SPOILERS FOR ALL OF ARROW

Arrow when it began in 2012 had a bit of a rocky start in its first season. It had a great characterization of the Green Arrow but I felt there wasn’t a strong and clear direction that the show was taking. However has it progressed I ended up being satisfied with where the season went and how it concluded. I was optimistic for a second season and did I ever have my expectations blown out of the water. The show found a great stride in its second season, it was emotionally satisfying and the story became more and more interesting with each passing episode. Not to mention having one of the best live action comic book villain portrayals we have ever seen in Manu Bennett’s Deathstroke.

With a pretty good first season and a stellar follow up season I had been pretty excited about the third season. My expectations were sky high. However has the season went along I became increasingly disappointed with it especially after the great mid-season finale where our main character had died. The rest of the season failed to live up to the potential of the mid-season finale despite having so many great story possibilities in front of them. To spare all of you I won’t even bother ranting about the disaster of Laurel Lance and where they took her character. In the end season three wasn’t awful it just didn’t live up to the great potential it has. Sure I didn’t love the third season I though it was pretty average and was by far the weakest season up to this point. Unfortunately season four felt it was destined to take everything that people didn’t like about the third season and crank it up to 100. The fourth season was filled with melodramatic character arcs, forced fan inspired relationships and a villain with a plot to destroy not only just Star City (which has been the evil plan in every season so far, which is really annoying) but the entire world. Seems like a huge task for a guy with a bow and arrow doesn’t it? The season decided to follow in the footsteps of Smallville season four and introduce us to magic, which didn’t mesh well with the grounded world that Oliver and company had been facing in the previous three seasons. The good moments were to and far between to even make a lasting positive impact.

In the end I truly hated the fourth season and I was ready to give up on the show completely. Although for whatever reason, despite thinking the show was beyond saving, I chose to give the fifth season a chance. To my surprise I thought it presented interesting place for each and every character to be in. Initially I wasn’t sure how I felt about the new band of heroes that Oliver was putting together, I thought it would feel hokey and like their dynamics were being forced. Again to my surprise I ended up liking the teams dynamic and genuine chemistry. I have particularly liked Ragman I have found him to have the most interesting backstory, unfortunately it hasn’t been fully realized yet but I’m hopeful that will change. It’s also quite interesting to see Oliver as the Mayor of Star City. It’s a nice new fresh dynamic that really compliments his other life as the Green Arrow.

To top off all the great things season five has done so far is this seasons “big bad”, Prometheus. He has been one of the most interesting and mysterious characters we’ve ever seen in this series. He has proven to be formidable foe and has done a great job of causing a great deal of pain and anguish to Team Arrow but specifically Oliver. Prometheus knows who Oliver is and is putting him through hell and anyone who is or has ever been close to him. Prometheus is easily right up there with Slade Wilson as the best villain Oliver has faced, he gives me chills whenever he is on screen. Perhaps the best part of this character is the mystery behind who he is, which ultimately could have been the characters downfall. Luckily that isn’t the case. It has only made things more interesting. With the recent reveal of Prometheus being Adrian Chase it has only raised more questions where as I expected clarity. Which I am quite happy that the show has given us what we’ve been asking for but also not showing us all of their cards.

The twist on Prometheus being Adrian Chase works extremely well due to him not even being on comic fans radar. Chase in the comics is the alter-ego for the character of Vigilante, who we have also seen this season. So I felt safe in just assuming that Chase would be Vigilante and that would be a cool little surprise for the audience members who aren’t fans of the comics. Thankfully the show runners thought it would be fun to mix things up and change up how things are in the comics. Now for me this twist works really well as Vigilante is lower than a D-Level character, unlike the Mandarin in Iron Man 3 who had the potential to be the Joker to Iron Mans Batman. This twist is impactful, its exciting and just plain interesting. Of course this does raise many more questions like, who is Vigilante if not Chase? Is he really secretly the son of one of Olivers targets from his early days? What is his end goal? How does he know what he knows about Oliver and the rest of the team? All of these question, possibilities and the other great things in this season so far is what has gotten me back on board with Arrow after it had fallen so far from grace. I am excited once again to watch this show week to week like I was during the second season. The show doesn’t feel like a chore to watch and I absolutely love that. I can’t wait for this weeks episode and I for the rest of this season which I will do a full review on once it has concluded.

So there it is that is my complicated love/hate relationship with Arrow. What are your thoughts on Arrow has a whole so far? What do you think of season five? Who is your favourite villain Oliver has gone up against? Let me know by commenting down below or by starting a conversation with me on twitter or instagram (@nerdycasual). Also while your thinking about social media why not share this article with all of your friends who are Arrow fans and maybe have felt the way I have. As always thank you so much for reading, take care.