Curtis isn't too thrilled about his new mission in Arrow clip

Arrow type TV Show network The CW genre Superhero

In the wake of Team Arrow’s dissolution, Arrow costar Echo Kellum can’t get enough of Curtis Holt’s new R&D job at A.R.G.U.S.

“I’ve always really enjoyed the Curtis scenes where he’s really focusing on tech and behind a computer,” Kellum tells EW. “I love getting out in the field, too, but it’s a nice change of pace to see Curtis working for a government agency.”

Thankfully (for fans at least), Curtis won’t be stuck behind a desk all season; in Monday’s episode “The Demon,” Curtis has to go undercover as a biochemist to help his new employer catch an arms dealer. In fact, you can watch the moment that Diggle (David Ramsey) and A.R.G.U.S. Deputy Director Bell (David Stuart) give the hero formerly known as Mr. Terrific his scary new assignment in the exclusive clip above.

“It’s a way you’ve never seen Curtis before. I had a lot of fun shooting it, but it was very difficult,” says Kellum. “I can’t spoil too, too much about it, but I think it will be a really cool episode for people to see how Curtis gets undercover and how he handles it when he is.”

To succeed, Curtis will have to live up to his superhero moniker and put his 14 PhDs and his fluency in five six different languages to use — and it was that second bit that made filming the episode somewhat challenging for Kellum.

“The only thing that made it difficult for me personally as an actor is that I had to learn different languages to be in this episode. It was the fun part of it, too,” says Kellum. “You’ll see Curtis kind of hone into that aspect that he’s highly intelligent and knows multiple languages and has many degrees. You really see us hone into those comic book aspects of him.”

If you’re wondering why Curtis seems reluctant to go back out into the field in the clip (“Nowadays, I’m more of a chill in the back of van surrounded by monitors kind of a guy”), it’s because he’s still traumatized by everything that happened last season.

“We’re gonna find out everything that happened last season definitely hit him hard with Oliver going to prison and also just being the field and people getting hurt,” showrunner Beth Schwartz told EW at The CW Fall Launch Event in October.

Adds Kellum: “It’s definitely something that weighs heavily on his mind — just how things turned out last year, how they all really are constantly put at risk and constantly just sacrificing so much to do what they can for the city, and that’s never an easy mental hoop to always jump through. There are some PTSD-esque feelings there with Curtis and all the events that transpired last season. So, he will struggle with that in some parts, but I think he’ll always fall back to the aspect of how can I help people and use his brain for humanity in some positive way.”

Hopefully, he makes it back to his desk unscathed!

Arrow airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on The CW.

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