Last week’s episode of Arrow showed us Bratva in 2017 and 2012. We start off in 2012 where Talia and Oliver are having a little target practice on low level drug dealers. She tells Oliver the man who embraces the dark is never without sight.

Back in Star City Quentin returns and sets up an interview with Susan Williams to address his absence and his stint in rehab. Diggle is then released from prison after he was exonerated. Unfortunately Walker also released himself from prison. He and his team broke out of custody and stole a nuke to sell to the Russians. This then forced the team, including Dinah, to take off to Russia. Well, all of the team except Rene who is babysitting Quentin. Rene and Quentin practice interview questions. Quentin gets fired up after Rene mentions his late daughter Laurel, leaves and tells Rene to be gone by the time he gets back.

When the team arrives in Russia Oliver is not welcomed by Anatole; he is greeted with a fist to the face. A member of Bratva and former brother of Oliver’s, Alexi Lenov was killed by Slade because of Oliver. He broke his oath and is told to go home by Anatole.

Later on in the episode Oliver meets with Anatole to make amends. Anatole still owes him for killing Gregor. Oliver asks for Anatole’s help. He offers if Oliver will help him. Oliver refuses and so does Anatole.

Felicity with her new found courage and knowledge (Pandora Files) ropes Curtis and Rory into going under cover as Bratva to get a location on Walker and the nuke. Rory tells Felicity that he is worried about her and that she needs to use that powerful information wisely. As Uncle Ben once said “with great power comes great responsibility”.

The team finds Walker and Oliver, Diggle and Dinah go after him. Oliver and Diggle are ambushed by Walker and his men. Dinah saves them by using her powers and they take a man hostage. They torture him to get information on the buy. Diggle goes rogue and beats Walker’s man to a pulp without getting information from him. Oliver is then forced to take Anatole up on his offer in order to gain his help with Walker.

The episode then jumps back to 2012 where Oliver goes after the man who sold drugs to Thea in Starling City years ago. He kills all the dealers.

Jumping back to 2017 Dinah reminds Oliver that he has more to offer than his past mistakes. Oliver tells Felicity and Diggle that they need to remain good. Anatole arrives with information on the buy. The team goes on the move again.

Ragman and Dinah use their powers to neutralize Walker and his men and take back the nuke. The Bratva orders them to drop their weapons. Unfortunately the team discovers the bomb wasn’t in the van and that it is in a hanger and armed. Felicity has to shut it down or she will have another Haven Rock situation on her hands. Rory realizes the bomb can’t be disarmed so he wraps his rags and himself around the bomb to absorb the shock. He survives the blast and saves the day.

Diggle has Walker at gunpoint but he lets him live so that he can face trial.

The team celebrates Russian style with Bratva. Dinah becomes Anatole’s favorite American (sorry Diggle) because she can hold her vodka. Anatole then tells Oliver that his oath to Bratva is for life. It isn’t temporary.

The episode then jumps back to 2012 Russia again. This time Anatole is in a hospital bed after being beaten to a pulp because he questioned Gregor about his loyalty. Oliver offers to kill Gregor for him.

The team returns to Star City and Oliver finally seals the deal with Susan. Quentin also has his interview with Susan and all goes well because Rene told her to go easy on him. He told her a story of when Quentin told him he could be more than a thug when he was a kid and caught him tagging a building.

When Rory gets back to Star City his rags no longer work; they got destroyed in the blast. Therefore he decides to leave for now and asks Felicity to let the team know.

Felicity receives a text from Kojo and confirms that she plans to continue with Pandora. What trouble will she get herself into? Will she be able to get out of it? Who else is in those Pandora files?

Susan “The Snake” Williams is still looking into Oliver’s past in Russia. She is beginning to piece together that Oliver is The Green Arrow. What does this mean for their relationship? More importantly, what will she do with that information?

Next Week:

The team needs to change their approach to save the city.

Suggested Articles:

A Second Chance For Black Canary – ‘Arrow’ Recap: “Second Chances”

Laurel Lance Returns – ‘Arrow’ Recap: “Who Are You?”

‘Arrow’ Recap: “What We Leave Behind”

The post ‘Arrow’ Recap: “Bratva” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

The midseason finale of Arrow left us with the return of the beloved Laurel Lance or so we thought. In the opening scenes of “Who Are You?” Laurel tells Oliver that she teleported through the Waverider and that Sarah and The Legends saved her. They brought her back to Oliver’s present and gave her a second chance without causing an aberration.

Later in the episode we find out that this Laurel is not the Laurel from Oliver’s world. She is Black Siren from Earth 2. Thanks to Felicity’s detective work we find out that their DNA does in fact match but when she calls STAR labs to see if Black Siren is still caged in, she learns from Cisco that Prometheus broke her out the night before.

