Throughout the course of six seasons, Arrow has given fans some pretty wild cliffhangers. And though we could debate for hours which among them were the most shocking, you have to admit that what viewers saw back in May has to be right near the top of the list.
As you’ll no doubt remember, Oliver Queen publicly admitted that he’s the Green Arrow after turning himself over to authorities. True, Smallville‘s version of the character revealed his secret identity as well, but the consequences that followed didn’t have the high stakes of what we’ll soon witness.
For months now, both cast and crew have teased what’s sure to be a gritty and brutal set of episodes, but today’s arrival of a new promo shows us just how tough Ollie’s life behind bars will really be. Among other things, we see our hero getting roughed up in prison, with many of the people he put in there in the first place now out for revenge. As one of the guards says to him, “there aren’t any heroes in here,” something which Oliver will no doubt learn pretty quickly.
What’s also pretty apparent from this footage is that season 7 of Arrow will be pushing the envelope (read: CW’s censorship limits) in several different ways, and here’s what producer/director/stunt coordinator James Bamford had to say recently regarding this very subject:
“[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. The only question that remains, is, will you be tuning in? Let us know in the usual place.
