‘Arrow’: Oliver Finds a New Normal in “Unmasked” Photos

The CW has released a new batch of photos for “Unmasked”, the eighth episode of Arrow‘s seventh season.

The photos hint at Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) returning to a new life after being released from prison, which apparently involves him appearing at a fundraiser for the Star City Initiative for Inmate Rights alongside the rest of Team Arrow. Of course, given the surprised facial expressions from Oliver and the city’s mayor, it’s safe to assume that something goes wrong in the process.

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Now that Oliver has successfully made his way out of jail, it sounds like the character will be acclimating to life in a new way, both in and out of the Green Arrow suit.

“I know they wanted Oliver back in the world, and he is and in a new and exciting way.” Amell told reporters during a recent visit to the show’s set. “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. So I did want a change in him. 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 [Mari], 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. But that’s not what we were going for. In the first episode that I’m out, we had him going to a gala, and I was in sort of like the same suit that I would wear as the mayor. I didn’t like that. So we pushed that in a different direction.”

But of course, the fact that Oliver left Ricardo Diaz (Kirk Acevedo) alive in prison might end up coming back in an interesting way.

“His decision to leave Diaz alive will not influence his relationship with Felicity, but I think it’s going to have an incredibly impactful moment on another person that he’s very close with.” Amell revealed. “I don’t know if he’ll come to regret the decision, actually. Probably. Maybe that’s part of the new Oliver post-prison, is those are the decisions that he has to live with, even if ultimately the best thing to do would’ve been to not leave him alive. We shall see.”

Arrow airs Mondays at 8/7c on The CW. “Unmasked” will air on December 3rd.