'Arrow' Season 8 Episode 5 'Prochnost' sneak peek reveals the return of Anatoly Knyazev and teases the Bratva
'Arrow' Season 8 has so far brought back a number of fan-favorite characters like John Barrowman's Malcolm Merlyn, Colin Donnell's Tommy Merlyn, and Willa Holland's Thea Queen / Speedy. Now in Episode 5 'Prochnost', Oliver Queen / Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) is about to receive another blast from the past.
In 'Prochnost', Oliver and the team are going to be taking a trip to Russia in search of a certain general who can help them collect the materials they need to build a weapon that can be used against the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett). Unfortunately, the list of materials they need includes plutonium and any general who's willing to sell that on the black market is probably bad news.
Thankfully, Oliver does have some old ties to Russia and it looks like he'll be cashing in all of them to get what he needs. A sneak peek for the episode released by The CW on November 19 shows Oliver, Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy), and Oliver's children William Clayton (Ben Lewis) and Mia Smoak (Katherine McNamara) meeting with Oliver's old friend Anatoly Knyazev (David Nykl).
In the clip we see Oliver asking Anatoly for his help in finding the general. Anatoly suggests they bring in some friends, clearly a reference to the Bratva, but Oliver disagrees even though Mia thinks they need all the help they can get.
Oliver's long and bloody history with the Bratva is something that we've been seeing since the very first season. Considering this season has been a farewell tour of sorts for the character, it looks like this episode will probably mark the end of that history with Oliver finally making his peace with the Russian mobsters. All things considered, it looks like this episode is going to be a tribute to Oliver's storied history with Russia, specifically his adventures in 'Arrow' Season 5.
'Arrow' Season 8 Episode 5 'Prochnost' will air on The CW on November 19.