The Rise and Fall of the Arrowverse
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- čas přidán 27. 04. 2023
- In this episode of The Third Floor, Joe takes us through the history of the Arrowverse, and discusses why it eventually collapsed. Please remember to leave a comment and let us know what you think about the Arrowverse!
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I think the real problem was the old school TV format where they had to get 23 episodes. That format doesn't work for superheros in the long run and leads to less budget per episode and filler episodes. I think what could have made them successful is if they broke the show up into smaller shows with fewer episodes per season with more potential crossovers.
That seems to be a really popular opinion! It's funny we used to say the same thing when we watched it as a group. If only they shortened the seasons and spent more time on the quality rather than the quantity🤷♂️. Thanks for the comment!
I have to agree. Some of the filler episodes would annoy the sh*t outta me. I'd b like "dude, just get back to the main story/villain"... Now, some filler episodes can be good, but majority were just pitiful.
Facts, 13 episodes maximum and a higher budget for graphics
making a 10 episode season that had a singular focus wouldve benefited the arrow verse so much theres so mch filler that it just loses the attention of so many people
6 episode shows are trash. Disney and Netflix doing 6 episode shows doesn’t improve shit
All I know is every cross over with arrow and flash was a hit
Oh don't get me wrong. I love the Barry and Oliver dynamic and the things they did together. But when everyone else got thrown in is where I think the quality went down is all 🤷♂️
@@TheThirdFloorofficial ok. True
@@TheThirdFloorofficial great video!👍 The arrowverse had so much potential, and they mess it up. I didn't like the direction that arrow went either. What I think they should've done was keep arrow growned, and self contained, but at the same time, still acknowledge that their in a shared univers. You could still put metas, and magic in some episode, but do the more growned episodes. I wasn't a fan of seasons 3 and 4. Damon should've been just a normal growned villain who was highly skilled. And he wasn't close to Slade Wilson and Malcolm merlyn.
Definitely agree, that would have been great! Thanks for the comment 🤘
@@TheThirdFloorofficial you're welcome.
The first 2 seasons of Arrow and first season of Flash are GOATed
No doubt! The best of the best💪
I just remember after season 2 of Arrow and Flash, it felt like obligation rather than enjoyment.
Wow, that hits deep. What a great way to describe the arrowverse 😮💨
Season 5 of arrow was great
Полностью согласен. После первой половины 3 сезона я бросил Стрелу, и точно также поступил со Флэшом, правда мне хотелось узнать чем они все в конце концов закончат(Флэшбеки с острова Оливера и газета будущего у Барри), и поэтому я следил за этим безумием через Ютуб. Единственный раз я хотел вернуться, чтобы посмотреть 5 сезон Стрелы, но я до сих пор его не посмотрел.
А ну еще я посмотрел 2 сезона Легенд, вроде тоже было неплохо, особенно 2 сезон(черт побери Эобард Тоун и Малкольм Мерлин, лучшие злодеи Арровверса(если не считать Слейда Уилсона) добавьте к ним Капитана Холода, самого харизматичного из Легенд, ну и Дарк в легендах был хорош(я слышал, что в Стреле он был так себе).
In my opinion Legends of Tomorrow was pretty great, after the first one or two seasons. When they just started embracing the fact that they were making a stupid, goofy show and dove headfirst into absurdity, everyone involved just sort of seemed like they were having a lot of fun making it, which was great to watch. The last couple seasons were a little less fun, but still entirely enjoyable, at least from my perspective.
Glad you enjoyed it! For me, I just didn't want another really goofy superhero show. But I can tell a lot of people really enjoyed the humor and craziness of it!
I think seasons 2 and 3 of legends were really enjoyable. The roster of characters was balanced nicely and it was a lot of fun to watch the show hit its stride in season 2.
While I will say season 2 was definitely an improvement on season 1, I just didn't want another goofy show, so it wasn't for me. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it though!
Legends is still great after season 3
After season three it became the dumping ground for characters from the other show that got to big to include anymore and when they started relying to much on the magical world causing they could have been the cosmic side of the universe with inspiration taken from doctor who cause they had the ability to time travel like the doctor and it didn’t need to me earth based cause they had the wave rider that could have taken them to other planets
Legends is my second favorite show
I think in general the best seasons of the arrowverse are Arrow S1>Flash S1&2>Legends S2&3> everything else
Arrow was my show. I watched all of the seasons. When it ended, to me, the Arrowverse was done.
I kind of felt the same way. I got into the arroverse because of Arrow, and it felt very different after Oliver was gone!😮💨
I felt the same way... except it wasn't when "Arrow" ended.
For me?
It was when "Olicity" started... not to mention when "Mr. Iris West-Allen" became a thing... remember "WE are The Flash"? Every time someone on that show said that, I would yell "NO... BARRY IS THE FLASH... WTF?"
Goddamned CW, taking everything from those dumbass "shippers" on Twatter at face value...
@@thisisnotachannel Hahaha shippers are definitely dangerous! And oh boy, we are the flash was brutal...
Agreed
I remember when the Flash first came out. It was one of the first live-action shows I would follow and me and my siblings would watch it together and found it so fun and unique, since we only knew the Flash from Justice League Unlimited. I would follow it for a few seasons, and then I left it off for a while because I was watching a LOT of shows at the time, most specifically getting into Game of Thrones. I would watch a bunch of other TV shows, then I suddenly remembered about the Flash show. At this point I watched multiple critically acclaimed and wildly popular shows. I put on one episode of the Flash and the writing was just unbearable I stopped watching it in like 10 minutes lol.
As a fellow GoT fan, I can confirm that the writing is much better over there than in the Flash 😂
I really think a large part of the arrowverse decline was a switch from tv format and having a week off between each episode and switching as a society to binge watching. Things like endless relationship drama and villain repetitiveness weren't noticeable when watching a single episode, but become grueling when binge watching multiple episodes in one sitting.
Ohhh, now that's a good point! Maybe shows needed to be adapted to the binge watching format, and the arrowverse was just late to the party! Great thought!
I recently rewatched Arrow again. And man it’s by far my favorite show of the Arrowverse. I don’t care what anyone says, but despite its flaws in the later seasons I still love it (except for season 4). I grew up with Arrow and once it ended I was so heartbroken and I stopped watching the Arrowverse entirely, because every other show sucked by that point. I mean the only reason I watched the last season of the flash was to see Oliver again
I can relate! Even with how critical i was about the show. I still cared about Arrow! And when Oliver died, that really marked the end of the Arrowverse for me. 😮💨
The problem was that it was on the CW. They always destroy/ruin things. They were the cream of the crop until Daredevil came out and made it look like 90210. I honestly wanted comic GA not watered-down Batman by taking Batman’s main storylines and villains for s3. I do agree with you that s1 was the best season in my eyes.
I wonder how a more comic accurate Green Arrow would have done with ratings 🤔 definitely would have been cool to see
@@TheThirdFloorofficial I mean green arrow from smallville?
@@lordpugsie9091 I have opinions on that portrayal that won't be popular lol. So I think I'll just say, I'd like to see a different take on the character then the ones seen in both Smallville and Arrow...
