Oliver and Barry Allen take Kendra Saunders and Carter Hall to a remote location to keep them hidden from Vandal Savage while they figure out how to defeat him.
Malcolm arranges a meeting between Vandal, Green Arrow and The Flash that doesn't go as planned.
Meanwhile, Felicity Thea Diggle and Laurel work with Team Flash to come up with a weapon powerful enough to destroy Vandal Savage.
Time-traveling rogue Rip Hunter must assemble a disperate group of both heroes and villains to confront an unstoppable threat to the planet…and to time itself..played by Doctor Who alum Arthur Darvill rounding up a mash-up of heroes and villains to confront an unstoppable threat orchestrated by the series’ Big Bad, Vandal Savage - Arrow-Flash Crossover
Ray Palmer - The Atom Sara Lance - White Canary Firestorm - Martin Stein and Jay Jackson Captain Cold and Heatwave Kendra Saunders - Hawkgirl Carter Hall - Hawkman
Heroes and villains join forces to become DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
Last Episode of Arrow - Season 4 - Episode 9 - 'Dark Waters'
Recap :
The episode starts off peacefully enough with a “clean up the bay” event, but things quickly go south when a drone starts shooting at all the volunteers. “There were kids there,” Oliver sighs to Felicity.
Oliver, with the support of the team, publicly outs Damien Darhk’s identity at a press conference, knowing that the baddie will retaliate (and he does at the Queen for Mayor holiday party). Damien sends Oliver flying across the room with a flick of his hand and then takes Felicity, Thea and Dig captive. Laurel is off fielding hotline calls and gets spared
Beating up the ghosts fails to get Oliver any answers about his loved ones’ whereabouts, so he decides to turn himself in in exchange for their safety – with some backup from Laurel, Lance and a concerned-for-Thea Malcolm, who obtains a secure phone belonging to Darhk’s operation. Oliver gets a meeting and then a horrifying demonstration of Damien’s messed up plan, dubbed Genesis.
Thanks to the bay clean-up project, Damien reveals that he was able to get a certain type of algae for his gas chamber. He even references Nazis, explaining that sometimes humanity needs a reset.
He gives Oliver and Felicity a moment to talk and then has his men drag her into the gas chamber, alongside Dig and Thea. As long as they’re alive, Oliver has something to fight for, and that’s a problem for Damien.
The future looks dire for the trio as gas starts to fill the space. Laurel’s shrieking Canary cry comes to the rescue with a Green Arrow-disguised Malcolm , shattering the glass container. Much to their own surprise, I think, Malcolm and Oliver end up saving each other’s lives. The building, along with Damien, is blown up, but he survives the explosion
Even worse, Phase 4 of his plan is ready to begin now that the air (in what appears to be an underground bunker is breathable- however, worry that Oliver will get in the way of Genesis.
By shooting at newly engaged Oliver and Felicity as they share a happy moment in a limo. Ollie manages to maneuver the vehicle away from the ghosts, but it’s too little too late.
A bullet-ridden Felicity lies bleeding in his arms.
Season 4 - Episode 10 - 20th January 2016 - Blood Debts
While Green Arrow goes looking for revenge against the man who struck at someone close to him, the team deals with the return of Anarky. Meanwhile, Diggle tries to deal with his brother Andy.
Season 4 - Episode 11 - 27th January 2016 - A.W.O.L.
Diggle must learn to trust his brother Andy when an enemy of their wartime past, an agent of the criminal organization Shadowspire, pays a visit to Star City. However, Diggle learns more than he bargained for about their shared time at war. Meanwhile, Oliver has to learn a whole new way of life.
Season 4 - Episode 12 - 3rd February 2016 - Unchained
Felicity Father - Calculator
While Nyssa usurps control of the League of Assassins from its new leader, Malcolm is busy in Star City tending to his ailing daughter. Meanwhile, the team battles a new villain calling himself the Calculator, and Roy Harper returns to town.
Season 4 - Episode 12 - 10th February 2016 - Sins of the Father
Oliver receives an offer from Nyssa that is hard to refuse. Meanwhile, Thea continues to battle the blood lust, Malcolm steps in to help his daughter, and Laurel has a heart to heart talk with Nyssa.
Season 4 - Episode 13 -17th February 2016 - Code of Silence
Oliver and team uncover HIVE's plan to take out Team Arrow once and for all. With HIVE's next attack imminent, Lance wonders if Donna is safer without him in her life. Meanwhile, with the wedding fast approaching, Oliver begins to feel guilty that he hasn't told Felicity about his son.
