Can the arrow ever been the ordinary Oliver Queen again? just when he thought the battle against crime has been minimized to the lowest level, a new enemy is born.
What a breath of fresh air Routh's Ray Palmer is! Obviously the character was conceived in no small part as a complement to Emily Bett Rickards' take on Felicity.
The Flash is getting all the plaudits right now, but that's the new and shiny (and so far, very solid) thing. We've gotten used to Arrow at this point, but in the way where we expect goodness from it. And "The Calm" delivered on that.
It makes for an effective season opener, setting up storylines and characters that the show will no doubt build upon to form another monstrous year of action and drama.