Arrow Episode Review: "Legacy"

My wife and I have enjoyed this show ever since discovering it on Netflix a couple years ago and, I didn't hesitate to watch the season premiere last night. However, while we both still enjoy the series, I did think it lost a little bit of steam and just wasn't as good as it was in the earlier seasons. I hoped that would be corrected with the season 5 premiere. However, I don't think it was.

Another series my wife and I used to enjoy was the show "House." We started losing interest in that series a few seasons in, when the show writers decided to give the title character (Hugh Laurie) a brand new team to work with. I started having flashbacks to that when Oliver ultimately decided to do the same thing.

Don't get me wrong. I'm still holding out hope his new group of yet-to-be-named vigilantes will breathe some new life in the series. But, considering the top candidate, so far, is a guy wearing a hockey mask (wasn't that already done on "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?") I'm finding myself a little skeptical.

Yes, there's still the chance his old team will eventually return too (as was also the case with "House"). But, if that happens, I just think it will water down the series more. After all, it seems like there are already way too many people who know the Green Arrow's identity. And I'm sure that list is going to eventually include Felicity's new boyfriend (Tyler Ritter) too.

I'm also not a big fan of Oliver deciding to get back in the habit of killing the bad guys. While his "no-kill" persona was, admittedly, a little dull at times, him reverting back because of his decision to kill Damien Dahrk (Neal McDonough) seems to be taking things a little too far in the opposite direction. The writers couldn't have simply given him some balance? He no longer has a "no kill" vow but reserves lethal force for more extreme instances?

This being said, I do think the introduction of Tobias Church came at just the right moment. He's charismatic and is Oliver's equal as far as fighting skills go without the whole magical idol garbage we had to suffer through during his conflict with Darhk. If anything will save this series, it will be him.

As I said, I'm still not sure about this "build a new team" concept. Personally, I think he would have been better off finding someone else to be mayor so he could focus on his vigilante duties. Depending on who he ends up selecting, it could either breathe new life in a series that is losing its early mojo or help cause its early demise. Unfortunately, at least based on this first episode, I'm not sure which that will be just yet.

My Grade: C