Tbf comic accurate Green Arrow is awesome. He's sort of a mix of Batman and Flash in terms of abilities and sense of humour/personality. And he has a lot of interesting storylines and associated characters. I think if it was made today it would do incredibly well.
@@aclarkson9368 like Smallville green arrow?
As I see it, it was right around the time of Season 2 of Supergirl that things started going downhill. Apparently, there were already problems, but S2 of Supergirl was around the time that the heads of the Arrowverse started shoving in agendas to the point people started getting sick of them and dropped the shows.
It wasn’t the political/agendas that killed it it was around the time they acquired supergirl for its second season from cbs that they dove head first into turning the shows into a soap opera cause they should have looked at dc’s most recent successful show at that point Lois and Clark the new adventures of Superman cause that had the right balance of the more serious side and the more action side that made it fun to watch on Sunday nights and u didn’t feel like u had to watch u wanted to watch
That’s only part of it. They are getting way too political yes but they also are getting sloppy with the writing.
Arrow had more godd seasons than bad. It is the best show of the the arrowverse
Completely agree, it's far and away the best for me!
Agreed. The only truly bad season was 4. 3 6 and 7 had its moments but the stories were to drawn out
I loved pretty much every season of Legends of Tomorrow. It was definitely my favourite show of all time!
Oh wow, so it takes your top spot for the best show in the Arrowverse?😯
Nah bro I’m with you on this one I LOVED Legends of tomorrow because it was so goofy 😂 and I honestly cared about the characters fr
Yeah, I don’t know what he was thinking about saying that stuff about legend that really was one of the best shows and it really only went downhill its last season and then got canceled and left on a cliffhanger. Invite downhill I don’t even mean it was garbage. It just wasn’t as good as the season beforehand.
I loved it too, was basically DC's Guardians of the Galaxy, but better imo
Wow, that's a surprising one! You liked Legends more than Guardians?😯
Arrow season 1 and 2 were amazing, everything else in the arrowverse felt like it had issues
Oh it definitely had issues alright haha but I still enjoyed a good portion of it
Legends is genuinely amazing
How would you compare legends to the other Arrowverse shows?
@@TheThirdFloorofficial creatively better and free while being fresh with the storytelling, the others shows have a habit of doing the same thing over and over again while being too serious, the cast and characters genuinely have fun and finds ways to grow certain characters throughout the show, if people like Constantine, Thawn, Malcom and Damien can come in and fit better on here while bouncing off others naturally while establishing threat, you did something right
If Flash didn't have the the same constraints, it could be as creative, it seems to want to as the "you got wammied" episodes where Grant or the cast gets to play outside their characters for a minute and that shows creativity, the cast interactions and it's ideas in Flash is the only reason why it went on so long and why people are still genuinely interested in what's happening....I can't explain otherwise
Honestly I LOVED Legends of Tomorrow because for some reason it was just way more entertaining to me compared to some of the other shows plus it was so goofy near the end and they actually took it less seriously and for some reason that made the show much better for me because of how weird and fun it was. They seriously needed one more season at least since I did care about the characters
I'm surprised they ended on a cliffhanger! You'd think they would have continued on for one more season just to finish the story!!
Arrow Season 1 2 3 and 5 had me hooked. First 2 season of Flash as well.
Legends of Tomorrow season 2 and 3 were really awesome. Unfortunately with season 4 it went downhill
Dang with all these LOT comments I may have to rewatch the show🤔
IMO season 3-5 were really, REALLY good. I think embracing the goofiness is a really daring, but smart move.
I know, right? I was a bit sad how *Legends* was swept to the side in this recap and considered on the same level as Supergirl & "Batgirl" (I assume they meant Batwoman?)
Even season 1 was pretty decent, I mean I know that the consensus is that it was one of the weakest seasons, and Vandal Savage was a weak Big Bad, but Captain Cold made watching it worth it
I think you explained it well, you pointed out the obvuis problems and gave your own thoughts. I miss early seasons a lot thought
Thank you very much! I do as well 😮💨
Superman and lois is just as good as the early seasons of arrow and flash which is why its the only CW superhero show that hasn't been cancelled
Wow that's high praise! I believe I watched the first season and enjoyed it. Maybe I'll have to watch the second season now and see what I've been missing out on 👍
@@TheThirdFloorofficial I thought the first season was as good as flash and arrow but the second season was worse
But I heard the third season is really good
@@minerpvpgaming2160 if we're comparing 2nd seasons, Flash and Arrow are both better.
@@dimitrescu182 season 1 of both of those shows were way better than their r season 2s
I think season 1 of arrow is better than season 1 of Superman and Lois but season 1 of the flash wasn’t
Season 2 of arrow and flash were both better than season 2 of Superman and Lois though
I need to say this real quick, Superman and Lois releases first on the CW App, but doesn’t belong to them. It was made by HBO Max and simply uses the same actors for Superman and Lois
I liked Legends of Tomorrow because, unlike the other shows, it stopped taking itself too seriously. That made it awsome to me because it embraced its sillyness.
Glad you liked it! Which season was your favorite?
@@TheThirdFloorofficial all of them minus the first.
For me I really agree with just about all your opinions on the shows. I did really enjoy Arrow season 5 overall, but other than that none of the later stuff was any good. Such a shame
Yeah they had a lot of potential, I just wish they could have used them properly!
Superman & Lois is the Main proof that THE MAIN PROBLEM OF THE ARROWVERSE were the excesive amount of episodes per seasons, 20+ Episodes per seasons work in procedurials(Like House & The Mentalist), not for shows with an established plot
*One of the things that make me love Brooklyn 99 is how after season 5 the show start to reduce the episodes per season, because they knew 22 episodes per season was Ridiculous
Great point! It definitely became too much, especially since they had the multi show formula going for so long! It's like eating your favorite food 3 times a day. No matter how much you love it, it's going to eventually get old!
Season 3 of Legends of Tomorrow rank among the top 3 best seasons in the Arrowverse for me. Totally underrated show.
Oh wow that's a high ranking! What 2 other seasons make your top 3?
@@TheThirdFloorofficial Arrow S5 will always be my number 1. I can't choose which to rank 2nd between Flash S1 and Legends S3.