Season 4 - Episode 13 - 24th February 2016 - Taken
Vixen
Oliver realizes he needs help battling Darhk so he calls in an old friend - Vixen. Using her magical ability to summon animal powers, Vixen gets a lock on Darhk's location and the team goes to war. Meanwhile, Thea has a heart-to-heart talk with Malcolm.
Season 4 - Episode 17 - 23rd March 2016 - Broken Hearts
Brie Larvan shows up at Palmer Tech with all her bees making a lot of bee puns.
Oliver is pushing the Arrow team because he's sad and almost pushes away a shoulder from Laurel. But she knows his heart better than most, so she pushes on. He thought all the baddies he fought would have hardened him by now. She says that's a different kind of pain and easier to get over.
Felicity's board of directors is rude and making sarcastic remarks. The only prototype is in Felicity.
Curtis finds his way to the secret lair. He passes out.
Damien Darhk is absolutely hilarious when he sees some dude with a sewed mouth.
Curtis comes to and is also hilarious. Love him. He gets in front of Felicity's rig and loves it.
The bees come together and create a bee man. Where's Cisco when you need him? Oh, and how funny was it when something...
Felicity takes the board of directors down a secret elevator to the decomissioned lair.
Brie admits she has a tumor wrapped around her spine. Surgery will leave her paralyzed. She wants the chip for personal reasons.
After Oliver is truly nastypants to Curtis, Laurel calls him on it. Felicity broke up with him because he's a lying jackass. Oliver is, not the Green Arrow. The Green Arrow is a Beacon of Hope.
Thea uses that same phrase (hate that) on Felicity, but Felicity likes being away from the team. That's surprising. She knows she's destined for great things, but not a Die Hard movie with bees.
Felicity will continue to be a beacon of hope, but by using the technology available at Palmer Tech to do it.
Oliver apologizes to Curtis. All is well. Can he keep his promise to his husband not to run off like that in the future?
Malcolm speaks to the project's ace in the hole, as Damien called him. Andy Diggle.
Season 4 - Episode 18 - 6th April 2016 - Eleven-Fifty-Nine
Andy chats with Dig about Damien and Malcolm.
Damien's wife accepts her mayoral position. She offer's Laurel the DA's position. Thea thinks she should take it.
While Dig, Andy and Oliver are out being guys, Malcolm tries to steal the idol. Thea lets him live, of course. Why? No idea.
Oliver wonders why saving the shipment was so easy.
Andy takes an arrow for Oliver, making Oliver wonder. What the hell?
Laurel has a "touching" meal with Lance. He tells her he's oh so happy she is the Black Canary because she's safer there than, say, being the DA under Darhk's wife.
Malcolm magicians himself into the prison and Darhk wants another favor. Or else.
Laurel goes to the prison to find stuff.
Oliver finds Andy patting down John's apartment. He is actively throwing Andy down when John walks in. John chooses Andy.
The old "take a bullet for ya" trick works.
Damien makes Laurel pay for being Lance's daughter.
She dies, after telling Oliver he was the love of her life.
Season 4 - Episode 19 - 27th April 2016 - Canary Cry
It's May 2013 and Tommy Merlyn's funeral is taking place on a gloomy day. The priest announces that Oliver will be saying a few words, but he's nowhere to be found. Laurel gets up and takes Oliver's place. Oliver is watching from a distance.
It's present day. Lance is walking down the hospital corridor to his daughter's room. He's obviously devastated. He breaks down after seeing Laurel on the gurney. Oliver approaches to take him away.
Back at the bunker, Diggle is on the phone with his wife. He's sees Oliver standing in front of Laurel's Black Canary outfit. Diggle tells him he has Lyla and Sara at a safehouse. He's worried Andy may come after them.
Diggle is blaming himself for Laurel's death. Oliver is trying to convince him it's not. They turn on the TV. Alex is announcing Laurel's death. Diggle turns it off and storms away.
In an alley, an illegal gun sale is taking place. The fake Black Canary uses a sonic voice to stop the crime, then takes the bag of guns and flees.
Oliver calls a meeting to discuss the next steps in finding Darhk and making him pay for Laurel's death.
Lance comes in and shows them a newspaper article about the Black Canary's appearance the night before.
Felicity pulls up a video of the incident. Oliver checks Laurel's bag and sees that her sonic device is missing. Lance thinks Laurel is still alive. Diggle brings up that the device was keyed to Laurel's vocal chords. Oliver doesn't believe it.
Oliver and Lance go to the hospital morgue. Laurel is still there. Dead. Lance leaves, devastated.
Oliver thanks the doctor for her discretion and tells her about the missing sonic device. She says that someone hospital staff nicknamed "Frequent Flyer" because of her regular visits to the ER might be a suspect, but she can't give any names because of doctor/patient privilege.
