Arrow: 7 Plot Threads The Show Totally Abandoned

The original Laurel Lance was, without question, the most well-developed and engaging character that Arrow has ever produced. A unique iteration of the Black Canary character, she was more grounded than her comic book counterpart and that allowed her to be more flawed. And those imperfections were worked upon, highlighted and showcased as she struggled to accept former love Oliver and her long-lost sister back into her life - setting the stage for a number of the show's most authentic storylines.

Even those who didn't like the realism (though seriously, why wouldn't you?) could accept that it would be worth it when she eventually completed her character journey and overcame those lows by becoming the Black Canary. Unfortunately, that was the exact moment the writers stopped caring about her.

The moment that those years of development paid off, the showrunners sidelined Laurel, ensuring that all of her vigilante-training took place off-screen, as the show devolved into the lacklustre melodramatic magic-filled cheesy mess that Season 4 was - something that ultimately resulted in the character's equally lacklustre death.

Four years of well-oiled epic storytelling completely undermined in a flat conclusion to a flat arc in a complete and utter car-crash of a season. And to make matters worse, the writers had a chance to undo that damage in the series finale when Crisis brought back pretty much every other dead character and yet they still somehow came up with the most nonsensical plot armour to ensure that Laurel didn't return. Was it worth it?

In a word: No.

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Can you think of any other storylines Arrow abandoned? Tell us in the comment section below.