The CW Just Needs to Cancel Arrow Already

There’s a point where a TV show has run its course. Where it just needs to be put out of its misery by a network. And the CW’s Arrow is at that point right now.

The CW’s Arrow was one of the more promising superhero shows when it started. A great premise, A rock solid cast of actors, great fight choreography, and spectacular set design. It had all the elements to go down in history as a classic DC Superhero show like Adventures of Superman, Batman 1966, 1977’sWonder Woman and 1990’s Flash.  

Unfortunately, the show’s writing has never been its strong point. And because the writers just couldn’t hit a stride, Arrow has never been able to consistently hit the mark for great television. Thanks to the uneven storytelling Arrow has never has been that one bad guy we’ve loved to hate or that one feud that became must see TV. Instead the show has been bogged down by meandering storylines featuring lies, secrets, deception, and syrupy sappy CW style romance.

Thanks to the inconsistent writing, The CW’s Arrow started a steady decline ever since the middle of the Deathstroke storyline in Season 2 when Slade killed Ollie’s Mommy. And Season 3 with Ra’s Al Ghul was an absolute disaster. Now I knew going in that Season 4 was going to be a train wreck, but-

 Damn….Just Damn.

What makes Arrow Season 4 a train wreck is the fact that this year’s storyline takes the show completely away from the source material. Instead of a focus on the romance between Oliver Queen and his comic book love, Black Canary, we get Oliver Queen finally deciding to get with his IT specialist Felicty Smoak.

I’m gonna go on record stating I fuckin’ hate Ollicity. They have no chemistry and I’d rather see Amell jump the Salmon ladder than Felicity’s bones. Every episode that focused on Ollicity was absolutely PAINFUL to watch. Felicity’s a cool character in small doses, like Abby Scuito on NCIS. And she works best when she can be cute and quirky at her computer terminal. But over the last two seasons she was given a huge push. Unfortunately, it all feels forced and convoluted.

It’s clear to me someone on Arrow’s writing team has too much of a fixation on this character. Because she went from being a great supporting character into Mary Sue territory. In some episodes over the last two seasons Felicity could do everything Ollie and Ray Palmer could. Heck, she even got herself walking after being shot and paralyzed! After the Queen Bee episode this season I had to wonder if this show was called Arrow or Felicity Smoak? Anyway, it’s just a sign of bad writing. A writer is supposed to remain objective and focus on the main character, not the one they like. And Arrow’s writers have shown that they can’t remain objective and stay true to the source material they’re adapting.

I spent four years waiting for the prickly liberal who fights for the little guy to show up on Arrow. Unfortunately all I’ve seen over four seasons is Bruce Wayne Lite taking on fifth tier Batman villains not fit to job for Jim Gordon on FOX’s Gotham. And now that Black Canary has been murdered by Damian Dork (Yeah I meant to spell it that way because he’s that ANNOYING), this show has collapsed beyond the point where any writer like myself could fix it.

It’s clear we’re not going to see the REAL Oliver Queen on Batman, I mean Arrow. Taking on his mission of fighting for the little guy. Taking on his bad guys. And having a relationship with HIS woman Black Canary. So instead of letting this LAME TV show limp on for another painful season the CW needs to put it out of its misery once and for all.

It’s a shame Arrow never actualized its potential as a TV Show. Stephen Amell is a great actor and he deserved better than the garbage scripts he was given. Amell was to Green Arrow what the late Christopher Reeve was to Superman. I wish someone at Berlanti Productions could have written him a script that would have allowed him to show how well the Real Oliver Queen would work onscreen. As it stands now Arrow is one big misfire of a TV show.