Flashback to Oliver visiting Laurel after Tommy's funeral. He's blaming himself for Tommy's death. Laurel is trying to convince him not to.
At the bunker, Felicity and Diggle talk. She is looking at security footage. Diggle is blaming himself.
Thea and Alex are having drinks/dinner when the fake Black Canary shows up. She sonic screams and then beats up Alex before pointing a gun at him. Just as she's about to shoot, Thea steps in and saves the day.
She fights the faker, but is rattled when she see's the faker's face and the faker overtakes her and takes off. Thea calls Oliver to tell him about the incident.
Fake Black Canary is running through the alley. Oliver catches up with her. She tells him he abandoned all of them at Reddington and failed the city. Oliver is confused, and the faker jumps the fence and gets away.
At the bunker, the team talk about the faker. Oliver shares information that the girl was talking about prisoners that H.I.V.E. had. Diggle says they weren't prisoners, more like volunteers.
Felicity looks up missing teenagers on the computer and finds information about Evelyn Sharp and her family. Her parents were killed.
Lance is packing stuff up while Nyssa watches. He thinks she will take him to the Lazarus Pit to bring Laurel back, but Nyssa tells him the Pit is destroyed. Lance can't accept it, and tells her he'll find another way and takes off.
Felicity finds Oliver at his empty campaign office. He tells her he feels responsible. She tells him she feels responsible. Then she says she feels guilty for making Diggle think he's responsible.
Felicity gets a call from Thea that Diggle is missing in action. She says she's going to track him.
Ruve is in a limo when it stops because Diggle is blocking it's path. He shoots everyone but Ruve. He pulls her out of the car. He's masked up, but tells her he knows she knows who he is. She claims she doesn't know anything. He's about to shoot her, but Oliver shows up.
Ruve takes off as Oliver and Diggle talk. Diggle has a temper tantrum then Oliver calms him down.
At the bunker, the team watches the television where Ruve is holding a press conference ordering the SCPD to take down all masked vigilantes, starting with the Black Canary. The teams decides they have to get to the fake Canary (who's name is Evelyn Sharp) before the SCPD finds her.
Nyssa tells Oliver about Lance and his quest to find a way to bring Laurel back to life.
Flashback to a week after Tommy's funeral and Laurel and Oliver are in front of a fireplace at her apartment reminiscing about old times.
Back to present day. Oliver catches up with Lance and tells him that Laurel can't be brought back to life. Lance doesn't want to believe it. He breaks down.
At the bunker, Felicity apologizes to Diggle for making him think she was blaming him for Laurel's death. They talk about Andy and Felicity tells him that sometimes you make exceptions for family. Then she says he's "one illegitimate child" away from being an Oliver Queen clone.
Felicity gets an alert that Evelyn is at the Star City Plaza Hotel. Diggle thinks it would be nice for her to kill Ruve, but Felicity says if she does that she'll kill Laurel's legacy.
She alerts Oliver and the rest of the team.
Inside the hotel, a security office alerts Ruve to the security threat, but she tells him she isn't going anywhere.
Evelyn is in the hotel. She shoots guards. Oliver catches up with her and tries to talk her out of killing Ruve. Eventually she puts the gun down and takes off. Before the cops can catch him, so does Oliver.
At the bunker, the team talks about Evelyn and how she ruined Laurel's legacy. Oliver says he has a way to stop what Evelyn did from ruining that.
It's time for Laurel's funeral. Quentin and Dinah walk to the grave. Everyone else is already there. Oliver gives a eulogy and reveals that Laurel told him the real reason she was at Iron Heights prison. He says she told him she was the Black Canary. He calls her a hero.
Flashback to same time frame as before. A note is stuffed under Laurel's door. It's from Oliver telling her he is leaving. He returns the picture of her she gave him, it's the same picture she gave him right before she died in this time period.
The funeral is over, but Oliver is at her grave. The Flash shows up and apologizes for missing the funeral. Oliver gives a speech that it was never his fault, all the bad happening in his city, but his responsibility. Flash wants to know what he can do. Oliver tells him he just wants to be alone, and Flash takes off.
Oliver goes back to the limo where Felicity waits. She tells him he needs to do something, but Oliver tells her he doesn't know how to stop Darhk's magic. Felicity reiterates that he has to find a way for everyone's sake.
Darhk enters H.I.V.E headuarters with Malcolm Merlyn and others demanding to know if Genesis is still on track. After getting their assurances, he goes off on a rant and kills Milo and the other woman who's in the room, and declares it's time to begin the final phase of Genesis.