Arrow season 5 is an underrated pick! Great choice 💪
Im glad there was a shout out to promotheus as that was the real saving grace for me past season 3
Oh yeah, he was a callback to the earlier seasons quality for sure! Underrated villain in the series
Summed it up perfectly
Thank you very much 🙂
i remember exacly when i stopped watching the arrowverse, it was the crisis on earth x crossover, i stopped supergirl at 3x08, legends at 3x10, i finished season 5 of the flash (the one with the thinker), and i started watching arrow 6x09 but stopped because i simply could not anymore. like i don't even know why, i don't know if it was a me thing, like i was busy, or just uninterested anymore or if it just got to be too much to watch them all. but i took a break and when i went back to watch it again, i couldn't bring myself to do it. part of it as the sheer amount like at some point it turned from fun to chore. and i think it's similar to how some people feel about marvel movies, like they were building it all to endgame so much but at a certain point, it's not about the individual stories anymore, it's about the extended universe. i loved it at first, as it was building and getting bigger, i was enthralled, but it became too many characters in each show, and they all lost what made them unique i felt, it just become the same shows with a different lighting scheme lmao. i always enjoyed how light supergirl and the flash were compared to arrow, and how legnds was a different style of show, but i don't know, it just lost its appeal to me. it was also the fact that they were still doing the 23 episode seasons like the tv landscape has changed so much i don't think they could keep up with that. i like tighter, well paced arcs as opposed to one episode here and there about the main plot. i think superman and lois did the right move by not making itself a part of the same universe, because the connection would've weighed it down.
so yeah i don,t even know if i had a point at all with this lmao, I'll always cherish it for what it was, as far as legacy, to me these are the characters, grant gustin IS the flash, melissa benoist IS super girl, stephen amell IS arrow, that's always gonna be the case for me, and also the flash musical episode lmao, my heart, but i think i stopped at the right time because it seems like everyone agrees the fall was very hard
Yeah I think when it goes to legacy. These shows did just enough to leave a lasting impression on us the fans! These actors will always be synonymous with these characters, and we will always cherish those great moments! So as hard as i was on the arrowverse it at least did that for us all 🤘
You just described most of everything I felt about my love/hate relationship with the arrowverse. (Except supergirl and LOT. I enjoyed those until the end.) It wasn't until I started watching izombie and toyko ghoul (both highly recommended watching by the way.) That I realised, what kind of abusive relationship I got myself into. (All promises, no payoffs.)
Ohhh I'll keep those in mind! And yeah, it hooked us all in, and at most times, let us all down... here's to hoping James Gunn treats DC better than what it's gotten so far!
Season 3 of arrow and season 1 of flash happened at the same time. S2 of flash happened while season 4 of arrow happened.
Great video mate, heres a comment for the algorythm! B)
Thank you, my friend 🫡
Make more rise and falls surrounding super heroes and movie series. Examples are the different MCU shows and you could also do the success or failures of The Divergent series, Maze Runner, Hunger Games, and other Sci fi series. You’re channel has potential, but you gotta focus on the stuff that works, and your video essay was pretty dang good!!!
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it! The Rise And Fall series will be back sooner rather than later!🤘
I completely agree. I remember after season 3 of the flash it started to get really really corny, like with the character of ralph. Using over the top humor kinda like legends of tomorrow. Now, legends was created that way so it works(kinda)... But the flash started out similar to arrow with more serious vibes. They did start to reverse that as the seasons progressed and although the viewership dropped, I actually didn't mind season 7 and 8. Now, one thing about arrow I liked was they at least kept the serious tone throughout the series. Obviously it was the best at the start. But Oliver always had the serious presence about him that never wavered. Sadly though, the Flash was good imo on season 1(best), 2, and 3. 4,5, and 6 it got really corny, and 7 and 8 it brought a little more seriousness back. Hopefully they'll just give us a bunch of fan service the last few episodes we have left😅.... But all in all good video. 👍
Thank you so much! And oh yeah, let's hope this show gives us some good payoff for sticking with it all these years😂
Ralph was in S4. This guy doesn't remember things correctly. The Flash S1 ran alongside Arrow S3, not S2. Because Barry was in a coma for the rest of Arrow S2 after being struck by lightning. The Flash S2 ran alongside Arrow S4, not Arrow S3. Arrow S4 is the worst season of Arrow.
S4 of flash: “I’m not like the Flash. Some may say I’m the reverse.”
I agree. Arrow season 1 was excellent, i remembered seeing the last episode and just thinking "wow, what a season". Flash season 1 and 2 were pretty good as well, didn't mind another speedster at this point because they were introducing the multiverse so it was different. But they definitely peaked early like you said. You could tell there were issues when Legends had a somewhat serious first season and then turned into a comedy show. To me, that's going to be the legacy of the Arrowverse - shows that started out strong with a ton of potential what quickly shifted to easiest and more predictable storylines.
For sure! The storytelling just fell off and became a second thought to the romance and teen drama aspects of the show. If only they could have kept those early seasons momentum!
Season 3 of the Flash was quite good as well and really the last time the show was popular
I like the video 100% spot on
Thank you so much! Appreciate the support!
I’m surprised this video completely ignored the fact that Arrowverse shows are wildly popular on Netflix and HBO Max, and at times drawing more viewers on streaming than on the network
That's great. I'm glad to hear they're doing well! But in my own opinion that success started after the main fall of the arrowverse, so I didn't think it fit the video🤷♂️
Deathstroke in Arrow is still one of the most badass villians I've ever seen in a CB show.
Heck yeah! I'd like to see more of him in the DCU!
As a longtime Arrowverse fan who watched every show here's my perspective. This stems from several problems not just one.
1) Arrow, Flash, LOT (I personally liked S1) and even Batwoman S1 all started off good in their first few seasons however the problem was that CW leaned in too heavy on the drama. Now I'm not saying that drama is unwarranted and it can help develop the characters the problem wqs that the way CW used drama made feel like the characters regressed after overcoming their obstacles. Overtime it felt less like a superhero show with dome and more of a drama show with a little bit of superhero.
2) The 20+ episode structure. It wasn't problematic in the beginning it actually helped develop some of the side characters so whenever we would get filler episodes they would be fun and sometimes even praised as some of the best ever written in the Arrowverse. But filler soon became unimportant after we learned a lot about the characters. Also some of the stories even if they're good they start to drag on especially if it's a mystery. For example the mystery of who Savitar is intrigued everyone from the start but when they strengthed that story for too long it started to become obvious that it was an evil Barry. The villain of the week could have worked better if instead alhaving a one-off villain every they could have villains appear regularly have their own arcs. For example instead of having Captain Cold only appear sporical appearances he should have been a secondary villain and appear in somewhere around half of the season and creating a Rogue arc. Many people including myself have clamored these shows to reduce the episode count to around 13 to 15 as a way to reduce filler and so the story can stay more consistent or at the very list split the season in half similar to how The Flash would eventually. That makes Black Lightning not only great but also the only Arrowverse show to have every season be consistently good. Reducing the episodes could have also help with the budget.
3) This one was out of the CW's control. Streaming service was becoming increasingly popular and not a lot of people were watching the shows week to week as they would 20-30 years ago. In addition almost every streaming service had their own comic book show. Amazon: The Boys & Invincible, Disney+: MCU, MAX: DC (Doom Patrol, Titans, Peacemaker, etc.) Netlfix: Sweet Tooth, Umbrella Academy, etc. The Arrowverse could have been saved if they transferred their shows to MAX
With the Arrowverse ending it's sad that not only it's ending but also that most of the shows got cancelled and didn't even get a proper ending. But it won't erase all of the good memories I had with this universe. And who knows maybe in the newr future once James Gunn DC Universe is created if there is a multiverse related project we might see the Arrowverse return due to how popular it is
Dang my friend maybe you should make a video about this topic as well haha. But I definitely agree with all your points, at the end of the day I'm a fan of the arrowverse, but I wish the characters got some better treatment towards the end.
