It's hard to pinpoint one particular thing that Season 2 of Arrow did right, because the entire 2013-2014 story arc of the series was (and still is) damn-near perfect. What Made it Great: Practically Everything Things clearly worked, but Season 1 of Arrow lacks a certain sense of originality that it would eventually adopt. Tasked with the responsibilities of establishing an entirely new DC landscape, Arrow fell into many typical "origin story" traps during its first season, and it often tried to get on its feet by relying on tried and sometimes true concepts established in films like Batman Begins. In retrospect, Arrow's biggest weakness during its earliest run of episodes is something that every Arrow-verse series has struggled to deal with during a Season 1 arc. What Made It Not Great: It Had Yet To Find Its Dramatic Footing In many ways, Season 1 of Arrow was, and continues to be, a breath of fresh air, and its gripping Oliver Queen origin story is one of the best small screen narratives of its kind.
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Its freshman season featured a grittiness and dark tone that was unprecedented for a comic book TV show at the time of its release, and its incredibly cinematic production values made it an easy sell for DC fans. Sometimes it's easy to forget that Arrow debuted in a post- Smallville and pre- Daredevil landscape. What Made it Great: The Dark and Gritty Tone Season 5 ended on a high note (and with a huge bang), but what the show accomplished in 23 episodes could've been done in far fewer. The brewing conflict between Prometheus and Green Arrow worked incredibly well, but the story often felt artificially stretched out to fill up an entire season of running time.
Season 5 is undeniably a notable improvement over the two seasons that preceded it, but like Season 4, it eventually found itself bogged down by circular storytelling. What Made It Not Great: The Storytelling Eventually Went In Circles Creating a maniacal arch nemesis in the form of Adrian "Prometheus" Chase was a stroke of genius on the part of the writers, and Season 5 placed a newfound emphasis on examining the implications of Oliver's time away from Star City, as well as his first year under the hood as a cold-blooded killer. The most important accomplishment of the most recent season of Arrow was its return to grounded, personal storytelling similar to that which made the first two seasons such quality viewing. What Made it Great: The Emphasis On Legacy and Oliver's Past Olicity took attention away from the super heroics and eventually made Laurel a fundamentally less important character, much to the chagrin of Black Canary fans. Many fans fell in love with Oliver and Felicity's flirtatious relationship in Seasons 1 and 2, but like The Office's Jim and Pam, it arguably quickly grew stale when the romance materialized. What Made It Not Great: The Birth of OlicityĪlthough Season 3 of Arrow was vital in setting up several essential elements that would carry the show into the future, it was also the season in which the Olicity relationship took center stage. The result was a gritty season that, while still on the weaker side, featured several of the show's best moments. On top of that, the show incorporated numerous familiar DC characters and elements, like Ra's al Ghul and Wildcat, into the equation. Roy Harper suited up as Arsenal, Thea Queen became a badass fighter in her own right, and the season served as the jumping off point for Barry Allen's Flash series. Season 3 was where Arrow really started to become what it is today. What Made it Great: It Expanded The Arrow-verse Arguably Better Than Any Other Season