—S.B. Arrow Season 5 does not jump away from the spirit of the show and continues to pay respect to its loyal fans. While new enemies appear on the horizon and the environment becomes more and more unstable, a couple of new heroes join the party. Arrow Season 2 is a completely new step in a new direction for the show that tries to continue its legacy and make sure that the plotline makes perfect sense. The scripts strike the right balance between showing why they need Oliver and reminding us they’re capable in their own right. —S.B. “Burned” (Season 1, Episode 10) Arrow ‘s version of Firefly just did not bring the heat. The introduction of the League of Assassins is not something I ever thought I’d see on live-action TV, and Arrow certainly does not disappoint. But the final moment in which Ra’s al Ghul attacks and stabs Thea gave us the shock we needed to remember just who Team Arrow is dealing with, and put everyone on an entirely new path as a result. He wants to create a well-protected community in his city and the amount of effort he will put in to make sure that people under his protection are safe will definitely impress you. —S.B. On top of that, it’s clear Katie Cassidy was having a blast chewing scenery in this new role. What a cool callback to season 1. Oliver gets arrested on this episode of Arrow. “Public Enemy” is my favorite Arrow episode of all time and might be the platonic ideal of a non-finale episode: fast-paced, nerve-racking, and emotional. Have you seen Felicity Smoak? Plus, Oliver’s return to the team after his “death” shows just how far the team has come in his absence. This episode is one I always remember as the one where Arrow decided to introduce romance for the characters: Oliver with McKenna (who honestly deserved so much better than her overall arc), Diggle (David Ramsey) with his sister-in-law Carly (which will never not be weird), and Thea with Roy. Plus, Lyla fires a grenade launcher, so how can you not put this episode at No. He alone ends up on a seemingly uninhabited island. Arrow Season 1 brings to the table an amazing introduction of the main protagonist who has been lost for a couple of years on a distant tropical island where he learned the hard ways of several martial arts and mastered bow shooting. One of the fun things about Arrow‘s fourth and fifth season is watching the show figure out how it would handle its world getting increasingly weirder thanks to The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl. The stunt team really brings it in that shower fight scene. —C.A. —C.A. —S.B. “There is just so much more to do.” Every time I watch this episode, my heart both breaks for everyone, especially Thea, who justifiably has the hardest time leaving, and swells with pride because “Invasion!” is such a heartfelt tribute to everything we love about the show and these characters. I will never get over Sebastian Blood’s (Kevin Alejandro) crazed, feverish delusions that he can still save the city as mayor after everything he did to help Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett). Arrow‘s penchant for darkness gets the better of it in “All For Nothing,” which begins with dead A.R.G.U.S. Thea shows off her new fighting skills, and Oliver reminds us he knows how to use a gun and reveals he can Macgyver-up a bow and arrow out of items found in a hotel room. What happens when the main character of your comic book show reveals his identity and goes to prison for it? Not everything is about Oliver — Slade becoming a monster means then Starling City was going to suffer as well. —C.A. Not even a surprise appearance from Tommy Merlyn (but really the Human Target in disguise) could save this hour after Rene (Rick Gonzalez) reveals Oliver’s identity during the trial. From there, a defeated Oliver gives into the darkness and shuts it all down, ending the episode on a perfectly bleak note — but then “Disbanded,” written by Rebecca Bellotto, comes along and is the perfect response to “Kapiushon” because it focuses on how Oliver’s friends are his light and how he can be theirs, too, since Anatoly lost himself when Oliver left him. The twist of opening on Tommy’s funeral before juxtaposing that with Laurel’s funeral makes for one emotionally gutting and extremely powerful episode. Usually the big identity reveal can be spotted from a mile away but this one was a true surprise. Our hero is soon joined by a couple of trustworthy friends who accompany him in his fight against organized crime. Everything with Sara in this episode is epic, from her connection to Nyssa to her emotional damage preventing her from connecting with her family to her eventual reunion with them at the end. —S.B. Action, special effects, stunts, and good story are fused together to create a compelling entertainment capable of making you happier. "The Savior" abducts Roy and murders those he believes have wronged his neighborhood. After the events of the interlude where creators of several superhero shows collaborated to make a very interesting packed with special effects mini-show about the interdimensional crisis, the