The fifth season of the American television series '' Arrow'' premiered on

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

on October 5, 2016, and concluded on May 24, 2017, with a total of 23 episodes. The series is based on the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

character Green Arrow, a costumed crime-fighter created by

Mort Weisinger Mortimer Weisinger (; April 25, 1915 – May 7, 1978) was an American magazine and comic book editor best known for editing DC Comics' ''Superman'' during the mid-1950s to 1960s, in the Silver Age of comic books. He also co-created such features a ...

and

George Papp George Edward Papp (January 20, 1916 – August 8, 1989) was an American comics artist best known as one of the principal artists on the long-running Superboy feature for DC Comics. Papp also co-created the Green Arrow character with Mort Weising ...

, and is set in the

Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American superhero media franchise and a shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series on CW See ...

, sharing continuity with other Arrowverse television series. The showrunners for this season were

Marc Guggenheim Marc Guggenheim (born September 24, 1970) is an American screenwriter, television producer, comic book writer, and novelist. He is best known as the creator of the television series '' Eli Stone'' (2008–2009), ''Arrow'' (2012– 2020), and ''Leg ...

and

Wendy Mericle Wendy Mericle is an American television writer and producer. She is known for her work on the ABC dramedy ''Desperate Housewives'' and The CW's superhero series ''Arrow''. Life and career From the age of seven on, Mericle grew up without a te ...

Stephen Amell Stephen Adam Amell (born May 8, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He came to prominence for playing the lead role of Oliver Queen on The CW superhero series ''Arrow'' (2012–2020). Amell also appeared in subsequent Arrowverse franchise media, along wi ...

stars as

Oliver Queen Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 in November 1941. His secret identity, real name is Olive ...

, with principal cast members David Ramsey as

John Diggle John William Diggle (2 March 1847 – 24 March 1920) was an English Anglican bishop. He was Archdeacon of Westmorland from 1896 to 1901, Archdeacon of Birmingham from 1903 to 1904, and Bishop of Carlisle from 1905 to his death in 1920. Early ...

Willa Holland Willa Holland is an American actress and model. She is known for her roles as Kaitlin Cooper in the Fox teen drama '' The O.C.'', Agnes Andrews in The CW series '' Gossip Girl'', Aqua in ''Kingdom Hearts'', and Thea Queen / Speedy in ''Arrow' ...

Thea Queen Thea Dearden Queen, also known as Speedy, is a fictional character portrayed by Willa Holland on The CW television series '' Arrow'', created by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg. She is the maternal half-sister of series pro ...

Emily Bett Rickards Emily Bett Rickards (born July 24, 1991) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Felicity Smoak on The CW series ''Arrow'', her first television credit. She has also reprised the role in the Arrowverse shows ''The Flash'', ''Legend ...

Felicity Smoak Felicity Smoak is a fictional character appearing in comics published by DC Comics. Her first appearance was in ''The Fury of Firestorm'' #23 (May 1984), created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Rafael Kayanan. She was originally the manager of ...

, and

Paul Blackthorne Paul Blackthorne (born 5 March 1969) is an English actor. Although born in Shropshire, he spent his early childhood on UK military bases in Britain and Germany. Blackthorne broke into acting via television commercials in England. His breakthro ...

Quentin Lance ''Arrow (TV series), Arrow'' is an American Superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, a costumed crime-fighter created by Mor ...

also returning from previous seasons. They are joined by

Echo Kellum Echo Kellum (born August 29, 1982) is an American actor and comedian. Kellum is best known for his roles as Curtis Holt on The CW drama series ''Arrow'', Tommy on the FOX sitcom ''Ben and Kate'', and Hunter on NBC's ''Sean Saves the World''. E ...

as Curtis Holt, who was promoted to a series regular from his recurring status in the previous season, and new cast member

Josh Segarra Josh Segarra (born June 3, 1986) is an American actor. He is known for his roles on the television series ''The Electric Company'', '' Sirens'', and ''Arrow'' as well as for originating the role of Emilio Estefan in the musical ''On Your Feet!''. ...

. The series follows billionaire playboy

(

), who claimed to have spent five years shipwrecked on

Lian Yu Lian Yu (; born 1886) was a diplomat, politician, judicial officer and lawyer in the Republic of China. He was an important politician during the Reformed Government of the Republic of China and Wang Jingwei regime (Republic of China-Nanjing). ...

, a mysterious island in the North China Sea, before returning home to

Starling City Star City is a fictional city that appears in stories published by DC Comics, best known as the traditional home of the superheroes known by, or affiliated with, the shared alias of Green Arrow. Beyond that, it is also known to other characters ...