@@TheThirdFloorofficial thank you. I appreciate your feedback. There was a lot more I wanted to mention but I felt like it went too long and I also forgot to include it. I don't know if I'll ever do a video talking about the problems the Arrowverse had because there's already tons of videos focusing on that topic. But I might do a video series where I rewrite the bad seasons of the Arrowverse
Ohhh, that sounds sick. When you end up making the video, give us a shout, and all of us will definitely give it a watch! Good luck and happy writing ✍️
Imo, one of the contributing factors to the fall is the fact that TV may not be the best medium for establishing an interconnected universe.. I loved early Arrow, early Flash (before Barry got dumb and folks had to tell him to run all the time), Supergirl. But with the constant addition of new shows, it became hard for me to keep up. The average Marvel movie is about 2hrs 15mins. That's three 45min episodes of an Arrowverse show, with shows averaging 22 episodes. And maybe I would have felt more compelled to if each show didn't consistently get progressively worse. Even if some shows were better than others, my mind goes "Why would I invest my time in a show that's probably going to suck soon?"
And the crossovers combine all these problems together. I dip out because the shows just aren't as good. I see an ad for the crossover that actually looks interesting. But this isn't the simple Arrow and Flash days. There's so many characters I don't know, from shows I haven't watched, maybe even with multiple seasons. Am I really going to suffer through all of that just so I can follow along for this one event, having to bounce between shows to watch the whole thing?
It breaks my heart because as a superhero fan, I was so happy to see enticing portrayals of these characters. But one after another, it just felt like they were handled with less and less care.
Awesome points! I 100% agree the more the quality dips, the less you want to commit to these LONG seasons. And then the crossovers, if you didn't invest time in the shows you may be lost. So it was all problematic in the end
The thing with most of the crossovers was that they were largely self contained and didn’t really impact the shows except for the crisis on infinite earths crossover that had a larger impact on the shows themselves ad at the time the did crisis it was to late to try and streamline the universe with it being arrow’s last season with most of the universe ending after the flowing season what made black lightning so good was it didn’t get the 22 episode count so it didn’t have to have the filler episodes that have nothing to do with the season’s overall plot so every episode in some way had to do with the overall plot
I remember wanting so badly for Zoom to take off his mask and reveal Tony Todd underneath (The voice of Zoom)
I totally agree with this take. It’s started so damn strong then fell hard. By the third season of Arrow I was trying so hard to like it but it just paled in comparison. The over the top drama absolutely killed the show completely for me. I wanna watch an interesting story with the hero being a badass and learning shit/ remembering helpful shit along the way. I don’t care about the stupid romance or putting all the heroes on a team together. Don’t put the heroes no one likes on the team with the ones that outshine them. It just ruins the project.
That toughest part is that we still tried to enjoy it! Like we did our best, if only the writers and other higher ups would have done the same!
Hey, I finally decided to revisit Arrowverse and I am watching everything beginning with Arrow
Nice! Let us know your thoughts!
@@TheThirdFloorofficial so far it’s great! I’m planning on getting S1 done today. I’ll be watching Flash next. I’ve been In a superhero mindset lately
You're very spot on, shows were great at the very beginning but greatly fallen off. oddly i always come back because I enjoy seeing the characters so much. i really wish the writers made the shows more compelling. its crazy to think how filler the last flash season has became filler yet they just aired the greatest episode of the season last week. and tonight i'm even more excited for what's gonna happen. I really hope the last 4 episodes of the arrowverse on the flash are decent to banger ass episodes, I just want all my time spent with these shows worth it!!!!!!!!!!
I know what you mean. Despite some of the bad times, I always found myself being drawn back because I loved the characters so much. Fingers crossed the flash gets the ending it deserves 🤞
Thank You Oliver Queen & Barry Allen for the 2 amazing shows! In a week is the grand Final of the Flash. 11 & 9 years have passed.
Yes! Big thanks to the two of them for some great memories! It's been a fun ride🥲
Speaking of Ninth Circle, I found it very weird how they got Adrian Paul for what is clearly their season villain and then just kill his character off with little to no fanfare. Makes one wonder if there were rewrites or shaky behind-the-scenes stuff going on because the twist of Emiko's true allegiance didn't feel natural in the slightest.
Edit: Oh and between Longbow Hunters just disappearing mid-season with no resolution and the weak ending, the season generally felt very messy.
Hahaha, yeah, something wasn't being communicated clearly behind the scenes I don't think😂. The long bow hunters were the weirdest part, one second, they were these fearsome warriors that scared everyone and the next they were just gone 😂
@@TheThirdFloorofficial Damn I forgot about them whatever happened to that team?
@@wolfgang6442 only the Bear was arrested by Oliver and Diggle while we do not know what happened to others. Would have liked to see Oliver go against them
I agree with a lot of what you said. I think the biggest issue in the long run was the teams Greg Berlanti hired. With Arrow and season 1 of Flash he had people that could write tv but also knew comics (Kreisberg and Guggenheim have done both comics and tv). Once we had all the other shows Berlanti hired who he knew and not people right for the job and it hurt the shows.
Also, it's nice to know I'm not the only one that hated Legends. That show bothered me to my core. Besides Arrow and Flash I did enjoy Black Lightning and Stargirl
Yeah, when they hired more soap opera writers than comic writers, we should have known we were in trouble haha. And yeah legends wasn't for me. But I am surprised by how many people left comments saying they love it!
Well Stargirl and black lightning weren’t arrowverse shows the only time black lightning ever interacted with the arrowverse was in the train wreck of an adaptation of crisis on infinite earths the only dc shows I watch now is Superman and Lois I just let Gotham knights run as background noise because it’s Batman related and I’m a huge Batman fan
Based off of what you've listened to so far is Gotham Knights worth a watch?
It's a shame Kreisberg screwed himself over, because I believe he was a big part of why Arrow S1-2, Flash S1 and even Supergirl S1 were great. There was a noticeable quality dip after he was booted off the shows.
@@The0thDoctori agree when Andrew got fired that The Flash went downhill. His 3 seasons of The Flash were great. But after that it went downhill
I remember season 3 episode 3 of flash is when I checked out . Kudos to all the actors that got out of this train wreck .
Oh wow, early on! What happened in that episode that made you leave?
@@TheThirdFloorofficial if I remember (it’s been a while) season 3 is when the thinker was introduced and I was just bored out of my mind. I’d pop up here and there for a crossover episode but otherwise I was out.
I think Year 5 was the best Year of the Arrowverse for me.
During year 5 we had
Arrow s5, Flash s3, Supergirl s2 and Legends s2.
Season 2 of arrow was peak
I loved the first 2 seasons! Which is better to you, th first two seasons of Arrow or Daredevil?
