1) Trying To Keep Up With The Flash
Now, it’s time for the top reason Arrow just isn’t as good as it used to be. I bet you’re surprised to see The Flash as the top reason, but if you think about it, it makes complete sense. Ever since Barry Allen was introduced into season two, the DC universe has picked up full steam ahead. On The Flash, anyway. Characters on The Flash seem to be allowed to exist in both the movie and television universe, and everything from the stories to the costumes are much more reminiscent of the comics. The show has featured a giant psychic gorilla and a humanoid shark, so you know there are little to no boundaries. Because of all these reasons, The Flash became too good too quickly and Arrow just couldn’t keep up. Between the one-two punch of Arrow‘s second season being unbeatable and The Flash being as good as it is, Arrow quickly fell by the wayside and became nothing more than a way to service the show’s Tumblr and Twitter fanbase. Because The Flash was such a light dichotomy to Arrow‘s darker tone (think the dichotomy between Superman and Batman), the producers thought that lightening up the show for season four would make it more likable after its fanbase started falling off after season three, when in fact the show’s darkness was never a common complaint in the first place.
Arrow‘s fourth season tried introducing magic to keep up with the metahumans, and reformed Team Arrow to include stupid fan picked alias’ like Overwatch and Spartan. Just because witty banter during missions works for Team Flash, doesn’t mean Team Arrow needs to follow suit. Diggle and Felicity were doing just fine without nicknames and a Magneto Halloween costume. Now for season five, Arrow is ‘going back to its roots’. Hopefully they realized that they could give us the street-level ninjas, gangsters, and warriors, and it would be enough for fans. The show started with Oliver, and it needs to go back to Oliver. He was doing just fine before he met Barry and learned about metahumans and time travel, and that real world perspective is where Oliver works best. No more magic, no more drama, let’s just get back to the days of dark, gritty action.
Do you agree with my reasoning for why Arrow has lost its way? Make sure to let us know your thoughts down in the comments!
