ARROW, Season 7

Read the original story here: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/black-lightning-arrow-flash-supergirl-legends-tomorrow-castings-news-comic-con-2018-1127968

— Written by Sydney Bucksbaum (@SydneyBucksbaum), thanks for allowing me to share your story!

***

(Season seven returns Monday, Oct. 15 at 8 p.m. on The CW)

Now that Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) has publicly confessed to being the Green Arrow, he’ll face old enemies locked up with him behind bars while the new villain team-up The Longbow Hunters wreak havoc and get their revenge on Oliver for taking down season six villain Ricardo “Dragon” Diaz (Kirk Acevedo).

Returning to Arrow this season are some familiar faces that Oliver put in jail in previous seasons: Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger (Michael Jai White), Derek Sampson (Cody Runnels) and Danny “Brick” Brickwell (Vinnie Jones). All three are locked up in Slabside Maximum Security Prison, aka Oliver’s new home. As for The Longbow Hunters previously hinted at by Diaz in season six, the iconic group of assassins takes shape onscreen in the form of three new characters: ruthless and precise killer Red Dart played by Holly Elissa (Whistler), a beast of a man with brute force Kodiak played by Michael Jonsson (Van Helsing) and master of stealth Silencer played by Miranda Edwards (The Magicians, Orphan Black).

In her first San Diego Comic-Con panel as the new showrunner of Arrow, Beth Schwartz took to the stage along with Amell, David Ramsey, Emily Bett Rickards, Rick Gonzalez, Echo Kellum, Juliana Harkavy and returning series regular Colton Haynes. The cast praised Schwartz bringing her own flavor to the series, with Haynes promising that it’s one of the most exciting moments for the series having a female at the helm. And as for that Batwoman crossover coming later this year, Schwartz teases, “We’re super excited about but we’re working on the first half of the season so the crossover is not yet something [we’re at].”

And in a touching moment harkening back to last year’s Comic-Con panel, Amell reunited with Sara, the little girl battling cancer he gave his necklace to a year ago with the promise she would return it in a year. She was the first in line to ask a question at the mic halfway through the panel this year, making good on that promise, and Amell traded his necklace for the one thing he ever stole from the set: Oliver’s first bow. The entire Ballroom 20 cheered, many fans even getting on their feet as Amell ran off the stage to give Sara the bow and whisper a message into her ear.

***

About the blogger: Michael Curry is the author of the Brave & Bold: From Silent Knight to Dark Knight, The Day John F Kennedy Met the Beatles and the award-winning Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and How Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped. Check his website for more releases! Thanks for reading!

Welcome Back Kotter #3, March 1977

Posted by michael64curry

“The Return of Augie Berelli”

Cover: Bob Oksner

Writer: Tony Isabella, Pencils: Ric Estrada & Bob Oksner

Inker: Bob Oksner, Editor: Joe Orlando

A thug visits Kotter and his wife at their home. He warns Kotter that Augie Berelli will be at the school that day and Kotter better be there.

Kotter tells his wife that Berelli, one of the most notorious gangsters in the country, was an original sweathog and a classmate of Kotter’s! In fact, Kotter won the heart of a fair maiden also wooed by Berelli, who swore vengeance!

At school, Kotter is beside himself – he believes Epstein’s note from his mother, takes Horshack seriously and apologizes to Woodman! The Sweathogs offer to help their teacher.

Berelli walks into the classroom and says hello to Kotter and his nephew Vinnie Barbarino.

NEPHEW!!? That’s right, Berelli isn’t here for vengeance, but to thank Kotter for the good job he is doing teaching his nephew. The Sweathogs are impressed by Berelli’s charm … and wealth!

Kotter reminds his class that Berelli is a criminal, infuriating Barbarino who leaves in a huff.

The FBI approach Kotter and ask him to help catch Berelli. Barbarino hears the conversation and throws a punch at the agent. Kotter agrees to help the FBI in exchange for releasing Vinnie.

The next day, Berelli charges into the classroom to confront Kotter. The FBI get the drop on him, until he takes Kotter hostage. Barbarino tries to intervene and is rewarded with a smack from his uncle. Berelli whispers to Kotter to fight back and catch him. Fumblingly (is that a word?) he finally does so.

It turns out this confrontation was planned by Berelli and the FBI as part of a guilty plea. After Berelli found out Vinnie punched a G-Man, he realized his nephew was going down his path and did not want Vinnie to turn out like him. So, he arranged his capture by Kotter; who has the one thing Berelli does not have – his nephew’s respect.