@@TheThirdFloorofficial daredevil by far, arrow wasn’t bad a solid 8/10 in the beginning but daredevil has much better writing, cinematography, and characters
I can definitely see where you're coming from. Daredevil is a phenomenal show!
season 1 was better
@@TheThirdFloorofficial Daredevil, Invincible, The Boys are the best superhero shows
This video was worth the wait because you made some amazing points keep this up. Also me personally i just don’t like the cw shows with the bad vxf, characters and writing etc I just can’t get back into them, I watch the 2 seasons of the flash then I got bored of that and then when I found out the arrow writers will be working on DD born again so I went to check up on that series and the first season ain’t bad but I probably won’t go watch season 2
Hey thanks Dang Good! The CW shows definitely aren't for everyone, but I think season 2 of Arrow is still definitely worth the watch!!
@@TheThirdFloorofficial hey just wanted to say congratulations on 100 subscribers guys
Thanks so much, my friend. we appreciate you!🙏
do the titans, doom patrol, and gotham series! great video
Thank you! I actually just finished Titans the other day! And I definitely have a lot to say about it 🤔
I agree with your points on this. I used to enjoy watching the first two seasons of Arrow and Flash, and the crossovers were some of my favorite episodes. But, as they kept going, I enjoyed them less and less. I stopped with Arrow at the Crisis of Earth X event, and somehow finished Flash at the end of season 5. The acting was alright and many of the actors did what they could. However, the writing just got worse and worse as they focused less on the actual superhero story and more on the drama. It was more effective when it started spreading to other shows. I couldn’t get into Legends or Supergirl, I was hyped for Batwoman but immediately stopped after episode 3, and felt no excitement for the next show that I stopped watching completely.
I don’t hate the Arrowverse, they had a decent run and many of the actors did the best they could with the work they had. I just feel sad with how this franchise ended.
I agree! A lot of the actors did a pretty dang good job, especially with how bad the writing was! The only bad thing about that is now we're tormented with how good these actors and shows could have been if the writing was good!😂
What didn’t help was every new season had less of a budget than the previous season and the producers who took over were making awful decisions throwing political rhetoric in it, not investing in strong stories, characters making insane changes from one season to the next, heroes who were X amount of years in saving people acting like it’s their first day saving people. It was just tragic
i totally agree arrow's downfall started in season 4
I feel like they should've culled all the shows and redistributed their budgets into a handful of low budget dramas that The CW is known for and a single, higher budget Arrowverse anthology series, with each episode focusing on a single or handful of heroes, sort of like some episodes of the Justice League Unlimited cartoon, telling a solid self contained story with the budget for better effects and sufficient time for writers to iron out all the kinks in the screenplays.
I love Justice League unlimited and would like to see a live action version either using the same structure or the same characters. I just think even with a combined budget, CW would have struggled. But still, it would have probably been better than what we got!
@@TheThirdFloorofficial
I think Elseworlds had a really solid JLU-esqe tone to it that could've served as a proof of concept for a show, and now we're seeing the height of what The CW can pull off visually with Superman and Lois, which contrary to popular belief, is funded solely by The CW.
the early arrowverse was some of the BEST dc live action work,
Early flash and arrow are definitely top tier💪
I watch the Arrowverse when it first started and the first two seasons of flash and arrow were the best (there third season may be questionable) Dc's Legends of tomorrow first three seasons were also incredible as for the other shows (I haven't watch supergirl yet) I did get that interested in them
Do you think you'll give the other shows a try? Or is it too late for em now?
@@TheThirdFloorofficial I have Decided yet
Personally my favourite Arrowverse show is Legends of Tomorrow, as well as it being my favourite tv show probably ever. And I think it’s just a matter of opinion, but I always liked it more than the other arrowverse shows because of how wacky and funny it could be, making the ideas of heroes and villains and time travelling less serious and more entertaining, which was in contrast with the other arrowverse shows. I only started watching arrowverse shows in 2020 because of the pandemic, and I only watched flash and super girl at first because they were the only ones on Netflix. And I loved them, and then I found Legends. And I loved it even more than those, probably partly because it took me to a world that was really safe from everything bad happening in the world. But I also think that it’s a matter of target audience. I like Arrow, but Supergirl and Legends always spoke to me more because I’m a teenaged girl, and I could find more to relate to in them. Another thing about Legends is that it had such a diverse cast, and Sara Lance was the first bisexual superhero, and one of the first queer women in general, that I’d seen on television in a leading role. So because of this, it’s going to always be my favourite. But I can agree that for all of the shows, the way the universe got so big and the production quality was too low made some of the shows not be as good as they could have been. However the heart of them has always made me love them, even when some of the ‘villains of the week’ didn’t interest me in Flash or Supergirl or Arrow.
And that's what it's all about! Superhero shows should take us somewhere amazing and help us forget the troubles of our everyday life! I'm glad Legends does that for you! Great breakdown. Thanks for the comment 🙏
I 100% agree with you dude. It was so entertaining and funny to watch that I would just binge so many of the seasons because it was goofy and they just owned it without making it super dramatic
As a hardcore Marvel fanboy who Reads Ton of comics, i m always looking at DC Characters like the cool Kids in High School. They also have the More Interesting Multiverse, with the earths being limited and Not just random Numbers every Time like in Marvels
I agree, I think DC has the better tools. They just can't seem to execute unless it's animated 😂
Season 2 of Arrow was so good. The Deathstroke casting has to be among the best of all live action superhero works (so not counting Kevin Conroy as Batman) up there with Henry Cavill's superman or RDJ iron man
Manu Bennet was a sick casting. Slade definitely made the second season better!
You have failed this city is the most iconic quote
I always thought nobody can know my secret encapsulated the character the most, but I will say you have failed this city was more widely used
"We are the flash" single handedly destroyed the flash
Hahah it definitely didn't help. I'll say that right now!
I love the Arrowverse. I have everything I have access to. I plan in rewatching it love it
Glad to hear you enjoyed it! 👍
@@TheThirdFloorofficial I started to watch The Flash movie again. Sasha Calle has Supergirl but Melissa Benoits is the Supergirl
@@TheThirdFloorofficialwould you ever rewatch the whole Arrowverse again?
@jackrobins8756 hmmm I'm not sure. I think I'd rewatch certain shows but idk if I'd want to watch the whole thing again haha. But the more Arrowverse content I make the more I have to go back and rewatch. So you never know!
@@TheThirdFloorofficial haha. Like I love Arrowverse but it’s strange to go back to the 23 episode series rather than 8/10 these days.
Oliver Queen was the Tony Stark of the Arrowverse.
They both started it all! And just like Tony, the universe wasn't the same when Oliver died 😭
The worst bit about the over-the-top love stories is that their quality drops.
Like, look at The Flash for instance.
There was a love story in season 1; but it was very minor and it had a kind-of reason where Barry hadn't really dated before so he wanted to, and he was tangling with his romantic feelings.
There was a love story in season 2; where they made his love-interest an interesting side character who tangles with Barry being the flash, just as Barry did in S1. Her short, rarer appearances made sense, as Barry is a CSI and she was a cop.
By season 3, his love interest is his semi sister, who knows he is the flash, who has already had her background painted out for us previously, and someone who is a main character on the show who we see all the time. At least S3 had Barry grappling with what damage could be done to his love-life as a result of being the Flash.