hooded vigilante must return and keep his homestead safe. The definition of perfectly fine, “Blast Radius” pits Team Arrow against the explosives-obsessed Shrapnel (Sean Maher), who survives the hour only to be quickly killed off in “Suicide Squad” a few episodes later. Of course, on the flip side, anytime Oliver lies to Felicity to “protect” her grinds my gears, but I can ignore that frustrating plot line in favor of all the comic book goodness this crossover hour has to offer. It’s always nice to see Oliver’s ego get knocked down a few pegs. All the scenes at his prison-themed house party are personal favorites of mine as well as that Black Canary nod with Laurel. He does not tell anyone about what happened to him on the island. Felicity joins Team Arrow and although it may be rocky at the start, it’s the beginning of a beautiful era. All of the storylines gel really well, even the flashbacks, and the cast give some of their strongest and most convincing performances — especially Ramsey, who is called on to reveal more of Diggle’s vulnerable side and the confusing mix of emotions he has after learning his brother is alive and working for Damien Darhk. I wish Felicity’s origin story didn’t revolve around another man/romantic interest. Villains from the HIVE want to destroy the livelihood of the city and our main hero must stand against the darkness once again and use his detective skills and trusty bow in order to wipe out the opposition. This is not a masterpiece that will forever be engraved in the history of television, but it is still something very compelling and sincere. Forcing the show’s moral center a.k.a. His will and determination did not deteriorate even a little. Diggle and Arrow learn of his next target on this key episode. Throughout its run, Arrow never clearly explained the purpose of its version of the League of Assassins (outside of Malcolm’s one line about it shaping world events in this episode). Can he catch a break? Nothing will ever feel as good as the moment in which Oliver reveals his identity to Thea. As flashbacks reveal the saddening dissolution of Oliver and Slade’s friendship, the present day storyline follows Oliver as he’s forced to accompany his mother and sister on a tense and unsettling tour of the Queen Mansion with Slade, the man who vowed to kill everyone he loves. Having Oliver revisit key moments when he developed the strong bonds with the Arrowverse’s other heroes made sense since the final season did something similar with him and Arrow‘s characters; however, the hour rushes through the past scenes, and the Speed Force setup isn’t super convincing. The rift between Original Team Arrow and the New Team Arrow finally crescendos into outright violence. Freshly released from prison, Oliver readjusts to life back in Star City, which means figuring out Green Arrow’s place in the new city order and processing how much Felicity changed while he was on the inside, both strong story points. But it’s surprisingly Laurel who shakes him out of his delusions, not with some emotional plea but rather by opening Oliver’s eyes to the fact that Slade, now armed with a Mirakuru army, isn’t just going to just stop the violence after he kills Oliver. The fusion of style, design, and solid writing make it compelling for people. —C.A. It’s the perfect foreshadowing for her eventual promotion to hero herself (watching her successfully use Oliver’s bow while still realistically struggling with it was *chef’s kiss*). There’s nothing better than seeing your favorite superheroes team-up, and the second part of the crossover captures that feeling throughout its run time. Diggle to contend with Waller (Cynthia Addai Robinson) and her band of evil villains was like Christmas came early. Tommy Merlyn as Prometheus! If you want to watch the latest season of Arrow, download episodes now from our partners! This setup leads to one of the show’s best moments: a fight sequence told entirely from Felicity’s perspective. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really work because the episodes leading up this didn’t firmly establish what their dynamic was beyond their shared love for Thea (Willa Holland), colorful hoodies, and parkour, and “Guilty” devotes too much precious real estate to Ted Grant’s failed partnership with his old sidekick. It is still a very good drama with an intriguing plot that has a lot of weird turns and well-written conversations. The gimmick is fun, but it feels like the show doesn’t take full advantage of this framing device. —S.B. You want to watch Arrow Season 1 online because if you haven't seen it, you are not relevant. – and the high-stakes payoff of the impending Crisis arriving sooner than anyone expected with the destruction of Earth-2, the jam-packed hour still took time to have fun and reward longtime fans. Meanwhile, the city’s New Green Arrow is revealed to be Emiko Queen (Sea Shimooka), Oliver’s secret half-sister. On paper, that sounds like a compelling and fraught story, and the writers and actors take full advantage of the setup, with all of the latter delivering series best work.