The last panel shows Vinnie at his classroom desk crying.

***

The letter column printed positive review of issue #1, most were thankful the comic was not done in the Binky/Scooter (read Archie) mode of half-page gags and two or three-page stories.

***

The art here is still wonderful. The team of Estrada and Oksner work on these characters, although at times there is a lack of background art. Perhaps they were rushed by a dreaded deadline doom (to borrow a phrase from the competition)?

Tony Isabella is a wonderful comic book writer, prose author, comic book historian (1001 Comic Books You Must Read Before You Die and July 1963: A Pivotal Month in the Comic Book Life of Tony Isabella, Volume 1) and is a very nice guy – the creator of Black Lightning, the Champions, Misty Knight and more! Black Lightning is the most recent (and welcome) addition to the current “DC/TV” line on the CW network and Tony’s latest comic book work is Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands at DC.

***

About the author: Michael Curry is the author of the Brave & Bold: From Silent Knight to Dark Knight, The Day John F Kennedy Met the Beatles and the award-winning Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and How Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped. Check his website for more releases! Thanks for reading!

Batwoman coming to the CW

Posted by michael64curry

From http://wegotthiscovered.com/tv/falls-arrowverse-crossover-introduce-batwoman/, thanks for allowing me to reprint it here!

Batwoman will be part of the DC-CW Universe.

With Gotham ending next season, the CW can slowly assimilate the hometown of the Batman Family (and maybe its gallery of rogues other than Ras Al-Ghul – whose incorporation was one of the highlights of the show!).

***

“When Stephen Amell teased that he’d be serving up an announcement this week, I’d assumed it’d have something to do with Arrow moving to a new night, which, as it happens, was confirmed earlier today (it’s relocating to Mondays at 9 pm this fall). But what I didn’t expect was for him to set the internet ablaze.

Believe it or not, none other than Batwoman will be introduced in this fall’s Arrowverse crossover! Marking her historic first appearance in live action, here’s what Amell had to say at The CW’s upfront presentation regarding this momentous occasion:

“We’re incredibly excited to announce that we’ll be doing another crossover event this fall on the CW, and we’ll be introducing a new character. For the very first time appearing, we’ll be fighting alongside Batwoman, which is terrific…

Previously, Bruce Wayne had been name-dropped on Arrow, but there’s no way Batman can make a guest appearance on the show due to Gotham‘s existence. Regardless, being able to secure the services of his cousin, Kate Kane, is one hell of a big deal.

Additionally, CW President Mark Pedowitz had this to offer:

“We are adding the city of Gotham into the Arrowverse. This will be another full-throttled, action-packed event.”

After seeing the heroes of the Arrowverse contend with an immortal, an alien invasion, and Nazis from a parallel Earth in recent years, I’m all for seeing something more grounded this time around, awesome as those other events were. Hopefully more information trickles out of San Diego this July, but journalists and fans alike are no doubt about to begin months of speculating regarding which villains will show up. Stay tuned for more.”

***

Even after I savaged the last two seasons of Arrow, I certainly will tune in for more information!

***

Agents of Shield Renewed for Sixth Season

Posted by michael64curry

The agents will return for another season! ABC has renewed Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD for a sixth season. Unlike the usual 22-episode count, season six will air during the 2018-2019 season with 13 episodes. It remains to be seen if this will be the final season for the superhero drama.

Earlier this year, executive producer Jed Whedon teased that the events of Avengers: Infinity War would “open up a whole new playground” for the show if it received another season. “The thing that we love about what our show has become is, the movies sort of blaze a path. Doctor Strange introduced magic, all of a sudden we could have Ghost Rider on our show. We’re just waiting for that movie to come out, so it can open up a whole new playground for us.”

It seems season six will now give fans the chance to see how the fallout from Infinity War effected the agents. The fifth season finale aired Friday, May 18, which sees Coulson’s life hanging in the balance as General Talbot prepares to tear the earth apart in his quest for more gravitonium.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. stars Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Henry Simmons, Elizabeth Henstridge, Ian De Caestecker, and Natalia Cordova-Buckley.

Thank you Scoop for allowing me to reprint your article: http://scoop.previewsworld.com/Home/4/1/73/1012?ArticleID=212531

So, the question is … why? Agents of Shield is the unloved stepchild of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and on a constant mission of catching up. It has always reflected the events of the MCU with no reciprocity. None. A ship is about to explode in the atmosphere killing everyone on earth. Why wasn’t Iron Man called in? And as far as I know, the Avengers STILL are unaware of Colson’s survival – the whole reason for their staying together during the last half of the first movie. What would Captain America make of what they did to Colson?