S4 Onwards has none of the positives of the previous 3 seasons for the love life.
You can copy and paste this exact situation over to Arrow as well.
Felicity was an interesting side character, and Oliver hadn't dated since the Island so he has all that baggage.
Then Felicity is the side-character love interest coming to terms with Oliver being the arrow, and killing.
But then, like the Flash, all of a sudden it's a main character who we see all the time, we know the story of, and who has no growth surrounding Oliver being the Arrow.
Both those shows reach the same point in the love story where there is nowhere else to go, so they go around in circles with petty dramas that temporarily threaten the relationship but ultimately they get back together and live happy ever after.
100% agree! If they can't find a way to make the love stories different and actually impactful, then maybe they shouldn't be focused on as heavily! The fans are ok with the love interests as long as they are given the writing they deserve!
The flash was so badass in the first 3 seasons and arrow aswell
I agree! It was like they were different shows in the earlier seasons🔥
The Flash was the only show I managed to get my wife to watch with me. Imagine how I felt when I told her I wasn't going to keep watching.
Hahaha oof, I'm sure that wasn't the most pleasant conversation 😂
Arrow was definitely my favorite arrow verse show. Specifically seasons 1(my favorite season),2,5,the first half of 7(solely because of Oliver’s prison arc), and 8. I also watched the flash and legends of tommorow but I stopped watching Legends after season 5 and the flash after episode 3 of season 7(after they defeated the villain with the power of friendship) because by that point I lost the ability to enjoy the shows at all. Although I did watch episodes 9 and 10 of the last season of flash only because Oliver was in one of them and Matt Letscher as the RF was in the other.
I feel the same way about arrow, the best show for me as well! And yeah the later seasons of the other shows got tough to watch due to the writing. It stinks that it seems like it pushed so many of us away despite being so invested early on 😮💨
The extra shows were cheesy to be sure but I always found Legends to be weirdly entertaining. They never took themselves very seriously and had a lot of buddy stories that just put a smile on my face. Also most of the crossovers were great
Glad you enjoyed them! I enjoyed the earlier crossovers the most personally!
Fair video I think you went a bit harsh on arrow , arrow definitely had a better story telling than the flash did but as far as ratings are concerned I can’t say you’re wrong about that but yeh fair video and a good video aswell you made a new subscriber
Thanks so much, Luke! I will say, I was a bit concerned that I made it seem like I hated Arrow when I really enjoyed the earlier seasons. I was just disappointed where they took the character as the show progressed. And I think that disappointment took over at times when making the video😂. Thanks for the support, my friend!
Best line in arrowverse will always be Rory "take us to... Aruba "
Honestly I was huge fan of the Arrowverse since the 2nd season Arrow but yeah your video was spot on about the weaknesses of the verse especially bc so many good writers left but Olicity was there to Stay😭 I swear the childish banter of Oliver's teammates and Olicity really had me starting to despise the show. I left after Season 6 bc I was sooo pissed Oly with to prison!!! I only came back for Oliver's finale in Crisis on Infinite Earths bc he's one of my favorite superheroes along growing up along with Naruto and Spider-Man. He saved and recreated the Multiverse that truly gave his loved some real happiness and peace especially his kids!!! All in All the Arrowverse inspired me to make my own superhero stories(which is harder than I thought lol) especially The Superman/Captain America of the verse: Oliver Queen the Arrow💚💚💪🏾
Haha making super hero stories is definitely harder than you'd think, but yl got this! Keep writing and I'm sure they'll turn out great💪. Can't wait to read/listen to them some day!
@The Third Floor Thank you!!! I'll have them up so enough on here💪🏾💪🏾 Keep making your excellent content!!
One of the falls for Flash was Iris’ character during season 4 the writing just went down, I just started rewatching the seasons and honestly the first 3 season of her character wasn’t horrible writing they could’ve built the relationship better but other than that the character just went downfall annoying from season 4 onward
My take on the fall of the Arrowverse - and it's likely an unpopular one - started when Andrew Kreisberg was fired and it left a big honkin' mess for all of the writing teams. I don't condone what Kreisberg was accused of, but I suspect that he set the tone for what made seasons 1 of Arrow and Flash so great (which includes taking inspiration from Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy for the realistic superhero feel and setting up compelling season-long mysteries). When he got fired, it left the writing teams - which were just starting to develop 4 shows at the same time - in a hot mess. Already spread thin, they were spread even thinner and they brought writers and showrunners in that had completely different visions of what the Arrowverse was. They veered away from the very serious gritty realism of those first seasons and went towards the crazy, unbelievable comedies that we got later. I'm not saying that they should've kept Kreisberg on, but like many other scandals of the sort, a person's transgressions does not necessarily mean that he cannot recognize the genius of the art that he created or contributed.
Excellent points here, my friend! Of course, none of us can or will condone his actions. But we can say he did have one heck of an idea of what these shows should look like! It would have been interesting to see that vision evolve into the later seasons of each show!
Streaming may have factored a bit into the decline in viewership with people just waiting till the season was done to binge on Netflix. Also the shows went on for to long with the 23 episodes as well. Outside of the first 2 seasons of Arrow much of the seasons of every show could have been shorten and leave room for better effects as well as not drawing out the story.
I agree that streaming could be a huge factor! And yeah, shorter seasons might have made the shows a lot more interesting and story driven!
The showrunners and anyone else even thinking of trying to create something similar to the Arrowverse should learn from two of the best in the business: Dick Wolf and Donald Bellisario, there's a reason why their shows keep on running and were able to give birth to successful spinoffs that could afford to stand on their own. Plus their series survive endless cast changes but not putting any single character head and shoulders above the rest. If you wanted to recast Flash or even Supergirl, that could be explained during the Crisis. Hell same with Mia Smoak and William Clayton, we could have seen their journey to live up to the legacies left by their parents.
Yeah there could have been some potential for a spin-off, including the kids, but like you said they would have needed proper show runners to make it worth watching!
Ras al ghoul looked like any gypsy boxer from the caravan park but sounded like someone from lock stock and two smoking barrels 😂
Hahaha dang this is so accurate 😂😂
I largely agree with you. I’m also a big DC fan, but not usually happy with how DC characters are presented in live action, compared to how Marvel does that.
I'm glad I'm not alone on this! If they could somehow find a formula to bring their comic versions to life in TV and movies, then there would be no stopping DC!
Arrow is an amazing show
To me arrow season one and two and the flash season 1 and 2 are the best,for some reason the quality in both shows seemed to drop when they got to their 3rd season
Agreed! I think there are a lot of factors like budget changes, show-runner changes, and maybe even overconfidence. But either way, you'd think they'd be able to tell a good story from a bad one 🤷♂️
Seasons 5 and 8 of Arrow were pretty solid in my opinion. I quite liked Season 7 as well.