Felicity and gang are investigating Milo's murder. Oliver tells everyone he got some help from Constantine on where to go for help to defeat Darhk. Says that everyone needs to stay put while he goes to Hub City for a couple of days to learn how to defeat the magic. Thea says she's going on vacation with Alex.
Diggle goes to the mobile safehouse and lets Lyla know what's going on. He tells her he doesn't like sitting around. She tells him she'll see what her agents can find, then sends him off for diapers.
Felicity visits Oliver as he's packing. She tells him she's going with him and that she's already booked their rooms.
Diggle is leaving a store with diapers when he gets and alert as to Andy's location. He follows the trail which sends him to an abandoned building. It's a trap. Andy is waiting for him. They have a shootout. Diggle chases, but Andy escapes.
Lyla calls Diggle to tell him that satellite picked up Andy's signal, but he tells her he already knows. She tells him to stop chasing him, that she'll send backup, but he tells her he's not waiting.
Oliver and Felicity are all dressed up and go into a fancy underground casino to find Esrin Fortuna. Felicity sits down to play blackjack.
Thea wakes up in a rented house alone. She looks for Alex and finds him downstairs making breakfast. On the table is a bottle of "multivitamins."
At the casino, Felicity gives a losing woman some chips. Turns out it's Esrin who introduces herself to them.
Diggle is chases Andy into a power plant, but gets knocked out. He's tied up and hung on the pipes. Andy tells him he needs to prep him for Darhk. They talk about family, then Andy stabs John.
Felicity and Oliver talk with Fortuna who takes them to a secret chamber in the back of the casino.She explains to them about the power of the idol, that it only channels power, not gives it. Darhk gets his power from death. The more people he kills, the more powerful he becomes.
In order to defeat Darhk, Oliver needs to channel the Light of the Soul. If he can channel the good, he can repel Darhk's magic, but if he has more darkness than light, all he'll do is make Darhk more powerful.
At Wayward Pines Lite, Thea is starting to notice that something is off. Her cell phone isn't working and everything seems "too perfect." It doesn't bother Alex, who tells Thea she's just stressed out and calms down.
Diggle is still alive. The soldiers take him down and he wakes up fighting. He overtakes Andy and cuffs him to a pole. he raises his gun, but doesn't shoot even with Andy egging him on. Then he leaves. Without Andy.
Back at the magical chamber Fortuna starts working with Oliver. She starts off slow and Oliver is able to combat the darkness. Felicity keeps interrupting with questions. Fortuna is tolerant, but shoos her away.
After passing his first test, she ups the ante a bit. He needs to focus on light inside of him. Instead, he has a myriad of dark flashbacks including Felicity returning the ring and Laurel's death. He can't fight the darkness.
Fortuna has no tolerance and basically tells Oliver there is no hope for him and leaves.
Thea is telling Alex she doesn't remember anything. Doesn't know where she's at and keeps hearing the same sounds over and over. Alex doesn't really care. He picks up his bottle of vitamins to pop a few. Thea is surprised he's taking vitamins and grabs for them knocking them over. It's Darhk's little yellow pillls. Thea wants to know where he got them. He tells her Ruva. She accuses him of drugging her and takes off.
Diggle is back at the safe house with Lyla. She is furious. He is injured. She tells him he needs to fight Andy the right way with justice. He tells her he can't kill his brother. He wants to change him.
Felicty and Oliver are discouraged and are having a few drinks at the casino. Oliver tells her that she brings the light. He's starting to have a pity party and she calls him out on it.
Darhk finds Andy chained up and congratulates him on a job well done. They accomplished their goal of placing trackers on Diggle to lead them to Lyla and Sara.
Lyla is fixing Diggle's wounds when the proximity alarms go off. Diggle starts thinking it was strange that Andy didn't kill him. The monitors show that they are being followed. Darhk's men begin their attack and firebomb the truck. She calls for backup, but Argus is tied up. Diggle tried to reach Team Arrow, but can't get hold of anyone.
John figures out that Andy placed a tracker on him.
Darhk stands in the path of the truck and uses magic to stop it. Lyla tells John to take Sara and escape. When Darhk opens the door, Diggle escapes via motorcycle. Darhk sends Andy and other soldiers after them.
Darhk is looking for Sara, but realizes she's gone.
Diggle comes to a dead end and is surrounded by soldiers when Felicity shows up in a van and knocks a few over. Andy runs. Felicity takes Sara as Diggle chases after his brother.
He grabs Lyla, digs into her arm, and just when it seems like she's gonna die, Oliver shows up.
Darhk is not happy and tells Oliver he's going to kill all of Oliver's friends.
Diggle catches Andy and holds a gun on him...again, but doesn't shoot him. Andy taunts his brother.
