazing. And the way they intertwined that scene with Diaz breaking into Felicity and Williams place was great. I love to see Oliver fight but I love to see Felicity fight even more. She's such a badass. When the guy told Oliver that Diaz found Felicity and that she was dead I didn't believe it for a second. They wouldn't just kill of Felicity in the premiere episode of a season. And then we see her at the prison visiting Oliver. I really love that Felicity is so set on fighting back. She's done hiding. I hope that we see her badass side come out a lot this season.
I understand why Felicity is sending William away but come on, he has some serious abandonment issues. His mother died and his father is in prison. Felicity is the only person he has left and now she's sending him away. I don't blame him for reacting the way he did at all.

I loved the last scene of Oliver. I loved him finally fighting. He destroyed that guy and the guards just stood there and watched and let him beat the shit out of this guy. And then he just got on his knees and put his hands behind his head. I loved it. It was Diaz finding Felicity that was the final straw for him.

Okay, so the flashback scenes were really interesting. I had no idea where this was going at all. A guy gets off a boat on the island and just starts walking. And then Roy (Colton Haynes) is there. I love that he is back on the show. OH MY GOD! What if he is the new arrow? I don't know if I believe that but that just came into my head. Anyway, Roy is on the island and then we find out that the guy is William as an adult (Ben Lewis). So my question is, why is he on the island. Does he want to get trained by Roy? I don't know.

I want answers and guess what, since I have not seen the rest of the episodes yet I can just watch them now. So maybe I will get some answers to the questions I have after this episode. I'm really looking forward to watching the rest of this season.

/Johanna