(later renamed "Star City") to fight crime and corruption as a secret vigilante whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrow. In the fifth season, Oliver trains a new group of vigilantes, Rene Ramirez / Wild Dog (

Rick Gonzalez Rick Gonzalez (born June 30, 1979) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his roles as Timo Cruz in the motion picture ''Coach Carter'', as Spanish in '' Old School'', as Ben Gonzalez on the CW supernatural drama television series ' ...

), Curtis Holt / Mister Terrific, Evelyn Sharp / Artemis (Madison McLaughlin), and Rory Regan / Ragman (

Joe Dinicol Joe Dinicol (born December 22, 1983) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his portrayal of Rory Regan / Ragman in a recurring role in the fifth season of ''Arrow''. Life and career Dinicol was born in Stratford, Ontario, the son of Emma (née ...

) to join his war on crime following Laurel Lance's death and Diggle and Thea's resignation. He also recruits a new Black Canary; former police detective Dinah Drake ( Juliana Harkavy). Oliver tries to balance vigilantism with his new role as mayor, yet is threatened by the mysterious and deadly

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning " forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, kn ...

(Josh Segarra), who has a connection to Oliver's past. Oliver is also forced to contend with Prometheus' ally Black Siren (

Katie Cassidy Katherine Evelyn Anita Cassidy (formerly Rodgers) (born November 25, 1986) is an American actress. Following several minor television roles, she came to attention as a scream queen after starring in the horror films '' When a Stranger Calls'' ...

), an Earth-2 criminal doppelganger of Laurel. The season features flashbacks to Oliver's fifth year since he was presumed dead, where he joins the

Bratva Russian organized crime or Russian mafia (, ), otherwise known as Bratva (), is a collective of various organized crime elements originating in the former Soviet Union. The initialism OPG is Organized Criminal (''prestupnaya'' in Russian) Gro ...

in Russia as part of a plot to assassinate Konstantin Kovar (

Dolph Lundgren Hans Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957), better known as Dolph Lundgren, is a Swedish actor, filmmaker and martial artist. His breakthrough came in 1985, when he starred in '' Rocky IV'' as the imposing Soviet boxer Ivan Drago. Since then, Lu ...

). There, he meets and is trained by

Talia al Ghul Talia al Ghul ( ar, تاليا الغول; ) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. The character was created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Bob Brown (comics), ...

(

Lexa Doig Alexandra Doig (born June 8, 1973) is a Canadian actress. She played the title role in the science fiction television series '' Andromeda'' (2000–2005). She also played the lead female role of Rowan in the science fiction-action horror film ...

), as a hooded archer, before returning to Lian Yu. The series was renewed for its fifth season on March 11, 2016, and filming began in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia, Canada British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

on July 5, 2016, and ended in April 2017. The season received positive reviews from critics who viewed it as an improvement over the third and fourth seasons. This season includes the third annual Arrowverse crossover with TV series '' The Flash'' and new spin-off ''

Legends of Tomorrow ''DC's Legends of Tomorrow'', or simply ''Legends of Tomorrow'', is an American time travel superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil Klemmer, who are also executive producers a ...

'', and also features Kara Danvers / Supergirl from ''

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...

''. The season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 18 and 19, 2017. The series was renewed for a sixth season on January 8, 2017.

Episodes

Cast and characters

Main

as Oliver Queen / Green Arrow * David Ramsey as John Diggle / Spartan *

as Thea Queen / Speedy *

as Felicity Smoak / Overwatch *

as Curtis Holt / Mister Terrific *

as Adrian Chase / Prometheus *

Recurring

as Laurel Lance and Laurel Lance / Black Canary *

as Rene Ramirez / Wild Dog * Chad L. Coleman as Tobias Church * Adrian Holmes as Frank Pike *

Mike Dopud Mike Dopud ( sr, Majk Dopuđ, ''Мајк Допуђ'') is a Canadian actor, stuntman, and former football player known for his supporting roles on television. His best-known roles include Vic Hadfield in the miniseries ''Canada Russia '72'', Ja ...

