‘Arrow’ 100th episode retrospective: Five decisions the show should regret
Tonight, “Arrow” is airing its 100th episode on the air, and we do believe by and large that this is a moment that does deserve the utmost of recognition. This is a tremendous show that’s really changed the game when it comes to superheroes on TV, and we believe that last night’s new episode of “The Flash” entitled “Invasion!” — which kicked off the crossover event in a far bigger way that “Supergirl” did on Monday — was the best live-action superhero team-up we’ve seen in any medium.
Yet, with every victory comes a failure or two, and what we want to do in preparing for the milestone is look at five moments / episodes / stories that should’ve been done differently in order to get the series to the strongest place possible. We still love the show, so this is done more to discuss how to make it better as opposed to throwing a grenade into the middle of a writers room. (We’ve also got some other fun retrospectives out there — check out our list of favorite villains!)
1. Huntress and The Count – We put these two season 1 villains hand in hand because they are both fantastic comic-book characters who were compromised somewhat on the show by either flimsy introductions or scheduling issues. The producers cast two actors in Jessica de Gouw and Seth Gabel who had other commitments, and it felt like their stories were either forgotten about or, in the case of The Count, ended far too soon. Remember that Count Vertigo is one of the Green Arrow’s most-iconic adversaries far more than a Ra’s al Ghul or a Damien Darhk.
2. Diminishing Deathstroke – The end of the character’s run in season 2 was epic and awesome, as it was the culmination of a series of lengthy battles that pushed Oliver Queen to his limits. However, the season 3 return for Slade Wilson on the island looks worse and worse by the week as Oliver and Thea were able to effectively take care of him without any major problem. It neutered one of the show’s strongest villains, and also seemingly frustrated Manu Bennett enough that we haven’t seen him on the show since.
3. You had Summer Glau, and… – You didn’t really do anything interesting with her. Out of all of the show’s recurring guest stars the former “Firefly” star is one of our favorites, but it didn’t feel like the show figured out what they wanted to do with her until close to the end of season 2. By that point, she was barely a flash in the pan to a larger Deathstroke story.
4. Mishandling Oliver and Felicity – When the idea of these two first came around as a couple, we were all for it given that they had fun chemistry and a playfulness that challenged who Oliver was as a person. By the time they were finally together, somehow the two characters changed in a way that was unflattering to either one of them. They lost their sense of fun and became routinely bogged-down in melodrama. The whole engagement part of the story was rushed beyond belief. We’re fine with the show almost nuking the whole relationship to start from scratch, given that if they are going to revisit it down the road, it needs to be in a way that celebrates who the two are as people rather than trying to get either one of them to conform to an idea.
5. Stopping Damien Darhk – The first half of season 4 was amazing; by the second half following the death of Laurel, this went completely off the rails. The end of Darhk was incredibly anticlimactic, given how muddy it was that the team found a way to kill him. It just didn’t have the fervor or the power a villain of this magnitude’s end really should have.
What’s the one part of “Arrow” that you wish was different looking back? Let us know, and take a look here at our review for the most-recent part of the crossover event! (Photo: The CW.)