Arrow: 10 Ways That Season 3 Went Wrong
6. Writing For The "Gotcha!"
Over the first two seasons, there were some wonderfully memorable moments. Moira shooting the Hood. The Undertaking destroying the Glades. Oliver killing Count Vertigo. Felicity stabbing Slade. The moments were surprising and spellbinding and spectacular…but they never felt designed for the sake of spectacle.
The third season saw a series so addicted to the shock and awe following a big “Gotcha!” moment that there ceased to be much effort put into setting the stage. Sensible rising action was forsaken in favor of a flashy climax that generally ended up not mattering much in the grand scheme. Ra’s al Ghul kidnapping Quentin made for a great visual, but it begged the question of why the Demon’s Head himself was jaunting around Starling City. Oliver wedding Nyssa was a twist, but there was no reason why the marriage would be valid outside of Nanda Parbat. Team Arrow and Co. dying in a dungeon was upsetting, but the show was not going to kill most of the cast in one go.
It’s one thing for the show to send viewers toppling off the edges of their seats after satisfying the suspense of a storyline; it’s another thing entirely for the show to smack viewers in the face with a baseball bat and expect them not to look back and wonder why they never saw the swing.