Oliver and Darhk are fighting, but Darhk overtakes Oliver and is killing him when Oliver summons the light and repels Darhk.
Lyla is down. Darhk is gone.
Andy continues to taunt Diggle. He calls him out for being a coward unwilling to do what's necessary to protect his own family. Diggle shoots him.
Oliver comes on the scene and Diggle tells him what happened.
At the bunker, Oliver asks Felicity about Thea, but she hasn't heard from her. He tells her he used light magic to fight off Darhk and credits Felicity's voice for helping him.
Diggle is visiting Lyla who is in recovery. He tells her about Andy, but lies, telling her he tried to grab his gun. Lyla remembers her arm and freaks out.
Everyone is at the bunker (except for Thea.) Lyla explains that Darhk took Rubicon which was implanted subdermally in her arm as it was the safest place for it.
Rubicon is a ballistic launch override protocol to prevent any country, including the U.S., from firing a nuclear missile. But, it also can be manipulated to control all the world's stockpile of nuclear missiles.
Diggle brings up Andy's talk about "Genesis." Lyla figures out that it's from the Bible and means a destroying and rebuilding. The team figures out that Darhk is going to destroy the world using Rubicon, but wonder what he'll use as his "ark."
Thea is running through the neighborhood when she comes across ghost soldiers. She can't escape. She's trapped inside a Wayward Pines like dome. This is apparently Darhk's ark.
Season 4 - Episode 21 - 11th May 2016 - Monument Point
Alarm goes off in a Russian missile attack warning center. Nuclear missiles are being armed.
Felicity reports about the nuclear missile situation. She makes snarky comments about Rubicon and its existence. Says she needs help from her father to hack into Rubicon to stop Darhk's mission. 21 hours to save the world. She has trackers looking for him already.
Oliver asks to talk to Diggle privately. He tells Diggle about nexus chambers.
Thea is being held in a house under guard. Merlyn shows up. He tells her about Darhk's plan. She wants to see Alex and tells him if he doesn't cooperate she's going to annoy him until he does. He takes her to see Alex.
Donna is waiting for Lance and confronts him about an affidavit he's being asked to sign stating that he didn't know Laurel was the Black Canary. Donna doesn't like that he's going to lie, even though he explains the complexity of it all. She trusts that he'll do the right thing.
Darhk is looking for The Calculator too and sends Murmer and Brick to find him.
Arrow and Spartan are looking for him too, but he's not i the apartment Felicity directed them to. Oliver uploads video to her showing that HIVE was looking for him, but he bolted before they got to him.
Lonnie Machin is in the Darkh's ark looking for the man in charge and kills a ghost.
Diggle tells the rest of Team Arrow that, yep, Noah is the only one who can stop Rubicon. If not, Darhk wouldn't have gone after him.
Felicity is digging through Noah's directory and comes across something called Raven Spur. It sounds familiar, but she can't put her finger on it.
Flashback time! Reiter is alive and Oliver is going to hunt him down.
Donna is upset with Lance when she sees him signing the affidavit. He shows her that he's changed the wording to reflect that he did know about Laurel's alter ego.
Felicity is going to meet her mom at Palmer Tech. She runs into Mr. Dennis who is not happy she hasn't been around. She tells him there are more important things happening at the moment, and she'll get back to business as soon as she can. Donna shows up as Dennis storms off. Felicity asks her mother about Raven Spur. Donnas shares that it was a cabin her and her father used to go to and where she thinks Felicity was conceived.
Oliver and Diggle are searching some more when Oliver confronts Diggle about lying to Lyla and lectures him about it.
Diggle gets a call from Felicity as to Noah's location.
HIVE has already arrived at the cabin. Noah fights them off. Brick wants to play a game with Noah which allows for Arrow and Spartan to get there to attack. Arrow basically lets Brick go who runs off. Felicity shows up at just the right time with the van to get her dad.
12 hours before it all ends.
She tells her dad about Rubicon He agrees and starts to work, but he needs something bigger. She needs to seal a processor from Palmer Tech.
She goes there to get it, but is stopped by Dennis and security. She's been fired by the board.
Thea finds Alex. He's still in Darhk la la land. She tries to talk him down from his vitamin high to no avail.
Merlyn shows up and tells her about Lonnie and his plan to destroy the oxygen generators. He convinces her to help him fight Lonnie or they will all die.
Felicity is back at the bunker and quite upset and what has happened. Oliver comes up with a plan to break into the Palmer Tech to get the processor they need. She has Noah in tow. They actually go on an elevator to break into her office. He tries to make small talk about father/daughter relationships.
Diggle manning video and directing them all. Oliver is in the stairwell and gets accosted. He fights them off.
