Throughout the course of six seasons, Arrow has played host to some pretty crazy cliffhangers. And though we could debate for hours which among them were the best, you have to admit that what we witnessed back in May has to be near the top of the list.
Long story short, Oliver Queen publicly admitted that he’s the Green Arrow after turning himself over to authorities. Granted, Smallville‘s iteration of the character also revealed his secret identity, but the ramifications that followed didn’t have the high stakes of what we’ll soon witness.
Over the past few months, both cast and crew have hinted at what’s sure to be a gritty and brutal set of episodes, but today’s arrival of a bountiful gallery perfectly illustrates just how rough Ollie’s life behind bars will be. Granted, the ones featuring a pink-haired Felicity Smoak did make their rounds last week, but the rest are brand-spanking-new, and can be viewed below.
If anything, our hero is having the most difficult of times at his new home of Slabside, as his new neighbors consist of former foes like Derek Sampson, Danny Brickwell and Bronze Tiger. Personally, I’m wondering if we’ll get an explanation for why Bronze Tiger is still alive, though my gut’s telling me the Arrow Season 2.5 comics in which he died are about to be wiped from series’ canon.
But if you require further evidence of dark days ahead than just seeing somebody stabbing Oliver’s lunch tray, let’s take a look back at some recent comments made by producer James Bamford regarding how the next chapter in the saga pushes the network’s censorship limits:
“[Showrunner] Beth [Schwartz] and I had a phone call with BNSP, which is our censors… a very lengthy phone call about a particular scene that we never had before. So we are really trying to push the limits on the show in the gritty factor. We are trying to go as far as you can go within the confines of our network and what is expected of us and what we can and can’t do. We are not on Netflix so we will never be able to X, Y, and Z, but we are damn sure going to try.”
Arrow returns for its seventh season on Monday, October 15 on The CW.
