+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior season of Arrow, but no major season 5 spoilers.+++
Season 5 picks up with Oliver still reeling over Laurel's death at the hands of Damien Dhark while still discharging his duties as mayor. He is encouraged by Felicity to work with a new team of vigilantes, including Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog (played by Rick Gonzalez), Evelyn Sharp/Artemis (played by Madison McLaughlin), Rory Regan/Ragman (played by Joe Dinicol), Curtis Holt/Mister Terrific (played by Echo Kellum), and Dinah Drake/Black Canary (played by Juliana Harkavy). There is a bit of a swerve in the identity of the season's big bad, with a reveal that occurs later in the season. The season flashbacks to the fifth (and last) year of Oliver's life before being rescued. That portion of the story heavily involves Oliver in Russia working with Anatoly against Konstantin Kovar, a tyrant played by Dolph Lundgren. The season ends on a major cliffhanger with the fate of many of the team members in limbo.
For those who get the blu-ray set, the A/V quality is pretty much the same as it has been for the prior season releases. The 23 episodes are spread across four discs, and the set includes the crossover episodes for the "Invasion" crossover event which includes episodes from Flash and Legends of Tomorrow and brings in Melissa Benoist's Supergirl character. Arrow's episode of the three-show crossover (which also happens to be Arrow's 100th episode), is the middle chapter of the crossover event and brings back some of the actors such as John Barrowman, Susana Thompson, and Manu Bennett, who have appeared on the show. They also include a clever line about Tommy being a doctor in Chicago as a nod to Colin Donnell being on the show Chicago Med, (even though he does not physically appear in the episode). The other extras include deleted scenes for select episodes, a half-hour portion of the show's 2016 Comic-Con panel, a 5-minute gag reel, and a few making-of featurettes, one devoted to the crossover and a couple devoted to the show's storylines.
Ultimately, if you have liked the prior seasons of Arrow, you will probably like this one. The show continues to develop the main characters, and the addition of the new team brings some new life into the show. Stephen Amell does a very good job playing Oliver, keeping his brooding, moody roots but branching out from that. The season has a good guest cast including pro wrestler Cody Rhodes and the aforementioned Dolph Lundgren. And, of course, characters from the other shows appear throughout the season, not only for the crossover but in small cameos in other episodes. It is definitely worth watching.
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