Not that he needs to stay dead. As much as Arrow is an exaggerated version of reality, it is still a comic book show named for the guy who just got kicked off of a mountain. We don't exactly need to spend the next few weeks scouring the internet for spoilers to guess that Oliver won't be gone for too long. Oliver dying was good; if handled properly, Oliver coming back could be even better. Arrow needs to find a way to return Oliver to the world of the living without opening a revolving door to the afterlife. Setting a precedent for easy revival would irreversibly lower the stakes of the show. Whether Malcolm Merlyn dunks Oliver in the last remaining pool of restorative sludge or Maseo injects him with an infusion of extinct magical island herbs or a priest wanders over from Game of Thrones to administer the kiss of life, Oliver's resurrection must be a one-time-only deal. Otherwise, fans will spend the rest of the series clamoring for characters to be brought back, and future deaths will lack the gravity of Tommy's and Moira's. If Oliver returns with a spring in his step and a song in his heart, Arrow will no longer be the show with which viewers fell in love. Things may start to get a bit more mystical in Starling City, but the fundamental realism must remain intact.
Fiction buff and writer. If it's on Netflix, it's probably in my queue. I've bought DVDs for the special features and usually claim that the book is better than the movie or show (and can provide examples). I've never met a TV show that I won't marathon. Follow on Twitter @lah9891 .