Viktor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

David Nykl David Nykl (born 7 February 1967) is a Czech-Canadian actor of film, television, commercials and theater. He is best known for portraying Dr. Radek Zelenka in the SyFy television series ''Stargate Atlantis'' and Anatoly Knyazev in the DC Com ...

as Anatoly Knyazev * Tyler Ritter as Billy Malone * Madison McLaughlin as Evelyn Sharp / Artemis *

as Rory Regan / Ragman *

Audrey Marie Anderson Audrey Marie Anderson (born March 7, 1975) is an American actress and model. She is best known for her role as Kim Brown in the CBS action-drama series ''The Unit'' (2006–2009) and her recurring roles as DC character Lyla Michaels / Harbinger ...

as Lyla Michaels *

Carly Pope Carly Pope (born August 28, 1980) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles on The WB's drama series ''Popular'' (1999–2001), supernatural drama series ''The Collector'' (2004–2005), USA Network's legal drama series '' Suits'' ...

as Susan Williams *

as Konstantin Kovar *

David Meunier David Meunier (born David Miller; February 5, 1973) is an American actor. Early life Meunier was born in Woodburn, Oregon. He played football in high school, and a teammate convinced him to try out for a school production of ''Guys and Dolls''. ...

as Ishmael Gregor *

John Barrowman John Scot Barrowman (born 11 March 1967) is a Scottish-American actor, author, presenter, singer and comic book writer. He is known for his role as Captain Jack Harkness in ''Doctor Who'' and '' Torchwood'', and as Malcolm Merlyn in the Arrowv ...

as Malcolm Merlyn / Dark Archer * Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake / Black Canary *

Kacey Rohl Kacey Rohl (born August 6, 1991) is a Canadian actress. She is known for playing Sterling Fitch in the television crime drama '' The Killing'', Prudence in the 2011 dark fantasy film ''Red Riding Hood'', and Abigail Hobbs in the television drama ...

as Alena Whitlock

Guest

Production

Development

On March 11, 2016,

renewed ''Arrow'' for a fifth season.

and

served as the season's showrunners.

Writing

While ''Arrow'' began as a "grounded, gritty" series that focused on realism, following the introduction of ''The Flash'' in the same universe, it started embracing fantastical elements. Stephen Amell revealed that, in contrast, the

Big Bad Big Bad (abbreviated to BB or BBEG for ''big bad evil guy'') is a term to describe a major recurring adversary, usually the chief villain or antagonist in a particular broadcast season, originally used by the ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' televi ...

of the fifth season would not have any superpowers, and also confirmed that the season would follow the more realistic approach of the first two seasons. Nevertheless, he later confirmed that the events of '' The Flash'' season 2 finale, which ended with

Barry Allen / Flash Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 1950 ...

traveling back in time to save

his mother ''His Mother'' is a 1912 American silent film produced by Kalem Company. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Gene Gauntier and Jack J. Clark in the leading roles. It was one of more than a dozen films produced by the Kalem Company filmed in Ir ...

from murder, would affect the events of the fifth season of ''Arrow''. Guggenheim expanded upon this, saying

would be the most notable to be affected. The second episode of ''The Flash'' season 3 reveals that Diggle's daughter Sara has been erased from existence and replaced with a son named John Diggle Jr. as a result of Barry's time travel. Guggenheim described "legacy" as the theme of the fifth season: "The idea sOliver honoring Black Canary’s [

] legacy after [Laurel Lance's] death last year ..What we’re doing is we’re dramatizing Oliver's desire to grow, move forward, and evolve, but this concept of legacy keeps threatening to pull him back to the early days", and that Oliver would be indirectly responsible for the creation behind Prometheus, the season's Big Bad. Although Guggenheim initially stated this Prometheus was an original creation not based on the comics character of the same name created by

Grant Morrison Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, humanist philosophy and countercultural leanings. Morrison has written extensively for th ...

, his civilian identity is later revealed as

Adrian Chase Adrian Chase is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the second DC character to bear the name Vigilante. The character made his live-action debut in the Arrowverse series ''Arrow'', portrayed by Josh Sega ...

. The comics version of the character is

Vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who ...

, but Mericle explained he was made Prometheus for the series "because everybody would be thinking, 'Of course he's going to be Vigilante,' ..We thought it would be a really fun twist to… take the comic-book mythology and turn it on its head and see what kind of story we can mine from a surprise like that." Season five's flashbacks focus on Oliver's time in Russia, and explain how he learned Russian and received the Bratva tattoo. It is also the final season to focus on the flashbacks depicting Oliver's five-year period as a castaway. Guggenheim revealed that, unlike previous seasons, the fifth season finale would not have Star City in danger, and would not even take place there. Instead, the episode, titled "

" takes place on the island of the same name.

Casting

Main cast members Stephen Amell, David Ramsey,

and

return from previous seasons as Oliver Queen / Green Arrow, John Diggle / Spartan,

and

, respectively.

, who recurred as Curtis Holt in season four, was promoted to series regular for season five, while

joined the season as Adrian Chase.

