‘Arrow’ Season 7 Premiere Recap: Oliver struggles in prison as Felicity makes bold move
The seventh season of Arrow premiered on Monday night and with it came the first look at Oliver’s time in prison, the current state of Star City, and both a shocking and confusing flash forward.
Things pick up five months after the season six finale when Oliver (Stephen Amell) made the shocking decision to reveal to the world he is (or at this point in time, was) the Green Arrow and goes to prison. We quickly see how he is doing behind bars and it’s not great. He’s locked up with criminals he put away like Bronze Tiger, Brick, and Derek Sampson.
With Oliver in prison, we see what the other members of his former team are up to. Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) is now in the witness protection, along with William, and is working as a barista with pink hair and a nose ring. Seriously, its quite a look for a computer nerd. Dinah is now the captain of the SCPD, Diggle and Curtis both work for ARGUS, and Rene runs a gym to help the youth of the Glades.
One of the best fight scenes in the seven-year history of the show happened in Monday’s premiere as well and it was done to perfection. The naked prison shower scene lived up to the hype as Oliver took on nearly seven guys, while Felicity simultaneously fought Ricardo Diaz (Kirk Acevedo) in her apartment.
Felicity survives as they’re obviously not going to kill a major character in the premiere (or would they?). She finally visits Oliver in prison and tells him she is sending William to a boarding school in Cambridge for his safety. However, she’s made the decision to stay in Star City and refuses to go back into protective custody despite Oliver’s pleas.
I must say Amell’s acting in the premiere is on point, from how he deals with prison life to seeing Felicity for the first time after being lied to that she died in the attack. Rickards has also stepped up her performance since season one and has quickly become a favorite of mine after Amell and David Ramsey (who plays Diggle).
Elsewhere, we see Green Arrow is back. Well, not that Green Arrow. He’s still locked away in Slabside. This “Green Arrow” is doing what Oliver did and protecting the city from the thugs, much to the annoyance of Dinah. So who is the new guy in the hood? More on that in a second.
The biggest twist and most surprising moment of the premiere happened in the flash forward we see at the very end of the episode. It shows a mysterious young man traveling in stormy weather to Lian Yu in what I thought were flashbacks. Once on the island, he stumbles upon Robert Queen’s grave and eventually gets caught in a trap. He comes face to face with an old man who is revealed to be Roy Harper. Roy asked the young man who he is and it’s William! Yes, that’s right. This is set 20 years in the future and William has gone to Lian Yu.
So where is Oliver during this point in the future? Where’s Felicity and Team Arrow? And how did Roy Harper get to Lian Yu? What does this mean for the future of the show beyond Season 7? So. Many. Questions.
My theory? I think the new Green Arrow is Roy Harper. And the rest… well we have to wait and see.
What did you think of the Season 7 premiere? Let us know in the comments section below.
Arrow airs Monday nights at 8/7c on The CW.