'Arrow' season 5 spoilers, plot news: Flashbacks-filled series will take viewers to Oliver Queen's life with Bratva

"Arrow" season 4 has seen a cutback on flashbacks relative to the largely flashbacks-peppered first to third seasons. The flashbacks showcased in season 4 have come to an end fulfilling the intentions of establishing a foundation that makes way for showcasing Oliver Queen's (Stephen Amell) adventures which took place in Russia. This alludes to a major story arc that involves Bratva.

"Arrow" has started out to be a tale that recounted Oliver's passage from being a despicable individual to being a real hero. Its four seasons have so far narrated this journey through an amalgam of his present-day life in Star City and pieces and chunks of flashbacks to the five years he spent stranded on a strange island called Lian Yu.

Since season 1, it has been a definitive fact about Oliver's past that he became a captain of the notorious Russian Mafia organization and this has always kept fans wondering what might happen if Oliver travels to Russia to reunite with Bratva. His time spent with the Russian Mafia must have been kept alive in his memory as evidenced by his sustained facility in the Russian language and his maintained contact within the group. A star tattoo is also a permanent remnant of his association with Bratva as a high-ranking member. This Bratva history, together with all the Bratva flashbacks, seems to deserve elaboration.

However, he instead found himself in Lian Yu again, which was a surprising occurrence courtesy of Amanda Waller (Cynthia Addax-Robinson).

The show seems to be overly squeezing in the episodes with flashbacks despite having established the background premise of "Arrow" since the first season. There is still too much to tell about Oliver, the regular human façade of Arrow, and how he has come to pass the way he is now. The superhero series remains to have a lot to explain with regards to how Oliver became as shady as he was when first introduced in the first season.

It is about time for more substantial flashbacks to Oliver's life with the Russian Mafia which was supposedly the last straw that ushered him to becoming the brutal Hood whom fans first met. Events will then come full circle and be better understood.

While "Arrow" followers will have to wait for the series to return to TV until later this year, they can ponder on what actually turned Oliver into the vicious Bratva captain.