Word spreads quickly and Prometheus founds out about her failure. He proceeds to choke her for defying his orders when she used her powers against Team Arrow.

While this is going on Oliver visits Diggle in prison and pulls a favor with D.A.  Adrian Chase who is now Diggle’s new attorney.

Oliver is then contacted by Black Siren once again and assembles the team to capture her. Felicity then puts the team on another line and orders them to attack when Black Siren moves toward Oliver. However, they do manage to capture once again and bring her back to the arrow-cave. This time Felicity deliberately lets her go. She gives Black Siren a tracker via the water she gave her and sets Black Siren free in hopes it will lead her to Prometheus…. Which it does.

Curtis aka Mr. Terrific recreates a mobile damper in order to combat Black Siren’s abilities and subdue her. It works and Felicity punches her in the face telling Ollie “I kept my wrist straight”. Don’t you just love when she is in the field?

Unfortunately Prometheus was able to evade capture once more but the team sends Black Siren to A.R.G.U.S. where Oliver can keep an eye on her just in case she does have a glimmer of the Laurel he once loved somewhere inside her. Oliver then tells the team that they need to find a new Black Canary and train her.

Back on the military base the D.A. literally uses his face to save Diggle’s life and prevent him from being transported. D.A. He tells Diggle to punch him in the face in order to serve him with another indictment and keep him in his jurisdiction.

We also got flashbacks of Oliver in Russia in Wednesday’s (January 25^th). In the final moments of this episode we saw Talia Al Ghul rescue Oliver Queen from his captors.

Next Week:

The team finds a new Black Canary and she is feisty.

Suggested Articles:

‘Arrow’ Recap: “What We Leave Behind”

Third Installment of DC Week – ‘Arrow’ Recap: “Invasion!”

‘Arrow’ Recap: “Vigilante”

The post Laurel Lance Returns – ‘Arrow’ Recap: “Who Are You?” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

The past came back to haunt Oliver in the mid-season finale of Arrow. “What We Leave Behind” finally revealed who Prometheus is and brought back a beloved character.

In the previous episode we learned that Evelyn is working with Prometheus. In this episode we learn that she has been giving Prometheus intel not only on Oliver but the entire team. Evelyn brings Prometheus Oliver’s notebook (the one with his kill list back from when he was The Hood) and tells Prometheus she wants to be there when he kills Oliver; she wants to watch him die. Prometheus tells Evelyn he doesn’t wish to kill Oliver but he will uproot his life so much that he is going to wish he was dead. And boy did he live up to that promise in this episode.

After Felicity awkwardly introduced Billy as her boyfriend to Curtis and Oliver at the Mayor’s Christmas party, things really turned sour. Curtis gets into an argument with his husband Paul and then gets into a fist fight with Prometheus. He is seriously injured but his cover is blown. Not only does Prometheus know who he is but his husband now knows he is a vigilante and has been lying to him about it this whole time.

While he was being attacked by Prometheus Curtis was injected with Dycloserol. A man off Oliver’s list named Justin Claybourne, introduced the drug 4 years ago when Oliver was The Hood. Oliver went after this man and killed him when he would not lower the cost of the drug in order to save the community he purposely injected with tuberculosis. Oliver thinking Claybourne is Prometheus, heads back to the warehouse where he created the serum. There he ran into a trap from Prometheus. Wilddog and Evelyn are called to come to Oliver’s rescue and that is when Evelyn turns on them.

Evelyn helps Prometheus escape and Oliver informs the team of her betrayal. Rory warns Curtis about Evelyn and Paul overhears their phone call. Curtis finally comes clean and tells Paul he is working with The Green Arrow. Paul is then forced to give Curtis an ultimatum. Either he quits being a vigilante or their marriage is over. Unfortunately for Paul, Curtis has never felt more like himself then when he his Mr. Terrific. He can’t give up being a vigilante.

Billy, who doesn’t heed Felicity’s warning, goes off in search of evidence to bring in Prometheus. He can’t stop hunting the cop killer because it is who he is. Unfortunately for Billy, he is caught snooping around by Prometheus but not before he could send a picture of a baby to Felicity.

Prometheus takes Billy hostage and the SCPD is forced to go after him, this time with a shoot to kill order.

While Oliver and the team (with the help of Speedy, who seems to be coming out of retirement a lot) go out in search of Billy, Felicity runs the baby picture through facial recognition software. Turns out the baby and Prometheus are one in the same; they are the illegitimate son of Justin Claybourne. Prometheus is seeking vengeance for the murder of his father. Oliver finally puts the pieces of the puzzle together and goes back to the place where he murdered Prometheus’s father.