Michael Dorn Michael Dorn (born December 9, 1952) is an American actor best known for his role as the Klingon Worf in the '' Star Trek'' franchise. He has appeared more times as a regular cast member than any other ''Star Trek'' actor in the franchise's hist ...

voiced the character when disguised as Prometheus. Katie Cassidy, who starred as Laurel Lance in the first four seasons, returned as the character in a guest capacity, and recurred as the character's Earth-2 doppelganger Black Siren, a character introduced in season two of ''The Flash''.

, who portrayed Malcolm Merlyn on ''Arrow'' as a regular during seasons two and three, signed a contract with

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

that allowed him to continue being a regular on ''Arrow'' as well as the other Arrowverse shows, including ''The Flash'' and ''

''. Former series regulars

Susanna Thompson Susanna Thompson (born January 27, 1958) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in films '' Little Giants'' (1994), '' Ghosts of Mississippi'' (1996), ''Random Hearts'' (1999) and ''Dragonfly'' (2002). On television, Thompson played Dr ...

and

Manu Bennett Jonathan Manu Bennett (born 10 October 1969) is a New Zealand actor. He is primarily known for portraying characters in epic fantasy works, such as Crixus in the TV series ''Spartacus'', Allanon in '' The Shannara Chronicles'', Slade Wilson / ...

returned to the season in guest roles as

Moira Queen Quakemaster Moira Queen Moira Queen is the mother of Oliver Queen/the Green Arrow. She and her husband Robert were killed by lions during an African safari. Moira Queen in other media Moira Queen was portrayed by Susanna Thompson in The CW' ...

and Slade Wilson, respectively. Thea was significantly absent during the season, and Guggenheim explained that Holland was only contracted to appear in 14 of the season's 23 episodes. Chad L. Coleman recurred in the first few episodes as crime lord Tobias Church. The character is not based on any existing DC Comics character; Coleman called him " Jay Z, Dr. Dre, and Suge Knight all rolled into one".

recurs in the role of Wild Dog, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. However, his civilian name for the series is Rene Ramirez, unlike the comics where it is Jack Wheeler. Gonzalez said he auditioned for the season without knowing what role he would play, until the series' costume designer Maya Mani told him he would be playing Wild Dog; Gonzalez was surprised since he expected he would be cast as a non-vigilante. Madison McLaughlin, who previously appeared in the season four episode " Canary Cry" as Evelyn Sharp, a teenager who briefly assumed the Black Canary mantle, returned for the fifth season in a recurring capacity with the character now assuming the moniker Artemis, named after the comics character

Artemis Crock Artemis Crock is a fictional comic book character, appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in ''Infinity, Inc.'' #34 (January 1987), she has appeared as both a supervillain and superhero, usually using her first ...

. In November 2016, it was announced that Juliana Harkavy would play Tina Boland in a recurring role; her character was later revealed to be Dinah Drake, named after the first Black Canary in the comics.

Design

Maya Mani returned to design costumes for the fifth season. Oliver's Green Arrow costume of the season was designed to look almost exactly like the one worn in season four, one notable change being the re-introduction of sleeves from previous costumes, which the fourth season costume eschewed. In the season, Diggle replaces his Spartan helmet, which was introduced in season four, with a new one. Ramsey said this new helmet can do "extraordinary things", apart from being just about conceallment. Concept artist Andy Poon said the new helmet offers Diggle "full protection". He added that, since Diggle's codename is Spartan, he decided to make the helmet resemble "an actual

spartan Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta refe ...

helmet design". The earlier helmet was criticized by fans for its resemblance to that worn by the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

character

Magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

and Poon, a comic book fan himself, thought the new helmet would fix "the issues regarding some of the fan feedback about he older helmetlooking similar to other comic book characters". The Wild Dog costume was designed to look exactly as it does in the comics, by consisting of simply a sweatshirt and hockey gear. Gonzalez confirmed it reflects who the character is. Dinah Drake's vigilante costume in the season includes a mask resembling the Black Canary mask in the comics, along with a leather jacket.

Filming

Filming for the season began on July 5, 2016 in Vancouver, and ended in April 2017.

Arrowverse tie-ins

During the fifth season, ''Arrow'' was a part of the " Invasion!" crossover event with ''The Flash'' and ''Legends of Tomorrow''. The event also saw

Melissa Benoist Melissa Marie Benoist ( ; born October 4, 1988) is an American actress, singer and producer. Her first major role was Marley Rose on the Fox musical comedy drama '' Glee'' (2012–2014), where she was a series regular during the fifth season. ...

reprising her role as Kara Danvers / Supergirl from ''

''. The ''Arrow'' portion of the crossover is also the series' 100th episode.

Release

Broadcast

The season began airing in the United States on

on October 5, 2016, and completed its 23-episode run on May 24, 2017.

