Arrow (TV Series)

Present Tense (2019)

Ben Lewis: William Clayton

Photos 

Quotes 

• John Diggle : You called me dad.

  Connor Hawke : You adopted me. Remember? It's Connor.

  John Diggle : No. No, I-I- I haven't

  William Clayton : He hasn't because he hasn't yet.

  Connor Hawke : Look. What are you talking about?

  William Clayton : We're in the past.

  Mia Smoak : That is insane.

  William Clayton : Look at this place. It's new, and them! No gray hair, no wrinkles, and we're staring at our dad alive instead at his tombstone. I'm sorry. What year is this?

  Oliver Queen : Uh, it's 2019. What year is it supposed to be?

  William Clayton : 2040.

• William Clayton : This might be how it starts. This is the beginning of the future.

• John Diggle : The device has been neutralized.

  William Clayton : [sighing in relief]  I guess things have never not been tense around here, huh?

  Curtis Holt : Yeah. I like to cope by stress eating. Gummy bear?

  William Clayton : [taking one]  Thanks.

• William Clayton : You know, I have been told by several ex-boyfriends that I do this moody, broody thing when I'm problem-solving. I guess it must be genetic. It's Mia, right?

  Oliver Queen : I didn't want her to go out there.

  William Clayton : Well, then you should have made her stay.

  Oliver Queen : What, put her in time out? She's an adult.

  William Clayton : Yeah, and like an adult, she makes mistakes.

  Oliver Queen : She's right. I chose to go with the Monitor. I abandoned her. I haven't earned a say.

  William Clayton : Yeah, but that doesn't mean she doesn't want you to have one. Or... or that you shouldn't. And I'm saying that from experience.

  Oliver Queen : You have kids in the future?

  William Clayton : Oh, god, no. I mean, don't get me wrong, kids are a... miracle, or whatever, but I was referring to when I left you to go live with grandma and grandpa.

  Oliver Queen : Yeah, that one's still pretty fresh for me.

  William Clayton : Right.

  Oliver Queen : I mean, I-I... I thought you hated my guts.

  William Clayton : I hated you for abandoning me.

  Oliver Queen : I tried.

  William Clayton : True. But I wanted you to try harder. Push a little more. I think that's all any child wants from their parents.

  Oliver Queen : I'm sorry.

  William Clayton : It's okay. Dad, I am glad that you're in my life, then and now. And Mia will be, too.

• Oliver Queen : We set up one team to go after Grant, one team to detroy the relay device. But we also need to keep the public calm this time.

  Dinah Drake : Well, last I checked, the police are still good, and I'm still captain, future be damned

  Rene Ramirez : I'll join you. I gotta do something for the Glades from there.

  William Clayton : What about the three of us?

  Oliver Queen : William, I think it would be best if you stayed and helped Curtis. Mia and Connor, I'd like for the two of you to come with us. Like Rene said, we have to do things differently this time. Agreed?

  [as he glances at them both, they nod in agreement] 

  Oliver Queen : All right.

  Curtis Holt : This is my favorite part.

  Oliver Queen : Suit up.

• William Clayton : There you are. Mia's back.

  Oliver Queen : You crack the drive?

  William Clayton : Curtis almost has it. God, you know, it's kind of annoying how good he is. Plus, he's got this perfect husband/life. Not that I'm jealous or anything.

• William Clayton : Zoe was fighting to fix exactly what her dad helped cause. That's why she was a Canary like both of you. You guys had a whole network of them in the city.

  Dinah Drake : And that's what Connor was talking about earlier.

  Laurel Lance : And yet we still couldn't save the city.

  William Clayton : After Rene walled off the Glades, the scope was just too big, and ever since the wall came down, we've been fighting the Deathstrokes, trying to make things better, but...

  Dinah Drake : I just still don't understand. I mean, JJ adores Zoe. How could he do something like this?

  Mia Smoak : Seemed pretty easy for him, so how about we stop mourning poor, innocent JJ and accept who he actually is?

• Mia Smoak : All that matters right now is stopping Grant Wilson before he screws up everyone's future.

  Oliver Queen : What else can you tell me about him?

  William Clayton : Well, just the broad strokes. Grant made a name for himself doing pretty much exactly what he's doing now, targeting the rich, uh, appealing to the disenfranchised. They became cult heroes, which is how he seduced JJ.

  Oliver Queen : Any more specifics?

  William Clayton : Grant's home base just got blown up. That... that never happened before. We're in new territory now.

  Oliver Queen : How long to access the drive?

  William Clayton : Uh, more than a few, less than a year.

  Dinah Drake : I'm gonna go check on Rene.

  Mia Smoak : We should be out there doing something.

  Oliver Queen : We will be, once we know Grant Wilson's plan.

• William Clayton : I managed to extract the data from the drive, but, surprise, surprise, it's encrypted. And since I'm not an expert in early 21st-century decryption algorithms, I've called in someone who is. Curtis.

  Dinah Drake : Great. Now, what about Mia and Laurel?

  Oliver Queen : We need to focus on tracking down Grant. Felicity's search algorithm should still be on the computer.

  William Clayton : Way ahead of you. Wow, mom really liked playing fast and loose with the Fourth Amendment, huh?