Team GATV Roundtable: Looking Back At Arrow Season 5

How did Chase stack up against Arrow villains of the past?

MATT: Best since Slade Wilson. Oliver’s best villains are the ones that he’s not only matched with physically, but that are personally influenced by him and can personally affect him. Ra’s al Ghul and Damien Darhk were external foes, Darhk in particular, who wound their way into Oliver’s life. Yes, Oliver had personal connections to them, but they weren’t affected by Oliver’s actions until they crossed paths with him in their given season. Chase is a direct result of Oliver’s crusade. I wouldn’t say that puts Oliver at fault because Chase’s dad was a criminal and Chase was certifiable. Still, what Oliver did was the impetus for Chase to go after him — with the help of Talia, one of Oliver’s trainers, no less — by insinuating himself into Oliver’s life. He was able to trash the standing and trust of Green Arrow with the public, as well as put Oliver in a truly desperate and horrible situation by season’s end. He doesn’t top Slade, of course, but he’s up there. Fantastic job by Josh Segarra.

STEPHANIE: The dude was legit terrifying once he was unmasked and Josh Segarra nailed the character. I loved how psychological Adrian’s agenda was and how Adrian wasn’t trying to destroy Oliver’s city. He was using what he could of the city to destroy Oliver.

MELISSA: I’d put him behind Slade and season one Malcolm Merlyn, but well ahead of Ra’s and Darhk. I didn’t find Adrian Chase that interesting until after I grew suspicious that he was Prometheus, whereas I’d enjoyed ever appearance of Slade and Malcolm in their respective seasons.

Once revealed, Josh Segarra turned the volume up on the whole character and suddenly he was this fascinating, mustache twirling psycho that pulled some very shocking moves. Some of my favorite moments were before he was exposed to the public and he was openly mocking Oliver at the Mayor’s office.

One critique though was I felt the show over did the “10 steps ahead”. Too often if you scrutinize his plans, they only succeeded through luck and the dumbing down of Oliver and Team Arrow, not to mention Talia and the rest of Chase’s helpers. Evelyn’s change in loyalty never did make sense – sure, lose faith in Oliver after finding out he’d killed in the past, but then why follow the CURRENT serial killer? And Chase’s plan to “win” by breaking down Oliver emotionally was very compelling, but why Oliver practically let him go a couple times before that point only made sense because plot demanded it. (Note to self: always immediately secure the prisoner.)

CRAIG: Season 2 Slade is really the gold standard that all will be compared to, right? Him killing Moira was one of the highest-drama shocks of the entire series. How do you beat that? Maybe blowing up an island with everyone that Oliver loves?

Again, I wasn’t that invested in Prometheus — at least not as much as I probably could be — until Adrian was revealed. Once he was out there, always a step ahead of Oliver, I saw the threat that he posed and it became very scary. (Though, putting Felicity’s boyfriend in the costume and having Oliver kill him was pretty damned sadistic)