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In anticipation of the fast-approaching premiere of ‘Arrow’ Season 5, which already promises a new Team Arrow now that Diggle and Thea have left the team, not to mention showing off some Flashpoint repercussions, the CW has finally gotten around to releasing a full synopsis of the premiere episode of the season, which sheds some light on how things are going to happen this season.

Here’s the full synopsis:

“After Laurel’s (Katie Cassidy) death and the departures of both Diggle (David Ramsey) and Thea (Willa Holland) from Team Arrow, Oliver (Stephen Amell) takes to the streets solo to protect Star City’s citizens as the Green Arrow. With Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) guiding him from the bunker, Oliver is forced to deal with a city that has become overrun with both criminals and a slew of new (and painfully inexperienced) vigilantes. Watching Oliver try to balance his jobs as both the mayor and also the protector of Star City, Felicity suggests he form a new team, but Oliver resists. However, when a deadly new criminal, Tobias Church (guest star Chad L. Coleman), enters the picture, Oliver realizes the best thing for the city might be a new team of superheroes. Meanwhile, the flashbacks take us to Russia where Oliver faces off against the Brava. James Bamford directed the episode with story by Greg Berlanti and a teleplay by Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle.”

First of all, it seems like Tobias Church may not play as major a role in the entire season as we figured, as the synopsis makes it sound like he might only be appearing in this episode. Also, it is interesting to learn that Oliver went back to solo crime-fighting and saw that it does not work as well as he thought it would, hence why he would need to reform a new team Arrow. Also strangely enough, there is no mention of any changes to the show due to the Flashpoint storyline, which is odd considering we had heard it would be felt on ‘Arrow.’ Furthermore, Executive Producer Wendy Mericle (and one of the writers of the episode) stated the following about Diggle’s storyline during a recent interview with TV Line:

“[Diggle’s] stationed in Chechnya. He’s still in the military, and he’s very much a man without a state. He’s away from his family, and he’s away from the team, so he’s away from that family. He’s trying to figure out how he can get that sense of himself back after killing his brother. He’s not going to love all these little upstarts, trying to take over his role, but he’ll adjust. He’s going to find some common ground with Wild Dog, and that will help take the sting out of it.”

What are your thoughts on the synopsis? Do you really think that the Green Arrow cannot function alone, and needs a team around him? Did you cringe when they mentioned the flashbacks for the season, arguable the worst plot device of the show? Share your opinions on ‘Arrow’ Season 5 in the comments below!

Season 5 of ‘Arrow’ premieres on Wednesday October 5 at 8pm on the CW network. 

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Nick is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, who belongs to the privileged few who enjoyed the ending to ‘Lost.’ For more of Nick’s thoughts and articles, follow him on Twitter.