Incorporating the events of Infinity War may make for some interest episodes. But what then?

After an interesting premier season, the next two seasons were abysmal (oh boy, they’re fighting Ward again this week …).

The first few episodes of Agents were everything that was wonderful about the MCU – fun and exciting. The show’s reaction to the events of Captain America Winter Soldier brought back the excitement for a time, as did shows that actually folded into the MCU (Sif’s appearance in “Yes Men” (1^st season) and “Who You Really Are” (2^nd season)).

Unfortunately, it was followed by two years of tedium … Ward, Inhumans, Ward, more Inhumans, more Ward, “I know there’s still good inside Ward!” Blam blam! “I’m bleeding out – but I know there’s still good inside Ward…”, still more Inhumans, still more Ward, Powers Boothe, and still even more Ward.

Then came Season Four and Ghost Rider. Despite some finally-injected-differences, their ratings were still in the lower mesosphere and have remained there.

I think they are doing the right thing – 13 episodes is enough to tell the tale (actually it is about 12 more than should be needed) and if the ratings are still horrid, Disney will renew it anyway.

Comic book fans should be grateful – if this wasn’t a Marvel show it would be jettisoned in its third week. Agents of Shield averaged 2.073 million viewers per episode (https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/marvels-agents-shield-season-five-ratings/), abysmal for a network show (the #1 shows bring in 11 million viewers, the #10 show usually brings in 7 million).

Let’s hope the next season is as good as the past two. Enjoy it while we can – they could bring Ward back at any time now…

In the meantime, Season 5 will be available on Netflix as of June 17th.

Original Material 2018 by Michael Curry

Super Friends #3, February, 1977

Posted by michael64curry

“The Cosmic Hit Man?”

Cover: Ramona Fradon and Bob Smith

Writer: E. Nelson Bridwell, Penciler: Ramona Fradon, Inker: Bob Smith

Editor: Dennis O’Neil, Executive Editor: Joe Orlando

As two separate teams, the Super Friends defeat Spectrum and Anti-Man while Wendy and Marvin safely watch from the sidelines. But after their defeat, the villains disappear.

They were captured by Dr. Ihdrom along with a hundred other intergalactic villains. He atomizes all the villains and coalesces them into one being: the World Beater!

World Beater quickly dispatches the Justice League and then appears in the Hall of Justice to battle the Super-Friends. Wonder Woman whisks Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog and tells them of her mother’s prophecy (from last issue) that they are earth’s only hope!

World Beater defeats the Super-Friends with ease (we the readers learn that Dr. Ihdrom has been captured and jailed for his murderous crimes) leaving only Wendy, Marvin & Wonderdog.

They come up with a cunning plan: they assume if he has all the super-villains powers, perhaps he also has their weaknesses. They trick World Beater into using Spectrum’s x-ray powers (Anti-Man’s weakness – that is how Superman defeated him in the earlier pages of the story). World Beater is weakened and passes out.

Wendy and Marvin revive the Super-Friends and the Justice Leaguers and receive their thanks.

***

The letter column explains why these five heroes were given the job of training their young recruits: through some inventive reimagining of their origins, it is explained that Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman and Aquaman were all trained to be superheroes in their youths. Thus, having been trained as children, they know how to train children.

Ah, yes.

***

The story here is still oriented to the younger audience, but still keeps a cosmic scale to it. Plus it guests most of the Justice League, whetting the appetites of the young TV-show fans who picked up the comic to read the adventures of other DC stars!

Ramono Fradon’s art is pitch-perfect for this comic. Her style is easy on the eyes and accessible to young fans who might be overwhelmed by … say … Mike Grell if he did the book. She would have been my pick for the book, too. And Kurt Schaffenberger…

***

The CW Fall 2018-19 Schedule

Posted by michael64curry

Changes are coming to our DC-CW shows. Well, at least on the days they are airing.

Originally the DC-CW shows spanned the week, now they are lumped into the first few days.

***

All times are Eastern…

SUNDAY
8-9 PM — Supergirl

MONDAY
8-9 PM — DC’S Legends of Tomorrow
9-10 PM — Arrow

TUESDAY
8-9 PM — The Flash
9-10 PM — Black LIghtning

***

My internet trolling has not help me learn why. The ratings for the DC-CW shows are still stellar (for the CW) and all the shows ended up in their top ten.

