When you really think about it, it’s very possible that we haven’t gone into a new season of Arrow so unaware of what to expect since the series first premiered back in fall of 2012. Really, even though the cast and crew have been doing their regular press rounds over the summer, they’ve been holding their cards pretty close to the vest.
To quickly recap, we do know that Oliver will spend at least a few episodes in prison, someone else is running around Star City wearing the Green Arrow costume (I’m still saying that’s Roy Harper until I’m proven wrong), and Batwoman is showing up for the crossover. Aside from those major details, we’re pretty much left in the dark – and it’s kind of exciting. I mean, there’ve been other bits and pieces floating around, but I’m talking about the overarching narrative.
Like I was saying, Ollie’s still in the clink after publicly admitting he’s the Emerald Archer, something new showrunner Beth Schwartz touched on while speaking with Entertainment Weekly. In fact, she pretty much corroborated lead actor Stephen Amell’s claim that his character will do something reprehensible while behind bars:
“I think the cool part of him being in prison is that having a hero be in prison is very challenging, especially for Oliver. Just being able to survive prison, similar to when he was on Lian-Yu, he has to make some questionable choices to survive. We sort of wanted to write to the real of what that situation would look like if he was locked up with a bunch of previous villains that he’d previously put in there, and they’re now on the same playing field. There’s so much conflict there. He can’t do things the way he did them as the Green Arrow. The rules are different in prison.”
When it comes to Oliver’s lady love, Felicity, it’s been revealed that she’s not taking his incarceration all that well, even going as far to change her appearance now that a target has been painted on her. Naturally, Schwartz also teased what’s to come for the computer hacker:
“We’re going to see a different side to Felicity than we’ve ever seen. She wasn’t in on the decision that Oliver made — the deal he made which led him to prison — so she’s going to take matters into her own hands a lot this season. She’s going to fight back, and we’re just going to see a different side to her that I think the fans are going to be really excited about. That’s all I can say.”
All will be revealed when Arrow returns for its seventh season on Monday, October 15 on The CW.
