10 Best Single TV Seasons Ever

9. Arrow - Season 2

Bates Motel
The CW

After stumbling through a few so-so seasons, The CW's Arrow managed to go out with a bang with its eighth and final year. Consisting of just ten episodes - the rest of the seasons all clocking in at 22 or 23 outings - that last season nicely put a bow on Arrow's run.

While Season Eight was a fitting end, Arrow's finest work came during its second year. In the pantheon of comic book-driven shows we've seen over the years, nothing has quite managed to consistently hit the highs of Arrow's second season just yet.

Transitioning from the Hood to the Arrow here, Stephen Amell started to wear the Oliver Queen character like a second skin by the time of Season Two. It had admittedly been a rough start for Amell in the Emerald Archer role in the series' first season, but the actor hugely upped his game for this sophomore year.

Most intriguing about this season of Arrow, it was the ascension to the Deathstroke mantle of Manu Bennett's Slade Wilson. As flashbacks showed Slade slowly losing his mind back on Lian Yu, that was mirrored by Deathstroke rearing his head in the present-day Star City to torment his former BFF Oliver.

Throw in Sara Lance's Black Canary, the hint of romance between Oliver and Felicity, the twisted schemes of Brother Blood, the mirakuru-ravaged war on Star City, and an utterly chilling depiction of C-level rogue Dollmaker, and Arrow Season Two is an exemplary slice of capes 'n' tights TV.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.