Arrow has killed off plenty of characters over its six seasons so far, although it has also found a variety of ways to bring actors back to reprise their roles even after their characters bit the dust. Between flashbacks, dreams, hallucinations, parallel universes, and magical pools of resurrection juice, nobody is ever really gone on Arrow. Now, star Stephen Amell has taken to social media to tease the return of a character who has been dead since the very first season, posting this:
Tommy! Now, under normal circumstances, this photo (courtesy of Stephen Amell on Twitter) might not be a cause for too much speculation. After all, Arrow has brought Colin Donnell back to reprise the role of Tommy several times over the years so far. We've gotten flashback Tommy, hallucination Tommy, and even evil Tommy from the "Crisis On Earth-X" crossover. What sets this photo apart is the message from Stephen Amell, which seems to give the impression that Tommy will be back in the present.
According to the tweet, Stephen Amell has made it 21 episodes without filming any of those pesky flashbacks, and Amell has been open about how impactful it was to the show that Tommy was killed in Season 1. A return of Tommy to the present in Season 6 could be cause for celebration from Amell and explain the caption that Amell hasn't filmed any flashbacks. Is it possible that Amell is being sneaky and really saying that the picture is in tribute to his return to flashbacks? Sure. Could Tommy still be back in a dream or hallucination? Definitely. But a plot twist from the latest episode may indicate that the Tommy who appears before the end of Season 6 will be original recipe Tommy, although not the one we remember.
Spoilers ahead for the March 29 episode of Arrow Season 6. The latest episode brought the remnants of the League of Assassins back into the mix as a bunch of baddies moved in on Star City to try and snag a map that Malcolm Merlyn had left to Thea. Nyssa dropped by to help, and Team Arrow discovered that the map revealed ley lines leading to Lazarus Pits. Nyssa and Thea (with Roy in tow) took off on a mission to right their fathers' wrongs. Given that Tommy's death was a result of Malcolm's crazy plot to destroy the Glades and the new Lazarus Pits were only discovered thanks to Malcolm, it's entirely possible that water from a Lazarus Pit will be used to bring back Tommy. End spoilers.
In real life, the idea of magical resurrection juice being used on a body that has presumably been moldering in a grave for half a decade would be absurd. Given that this is Arrow, however, we shouldn't rule it out. Sara was resurrected back into fighting shape after spending a while in a grave without being embalmed, so we shouldn't rule out Arrow trying to pull off Tommy's body still being in decent enough shape to be resurrected. Besides, maybe Malcolm did something to Tommy's body with the intent to resurrect him at some point. Stranger things have happened on Arrow.
We'll have to wait and see. You can catch new episodes of Arrow on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW. For your other viewing options, take a gander at our midseason TV premiere schedule and our summer TV premiere guide. No news has been announced about Arrow's future on The CW, but our rundown of TV renewals and cancellations can fill you in on the fates of other network shows.