Felicity is locked out and has to hack into her office because the code has been changed. She can't get the processor, but Noah can downlaod the information wirelessly. He can't get it all because security is on the way.
They take off and Lance is at the exact door they come out waiting there for them to give them a ride.
Noah was only able to extract 90% of the processor, but it was enough to start.
Flashback! Reiter's power is strong. He and Oliver fight.
Thea and Merlyn head into a house where the generators are stored. Lonnie is there. He's tied up a couple of ghosts. Thea tries to talk to him, but Merlyn shoots him. Lonnie had explosives set up and they were able to disarm them.
Arrow shows up to watch over Noah. He starts talking to the masked man about leading a dual life. He tells Arrow that a tapeworm is in the Rubicon code and when he overrode the code, it tracked back to their location. HIVE is on the way.
Lyla, Apartan, Arrow and some soldiers prepare for HIVE's arrival.
Flashback! Reiter goes down by shots from Taiana. They grab the idol and run, but Reiter isn't dead.
14 minutes left.
Lonnie knocked out Alex. He gives Thea a lecture on not letting men control her. They fight.
HIVE shows up and a firefight ensues at the Bunker.
Alex wakes up, but Lonnie kills him. Thea is angry and fights harder. Lonnie tells her he was just trying to liberate her.
Back at Star City, the firefight continues. Murmur breaks away and heads inside to stop Noah and Felicity who are working as fast as they can.
Murmer gets in and starts shooting. Arrow takes him down.
Felicity and dad took down all nukes except for one which is headed straight for Monument Point i the U.S. Felicity comes up with a plan to fake the missile out to divert it. Only 3 minutes left.
Too late. The missile hits, but another city where only tens of thousands died instead of millions.
Oliver figures out that the magic nexus is at city hall. He and Diggle head over there and find a secret entrance to a secret lair. Darhk is there sucking in all the death magic from the tens of thousands that died.
The end of Arrow‘s fourth season saw some massive shakeups for Oliver’s team of vigilantes.
John Diggle left to re-enlist in the Army, Thea Queen hung up her hood, and Laurel Lance was killed by Damian Darhk. Felicity is currently the only original team-member left in the bunch, but she won’t be alone for long.
First we have Wild Dog (Rick Gonzalez), a loose-cannon hero with a penchant for recklessly shooting and killing.
Also joining the team will be the appropriately-named “Vigilante” (Josh Segara), who acts as Star City’s District Attorney by day, and a crime-fighter by night.
Fellow archer Artemis (Madison McLaughlin) will round things out, having already appeared in Season 4 as the rogue impostor version of Black Canary.
1. Echo Kellum has been cemented in as a series regular
Echo Kellum made his debut as Curtis Holt last season, and ended up being one of the highlights of the entire run of episodes. In the comics, Holt is better known as his superhero alter-ego, Mr. Terrific
Hinted at by Oliver calling him “terrific” in the Season 4 finale. He certainly has the qualifications: Holt is a genius inventor, former Olympic decathlete, and has officially inserted himself into Oliver’s inner-circle. Next stop, full-blown superhero status
2. Green Lantern connection
They may be adding another Justice Leaguer to the mix soon though, in the form of a tenuous Green Lantern connection.
Hal Jordan’s sister-in-law, Susan Williams (Carly Pope), will join Arrow in Season 6, building on the quick flash of a “Jordan” flight jacket we saw in a Coast City flashback in Season 4.
With the Green Lantern sidelined in DC’s Cinematic Universe, it certainly would make sense to have him edge his way into television instead.
3. Next villain to join the Arrow-verse
Chad L. Coleman (The Walking Dead) has been cast as the newest villain, a crime boss named Tobias Church.
Season 5 - Episode 1 - Legacy - Wednesday5thOctober2016
After Laurel's (Katie Cassidy) death and the departures of both Diggle (David Ramsey) and Thea (Willa Holland) from Team Arrow, Oliver (Stephen Amell) takes to the streets solo to protect Star City's citizens as the Green Arrow.
With Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) guiding him from the bunker, Oliver is forced to deal with a city that has become overrun with both criminals and a slew of new (and painfully inexperienced) vigilantes.
Watching Oliver try to balance his jobs as both the mayor and also the protector of Star City, Felicity suggests he form a new team, but Oliver resists.
However, when a deadly new criminal, Tobias Church (guest star Chad L. Coleman), enters the picture, Oliver realizes the best thing for the city might be a new team of superheroes.
Meanwhile, the flashbacks take us to Russia where Oliver faces off against the Bratva.
Season 5 - Episode 2 - The Recruits - Wednesday12thOctober2016
Oliver's (Stephen Amell) new recruits for Team Arrow are Curtis (Echo Kellum), Wild Dog (guest star Rick Gonzalez) and Evelyn Sharp (guest star Madison McLaughlin).