***

Isis #3. March 1977

Posted by michael64curry

“The Wrath of Set”

***

Cover Artists: Mike Vosburg & Vince Colletta

Writer: Steve Skeates; Penciler: Mike Vosburg

Inker: Vince Colletta; Letterer: Liz Berube

Editor: Dennis O’Neil; Managing Editor: Joe Orlando

From DC Wikia: Andrea Thomas and Cindy Lee are walking back to school. Suddenly, a storm of hail begins falling down upon their heads, despite the fact that it is nearly Summer. They rush back to school, but Andrea is concerned that something nefarious may be responsible for the unexpected weather.

Andrea steps out and transforms into Isis. She flies into the sky and finds Set, the Egyptian God of the Desert. Set declares his intention to wrest control of Isis’ worshipers from her, so that they will instead pay homage to him. Isis explains that she does not demand worship from others, and that she only wants to help people. This concept is completely alien to Set and he cannot abide the notion of a humble god. Frustrated, he leaves her presence, vowing to return.

Isis returns to the school and switches back into her Andrea Thomas identity. She goes into class where she confers with Doctor Barnes. During the conversation, a prankish student named Jeffrey Carter tosses a paper airplane, striking Andrea in the head. She dismisses the act, but Barnes feels that she is too easygoing with her students.

During class, Cindy tells Andrea about a radio report concerning a nearby fire. Andrea excuses herself and changes back into Isis. She flies to a burning apartment building, and rescues several children caught in the blaze. Set appears before her, and confesses to perpetuating the fire in order to draw Isis out. He again announces his intention to become the patron deity of Earth, demanding worship from all those around him.

A crowd of students gather on the street to witness Isis’ confrontation with Set. Isis notices Jeffrey Carter amongst the crowd and uses him as a means of offsetting Set’s plan. Jeffrey, who apparently enjoys playing pranks on super-heroes as much as he does chemistry teachers, tosses a custard pie in Isis’ direction. Isis allows the dessert to hit her squarely in the face, but takes no action afterwards. Set is furious. It is obvious that the people of Earth have no respect for the Gods and he cannot believe Isis would allow herself to be humiliated in such a fashion. He no longer desires to have anything to do with these people and disappears

***

“Politcal Rally Panic”

Plot: Steven Skeates, Writer: Jack C Harris, Pencils: Jose Delbo

Inker: Vince Colletta; Letterer: Liz Berube

Editor: Dennis O’Neil; Managing Editor: Joe Orlando

Isis is flying through the city when she sees a man named Lattimer falling out of a top-story window. She catches him and brings him safely down to the street. Lattimer explains that he is an ornithologist, who had been birdwatching so intently that he fell out of his window. After telling Lattimer to be more careful, Isis takes her leave of him.

She switches back to her civilian identity and goes to the fundraiser of a local politician named Bob Carver. Andrea is Bob’s friend, and she supports his strong anti-crime bill. During the fundraiser, several people including Andrea, begin to lose their voices. She discovers that somebody has poisoned the punch bowl. She races outside and strains her constricting vocal chords to mouth the words, “Oh, Mighty Isis”. Switching into her super-hero guise, she swoops back in and finds that the man responsible for spiking the punch is Carver’s assistant, Watkins.

Watkins, realizing that he has been exposed, runs out of the building and jumps into his car. Isis follows him and easily stops the fleeing criminal. Lattimer approaches the crime scene and reveals that he is actually an undercover police officer investigating a potential murder attempt against Bob Carver. Thanking Isis for her assistance, he takes Watkins into custody.

***

The letters in the letter column all praise for the debut issue.

***

The resolution of the first story is well in keeping with the TV show – you could even say Isis defeated her foe with Gandhi-like resistance by humiliating herself to reveal Set’s ego.

The art in the first story looks vaguely like Carmine Infantino’s … it’s not, but there IS a resemblance! The second story’s art by the wonderful Jose Delbo is softer than Vosburg’s sharp style.

***

Gotham Renewed for Fifth, Final Season

Posted by michael64curry

The future of FOX’s Batman prequel series has officially been revealed. Gotham has been renewed for its fifth and final season on the network. While Fox has yet to make an official statement, the fifth season will reportedly be 13 episodes in length – which is all the series needs to reach the 100-episode milestone for syndication. This new season will focus on the final transformation of young Bruce Wayne into the Dark Knight.

In an earlier interview with Comic Book, executive producer Danny Cannon teased what the series has in store for season five. “The catastrophic event, the cataclysmic event that happens in the last three episodes [of season four] not only will change Gotham. It not only combines so many characters that you don’t think will cooperate with each other, but it changes the face of Gotham forever, so that season five, it’s almost a reboot and a different show,” Cannon said.

