‘Arrow’ season 4 spoilers: Are we gearing up to Oliver Queen in Russia?

The fourth season of “Arrow” at the moment is on hiatus until April 27, and with us in the middle of that long wait it does feel like the time is right to discuss a subject that has become a little bit of a divisive one over the years: The flashbacks, or specifically how much they tend to be an afterthought for many who watch. We’d argue that the last time they were really relevant were in season 2 with Slade Wilson and Sara; since that time, we really have not seen them give too much away at all in the context of the main story.

Is that going to change? One thing that executive producer Wendy Mericle stated to TVLine is the show is going to benefit very much moving forward from the knowledge that we are leading to the events of the pilot, and Oliver arriving in Starling City sooner rather than later:

“We know what we’re working up to … The season will be easier to break because we have an endpoint, and we work backwards from there.”

As for what is going to happen in season 5 to bring us closer to that endgame, Mericle also hinted that we could finally learn a few important things about Russia, a place Oliver seems to have an affinity for:

“I don’t want to tip too much, but it’s a very good possibility that we’ll finally find out how Oliver got that Bratva tattoo and how he learned to speak Russian.”

Eventually, we do really hope that the show moves forward and has a season minus the flashbacks; if nothing else, we want to see what that looks like.

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