Arrow: Stephen Amell Teases What’s Next With Susan Williams

This week’s Arrowmay have been a bit overstuffed, but it included a truly refreshing plot twist with the reveal that reporter Susan Williams knows that Oliver Queen was not on Lian Yu for the entire five years of his disappearance. This not only gives added dramatic weight to Oliver’s secret identity secret, but ties the Russia flashbacks to the present-day storyline in a tangible way (something the flashbacks haven’t been able to do in so, so long).

We caught up with Stephen Amell during a group press trip to the Arrowset to talk about what Susan might do with the information and how their relationship might change moving forward. Check out the video of what he had to say about Susan’s quest for the truth embedded below..  

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So what’s next for Susan and Oliver? Will Susan spill Oliver’s secret? Will she confront him with it? And, if so, what will he say? Amell teased…

Hopefully, it’s building towards something that we’ve talked about doing on the show for awhile. We’ve had [people] … discover Oliver’s secret — or a secret that he is keeping, maybe not the secret — and they threaten him with it. So, you know, I think it would be interesting if we go back to that storyline of her having information, that maybe she threatens him with it, but maybe his counter is different than what we’ve seen before.

Amell added that he thought it would be “most interesting” if Susan Williams wasn’t another Isabel Rochev-type and that “maybe her relationship with Oliver will become dynamic and she won’t wanna do what she did to Thea in the earlier part of the season.” 

If you think that sounds romantic, you’re not alone. It’s no secret that Susan is interested, after giving Oliver (well, the Human Target pretending to be Oliver) her number in tonight’s episode. Chance suggested to the real Oliver Queen that it might not be a terrible idea to call it. Is Oliver ready to move on? Amell says…

I don’t know if he’s ready to move on, but it’s time for Oliver to have another relationship.

We actually had a moment earlier this year and I was speaking with [executive producer] Wendy Mericle, and I was like, ‘Look, guys, there’s two things that we’re no longer allowed to write about Oliver. We’re no longer allowed to call him a billionaire because he’s been broke for three years. Not broke, but not a billionaire. He’s lost his family’s fortune. So, we’re not allowed to say billionaire anymore.’ …

‘Concurrently, we’re not allowed to say playboy. He has dated one woman since season two … Stop writing playboy. If you would like him to be a playboy, then, by all means, start writing him like one and then we can do it.’

Amell confirmed that there would be a “certain element of romance” between Oliver and Susan, adding that: “I hope that people enjoy it because I’ve found it to be really dynamic so far.”

Oliver’s heart took a hit in this week’s “Human Target” when he learned of Felicity’s new relationship with Billy Malone. Amell said that Oliver “was fine, if not slightly confused” by Felicity’s decision not to tell him about the relationship sooner, adding:

I wasn’t actually a huge fan of the idea that she wouldn’t say something because of all the reasons that their relationship fell apart last year, which was secrets being kept. Yet, to me, when I played those scenes tonight, it was like, ‘Hey, we work together, so if you’re keeping anything from me, anything, why? Is it because you don’t trust me? And, if you don’t trust me, is that a problem?

So, to me, it was really about getting to the source of what her issue was. It was less about Oliver and it was more about: Are we OK? Are we good? Because now it’s not just you and me down there. We have John back in the fold, Thea operating the political axis of Star City, and we have these new recruits who look for us for guidance, so let’s make sure that as the theoretical leaders of the team, that we are on the same page.

In other words: It’s hard enough leading a band of superhero misfits without the additional potential heartache, awkwardness, and angst of a we-used-to-date-and-are-probably-still-be-in-love dynamic. 

Stay tuned to Den of Geek for more insights from our visit to the Arrow set.