Arrow: 10 Mistakes It Must Fix In Season 5
7. Promising Big Developments Early (Without Knowing What They Are)
The Season 4 premiere ended with a shocking tag, a flashforward to six months from then, with a visibly upset Oliver standing by the grave of some unknown person. Right from the off Arrow was promising us that a major character was going to be killed this year. It was a bold decision, and it certainly worked in terms of ramping up excitement and hype.
The issue, however, was that they didn't have a plan for what came next. They hadn't wrote that scene knowing who was in the grave. Instead, they stuck it in there, and then had to figure it out as they went along, which ultimately meant they ended up writing Laurel Lance further and further into the sidelines so they could get to the stage where she could easily be killed off.
While it's rather common for network shows not to have every episode written in advance, so that they can adapt things as they go along, it's rather different when it comes to a major character death. Arrow suffered here from a lack of long-term planning, and that's not something they can afford to repeat in Season 5.