He arrives at the scene of the crime and discovers Prometheus is staging bodies exactly how Oliver left them 4 years earlier. The only difference is that Prometheus now stands in his father’s place. A battle begins and Prometheus leads Oliver into a room with mirrors. Oliver fires arrows into Prometheus’s chest only to realize he actually shot Billy. Prometheus pulled a play out of The Joker’s handbook and dressed Billy up in his suit and taped a weapon in his hand. Oliver had no way of knowing that it was Billy and reacted out of pure instinct. He returns to the arrowcave and tells Felicity that he accidently killed Billy. Felicity blames Prometheus and forgives Oliver, at least for now.

Oliver then tells the team that Prometheus said anyone Oliver goes near dies and that they should all get as far away from him as possible. The team refuses to leave his side.

At the close of the episode John gets a frantic call from Lyla and heads to their location only to be greeted by the feds. He was set up and is on his way back to prison.

After the team leaves Oliver is left alone in the arrowcave momentarily. As he nears the glass tubes where the suits are kept he is greeted by none other than Laurel Lance. How the hell is she still alive?!?!?!

Arrow returns Wednesday January 25^th, 2017.

To come on this season of Arrow:

Curtis will realize his full potential and the team will attempt another difficult Diggle prison escape.

Clip from the new episode coming Wednesday January 25^th:

For those that have the CW app (if you don’t download it, it’s free!), The CW has given app users an exclusive look into the next episode of Arrow which airs on Wednesday January 25^th:  Oliver is on a mission to find the Russian woman who trained both him and Prometheus. The team is slowly easing Laurel back into reality and filling her in on what she missed. Oliver gets Diggle a lawyer after he decides to fight his wrongful conviction.

Suggested Articles:

Third Installment of DC Week – ‘Arrow’ Recap: “Invasion!”

‘Arrow’ Recap: “Vigilante”

Prometheus Sends Oliver A Message, ‘Arrow’ Recap: “So It Begins”

The post ‘Arrow’ Recap: “What We Leave Behind” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Arrow’s 100th episode and the third installment of the 4 night DC crossover event took us back in time and into an alternate universe where many of fan favorite characters resurfaced while our abducted team members were in stasis in alien pods.

The first Arrow resurrection was Laurel Lance aka The Black Canary. In the dream-like hallucination The Dominators have put some of our characters in an alternate world where Oliver Queen and Laurel are engaged and are getting ready for their wedding day. Moments later Oliver is greeted by his parents Moira and Robert Queen. Oliver begins to feel like something is off but can’t put his finger on it.

Sarah then arrives at the Queen estate and reunites with her sister. She notices Laurel’s necklace with a black canary emblem and when she touches it she gets a vision of Laurel as The Black Canary. Sarah feels the pain of losing her sister and hugs her tightly. She also knows something is off but chooses to ignore it.

Back on Earth Cisco vibes the missing team member’s location using an old bow of Oliver’s. He then shows Felicity and crew the device he took from The Dominator’s ship. They attempt to track the mothership with that device but their human tech is overloaded and dissipates. They locate a suitable alternative but the problem is someone else has their hands on it already. That someone being Laura Washington. She has been making herself powerful with the stolen tech so Felicity calls in reinforcements.

Oliver is still dazed and confused in the shared dream he is in with the rest of the team. He runs into Diggle while almost being robbed and learns that he is now The Green Arrow. No wonder he is confused. Oliver once again has flashbacks of his two different lives; the one he is currently living and his actual life back on Earth. Unable to fathom what is going on Oliver heads to the arrow cave and meets Felicity and a very hostile Diggle in his Green Arrow suit.

Diggle grabs Oliver and begins to choke him but quickly releases him once Oliver starts telling John everything he knows about him. Oliver has an epiphany and realizes he is in an alternate universe. How or why he is in that state he doesn’t yet know.

Ray finally comes into the picture when he gets introduced to Sarah. He recognizes her from somewhere but can’t put the puzzle together just yet. He is also having visions of his life back on Earth.

On Earth the reinforcements come in the form of The Flash and Supergirl. They team up with Ragman, Wilddog and Mr. Terrific. Wilddog wants nothing to do with Supergirl or The Flash and their super powers that is until he needs them when he is attacked by Laura Washington. Cue the epic tag team punches from Supergirl and The Flash that incapacitate Laura and allow Mr. Terrific to grab the regulator off of her. Back at the arrow cave, on Earth, Curtis is able to decode The Dominator’s language but not into something he can decipher. Luckily Ragman sees that The Dominators language shares commonalities with the Old Testament. Maybe they can crack the code and communicate with the aliens.

