Stephen Amell has revealed his favorite season of Arrow. The Oliver Queen/Green Arrow actor recently returned to work for season 6 of The CW’s archery-themed DC drama, which looks set to put Ollie’s skills as a father under the microscope for the first time.

That’s not the only way in which Arrow season 6 will be a major shakeup for the series, either: Deathstroke will get his own flashbacks, Malcolm Merlyn will be completely absent, Black Siren’s backstory will be explored, and the FBI - in the shape of Sydelle Noel’s Agent Samandra Watson - will be investigating both Oliver and his masked alter ego.

But the gap between seasons is a time to look back at previous achievements as well as gazing ahead at potential coolness, and that’s exactly what Amell did in an interview with CBR. When asked which season of Arrow is his personal favorite, Amell didn’t even hesitate before offering this answer:

“Five. If you want to see Oliver more broken down than he was around [episode] 5.16, 5.17, then you’re into some weird shit. What Chase did to him on a psychological level, I don’t think that we can match the emotional gravity of Season 5. I think there’s Season 1, there’s Season 5, then there’s whatever the last year of the show is. That doesn’t mean that Season 6 can’t be better. I’m very proud of Season 5.”

Indeed, following the villainy of Josh Segarra’s Adrian Chase, aka Prometheus, will be a tricky task. He was right up there with the Oliver’s most memorable foes, and there’s no chance of a reprisal after the shocking ending to season 5. Topping the emotional turmoil caused by Chase is a nigh-on impossible task.

Amell isn’t worried, though, about the gap left in the show by Chase’s death. “You don’t follow [him] up with one villain”, Amell teased in the same CBR interview, suggesting that multiple new threats will rise up now that Prometheus is out of the picture. One of those will be Richard Dragon, who has been described by producer Marc Guggenheim as a “grounded” crime lord “in the Tobias Church model.”

Amell also mentioned in his CBR interview, rather surprisingly, that “Oliver’s head space is actually pretty good” in season 6. You could read that as a suggestion that none of Ollie's friends died when Lian Yu went up in flames. Perhaps this ties in with another recent statement from Guggenheim, where the producer suggested there could be “other consequences” than death as a result of Chase’s final attack.

NEXT: Arrow Season 7 Is Already In Development

All will be revealed when Arrow returns on October 12.

Source: CBR