For the Flash, I really like Season 5 in terms of everything related to Nora and the Reverse Flash, Cicada was a bit wack though. I really liked Season 6 as well and how different and unique the story and villain was as well and how Iris and others being trapped in the mirror actually lasted a long time. It sucks the resolution to the season's story though was a bit lack luster in Season 7 and then everything following in Season 7 was ass. Still haven't seen 8 or 9 yet.
Supergirl is actually a show I think stays pretty consistent and gets better each Season. I still haven't got around to watching 5 or 6 yet but I'm keen to.
I liked Seasons 1 and 2 of Legends of Tomorrow and a bit of 3 when it was more serious. When it became a joke show that was too silly I lost interest.
And of course all the crossovers were goated.
Wait, did you not like seasons 1 and 2 of Arrow? 😯😯
@@TheThirdFloorofficial I felt I didn't need to state it because everyone who watches the show likes Season 1 and 2 of Arrow and the Flash for that matter.
Hahah ok, good. I figured as much but needed to check 😂
Heres my quick short thoughts on the 8 shows
Arrow
S1 S
S2 A
S3 A
S4 D
S5 S
S6 A
S7 first half A 2nd half F
S8 B
The Flash
S1 S
S2 S
S3 S
S4 B
S5 D
S6 Bloodwork A
Mirror Master C
S7 Force Quest F
Godspeed D
S8 Armageddon B
Deathstorm C
Negative F
S9 Red Death D
Cobalt Blue D
Supergirl
S1 B
S2 A
S3 C
S4 S
S5 B
S6 D
Legends
S1 A
S2 S
S3 B
S4 F
S5 B
S6 F
S7 C
Black Lightning
S1 A
S2 B
S3 S
S4 B
Batwoman
S1 D
S2 F
S3 F
Stargirl
S1 B
S2 B
S3 D
Superman and Lois
S1 A
S2 C
S3 A
Superman and lois is killing it now tho. They aren’t falling into the CW’s usual ways.
I need to finish that show, but I'm still surprised that it's doing so well! It's nice to see an arrowverse/HBO show not falling into the same traps as the others did!
Prometheous in arrow is like
Blood work in flash
i don’t know if its you or me but why are you talking about the flash season 2 and arrow season 3 concurrently? the flash’s first season played concurrently with arrow season 3 (remember Oliver had his black suit when they teamed up against the Reverse Flash and he references Ray Palmer, both story lines from season 3)
It's both haha. So I paired the first two seasons of flash and arrow together because I think they are both high quality. Then I move on to each of their next seasons because that's when I noticed a major drop in quality. When listening to the video, I knew what I meant, but upon reading some comments, I think I could have worded it more clearly 😂
To me, it started to go down in season 4 of the Arrow, and then it threw it the time jumps a the kids it's was too much for just a Archer with no powers. Oliver was more relatable because he had no powers.
I agree, the more far-fetched the show got, the more they moved away from developing Oliver as a character. The first season was about his skills, psyche, and trauma. But that doesn't do anything when he has to fight aliens and magic people 😂
For me, Season 6 of Arrow and Season 4 of Flash cemented to be that those shows woild never reach the same heights they did in their first 2 seasons beaides Arrow Season 5 which was great. Surprisingly, the best show ended up being Legends at the time because Season 3 and 4 were awesome, not as good as early Arrow and Flash but still great seasons. But after Arrow ended with a banger of a season, nothing ever reached those heights again
The end of Arrow was tough to get over. Once Oliver was gone it seemed like the whole universe kind of lost its mojo🤷♂️
The Arrowverses biggest strength and biggest weakness, peaking too early with the first couple of seasons of Arrow and Flash
Oh yeah, it was way too early, haha. But at least we got to see how good it could be!
I'm pretty certain Supergirl originally wasn't part of the arrowverse,it was on CBS but the ratings weren't doing great so it was moved over to the CW and joined the other shows
I heard a rumor that Willa Holland got fired because she said on camera instead of hiring new actors, WB should put Amell and Grant in the DCEU.
Oh dang I didn't know that! That's some hot gossip 😯
Yoo when it comes to the arrowverse for me I didn't know it existed nor the cw outside of it used to showcase Saturday morning cartoons way back in the day but when first discovered it I was in the summer of 2015 on a summer night skimming through the channels when I then stumbled upon the flash during its reruns to which I come plenty got put on right there then I discover/watch arrow when season 4 was airing which at the time the arrowverse was so new to me and it's how I started watching more superhero content both dc and marvel and in my opinion 2016-17 was a good ass year for the cw within the superhero media Renaissance going on and me in HS watching reviewers such as Pagey, and Emergency Awesome doing review videos talking abut what happened in those episodes which tbh life was pretty good back then. But as the years went by as you said it started dropping down on quality to where thier were so many shows but wit cheap special effects and poor writing and as a person who cares about good quality content I fell off wit some of the shows to where I now was just watching like 1 or 3 of em at a time but yeah the arrowverse will forever be synonymous for the superhero boom within the early 2010s
That feeling of stumbling onto shows is top tier 😂. And yes, as inconsistent as these shows became, they will always be a part of this massive superhero boom!
This was the perfect breakdown. I loved Arrow seasons 1-3. Season 4 lost me. I don’t even think I finished it. Flash was good for one season. Then season 2 was awful. I gave up. Lol
Thank you my friend! Appreciate the comment! And oh yeah it got rough later on in both shows haha
I knew flash was over when Iris said “we are The flash”😂😂 😢😢 ı was so obsessed with the flash until S4 even first half S4 was 👌🏽okay
That seems to be a really popular stopping point for a lot of people in the comments haha
Season 1 of legend of tomorrow was awesome
Glad you liked it! Where would you rank it in a list of the best seasons of the Arrowverse?
@@TheThirdFloorofficial No 2...Flash season 1 tops it for me
Good choice 🤘
I agree with many of your points
But I'd argue that Legends of Tomorrow became their best show
Despite some cringe here and there
I loved all of the shows at times
The only one I really sad to see go was Legends
I will say it wasn't for me, but it seems like based on the comments, it was much more well liked than I thought it was. Maybe it needs some more respect on its name 😂
@@TheThirdFloorofficial it was quirky and had a lot of heart
Could be ridiculous
But it was mostly on purpose
Instead of some of the Flash episodes that were ridiculous by accident
@@TheThirdFloorofficial What I'll say is that it was the only CW to fully embrace the madness, and I think that's where the appeal came from.
The first season was still trying to do the painful, CW melodrama & that is easily their weakest outing. Then the disposed of the hawks at the end of season 1 & increasingly leaned into seeing how insane things could get. What resulted was a show that was wildly experimental & knew exactly what it was. You never quite knew what you were going to get week-to-week, only that it was going to absolutely insane.
I'm not sure I'd call it good in an unironic sense, but goddamn, did that show know exactly what it needed to be & embraced the lunacy for all it was worth.
Hahah I can appreciate a show that knows what it is. Maybe not my type of show, but still, I respect it!
@@TheThirdFloorofficial maybe it's time to go out of your comfort zone 😂
I’ve rewatched arrow season 1, 2 and 3 11 times throught the years always skipping to season 5 with Prometheus that should have just been the ending
Would you have re-written the ending or just left it how it was?