Throughout the episode Thea really seemed to be enjoying this alternate version of her life. She is finally truly happy, that is until she has a flash of Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke killing her mother. However, like Sarah, she chooses to ignore that vision and live in the moment while her brother (Oliver) and Diggle start to put together the puzzle.

John shows Oliver a picture he drew of The Dominators and Oliver is able to figure out how this universe works. He realizes that The Dominators will push back at anything they try to do to get out of the mind game being played. Cue Slade Wilson’s entrance.

Oliver and Diggle battle Slade but are quickly losing the fight as they are not armed. Luckily Sarah arrives and kills Deathstroke much to her own surprise. Oliver and John explain the fact that they are in a shared hallucination to Sarah and she remembers them being abducted. They then realize the only way out of the machine is to head to the Smoak Technologies building; the only symbol representing their life back on Earth.

Tommy Merlyn’s (Oliver’s childhood best friend) absence is explained by Malcolm Merlyn (his father). He is working long shifts at a hospital in Chicago where he is a doctor aka Chicago Med. While this is going on Ray and Felicity, who are engaged in this dream, run into Sarah. Sarah pulls Ray away and talks to him about their situation. He begins to remember his life and jumps on board to exit this lucid dream.

Oliver tearfully hugs his parents’ goodbye and goes to get Thea. She doesn’t want to leave because this life is too good. Her parents are alive. Laurel is alive. She can’t lose her family again. Oliver is forced to leave her behind. He tells Thea he loves her and wants her to be happy with tears in his eyes. I’m surprised he didn’t take her against her will. He really is changing.

Oliver and the team begin their trek to Smoak Technologies but are stopped when Oliver is shot with an arrow by Malcolm Merlyn when they try to escape. He is not alone. Some of the toughest villains Team Arrow has ever faced surround them. Speedy (Thea Queen) rejoins the group and they battle Deathstroke, Damien Darhk, H.I.V.E. members and Merlyn.

An action packed sequence leads to a final shot where Ollie shoots Deathstroke in the eye with an arrow. All the villains are defeated. However, that isn’t the last of the challenges the team must face to escape. Laurel comes running out of the estate hoping to stop them all, especially Oliver, from leaving. Sarah tries to explain to her sister (Laurel) that they have to leave. She doesn’t want to hear it and continues to beg Ollie to stay. He tells Laurel that she deserves better, that he is not the man she fell in love with and leaves. Poor Laurel is left on the night of her wedding.

An injured John and crew, minus Oliver, walk through the portal to get back on the mothership. Oliver turns back a final time and is greeted by important figures from his past, both dead and alive. Via holograms we get to see Tommy, Roy Harper (Arsenal), Robert Queen, Moira Queen, Felicity and Laurel all telling Oliver not to give up.

Moments later the team wakes up and exit their pods. Shortly after they learn that they are in somewhere in outer space. They try to navigate the alien aircraft in an attempt to escape and run into Dominators. Oliver grabs a nearby laser gun and shoots them. They continue to navigate the mothership until they find escape pods and take one. Thea figures out how to make it take off and the pod heads out into the galaxy.

However, they are not alone. The Dominators follow them in other pods and fire at them. Luckily the Waverider arrives in time to snag them and save them.

Once on the Waverider they are introduced to Nate Heywood aka Citizen Steel and Gideon. Ray has Gideon translate something The Dominators said back on the ship; the weapon is almost complete. Gideon is unable to determine what the weapon is but tracks The Dominator mothership heading directly for Earth.

TO BE CONTINUED ON DC’s LEGENDS OF TOMORROW!

What’s to come in the final installment of the crossover:

Barry has to surrender himself and if he does The Dominators will leave the Earth in peace.

An epic battle ensues and Mick is saved by geeks aka Felicity and Cisco.

Suggested Articles:

DC Week Continues – ‘The Flash’ Recap: “Invasion!”

DC Week Begins – ‘Supergirl’ Recap: “Medusa”

The post Third Installment of DC Week – ‘Arrow’ Recap: “Invasion!” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

DC Week’s 4 night crossover event continued on last night’s episode of The Flash. The invasion began in Central City when a spaceship landed in the center of town.

Barry approached the spaceship but was sent flying from a silver beam of light. Moments later The Dominators were unleashed, dashing off the spaceship. Lyla Diggle arrived in Central City shortly after the landing of The Dominators and she filled Team Flash in on what she knows. She then informed the team to stand down and let A.R.G.U.S. handle it.

