“My name was Oliver Queen. For two years, I worked to save my city. But to save my sister, I had to become someone else. I had to become… something else.”
I stopped watching the show before the season finale last year due to the excessive flashbacks to China and the hippie version before he was the arrow. I happened to walk into the bedroom after work last night and my wife was watching the new season and sure enough another flashback and the hippie was back on the screen. I said to my wife : He is still flashbacking to China? Still feel justified in not watching this dark depressing show.
Maybe, I will tune back in .....Nope no more "hippie" Oliver. You must have caught the opening scenes from previous episodes. He is now back on the original island he was stranded on, Lian Yu, infiltrating a mercenary group for ARGUS and sporting a full-on military-style buzz cut just like present-day Oliver/Arrow. It is hippie-free TV and safe to watch now.