Why this ever became a thing I will never understand.
You weren't a fan of the arrowverse in general?
@@TheThirdFloorofficial I really tried. Started Arrow, it got old quick(he felt like a Batman substitute). Tried Flash too, but after season 1 it just repeated the same plot.
I'm a massive comic book geek. So maybe that affects how I view these shows. But I think I'm fair. I can recognize great tv shows - Daredevil being the best example of that.
Oh yeah, even though I enjoyed some of the arrowverse, I can definitely admit there are better options out there! And as far as comic accuracy goes, they definitely strayed from the source material quite often 😂
I remeber when Flash released. I like arrowz but as a DC fan, it was a little hard becausse that's not Green Arrow. Is a Batman with a bow.
But they did Barry so right at the beginning. He was rhe character we knew froon the comics. It really felt like a comic. I was so sad when I realized that it was only goig to get worse
Yeah I enjoyed early arrow a lot, but he wasn't the green arrow we know from comics. The longer they went, the more they started ignoring comics for the Flash and just wanted drama😮💨
I dunno maybe mot people disagree, and maybe that contributes to the fall, but I do like the "villain of the week" style. I honestly prefer TV shows when each episode is self contained, and sure it has an overarching plot, but still every episode has it's own issues and... and well yeah it's self contained, and near the end of the season the overarching arch starts picking up. Like I don't mind shows like Game of Thrones and such, but they are just movies that have been artificially cut in places to separate the episodes (and really it would work perfectly well as a movie, thing is our society isn't used to 10 hour long movies).
Hey that's fine my friend! Everyone has their preferences. Like you said, I'm more of a Game of Thrones type show guy. But doesn't mean the other way is wrong! Did you think one of the CW shows did the "villain of the week" story type better than the others?
One thing I will say about some aspects of Legends Of Tomorrow was that sometimes it was silly but it also didn't take it self seriously. It was at the point of can Athletic superheros keep up with Superpower superheroes? No of course not but hey let's make for some silly team comps and ideas in a show where Villain of the week ACTUALLY MADE SENSE.
Great points to me of any or all of the shows
Where they tried to ground the world in a sense of realism.
The episodes or plot lines that focused less on power but more on psychological manipulation (Not the emotional abuse of the heart lines but more the malipulation of the heroes values, identity and confidence)
Some of the comic accurate parts or attempt to keep something consistent.
Down points
As many have said show format really retired in relevance from around year 3-5 (2015) as audiences really moved from week to week show's to BINGE stream show releases or some of the streams being week to week but of lower episode count and more focus on an A plot connecting episodes than B or C plots over 1-3 episodes
Now I'm not completely anti-WOKE but around the same time 2015-2019 a lot of the WOKE story lines really over saturated the values of the show. It's great for heroes to teach about being inclusive and respect for others as a message to young viewers, but it was a bit RICH for what the ARROWVERSE started as, Gritty Realism-ish HERO story.
Storyline rights and access getting in the way of recreating the heroes people love from the comics. Whether it be different networks trying to cash in on Arrow and Flash S1-2 success by creating a new universe only for the viewers to rightly say "Arrowverse is my TV version of DC, DC Comics is all connected, TV versions that aren't connected aren't worth my investment as I lack the ability to keep them seperate when they are all week to week" Having different worlds kind of works on the streaming side of things Titans isn't as GREAT as Arrowverse but it's not trying to be (atleast at the start) and it's mostly not trying the same story format so the viewer isn't as jarred by the disconnect between universes.
The whole having to dodge mentioning Batman or Superman but still hint that they're a thing in the world just subtracted. Either use or achknowledge the character and take the responsibility to either flesh them out or write them out as viable help.
trying to pander to an audience the original shows seasons weren't made for, that of Young ADULTS with an interest in Real world adjacent superheroes. Honestly it could have worked if they split this greater connected universe into two sererate universes of connected SHOWS and Characters.
The ARROW Realism/Cult "Gritty" universe: (Target Audience/Theme: ADULT Matured Smallville fans/Dark, Near-Realism)
With mostly the Athletic level of hero, with only a touch on supernatural traits of rare scientific mutations like Deathstroke/Ra's, tech based power (fine to exaggerate), with some cult level magic system that has huge risk, requirement, commitment or downsides. These SHOWS/character stories would be:
ARROW, CONSTANTINE, TITANS (no STAR GIRL, SUPERBOY), Ray Palmer, Damien Dhark, Deathstroke, Ra's al Ghul, even Some aspects of LEGENDS, BATWOMAN. Some aspects of BLACK LIGHTNING, Even Barry Allen but NOT as the Flash.
The POWERED SHINY SUPERHERO "Spectacular" universe: (Target Audience/Theme: Family Drama, next gen of young comic fans / Super powers, Value teaching, Light, Unrealistic, Campy)
With More of the Superpower level of hero SUPERHERO's of Flash and Supergirl being completely unrealistic and light hearted where you can even put in your soup style love story lines, and focus on WOKE issues or other Value teaching moments of the DRAMA genre
SUPERGIRL, FLASH, Stargirl, Superman and Lois, POWER side of Legends, Vixen, Multiverse storylines (Earth 2, Earth X, Crisis), DOOM PATROL, SMALLVILLE
You could also see a more Dark version of the powered superhero universe "DARK SUPER" if you focused on: SUPERMAN AND LOIS, DOOM PATROL, TITANS.
Keeping the Gritty and Spectacular universes separate would allow both to run for a long time.
If you mix them as CW did or if you ran the DARK SUPER universe you would have to keep it under 5 years/seasons, as to keep the focus on the story being told without reality being inconsistent or the story loosing integrity.
I've broadened my show example beyond what CW had to include as much of the DC TV shows as I can recall as a lot of them started standalone but it's common for them to either show reference or collide (Haven't watch all of them like Stargirl, The Ray)
Dang dude, you know your stuff! What great points, mixing the two types of shows was definitely an impossible task, and splitting them up would have been a great solution. Thank you for sharing these awesome thoughts! 🙏
The flash feels like a fan series made by people who have read maybe 1-2 volumes of Flash.
Hahaha, there definitely was a lot of unused content from comics that's for sure!
For me the earlier seasons of these 2 shows were amazing and when I watched them consistently in school. Arrow was a show me and my dad started watching and we loved it on Netflix then on the tv. Then when the Flash came on it was also so good!!! I loved it even more than Arrow in some ways.
I thought season 2 of both show’s elevated!! Zoom was a good villain and despite being another evil speedster I loved the dynamics and different tone. Arrow season 2 was the best with season 1, as they’d been hyping Deathstroke so much (I knew him as Slade from Teen Titans), and seeing him and Oliver go at it then Roy Harper be introduced was awesome ^^
Then by season 3 I noticed things didn’t feel the same…a little stale but still good. Then season 4 and everything after for both shows…I couldn’t do it anymore so I stopped watching…😞
Oh yeah, the first two seasons of each show were definitely the best! And yeah that seems like it was a stopping point for a lot of people sadly 😮💨