Barry won’t back off that easily and heads out to Star City to recruit Team Arrow. While this is going on Iris and Joe watch as Wally reaches mock 2 during testing. Iris makes Caitlin and Cisco lie to Wally about his abilities hoping it will delay his use of his newly found superpowers.

Barry reaches Star City and saves Spartan and The Green Arrow from getting shot by a vigilante. He brings them both back to Felicity’s apartment and tells them about the invading aliens. Speedy aka Thea Queen walks in on their conversation and decides to come out of retirement to battle The Dominators. Oliver and Barry then have Felicity send a message to The Legends asking for their help.

The Legends arrive in Central City while Barry and Cisco go to Earth 38 and pick up Kara aka Supergirl. A new team assembles (Team Flash + Team Arrow + The Legends (minus Nate and Amaya who hang back to watch the wave rider) + Supergirl) and formulate a plan to take down The Dominators. Barry becomes team leader aka Oliver calls the shots and Barry repeats them. Oliver/Barry tell the team to prepare to train against Kara since she is an alien. The team battles Kara but nothing phases her.

While this is going on invasion continues. The Dominators ready a mind controlling device and prepare to use it on the president. They kidnap the president and take him back to a warehouse.

Barry learns that Snart died sacrificing himself for the team and also learns about the message he sent Rip in the future.

Wally shows up to try and train with the team. Iris is able to stop him from interfering. That is until he heads back to the lab and sees his test results; his powers are excelling and his body is adapting well to the changes. This only makes Wally want to get in the field more but Joe and Iris don’t want him to get involved, therefore Wally turns to an unlikely ally; HR. Wally tries to convince HR to secretly train him but HR turns him down not wanting to jeopardize his position with the team.

After his discussion with Barry, Martin starts having his visions again. Caitlin walks in mid-vision and Martin asks her to escort him back to his home to go see the woman in his visions. Martin arrives home and is finally able to confirm that the woman he is seeing in his visions is in fact his daughter. He is also still married to Clarissa.

Martin’s daughter is a direct result of Barry messing with the timeline. At least this aberration had a positive result for Martin. Unfortunately for the other members in the arrowverse it’s not the same story, which is why Cisco forces Barry to tell the team about his message and the changing of the timeline.

Diggle learns that he originally had a daughter and not a son. The rest of the team now distrusts Barry and therefore Barry sits out round one. Oliver refuses to go into battle without him and is forced to stay behind as well. The rest of the team lead by Kara go retrieve the president.

While in the field Kara tells the team about her x-ray vision. Mick being his usual repulsive self says he will call her skirt not Supergirl. That is right after he asks if she can see everyone’s giblets with her x-ray vision.

The team then heads into the warehouse and finds the president. Unfortunately for them it is a trap by The Dominators; the president was a hologram. They are then attacked by The Dominators and taken over by them.

Barry and Oliver have a heart to heart back at Star Labs. Barry shows Oliver the news article from the future where he goes missing. The news article from Barry’s future isn’t written by Iris West-Allen any more. What did Barry do in the future? Did he sabotage their relationship?

Oliver tells Barry that he isn’t a God and that he is going to make mistakes. What matters is that he learns from those mistakes. Moments later Barry and Oliver are alerted by Cisco that the team is under control of The Dominators. Barry and Oliver arrive on the scene and are attacked by their friends. They have to take them out one by one without killing them.

Seeing the trouble Oliver and Barry are in Wally goes out to help them. Wally gets injured by Kara when he tries to protect Barry. Ollie takes a now unconscious Wally and runs for cover while Barry challenges Supergirl to a race.

Ollie reaches a building but is cornered when he runs out of arrows. He is forced to compete in hand to hand combat with The White Canary aka Sarah Lance. On the other side of Central City Barry has Kara chase him back to the warehouse where The Dominators device is being held. Barry vibrates and Kara flies through him and the mind control device controlling the team breaking it, therefore breaking the mind control on them.

An injured Wally returns to Star Labs and is scorned by Joe and Iris. However all hope is not lost for Kid Flash as HR agrees to train Wally after he saw he was willing to sacrifice himself to save Barry and Oliver; he sees potential in the young speedster.

At the close of the episode Sarah is taken by The Dominators along with Ray, Oliver, Mick and Speedy.

TO BE CONTINUED ON ARROW!

More of what’s to come:

What remains of the crossover team searches to find its abducted members.

The Dominators play head games. Katie Cassidy aka Laurel Lance/Black Canary and Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke return for Arrow’s 100th episode. Who else will return for the 100th episode? Oliver’s mom? Tommy?

Look out for a recap of tomorrow’s episode of Arrow to find out!

