Every Arrowverse Season Ranked From Worst To Best
2. Arrow Season 2
If Arrow Season 1 was The CW's answer to Batman Begins, Season 2 was undoubtedly its Dark Knight.
With all the groundwork having been successfully laid throughout the flashback narrative of Season 1, the writers pulled the trigger on, well, everything they had been building towards. As a result, Oliver's life was turned upside down as two old figures returned from his past (and the dead), and although one was there to help him - Sara Lance's Canary - one was there to destroy him. The latter was, of course, Slade Wilson a.k.a. Deathstroke.
Slade's intricately-plotted downfall was so effective that the only thing better than it was the writers' ability to intricately plan such a storyline, and all of this foreshadowing raised the stakes, as Slade was more than just your average villain - he knew Oliver before he was The Arrow, and he knew exactly how to destroy him.
From Deathstroke's desire for revenge to Laurel Lance and Roy Harper's personal struggles, the show tackled a ton of mature narratives throughout the season, and somehow it managed to handle them all really well - while also ensuring that there was enough time to conclude the season with the city in flames as Arrow and Deathstroke fought for supremacy one more time.
A grim, deep and thoroughly compelling offering, Arrow's second season was the cream of the crop for superhero television. The show has never ever been better.