Home media

The season was released on DVD on September 18, 2017, and on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

the following day. It began streaming on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

on June 1, 2017.

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported an 88% approval rating based on 13 critics reviews, with an average rating of 7.38 out of 10. The website's critical consensus reads, "No stranger to dramatic twists and turns, season five of ''Arrow'' continues to introduce new villains and surprise viewers despite some inconsistency." Jesse Schedeen of ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' gave the entire season a rating of 8.7 out of 10. He said the season's biggest flaw was "that it tried to juggle more characters and conflicts than was really feasible", but praised the writers for downplaying Oliver-Felicity's romance in favor of focusing on Felicity's induction into Helix. He called Prometheus "the series' best villain since Deathstroke" due to Segarra's performance and the "very personal nature of his feud with Oliver Queen", adding that the "personal nature of that conflict tended to bring out the best in Amell's acting". Schedeen noted that the season's flashbacks suffered from some of the same problems in the flashbacks of season 3 and 4 which did "little more than filling space and drawing pointless parallels between past and present", but still called the season 5 flashbacks "a significant improvement. It helps that the flashbacks were used to fill in a key hole in the ''Arrow'' tapestry". He added that while the finales of season 3 and 4 only managed to worsen them, in contrast the season 5 finale "proved to be not just the best episode of Season 5, but of the series as a whole". Schedeen concluded with verdict that the series "bounced back from a prolonged slump in Season 5, proving that the series still has plenty of life left." Reviewing the season premiere, Caroline Preece of ''

Den of Geek ''Den of Geek'' is a US and UK-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a bi-annual magazine. History ''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ...

'' called it "a return to the heights of season one in all the best ways". She praised it for returning to the series' grounded and gritty nature, saying "This is what ''Arrow'' should always have been – the slightly grimy street level counterpart to the ever-expanding roster of cheesier, brighter series like ''Supergirl'' or ''Legends of Tomorrow''. It should be the Batman to your Superman." Tyler McCarthy of the same website called the season finale "mixed bag to say the least, but it really came together in the end. Season five had a lot riding on it, especially after the shark-jumping events of season four ..In the end, the show did its job and delivered a complicated crime drama that factored masked heroes in as key cogs in the larger machine – with some aliens thrown in for good measure." Reviewing the same episode, Alasdair Wilkins of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' said, "Taken in isolation, "Lian Yu" is a strong but probably not superlative episode. Other episodes have had bigger action beats, better observed character moments, stronger points to make about who Oliver is and what his existence as the Green Arrow means. But this episode climbs into the uppermost echelon of ''Arrow'' episodes because it taps directly into everything that has come before it."

Ratings

Accolades

, - ! scope="row" rowspan="10" , 2017 , rowspan="3" ,

Leo Awards The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...

, Best Cinematography Dramatic Series , data-sort-value="Whiting-Hewlett, Shamus" , Shamus Whiting-Hewlett (" Sins of the Father") , , , - , Best Lead Performance by a Female Dramatic Series , data-sort-value="Rickards, Emily Bett" , Emily Bett Rickards (" Who Are You?") , , , - , Best Stunt Coordination Dramatic Series , data-sort-value="Braconnier, Curtis" , Curtis Braconnier, Eli Zagoudakis (" What We Leave Behind") , , , - ,

MTV Movie & TV Awards The MTV Movie & TV Awards (formerly the MTV Movie Awards) is a film and television awards show presented annually on MTV. The first MTV Movie Awards were presented in 1992. The ceremony was renamed the MTV Movie & TV Awards for its 26th editio ...

, Best Hero , data-sort-value="Amell, Stephen" , Stephen Amell , , , - ,

People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls until ...

, Favorite Network TV Sci-Fi/Fantasy , data-sort-value="Arrow" , ''Arrow'' , , , - ,

Saturn Awards The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...

, Best Superhero Adaptation Television Series , data-sort-value="Arrow" , ''Arrow'' , , , - , rowspan="4" ,

Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards is an annual awards show that airs on the Fox television network. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, film, sports, television, fashion, social media, and more, voted by viewers living in the United ...

, Choice Action TV Actor , data-sort-value="Amell, Stephen" , Stephen Amell , , , - , Choice Action TV Actress , data-sort-value="Rickards, Emily Bett" , Emily Bett Rickards , , , - , Choice Action TV Show , data-sort-value="Arrow" , ''Arrow'' , , , - , Choice TV Villain , data-sort-value="Segarra, Josh" ,

, ,

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Arrowverse Arrow (TV series) seasons 2016 American television seasons 2017 American television seasons Television series set in 2011 Television series set in 2012