Suggested Articles:

DC Week Begins – ‘Supergirl’ Recap: “Medusa”

The ‘Flash’ Recap: “Killer Frost”

The post DC Week Continues – ‘The Flash’ Recap: “Invasion!” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Arrow — “Legacy” — Image AR501a_0060b — Pictured: Prometheus — Photo: Bettina Strauss/The CW — © 2016 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Season 5 of Arrow premiered last night [Wednesday October 5^th]. “Legacy” showed us the many faces of Oliver Queen: Oliver Queen as the Green Arrow, Oliver Queen as Star City’s Mayor and Oliver Queen as an assassin in Russia. We’ll start off discussing Oliver Queen as the Green Arrow.

Star City is being run by a solo Green Arrow, armed with new arrows, specifically a bomb decoder or computer and a parachute. There are also new emerging vigilantes trying to help our hooded hero, however Mr. Queen doesn’t want to create a new Team Arrow. He believes Thea and Diggle will come back.

Later in the episode Oliver must come to terms with the fact that Team Arrow is no more. Luckily for Oliver, Felicity has been looking into the new vigilantes popping up all over the city. She convinces Oliver to recruit and train them after Curtis is attacked by two thugs doing re-con. Curtis also demands to join Team Arrow to which Oliver agrees.

This couldn’t come at a better time as a new sharp shooter has just arrived in Star City. Meet Prometheus (not related to the DC Comic characters, this is Arrow’s own original character). Prometheus has an axe to grind with Oliver and will be stirring up some trouble in Star City for the vigilante. The question remains who is this villain and what did Oliver do to piss him off? As season 5 is tied to season 1, could this be a character we have seen before or could this be Mr. Kover? The man Oliver is seeking in Russia.

“Legacy” gave us another look into Oliver’s past. This time he is in Russia in some sort of fight club, killing for sport. On the hunt for a Mr. Kover, Oliver kills a man during a fight and is captured by Bratva. Thankfully an old friend and member of Bratva, Anatole, comes to Oliver’s aid and stops him from being killed. Oliver is then brought into another fight by Anatole and begins his initiation into Bratva. That is if he survives the 7-on-1 match.

Mayor Oliver Queen also did some bidding in this episode. He called out SCPD for being corrupt during their gala and said he was hesitant about setting up an Anti-Crime Initiative (a task force of sorts) within the department because of it. Now that Captain Lance no longer runs the unit, corruption and crime within in the force has increased significantly. Fortunately Captain Lance makes his return to Star City in time to see his daughter’s, Laurel “The Black Canary” Lance, commemorative statue. However, he is in no shape to run the department or anything else for that matter. Lance has once again fallen off the wagon after Donna Smoak left him. Oliver does convince Lance to come to the ceremony but it is quickly cut short thanks to Tobias Church and crew; they open fire at the service and take Oliver hostage in hopes to drag out the Green Arrow. If they only knew they had him in their possession already.

Oliver insults Church and gets himself isolated from the group. An SCPD officer takes him to a separate room and punches him in the face a few times. Oliver warns the officer about the dangers of hitting him again. The officer laughs as he believes the mayor to be zipped tied to the chair. Oliver shows the officer his now free hands and proceeds to kill the officer in order to keep his secret. Thea aka Speedy briefly comes out of retirement to help her brother only to arrive when he is killing the SCPD officer. Needless to say she was not pleased.

The duo escape and come back to where Oliver was held in order to rescue the other hostages taken by Church. This time Oliver has back up in the form of Speedy and 4 brave and loyal SCPD officers, hand selected by Detective Malone; a man Lance knows is squeaky clean, he doesn’t even double park, and trust worthy. After successfully saving the hostages and escaping before the building blew up, Oliver announces the start of the ACI, which is to be led by Detective Malone.

Church also gathers all of Star City’s criminals for a meeting, asking them to assemble and work together as one under one chain of command, presumably him. However, it seems like his reign of this team won’t last too long, especially with Prometheus in town. It won’t be long before he comes knocking on their door.

Other exciting things “Legacy” brought us:

We finally learned what Laurel made Oliver promise: “Please don’t let me be the last canary, that way a part of me will always be out there with you.” AWWWWW!!!!!!!

Felicity has a new man, ACI team member Officer Benton.

New CG which looks amazing and really added to the episode overall.

