Suburbia. Jogging, making breakfast, love-making before work. Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) and Oliver (Stephen Amell) are living the American dream. Cutesy and conventional. In a word dull.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

While the retired Arrow sets up shop in the land of picket fences and mimosas, Starling City is facing a new threat named “The Ghosts”. This team of bad guys are systematically taking out the city’s leadership in order to place the mysterious Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) in a position to destroy the city once and for all. McDonough is an excellent character actor with a long resume in television, films and voice-overs for cartoons and video games.

The new protectors of the realm, Diggle (David Ramsey), Thea (Willa Holland) & Laurel (Katie Cassidy) have done their best to defeat, or at the very least contain, their new enemies but are over their heads. While Diggle still bears a grudge against Oliver for his actions in the battle against Ra’s Al Ghul, Laurel & Thea recognize that they need the Arrow. Since Felicity was already getting bored in the burbs, she is thrilled to dive back into the adrenaline rush of taking out the bad guys but Oliver is worried to venture back into the darkness he has fought so hard to leave behind. New mission, new team, new suit. The groundwork of season four is set.

Season four is a critical turning point for Arrow. For me, the show lost a lot of steam with the drawn out Ra’s conflict. I must admit though, the premiere has me intrigued. Outside of Diggle’s ridiculous new Magneto-esque helmet and the never ending return to that dumb island flashbacks, Damien Darhk is a tantalizing villain to deal with, the power struggle that is sure to ensue between Oliver & Diggle is engaging and the end flash-forward will have us guessing all season. In regards to Darhk, McDonough is an excellent character actor with a long resume in television, films and voice-overs for cartoons and video games and he lends a cold maniacal tone to the meta-physical bad guy.

Arrow’s first two seasons were masterful in my humble opinion but like many shows, season three was a scatter-brained mess. Time will tell if Arrow can get back on track and I really hope it can.

3 Arrows of 5