Unfortunately, the Green Arrow's training methods prove to be too much for some of them to handle.
Meanwhile, in the flashbacks, Oliver's initiation into the Bratva continues.
Season 5 - Episode 3 - A Matter of Trust - Wednesday19thOctober2016
Now that Oliver (Stephen Amell) has his new team, they are ready to hit the streets but Oliver doesn't feel they are ready.
Headstrong Wild Dog (guest star Rick Gonzalez) defies the Green Arrow's orders and sets out on his own after a new drug dealer, Garret Runnels (guest star Cody Rhodes), who is terrorizing Star City.
Runnels proves more powerful than Wild Dog and it is up to the Green Arrow to go head to head with Runnels to save his teammate.
Oliver and Lyla team up on a secret mission for Diggle. Felicityfinds out and disapproves of the plan and opts to stay behind. When Tobias Church launches a deadly assault against the city, Felicity must decide if she wants to send the recruits out sans the Green Arrow.
Lyla Diggle came to request that Oliver break John out of prison. This week, Oliver takes that challenge, much to the dismay of Felicity, and leaves his new recruits on their own to battle any issues that come up in his absence. Within the Mayor's office, newly named deputy mayor Quentin Lance has to take over for Oliver. On all fronts, it should not bode well that our main character is leaving his job to his subordinates, but it works in the context of the story: Oliver can rescue John Diggle while everyone else gets to prove they have learned something about being a hero since they joined the squad. We also get, over the course of the episode, Rory/Ragman question whether he can be in the presence of Felicity now that he knows she is responsible for the death of his family. The answer is yes as Rory rejoins the team in the least dramatic "will he/won't he" plot I have seen on any series. But, that is not the point. This show has turned from being about Oliver Queen to being about the team and they all get to shine here.
As the team fights Church, Oliver finally gets into the secure military prison thanks to Lyla using some Mission: Impossible tricks. Diggle, of course, has accepted his sentence as a way to pay penance for killing his own brother. Oliver refuses to accept Diggle's decision and breaks him out for the goodness of the team and because he cares about his friend. Like last week, Diggle is the dramatic core of this hour as he weighs his crimes against his sentence. Oliver is given a backseat to the true drama here but manages to make for a daring escape as he and Diggle are whisked away by Lyla. There was no doubt in my mind that Diggle would be accepting of his rescue even though he now must hide out in a safe house until the team can find a way to clear his name. How much do you want to bet that the soldiers who stole the weapons and framed Diggle are connected to Church and this season's plot?
In the fight against Church, Curtis takes a knife to the back which leaves Wilddog to fight the crime lord. Chirch, a massive figure, seems like he is way out the class of Wilddog, who is strong yet slight in build. The two duel with Church easily overpowering and knocking Renee out. The episode ends with everyone escaping safely thanks to the last minute heroics of Quentin Lance. But, Renee is kept prisoner by Church and beaten, likely a tactic to trade with Green Arrow in the next episode. In regards to the flashbacks, Oliver kills a guy in prison for being a rat and is fully indoctrinated into the Bratva. Yeah, not very exciting and the weakest part of this episode. Why couldn't we have had some more Ragman instead?
November 2, 2016 - Season 5 - Episode 5 - Human Target
When Tobias Church captures and tortures one of Oliver's new recruits, Oliver must turn to an old friend, Christopher Chance AKA the Human Target, for help. Meanwhile, Felicity's worlds collide when Detective Malone joins the ACU
Chance is played by Jessica Jones actor Will Traval and serves as a small supporting role much like the one John Constantine played last year. Chance also has a connection to Oliver's flashbacks to his time in the Bratva, but we will not discuss those crappy memories. Sure, the Bratva storyline is marginally more interesting than anything since season one, but just marginally. In the main storyline, Chance poses as Oliver Queen during an assassination attempt by Church's hired goon, Scimitar. Everyone is in on the plan. Well, everyone except the entire population of Star City, but it is all a ploy to try and capture Tobias Church. Church is a pretty generic villain this season despite being played by the talented Chad L Coleman but he is still enjoyable to see on screen. Tonight, Church's actions to try and take out Green Arrow do little more than piss off our true bad guy this year, Prometheus. We probably should have guessed this was coming, but this hour represents the farewell for Church's short stint on the series.
