This week on Arrow, we see Oliver train new recruits to see if they are ready to join Team Arrow. When his training methods overwhelm the recruits, Oliver thinks back to his initiation into Bratva back in Russia.

Important Things to Know Going Into This Week’s Episode

1. Oliver is training new teammates.

In the last episode, we saw Curtis scope out Wild Dog for Oliver. After getting beat up, Curtis decided that Oliver needs to not just recruit Wild Dog, but recruit Curtis as well. Additionally, Evelyn Sharp, who appeared last season trying to mimic Laurel as the Black canary, will be recruited by Oliver to join the team.

2. The Russia story line:

I made the mistake in the early seasons to discount the flashback scenes, but they always play a huge role in the events that present-day Oliver is dealing with. This particular story has been referenced to and teased multiple times throughout the series, so any Russia scene should be watched very closely.

3. Flashpoint Changes:

For fans of the Flash, we saw that his time-travelling adventures have affected Arrow’s universe in at least a few ways. For starters, Diggle now has a son, rather than a daughter. I would guess that we’ll see little hints in all of the DC shows on The CW about subtle changes leading up to the mega-crossover next month. I’m interested in seeing what else may have changed for Team Arrow.

The Biggest Moments in this week’s episode (SPOILERS!)

1. Oliver is a psychopath:

I don’t blame him, his initiation in Russia was brutal, and he doesn’t have any other experience to draw from. I did not expect him to just viciously beat on these people the way he did, though. If they stick it out, Oliver’s new team may actually be almost as strong as it used to be.

2. Does that dude have tentacles?

If only that was the strangest thing about him. This crazy thing is not only attacking people with his random tentacles, but he can also teleport? Oliver has seen some weird stuff over the years, but this is definitely a new one. He’ll be a very great ally to Oliver, if he stays an ally. At the very least, though, he is bound to cause Felicity to feel pain more than she already surely does for not being able to stop the Nuke that destroyed his city.

3. Is Curtis really going to change Oliver?

Over the years, Oliver has been called out on the way he interacts with people by Diggle, Thea, Felicity, Roy, Sara, Quentin, Laurel, and Barry. He has made some minor changes but has overwhelmingly stayed the same person. I would be utterly shocked to see any changes actually be permanent, but it would be really cool for him to finally change as a result of one of his new recruits.

4. Diggle in the Army

It’s great to see that Diggle is still fighting. The fact that he has to deal with a corrupt official definitely makes things interesting, and I’m sure it will all tie into the things that are going on in Star City. Hopefully, it will be enough to get Spartan back on Team Arrow for good.

5. Oliver’s new team:

This team is going to be good, I can feel it. These new recruits are bound to take the team to new heights. I personally feel that Team Arrow will be stronger than ever.

Ryan’s Random Thought:

I don’t get why Oliver is hesitant to bring more people into his team, and let them join the fight. These recruits include two people who have been out on the streets fighting others and a former Olympic athlete. That’s just as much, or more, than Roy, Thea or Laurel brought to the table, and he let them join the fight pretty quickly. He took a minute with Diggle, but that was a trust thing (not hard to understand after realizing he had just spent a year with Bratva), and with Sara (there were a lot of feelings and history causing that hesitation, though.) Hopefully, he decides to be more trusting in the near future.

Arrow  airs on The CW on Wednesdays. Leave a comment and let me know what you thought about this episode.