"Present Tense" is the fourth episode of the eighth season of the American television series Arrow, based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, revolving around billionaire playboy Oliver Queen as he returns to Starling City (later renamed Star City), after having been shipwrecked for five years, and becomes a bow-wielding, hooded vigilante who sets out to fight crime and corruption.
Stephen Amell stars as Oliver, and is joined by principal cast members David Ramsey, Rick Gonzalez, Juliana Harkavy, Katherine McNamara, Ben Lewis, Joseph David-Jones, LaMonica Garrett and Katie Cassidy.
The episode follows the future and present Team Arrow working together to stop Grant Wilson from taking over Star City.
"Present Tense" first aired in the United States on The CW on November 6, 2019, and was watched live by 0.62 million viewers, with a 0.2/1 share among adults aged 18 to 49.
[1] The episode features the first meeting between Oliver Queen, and the adult version of his son William Clayton, played by Ben Lewis.
[3] Main cast members Stephen Amell, David Ramsey, Rick Gonzalez, Juliana Harkavy, Katherine McNamara, Ben Lewis, Joseph David-Jones, LaMonica Garrett and Katie Cassidy appear as Oliver Queen / Green Arrow, John Diggle, Rene Ramirez and Dinah Drake, Mia Smoak, William Clayton, Connor Hawke, Mar Novu / Monitor and Laurel Lance / Black Canary.
[5] The guest cast includes Echo Kellum as Curtis Holt,[4] Venus Terzo as Elisa Schwartz,[6] and Jamie Andrew Cutler as Grant Wilson / Deathstroke.
The website's critical consensus reads, "The future is brought into the "Present Tense" in an emotional Arrow installment that provides Stephen Amell with some of his most resonant material yet.
"[12] Jesse Schedeen of IGN rated the episode 7.1 out of 10, noting that the Deathstroke of 2019 suffers as the actor is not very enthusiastic about the role.