Next Week:

Training day for the new recruits

Suggested Articles:

The Flash Season 3 Premiere Recap: “Flashpoint” *SPOILERS*

The CW picks up ‘The Lost Boys’ Series

‘The Flash’ and ‘Supergirl’ Musical Crossover Event

The post Arrow Season 5 Premiere Recap: “Legacy” *SPOILERS* appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

For those that missed the event or didn’t live close enough to attend, here are some of the trailers/teasers/promos you missed:

The Vampire Diaries season 8 teaser:

This trailer compiles snippets of previous Vampire Diaries villains like Klaus, Katherine, Rebekah, Kai and Silas and leads us to a sneak peak of evil herself. We only see a hand coming out of a pool of blood. Who is this evil entity and what havoc is she wreaking on our beloved characters? Check out this in-depth article on season 8 to find out.

More on The Vampire Diaries season 8

Season 8 premieres Friday October 21^st on The CW.

The Originals season 4 trailer:

Season 4 of The Originals jumps 3 or more years into the future. Hope is now a toddler who can talk. The trailer kicks off bits of Klaus’s past detailing his wrong doings, how he and his family became vampires and a voice over of him detailing the agony and pain he has caused those around him. We then see exactly where Klaus left off last season; buried alive in a brick wall by Marcel. The trailer ends with Hope asking her mother, Hayley if they are going to go get her dad. It’s time to wake up the family and introduce them to a grown Hope.

The Originals will have a Mid-Season return in 2017. No specific date has been released yet.

Once Upon A Time season 6 trailer:

Last season Regina removed the Evil Queen side of herself and proceeded to crush it. Unfortunately, as we all know, the Evil Queen did not in fact die. She is alive and well and is out to get revenge on Regina for trying to push her away. How long can Regina keep her at bay? Will she revert back to her evil ways? What does this all mean for the residents of Story Brooke? Another evil is still lurking in Story Brooke as well. Mr. Hyde has his heart set on ruling Story Brooke and making it his home. We will see him team up with the Evil Queen to get what he wants?

Season 6 will premiere Sunday September 25^th on ABC.

DC Legends of Tomorrow season 2 trailer:

The Time Masters are gone and The Legends are left to pick up the pieces and keep history intact. They must guard history and protect it from time criminals. In this trailer we also meet Rex Tyler a member of The Justice Society of America (The pre-Justice League group). We also catch a glimpse of what is sure to be an epic battle between Damien Darhk and The White Canary (Sara Lance). It looks like The Legends will be meeting a lot of new faces from the DC Universe, especially now with the mention of the Justice Society of America.

Season 2 premieres October 13^th on The CW.

The Flash season 3 trailer:

Last season Barry went back in time and saved his mother, altering the world he once knew. In this alternate universe Barry no longer knows Joe or Iris and Cisco is now the richest man in America. In this trailer The Reverse Flash is back and informs Barry everything he is witnessing is a mirage. We also get a clip where Alchemy is written on the wall. For those not familiar with the DC Universe, Dr. Alchemy aka Mr. Element aka Albert Desmond is a notorious chemist with a personality disorder who uses talents as a chemist to create elemental weapons. According to Deadline, as Desmond, he works in the forsenics lab of Central City’s Police Department. Doctor Alchemy also possesses the Philosopher’s Stone which once belonged to Merlin. By pressing the stone it allows Doctor Alchemy to transmute any element into any other element (ie: Steel into rubber or healthy oxygen into deadly carbon monoxide). He also possesses the power to transform the human body, having once turned The Flash into a being of water vapor.

Kid Flash also makes an appearance in the trailer. Will we see Kid Flash and Barry team up to defeat Mr. Element and restore everything back to the way it was?

Season 4 premieres Tuesday October 4^th on The CW.

Game of Thrones season 7 teaser:

This teaser gives a unique insight on the production of Game of Thrones. We get a glimpse of the craftsmanship that goes into creating this spectacular television series. A treat we don’t normally get to see.

Season 7’s release date has not yet been announced but we do know that this season will not start in April like it normally does. Due to weather delays and a need for snow, it looks like we may not see it air until May or June.

Arrow season 5 trailer:

In the aftermath of defeating the Ghosts and Damien Darhk, Oliver assembles a new team of heroes to help protect Star City. These members were inspired by Oliver’s relentlessness in spite of adversity and his ability to defeat Darhk. Oliver begins training these new vigilantes in order to help the city and keep his promise to Laurel to not revert back to his old ways of wanting to handle everything himself. We also see clips of Oliver in Russia and the rise of a new villain.

Season 5 premieres Wednesday October 5^th, 8/7c on The CW.

Wonder Woman trailer:

Bada** woman alert! Warner Bros and DC Films are definitely doing Wonder Woman justice in this film. Gal Gadot perfectly embodies the bada**ery that is Diana Prince. The slow-mo shots of Gadot in action in this trailer are incredible. This trailer is giving us high hopes about the film in its entirety.

Wonder Woman hits the silver screen June 2^nd, 2017.

