Can Arrow recapture the magic? Once The CW's most popular show, The Flash now occupies that spot and it's likely Supergirl will retain enough of its CBS fanbase to push Arrow into the number three spot. Still, Stephen Amell and co. kickstarted the entire DCTV Universe and thus serves as the foundation so the producers and writers must be feeling a certain amount of pressure to return the show to its former glory.
The cast and crew have all stated they're trying to recapture the tone of Season One and Stephen Amell told Comicbook.com as much, following Arrow's SDCC pane last night. "Thus far, [I'm] very [happy with the tone of season 5]. There haven't really been any cliffhangers; this season feels very grounded and very patient to me. It's a patience that's earned over the course of a couple of years. If you produce a quality episode, someone doesn't need to appear from the grave at the end." Funny enough, the season 5 trailer opens with a shot of Laurel Lance's grave, however, we now know Katie Cassidy has signed a contract to appear as a regular across the entire DCTV universe so odds are, there's going to be some grave rising at some point. But will it happen on Arrow or on another show? If it does occur on Arrow, it sounds as if it won't happen right away. "It feels very much like we are taking our time and really setting things up for everything to just go f***ing crazy in the second half of the year."
As for what's happening in Oliver Queen's civilian life, it seems he's doing a pretty abysmal job as Star City mayor. Stephen Amell has even harsher words for the job Ollie is doing. "Oliver's doing a sh*t job as Mayor. He's not doing a good job. He ran for the Mayoral office and got elected (unopposed) based on a lot of heartfelt sentiment, but because he is alone, and doesn't have his team, he doesn't have time to be the Mayor. So Thea's basically doing all that stuff for him."
Arrow season 5 will premiere on The CW October 5 at 8/7c.