Promo Arrives For Next Week’s Arrow, Stephen Amell Previews Upcoming Changes

The CW has released a promo for next week’s episode of Arrow, which is called “Unmasked” and airs on December 3. It was directed by Alexandra La Roche from a script by Oscar Balderrama & Beth Schwartz.

Here’s a synopsis: Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) stands by her recent decisions regarding her family. Meanwhile, Diggle (David Ramsey) and Lyla (Audrey Marie Anderson) continue to look into the Dante painting that Curtis (Echo Kellum) found.

Meanwhile, Stephen Amell spoke with TVLine about what’s next for Oliver following his release from prison as well as the dark decisions Felicty has made. Here are highlights:

On Oliver getting told that Felicity almost shot Diaz: “Pretty quickly, [Oliver learns] that a lot of the stuff that Diaz was saying about Felicity is true. We do work it out pretty quickly. We come to an understanding that nothing’s ever going to be perfect. … Nothing’s ever going to be perfect or normal about our relationship, and I think that the sooner that the two of them accept that, the sooner that they can move on with their lives.”

On changes for Oliver: “I spent a lot of time talking with [showrunner] Beth [Schwartz] about Oliver when he gets out, because I felt like in the first episode this year, we were really trying to charge ahead with a lot of cool new ideas, but it didn’t necessarily lend the proper weight to what happened at the end of Season 6 in an episode that’s titled ‘Life Sentence.’ The first episode of Season 7 focused a lot on Oliver focusing on good behavior so that he could get released, and I was like, ‘Well, one way or the other, he’s been in there for five, seven months, whatever the case may be. He’s got at least 14 [or] 15 to go if he has good behavior.’ So we changed the focus a little bit. I know they wanted Oliver back in the world, and he is, and in a new and exciting way. Concurrently, it felt like we were treating my experience at Slabside like I spent a night in county jail. In actuality, even for Oliver, it was a pretty horrific experience.”

On showing how he’s different: “I wanted a change in him in the way that he interacts with people, with the public, and even so far as his wardrobe. I went to [costume designer] Maya [Mani], and I’m like, ‘Oliver’s in his mid-30s, he’s a former politician. I want him to dress a little bit more like he used to dress for Sunday brunch at the Queen mansion.’ WASPy’s the wrong word, but it’s not totally the wrong word. … In the first episode that I’m out, we had him going to a gala, and I was in sort of the same suit that I would wear as the mayor. I didn’t like that. So we pushed that in a different direction. The first time that you see Oliver [in Episode 8], we came up with a really interesting way, I think, of showing what prison life did to him without really bashing people over the head with it.”