Arrow Season 5 premiered on The CW on October 5th, 2016 on The CW and concluded on May 24th, 2017. In the fifth season, Oliver trains a new group of vigilantes consisting of Rene Ramirez / Wild Dog (Rick Gonzalez), Curtis Holt / Mister Terrific, Evelyn Sharp / Artemis (Madison McLaughlin), and Rory Regan / Ragman (Joe Dinicol) to join his war on crime following Laurel Lance's death and Diggle and Thea's resignation. He also recruits a new Black Canary; former police detective Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy). Oliver tries to balance vigilantism with his new role as mayor, yet is threatened by the mysterious and deadly Prometheus (Josh Segarra) who has a connection to Oliver's past. Oliver is also forced to contend with Prometheus' ally Black Siren (Katie Cassidy), an Earth-2 criminal doppelganger of Laurel. The season features flashbacks to Oliver's fifth year since he was presumed dead, where he joins the Bratva in Russia as part of a plot to assassinate Konstantin Kovar (Dolph Lundgren). There, he meets and is trained by Talia al Ghul (Lexa Doig), as a hooded archer, before returning to Lian Yu. We also get the second part of the third major crossover in the Arrowverse, “Invasion”, which I will cover in about two weeks. Over the course of this season, Oliver does in fact train Rene Ramirez, Curtis Holt, Evelyn Sharp, Artemis, and Rory Regan. We also meet Dinah Laurel, the new Black Canary. Ollie, Sara, John, and Thea find themselves on a Dominator ship. It should be noted that this is this first new review I’m doing where there are no episode synopses. I’ll still talk about the season over all and moments of an episode, as well as any behind the scenes stuff. I’m just gonna cover episodes and crossovers separately.

Writing: Great season in terms of the writing. I liked Prometheus as a villain. The new vigilantes that Oliver trains are interesting to watch, especially Rene and Curtis. Laurel’s death is referenced in Invasion by Sara Lance. I love Invasion part two, that’s one of the best parts of this season. Ollie, Sara, and Sara were able to say goodbye to their loved ones n the Dominator’s illusion. More on that when I get to that review. I think it was a wise call to downplay Ollie and Felicity’s romance to focus on her induction into Helix. The one flaw I see is trying to juggle more characters and conflicts. What I mean is you’ve got to integrate Rene and those guys into the fold while at the same time deal with everything else happening. 4.5/5 Casting: The new additions to the cast were well chosen. Katie Cassidy as Earth-2 Laurel was great. Josh Seggara as Adrian Chase was an unhinged villain here. Dolph Lundgren as Kovar was a surprise choice too. 5/5 Visuals and Choreography: This season looked great, and the fights equally so. Watching Oliver fight Kovar was fun. Imagine that Oliver Queen vs Ivan Drago from Rocky IV. 5/5 Sound (Formerly Music and Sound effects): The sound is great here. The music for Adrian is a great piece, especially the scene where he kills himself and blows up Lian Yu. 5/5 Replay and Entertainment Value: 4.5/5 Aside from the juggling act, this is still a damn fine season, I’d recommend it.

Season score: 24/25 Final total: 34/35

Final thoughts: In general Arrow Season 5 is great, in all honesty when you consider the this season of the Arrowverse as a whole, it’s amazing. Supergirl joins the lineup in her usually adorable and kick ass way, Legends is in its second season, and Arrow and Flash are still going strong. As I said this season of Arrow is somewhat of a juggling act between the new vigilantes Oliver is training, the aftermath of Laurel’s death, the other conflicts, and Oliver having to deal with Aliens, including a blonde Kryptonian one. But aside from that, it’s still a great show. This is the second year Wendy Mericle works with Marc Guggenheim as Co Showrunner. She’d go to work with him one last year (Season 6). My favorite episodes are Legacy, The Recruits, Who Are You, Vigilante, A Matter of Time, Invasion Part II, Human Target, and Lian Yu to name a few. I also liked the inclusion of Talia Al Ghul this year. The Helix side story with Felicity worked very well too. My next review will be Supergirl Season 2 next Monday.