In the mid-season finale of The CW seriesArrow, Team Arrow fractured and Dinah (Juliana Harkavy), Rene (Rick Gonzalez) and Curtis (Echo Kellum) felt betrayed, prompting them to give saving Star City a shot on their own. Now, while that trio forms a new and hopefully more democratic team, Oliver (Stephen Amell) remains confident that he, Diggle (David Ramsey) and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) can stop Cayden James (Michael Emerson) and Black Siren (Katie Cassidy) without any help.
During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, actor Echo Kellum talked about how sad it was to see Team Arrow break up, what a difficult decision it was for Curtis to make, the new team dynamic and name, what he thinks it will take to bring everyone back together, how this might all affect Curtis and Felicity’s working relationship, what he enjoys about the type of villain Cayden James is, and how awesome it is to get into the Mr. Terrific superhero suit, every time.
Collider: I have to say that I was a little bit sad over the mid-season finale, to see the team break up, just when they seemed like they were finally getting it together.
ECHO KELLUM: Yeah, I was, too!
In the last episode, when Curtis left the team, how hard do you think that night was for him and what do you think he did, after that moment?
KELLUM: I definitely think he had a meeting with Jack Daniels, at least, just to clear his head. It was a really big decision. They’ve been like a second family to him. He lost his husband. They were the only things that were left, especially his friendship with Felicity. Just looking at Oliver’s mentorship and really going out and making a difference, it was definitely a decision that was tough, but it’s that thing where, if you may’t trust somebody, you don’t have anything, really. For him, it was about knowing that he can strike out on his own or get to a place where he feels like he can at least have that trust. So, it would have done him a disservice to stay on Team Arrow, after they violated some clear boundaries.
After growing into a much more cohesive unit, the betrayal among the team was that much more difficult to watch. What was it like to shoot those moments?
KELLUM: Those moments are always a little tough ‘cause we all do genuinely have such a high affinity for each other and really love working with each other and being around each other. Even pretending to be mad or disconnected or that our friendship has been ruined, it pulls on you a little bit. Emily and I are all frown-faced after those scenes. I really do love their dynamic, but I also see how it’s important for the writers to constantly have things in flux to keep things interesting and new, and to have there actually be repercussions to people’s actions. Sometimes best friends fight and I think that really is pulled from real life. As an audience, those moments can be very disheartening, but I think it can also strengthen them, in the long run, if they do get back together.
We see Curtis suggest to Rene and Dinah that they just should form their own team. What will that look like and what will that do to their dynamic? Won’t somebody have to be in charge?
KELLUM: Yeah. For them and their dynamic, it’s gonna be more about trying to do things a little bit different than Team Arrow. I feel like there’s gonna be a more democratic approach to how they handle things, as a team.
Will they get a new team name?
KELLUM: Yeah. We didn’t coin it, but I think the name that’s really been sticking, right now, is that our new bunker is called NTA Bunker, which means New Team Arrow. We don’t have Arrow on our team, per se, but we all have a lot of what he embodies and taught us, within ourselves. We all still have the same goal of saving Star City and protecting the denizens against anyone trying to bring them harm, but we just want to attempt to have a different approach to it?
Is the new team confident that they can succeed at saving the city without Oliver, Diggle and Felicity, or does that become a concern, very quickly?
KELLUM: Look, Rene would be confident in any situation. He just exudes confidence. No matter what, he’d be like, “I can go and get 17 people by myself and feel good.” Even though he might lose, his confidence is always on peak mode. I definitely think that coupled with Curtis embracing more tech and doing stuff specifically for the team, and still working on his company with Felicity and trying to help Diggle figure out what’s going on with his issue with his arm, they’re definitely going to go through it in a confident way. Whether they’re going to be successful every time is something you’re going to have to tune in to see, but I think they’ll definitely feel good about the decisions they’re making and confident about executing them.
How will Oliver feel about all of this? Like usual, is he refusing to see that he might not have handled things in the best way?
KELLUM: For Oliver, that’s always an interesting question. He’s very reflective on past decisions, where he went too far on different things, but as a leader, you know you have to keep pushing. Every decision doesn’t have to be right, but every decision does have to be made. Being put in that leadership position is not an easy path for anyone. I think he has that great leadership qualities, where he doesn’t let those decisions that people might look at differently affect his leadership style.
What do you think it will take to bring this team back together?
KELLUM: I think it would take some kind of monumental task at hand, like on a Crisis on Earth-X level, for the betterment of humanity, at this point. The teams are really split up. There’s definitely a lot of tension there, so it’s definitely going to be a thing that’s played out, in a real way. It’s going to have repercussions and lasting results. I don’t know exactly where it’s gonna go for the future, but I know that it’s definitely something that you will feel, going forward.
Curtis stated that his decision to leave Team Arrow won’t affect his work with Felicity at Helix Dynamics, but it seems like there’s no way that it won’t bleed over. What can we expect to see from their working friendship now?
KELLUM: First of all, if James Carville and his wife can make it happen than anybody can. They’re from such different parts of the political spectrum, and they still have to work together and make things work for their relationship. I think Felicity and Curtis are, in a lot of ways, the same way. Especially with a business partnership, you have to put your differences aside and do the work. You’ve got patents pending and people are gonna be expecting different tech to come out. You’ve gotta make that money. So, the focus will be toward keeping that on task and hopefully not letting the other issues that permeated through the separation influence that too much, but it won’t just be a slam dunk. They’re not just robots. They still have to deal with their issues, but they’ll try to put the north star on business ventures and try to let everything else fall by the wayside, as best they can.
Cayden James has been a different kind of villain this season, and we’re only just starting to see what he might be capable of. What do you most enjoy about the challenges that he represents, and what can we expect to see from him?
KELLUM: I like the aspect that he’s more of a thinker. Sometimes the villains are just brute force, they’re on Mirakuru, they have superpowers, or they want bloodlust revenge. I like that he implements a different approach to how he’s going to exact revenge or justice, or whatever he feels he needs to do to the denizens of Star City. I think it’s an interesting way to have a villain playing more of the mind games with his enemies and trying to get at them in a more psychological way sometimes, but still having a clear and present danger there, in a real sense. He’s going to tear you down from every aspect of your humanity, which is an interesting and different way. What you’ll see from him, throughout the season, are these psychological games, whether it’s just sticking a camera in the bunker when we thought we were two steps ahead. He’s really smart, and he’s gonna use that to his advantage.
Since becoming Mr. Terrific, the look has evolved and changed a bit. How are you feeling about the look right now, and does that ever become just another day at work, or is it always just awesome?
KELLUM: It’s always awesome! This is something I’ve dreamed of, since I was a kid. Every day that I get to put on that costume and look in the mirror, it’s still a moment where I have to pinch myself and be like, “Wow, I get to do this!” It’s just very cool! But I do like how it’s evolved. I love how they do that with all of the characters in theArrow-verse. Maya Mani is so gifted and so talented at crafting these costumes and outfits that really pop on screen and have a lot of cool elements to them. I hope to keep evolving with that and having different looks. When you see your heroes don a new look or switch it up, I love those aspects. We’ve seen Oliver go through so many looks. You might see other characters, within this season, at some point, have different costumes, too. I love that aspect of it, and I’m still pinching myself about it.