Gotham stars David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne, Ben McKenzie as James Gordon, Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth, Robin Lord Taylor as Penguin, Cameron Bicondova as Selina Kyle, Erin Richards as Barbara Kean, and Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock.

Thank you Scoop for allowing me to reprint your article:

http://scoop.previewsworld.com/Home/4/1/73/1012?articleID=212503

A reboot and a diffent show? No wonder. Ratings have been awful. Gotham averaged 2.563 million viewers per episode (https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/gotham-season-four-ratings/). But still, the renewed Agents of Shield’s averaged half-a-million less viewers. Arrow, as another example was almost one and a half million less viewers (although on a much lesser-viewed network). Still, were it not for the Batman imprint it would have been cancelled some time back.

The first season was excellent – and went downhill from there. Ironically it was concentrating more on Bruce Wayne than on the rise of the Penguin and Jim Gordon’s struggle against corruption that caused the downfall. That being said, any scene with Sean Pertwee is worth watching. Ditto Bicondova’s Selina Kyle. The rare scenes with Alfred and Selina Kyle together made the episodes!

But as with Agents of Shield, they are doing the right thing: 13 episodes is enough to finish the tale: have Mazouz put on the cape and cowl and end it.

It’s not ending on top, but it IS ending. Let’s enjoy these last episodes as much as we enjoyed the old ones. Well, some of the old ones.

I think it is ending just in time. Or at least one season too late.

Original Material 2018 by Michael Curry

A review of the Flash Season Four Finale

Posted by michael64curry

I sat through 21 episodes for THIS shit?

What a bitterly disappointing ending for a fair-to-good season…

Season Four had wonderful potential – the big bad was finally not another omnipotent-he-is-always-one-step-ahead-of-us speedster (he was an omnipotent-he-is-always-one-step-ahead-of-us genius), a whole new rogue’s gallery was forming, and the highlight – the introduction of the Elongated Man!

Hartley Sawyer was perfectly case – he even LOOKED like Ralph!

But the rest of the season just shows the severe limitations of the “Big Bad”-style.

I’ve complained about this style recently and called for its elimination in the DC-CW shows. The last three seasons of Arrow show the style at its worst. But it wasn’t until the last episode of Season Four of the Flash that it finally dawned on me why.

Yes, the Big Bad makes for tedium and repetition (“Hoping this is their chance to stop (insert name of Big Bad) once and for all …” seems to begin the synopsis for 3/4^ths of Arrow’s IMDB’s Episode Lists …) but that is only a symptom. The disease is thus:

Nothing. Happens. Until. The last. episode.

Nothing.

No plot progression. No sense of advancement.

The Big Bad Style is interesting and thrilling when you first watch it. But the plot devise has been used in sixteen seasons between the four DC-CW shows, as well as Agents of Shield, Gotham, etc.

Maybe it’s me, maybe these shows are better while binge-watching. I doubt it. I suspect the Big Bad syndrome is even worse – seeing the heroes defeated not once per week but four times in an afternoon – “is this a rerun, did I hit the repeat button?”

Again it goes back to the main problem: “We’ll stop him this time!” “At last! I … oh. Episode 17, nope, you have five more to go before THAT happens.” Until then …

…nothing…

Arrow tried for a different take this season by killing off their Big Bad – revealing that the actual Big Bad was lurking in the background. But then it was back to the “We’ll stop him this time/this will work it HAS to!” …

Meet the new (Big Bad) boss, same as the old (Big bad) boss.

Flash should be better than this. They do done-in-one shows, they do not only character development, but character advancement! The heroes are likeable. The actors playing them fit the roles perfectly – the chemistry of the cast is obvious!

So how do we fix this? Get rid of the Big Boss. Or at least stay away from him or her for more than one episode at a time. Do two- three- or four-part arcs with other villains. Grodd, perhaps, or a more powerful non-Flash villain: Kanjar Ro, the Shadow Thief or Felix Faust.

For gosh sakes, introduce the Green Lantern Corp!

“We can’t, it might conflict with the DC Cinematic Universe!”

Ignore the DCCU; they certainly are ignoring YOU…

***

I think my souring began with the resolution of the mid-season cliff-hanger “The Trial of the Flash” and I never had a chance to recover. For several episodes Flash did not escape from his cell or allow other shenanigans. “If I cannot get out legitimately, I don’t want to do it.” So how does he get released and found innocent of murder?

