Post — Aaron Ngo

Major Spoilers are included in this series finale review. Please read with caution.

Arrow has officially finished its eight-season run. I’m sad to see this show end, but it was time for Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) to rest. Going into the series finale, everyone was unsure how the series would say goodbye or if it needed to. Crisis on Infinite Earths did the job of saying goodbye to Oliver Queen and paying tribute to his sacrifice in the crossover, which argued the purpose of a series finale. Basically, it focused on the people Oliver left behind and the impact he had on them.

Thea and Roy are getting married. Rene is going to be Star City’s new mayor. Star City is also crime free. The show doesn’t dive into what that exactly means. Before Green Arrow and the Canaries, Dinah Drake is going to Metropolis because she wants to make be hero where she’s needed. John and Lyla are moving to Metropolis with their children. Also, it was interesting to see so much resurrected people.

Moira Queen, Emiko Queen, Tommy Merlyn, and Quentin Lance are alive post-Crisis. Laurel Lance Earth-1 remains dead, which bothers Laurel E-2 and a lot of committed Black Canary fans. I had an issue with this decision, and how it was buried under the umbrella of making Laurel Lance Earth-2 the officially Laurel moving forward. It was wrong of the writers to do this, but it’s something we must accept.

The underdeveloped plot that brings everyone together… Young William Clayton getting kidnapped in Central City. He gets kidnapped by the criminal Oliver defeated / not kill in the flashback. The pacing felt weird. There was a clear checklist that took priority to clear everything up before the Final Bow.

The series finale could’ve easily been a mess with all the characters running around, but the writers made sure the focus would always return back to John Diggle (David Ramsey) in present day and flashback. Yes, the series finale had one last flashback set in the early days of season one. The flashback and present day connected thematically, in regards to Oliver and Diggle’s friendship and their overall growth.

Oliver Queen spent the majority of his screentime in flashback mode, reminding the viewers how far this show has gone. Also, the brutal fight scene jumped to one of the best ones in the entire series. How I’ll miss Arrow fight scenes.

Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) returns to give her character that proper ending with Oliver Queen. They’re living in a cosmetic afterlife, their happily ever after. This is where I feel things felt rushed, but oh well. Felicity Smoak needed more time with characters like Curtis, Sara, Nyssa, Mia, John, and Roy because they’re people she cares about too.

Also, Nyssa and Sara finally reunited at Oliver’s Funeral. “My Beloved.” What a payoff. We needed that so much. No matter how the series faltered during the last two seasons, I’m going to miss the show. The lessons and hardships Arrow taught me will be remembered for future generations to come.

Thank you, Oliver Queen / Stephen Amell. Your legacy is in safe hands.

back to blog