Many writers have focused on the conflict between Green Arrow, the vigilante, and Oliver Queen, the wealthy businessman in the comics and in commentary on the legacy of Green Arrow. In this season of Arrow writers wholly embrace this conflict. Oliver is clearly no longer the Oliver everyone knew before the island. Like many people who have faced trauma Ollie just can’t be the same person anymore.
But season one proved he can’t be the cold, killer vigilante that he had to become to survive the island any more either. With friends who get close, despite the danger, and his warnings, and refuse to let him cut off his humanity, Ollie is taking the first steps toward actually healing from his past, rather than just surviving it. In the first three season, if not longer, Arrow can be seen as a metaphor for healing from trauma, wrapped up in a super hero conventions. Since the Silver Age of comic began we have seen real world themes slipping into the storylines, rather than just blind wish fulfilment and hero worship.
Here Oliver’s past comes back to haunt him, both in the form of Sara, an ex-lover he failed, and Slade, a friend who fully embraces the terrible things the pair had to do to survive their trauma. We also have Brother Blood, mirroring who Ollie was in season one (and who Malcom Merlyn is), a survivor whose “solution” to protect the world is inhumane.
Or, if metaphor and human psychology isn’t your thing, there’s fights, drama, romance, and a shirtless Stephen Amell.
Contains: Violence (no gore), mild language, implied torture, implied romantic scenes