Arrow Season 8 wrapped up tonight and brought one of my favorite super hero television series to an end. The quality of the show certainly fluctuated over time, but Oliver Queen's journey of redemption and growth will always hold a special place for me. I'm really glad we had this last season to have an extended goodbye to the show and fully tie off all the loose ends in a pretty satisfying way.
I actually came late to the show, picking up midway through Season 3 and after The Flash spinoff launched1. I had been intrigued by some of the commercials that I saw, but being a Marvel guy historically, I never took the plunge and started watching until I realized several people I follow online were big fans of the show. Once I started, I quickly became hooked and managed to catch up on the first three seasons by the end of June that year. I've been tuning in on a weekly basis ever since even as my interest in The Flash waned over the last few seasons. Somewhere during that time I also latched onto the Speedy Arrowcast podcast hosted by three of my favorite Mac tech scene podcasters: Dan Moren, Guy English, and John Moltz and being able to tune into their weekly jokes, jabs, and outright criticism of a show we all love despite its many flaws made the experience that much greater during the run. I'm just glad they're carrying on with Biff! now and continuing to have fun talking about the shows that interest them in this age of super heroic television. Anyway, back to the topic at hand.
Spoilers filled thoughts about the finale:
It was good to see so many of my favorite supporting characters one last time including Quentin Lance, the al Ghul sisters, Thea, Roy, Rory, young William, and of course Felicity.
I'm excited about the possibility of Diggle becoming Green Lantern, but it sucks that that show is going to be on HBO Max. On the other hand if that means a bigger production budget for a show that's going to need more special effects to do really well I can live with it.
I'm a lot more enthused about Green Arrow & The Canaries than I was during the initial Star City 2040 run, but I'm kind of worried about what they're doing with William so far. I also want to see what they do with Sarah Diggle.
I'm glad that we got to end with the final reunion with Oliver and Felicity.
I'm curious to hear what the Biff! guys think about the episode and where we go from here.
A show that I was initially more excited about, but ultimately finally bailed on last season.