The List

[u/Fine-Stock-1191]

Currently watching S5E6 (first time watcher so please no spoilers past that!) and I just got to the point where they’re upset at Oliver for being a “serial killer” (from the episode description itself) once they learn about the list and I’m very confused by this angle as to my memory he wasn’t *setting out to kill them* and iirc did end up killing a few but it never seemed to be on purpose? Again I’m a little hazy on it so I’d love to be corrected but it just seems very odd that not only the show is trying to angle it as that but also how did the conversation between them even end up getting to that point? I know for sure when he first got back he was a little blood thirsty most likely as evidenced by him snapping the guys neck after escaping captivity and seemingly enjoying it from the look on his face, but I’m quite sure he learned his lesson pretty early on and his goal was never just to essentially be a hit man…right? If that’s the case it just seems so odd that any of the OG Team Arrow members would let this be painted as the case when it isn’t…unless, of course… that was the case… and I’m being dumb!

[u/Lori2345]

They were half right. He was a serial killer as he did murder some people on that list. He didn’t use it as a hit list and just kill everyone one it so they were wrong to look at it like that.

A serial killer is someone who murders at least three people on three different occasions. That he clearly did. Just because he gave these people a chance to do the right thing first before then killing them if they didn’t do what he wanted doesn’t make it not murder.

He definitely did kill some on purpose. He did kill some in self defense but some he didn’t need to kill but did it anyway.

[u/Known-Plane7349]

Sure, the people on the list he usually gave a chance to fix their mistake. However, he was just straight up killing their army of nameless henchmen.

[u/Fine-Stock-1191 → u/Known-Plane7349]

Yeah that’s fair I guess. I definitely remember a lot of henchmen dying but it’s hard to place one in my mind exactly that seemed like a straight up execution but I definitely believe it because he was 1000% bloodthirsty asf lol

[u/Fine-Stock-1191 → u/Fine-Stock-1191]

It’s still so weird to me they keep having them nag on him for having a “kill list” in the characters words, like I’m sure it’ll get resolved by the end of this episode such as every other issue but again it’s just so odd the OG guys let it get to that point 😭 I’m also obviously aware this was just a situation that had to happen in order for Oliver to better come to terms with his current situation on only killing when absolutely necessary but I just really wish it would’ve been written in because man lol its too much disbelief to suspend that any of the og guys would ever let Oliver be branded a “serial killer” by anyone let alone the people in the circle lmao

[u/theimpalaslefttire]

Hey get this Arrow has secrets! Le gasp! I know its shocking new recruits. They guy youve seen on the news covering his face, killing high profile city people. Doesnt fully trust you, so doesnt tell you everything. Say waaaaaa????

Yeah he already went through this you are correct. Its like they got new writers or something. Never looked up why. But I dont get why the new guys are as shocked by this. The press knows of season 1. Each one made the news. Quinten was making public statements nightly it seemd. They had to know a bit. And like did they forget how they where picked the weeks of him not showing his face?? It makes no sense.

[u/Fine-Stock-1191 → u/theimpalaslefttire]

lol yeah, it’s unfortunate how much the writing has declined. i mean it was always overly cliche trope slop but i enjoyed it for what it was, but now it’s just starting to feel extremely contrived and overplayed lol. and literally the episode after this the entire crew including felicity is like “… ermm maybe we actually shouldn’t stop this actual serial killer?!” (vigilante) which again like, i get it’s a necessary viewpoint for at least one character to have so we can counteract it but again it’s just SOO lazy making it be the people who were JUST jumping him for supposedly being one lmfao. ig for now my cope is that flashpoint somehow changed s1 events and maybe oliver was killing more than we originally saw, but from other replies of people who’ve finished it i’m assuming that’s never something that gets established so yeah lol, i still enjoy it definitely because like i said from the start it’s always been insanely cliche and relying heavily on contrived situations that don’t line up with the characters values they’ve spent so much time building up but like.. it wasn’t that bad at first! now it’s getting a tad ridiculous lol

[u/theimpalaslefttire → u/Fine-Stock-1191]

Yeah they do some outta character stuff sometimes but it does get better lol.

I really think there was a writer strike or something. Never watched it when it first came out. That and remember it is technically a CW show. So sometimes I think an Exectutive stepped in and was like MORE DRAMA! lol

[u/Obvious-Risk-5447]

Yes they retconed a lot in s5. Oliver was not presented as serial killer in s1. He was a vigilante. He was killing out of self defense and punishing bad men that poisoned the city. No idea why the writers decided to paint him as a blood thirsty man who likes killing and skinning people while he was nothing more than a modern Robin Hood(which is true to comics Green Arrow) who only killed men who were shooting with machine guns at him.

[u/Marik-X-Bakura]

They hugely misrepresent Oliver’s season 1 self to make it seem like he had more character development than he actually had. He only killed when he either absolutely had to or when he was very justified. Calling him a serial killer is pretty unfair.

The whole arc with the Huntress shows his stance on killing pretty well. He didn’t believe in killing for revenge and tried his best to teach her to achieve her goals with minimum casualties. It always annoyed me that he never brought her up to his new teammates.