Posted in: Arrow, Batwoman, Black Lightning, CW, Review, Trailer, TV | Tagged: arrow, batwoman, black lightning, cable, comic books, Comics, crisis, dc, dc comics, Episode 4, Legends of Tomorrow, present tense, Review, season 8, streaming, supergirl, television, The Flash, tv

"Arrow" Season 8 Has Time Travel Hijinks in "Present Tense" [SPOILER REVIEW]

Team Arrow doubles in size and welcomes back old friends in this week's episode, as the kids from 2040 end up in Star City in 2019. Of course, this causes all sorts of drama both familial and of the supercrime variety as Oliver (Stephen Amell) deals with his grown, adult children Mia (Katherine McNamara) and William (Ben Lewis).

Diggle (David Ramsey) is also reunited with a grown Connor Hawke (Joseph David-Jones) who tries to bury the secret that his adopted brother, John Diggle Jr, is the future leader of the Deathstroke Gang and killed Rene's daughter Zoe in our last episode. We're also reunited with Curtis aka Mr. Terrific (Echo Kellum) who begins working on a project for Oliver to try to stop The Monitor.

The scenes between Amell, McNamara and Lewis are what make this episode. Amell has grown so much as an actor and in this role. The tears in their eyes and the layers in their performances are amazing as they portray grief, anger, and loss is spectacular.

Even moreso, it promises that McNamara is the real deal and will be able to anchor the planned Green Arrow and The Canaries spinoff. But a lot of their tension comes down to unresolved feelings about Oliver abandoning them and his guilt/uncertainty over how to deal with capable, adult children who are very much a mirror image of both Oliver's strengths and faults.

The other major tension of the episode is the idea of to what extent the future is set. Rene (Rick Gonzalez) has the most interesting 40 minute journey of basically any character ever learning that he is going to be the future mayor to learning he's a crooked mayor to learning his daughter fought against him and was killed by JJ/Deathstroke. Wow. But the joy and the despair he displayed is unmatched. His resolve to not allow this to be his fate was even stronger.

But the highlight of the episode is Echo Kellum's return as Curtis. He's a very specific spice that gets thrown into Team Arrow that is missing whenever he's not around. This season has also been missing both his and Felicity's Big Brain in the Chair support role that is able to help the rest of the team.

But the best (and least surprising ever) reveal is his final scene when he figures out the energy signature that could be the key to counteract the Monitor's powers. Of course (duh, we saw this coming) next episode we're going to have to go to Russia, continuing the trip down memory lane and past seasons of Arrow with "Prochnost." This Rusophile waits with baited breath to see if Amell's Russian accent has gotten any better. My bet is "nyet".

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