Justice League trailer:

This trailer alone has turned me into SUPER GEEK! Aquaman, The Flash, Batman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg all coming at you while The White Stripes’s Iggy Thump plays in the background. Barry Allen is quirky and hilarious in this trailer. Aquaman is quite frightening and Cyborg is well your typical Cyborg. The IMDB cast listing for this movie is also swoon worthy. There are rumors of Iris West and The Joker making a cameo in this film. I may be reading too much into this but if an Arkham Guard has been cast in this film it must mean we are heading to Arkham Asylum at some point, which happens to be the last place we saw The Joker. Coincidence, maybe? Or maybe not?

Justice League hits theaters November 17^th, 2017.

The Walking Dead season 7 trailer:

Season 7 premieres October 23rd on AMC.

Doctor Strange trailer:

Get ready to go on a trippy ride into the many universes of Marvel’s Doctor Strange. Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, The Imitation Game), Rachel McAdams (The Notebook, Mean Girls) and Mads Mikkelson (Hannibal, Casino Royale) star in the film. As per IMDB, Marvel’s “Doctor Strange” follows the story of the talented neurosurgeon Doctor Stephen Strange who, after a tragic car accident, must put ego aside and learn the secrets of a hidden world of mysticism and alternate dimensions. Based in New York City’s Greenwich Village, Doctor Strange must act as an intermediary between the real world and what lies beyond, utilizing a vast array of metaphysical abilities and artifacts to protect the Marvel cinematic universe.

This visually spectacular film hits theaters November 4^th.

American Gods first look trailer:

Starz network brings Neil Gaiman’s fantasy novel of the same name to life. The central premise of the novel is that gods and mythological creatures exist because people believe in them. The power of these mythological beings has diminished as people’s beliefs wane. New gods have arisen, reflecting America’s obsessions with media, celebrity, technology, and drugs, among other things. The series man character, Shadow, is a convict who is released early due to his wife being killed in a car accident. After the funeral Shadow meets a man called Mr. Wednesday who seems to know a lot more than he should about Shadow’s life. Warning Shadow that a far bigger fight is coming, he enlists his help and forever changes his view of the world around him.

The series premiere will be sometime in 2017 on Starz.

Legends of the Hidden Temple: The Movie trailer:

Nickelodeon is bringing back some 90s nostalgia with their Legends of the Hidden Temple: The Movie, bringing the game 90s kids grew up on to life. Kirk Fogg, host of the original game show, makes a cameo in this film playing himself as he leads a tour of the temple. The three siblings on his tour break away and find themselves immersed in a real-life Legends of the Hidden Temple game. Let’s go Green Monkeys!

The TV movie premieres this November on Nickelodeon.

The LEGO Batman Movie trailer:

The LEGO Batman movie is a spin-off of The LEGO movie focused on Batman voiced by Will Arnett. Batman must grow up and take responsibility for himself and the young orphan he forgot he adopted. This orphan becomes Robin (voiced by Michael Cera), after he rips off Reggae Man’s pants of course. A cute, kid friendly Batman and Robin origin story.

The film hits the silver screen February 10^th, 2017.

Marvel The Defenders teaser:

Netflix pops out another Marvel hit with Marvel The Defenders. Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist unite for The Defenders, an Avengers-esque superhero team-up set in Marvel’s Television universe.

The series will premiere on Netflix in 2017.

Marvel and Netflix also teamed up for a sizzle reel featuring the likes of DareDevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. We also catch a glimpse of The Punisher at the end of the reel. Check it out below:

That bone crunching at: 49. I can never unsee or unhear that….

Kong: Skull Island trailer:

King Kong returns to the screen. The film stars A-Listers like Tom Hiddelston (Thor), Brie Larson (Room), Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, The Hateful Eight), and John Goodman (Roseanne, Monsters Inc.). This film centers on the origin of King Kong.

Kong: Skull Island hits theaters March 10^th, 2017.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword trailer:

Staring Charlie Hunnam and Jude Law, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is the origin story of King Arthur. Arthur, played by Hunnam, is unaware of his royal lineage until he pulls Excalibur from the stone. Arthur must unite the people to defeat the dictator Vortigern, played by Jude Law, the man who stole his crown to become king.

2016/17 is going to be an epic year for both the Marvel and DC Universes. There are plenty more trailers, teasers and promos to come now that SDCC has come to its conclusion. Stay tuned to RESPECT. Mag for more inside information and trailers galore.

Suggested Articles:

The Vampire Diaries Season 8 Confirmed as Final Season

2016 EMMY NOMINATIONS ARE IN!

The post San Diego Comic-Con Teasers, Trailers and Promos appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.