While Oliver prepares to showdown with Church, the episode also manages to squeeze in two significant subplots that actually work well compared to others in recent episodes. The first is the mentorship of Wild Dog by John Diggle. Since Diggle is a fugitive after his escape from prison, he doesn't have much to do. Having shared a military background with Rene and both experiencing the horrors of torture, Diggle forges an immediate connection with the young vigilante. Wild Dog has been the most unpredictable member of the new team but there is an instant reparte between Diggle and the hockey masked young man that should prove fruitful for their development this season. We also have the final nail in the Oliver/Felicity romance as Christopher Chance inadvertantly tells Queen that Felicity is dating Billy Malone, the newest cop on the ACU taskforce. Oliver and his ex-fiancee have a heart to heart which pretty much seals that relationship from ever coming back.
November 9, 2016 - Season 5 - Episode 6 - So It Begins
When Prometheus ups his killing spree, Oliver searches for connections between the victims. Felicity and Curtis discover the victims have a mysterious link to Oliver's past and this new secret could upend his new team. Meanwhile, Thea has a heart-to-heart with Lance, and Felicity considers telling Malone the truth about her work.
Oliver, Diggle and Felicity privately track Prometheus, who starts killing seemingly random civilians with throwing stars.
A news report on the killings causes tension in the city and angers the recruits, since they were not informed.
Felicity steals one of the stars from Billy to examine. A pattern between the victims relates to Oliver's list from when he started out.
This further angers the recruits, Evelyn most of all, as they did not know about Oliver's "kill list" from when he first returned. Felicity uses the pattern to predict future victims, and the team splits up.
Evelyn encounters Prometheus and engages him, managing to cut his arm before being overpowered. Oliver then arrives, but Prometheus escapes.
Meanwhile, Thea discovers that Quentin never quit drinking. Evelyn reconciles with Oliver, and Felicity tells Billy that she works with the Green Arrow, which intrigues him.
She later tells Oliver that evidence she has discovered suggests that Prometheus could be an SCPD officer; Quentin is shown awakening from an alcohol-induced sleep with a slash across his arm and a throwing star in his possession.
In flashbacks, during a Bratva operation, Oliver is abducted by Kovar's men and taken to him
November 16, 2016 - Season 5 - Episode 7 - Vigilante
When the bodies of two criminals are dropped at SCPD, Oliver realizes there is a new Vigilante in Star City. The team is split about whether they should stop someone who is helping keep the city safe. Diggle is frustrated with his new situation and Thea fights for Lance who confesses a shocking secret. Meanwhile, in the flashbacks, Oliver finally sits down with Konstantin Kovar
A new vigilante appears in Star City, one who kills criminals in cold blood. Quentin tenders his resignation as Deputy Mayor.
He later tells Thea about the throwing star and his drunken blackouts, but believes he is being set up. The team intercepts the Vigilante during a bank robbery, but he gets away, as does Eric Dunn, the head of the robbers.
Adrian forces one of the other robbers to reveal Dunn's location, and Green Arrow saves him from the Vigilante. Thea convinces Quentin to go into rehabilitation, while Oliver and Susan start getting closer.
The team poses as the bank robbers to lure in the Vigilante, who again escapes even after Oliver defeats and nearly unmasks him.
Thea tells Oliver about Quentin and the possibility of his being framed; they deduce that Prometheus must know Green Arrow's identity. Evelyn is revealed to be working for Prometheus.
In flashbacks, Kovar introduces Oliver to his servant Galina, Taiana's mother. He also claims that the Bratva has only been using Oliver for their own ends, including making a deal with him.
Kovar then releases Oliver back to the Bratva.
November 30, 2016 - Season 5 - Episode 8 - Invasion - (Crossover)
Oliver wakes up to a life where he never got on The Queen's Gambit.
Robert and Moira Queen are alive and well.
Laurel is his loving fiancée and their wedding is imminent.
Everything seems perfect, but Oliver starts to notice small imperfections that make him question this new reality.
Meanwhile, Felicity and the recruits take on a new threat with help from The Flash and Supergirl
Monday November 28th 2016 to Thursday December 1st 2016
Supergirl - The Flash - Arrow - Legends of Tomorrow
In the above clip, Supergirl is brought onto Earth-1 by the Flash and Cisco and finally introduced to the rest of the Arrow-verse. The team was expecting Barry to bring another alien who can help them fight the Dominator invasion, not some girl in a cape who looks totally human. This leads Kara to demonstrate her impressive abilities of flight and heat vision, doing at least enough to convince Diggle.
Fans are well aware that Diggle is typically pretty flabbergasted by the abilities of metahumans, such as when he first saw Barry run at super speed. This is a man whose acceptance of the strange used to begin and end with a dude who's good at archery, so he can be forgiven for being stunned by super powers. Since he met the Flash, Diggle has encountered all sorts of super beings like giant shark men and magical powers, so his meeting an alien is just another Wednesday for him.