Illegitimately.

Ralph disguised himself as DeVoe. How can you kill a man who is still alive? Granted DeVoe WAS alive, but it was a fraud on the court. At least Arrow, pulling similar shenanigans some months later, used it against a corrupt system. Here the judge/jury was legit.

The means do not justify the ends. Barry Allen would be the FIRST to tell us that! His reaction to how his team sprung him was conveniently ignored.

Plus, at the final hearing DeVoe’s “widow” was present, but the District Attorney was NOT?! I know this isn’t Law and Order, but STILL…

It was the nadir of the series, in my opinion.

Until this season’s finale…

***

The season finale had its moments – the introduction of Barry & Iris’ daughter from the future, the birth of Joe & Cecile’s daughter (yes, thse are spoilers, who cares? It was a crappy show), even the Thinker’s reference to himself as the “Big Bad” made me laugh.

But the rest of it?

Synopsis: with technobabble that would make the writers of Star Trek Voyager get erections, Barry put his physical self into DeVoe’s mind. This is done with the help of DeVoe’s wife who finally turns to the good side after a 20-episode build-up.

Flash finds Ralph “alive” (an why not the rest of his new Rogue’s Gallery?) and they fight off an infinite number of Thinkers in Matrix-like fashion. Devoe is finally destroyed because Ralph’s physical body leaves the Thinker’s mind. Of course, why hadn’t anyone thought of THAT …

But, thanks to Holographic Resurrection, the Thinker appears again to menace our heroes! His wife finally defeats him by reaching around the chair and unplugging him.

Yes, they unplugged him.

By now I’d unplugged the Tivo.

***

I love the Flash, I do. I love the charactersl I love the cast.

But I swear to god if this keeps up next year I’m rooting for the bad guy.

And start watching NCIS. Abby Scuito or no Abby Scuito.

***

Arrow Season 6: same old same … old …

Posted by michael64curry

Arrow finished its sixth season limping to the finish line. Not in terms of ratings, though – it was once the CW’s top-rated show and was still in the top four at the end of Season 5. With Season 6 it remains a healthy #5.

But in terms of story ….

Eh.

I still love the show – its first three seasons were some of the best things on TV, especially for a comic book fan. But since then the Big-Bad-style, although popular, dragged the show down. I think for Season Seven they should abandon it.

Seven seasons is traditionally the final season for most shows – casting contracts last for seven years and are negotiated after that on a season-by-season basis. If Arrow goes on to an eighth season, do not be surprised if major members of the cast leave. Those that haven’t already left or been killed off …

To keep the show fresh they need to dump the Big-Bad storyline. That is, one major villain dominating the series for the bulk of the 22 episodes of the season. When it works, it is gripping and exciting! When it doesn’t, it makes for long, tedious stories with neither plot advancement nor real resolution until Episode 22. In other words, the last three seasons of Arrow.

“He’s one step ahead of us!” “This will work! We can defeat him!” Nope. Oh, occasionally the Big Bad has a set back and is even captured! But he will get back on his feet and escape. After a rare episode featuring a new or returning villain in a done-in-one show or a one-episode character study (“I’m leaving for good!”), we are back to the undefeatable Big Bad.

“Hoping this is their chance to stop (insert name of Big Bad) once and for all …” seems to begin the synopsis for 3/4^ths of Arrow’s IMDB’s Episode Lists …

The Big-Bad style was done poorly over last three seasons of Arrow. By the time of the Big Finish, I stopped caring… And apparently, I’m not the only one:

Here is a website tracking Arrow’s ratings this season: https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/arrow-season-six-ratings/

Pretty abysmal for a network show, although still respectable for cable/satellite channels. Click on any of the dates and you will usually see Arrow dead last among the networks selected (but note they are comparing, say, the CW to CBS …).

But the highest ratings over the last several weeks were from done-in-one shows: Roy Harper’s and Nysa Al Ghul’s return (Episodes 15 & 16), when we get back this season’s Big Bad, ratings tanked. Almost two hundred thousand viewers stopped watching.

The finale was the highest-rated show since January 25th and was the sixth-highest rated show of the season.

Sixth? The rip-roaring conclusion was only sixth?

Should that be a big enough hint for the producers?

The season began with Cayden James being the Big Bad: from the Arrow Wiki: “Believing Oliver Queen was responsible for the death of his son, the master hacker committed a series of attacks throughout Star City, wanting to avenge his son’s death and formed his own cabal to do so. It was later proven to him that Oliver was not responsible for Owen’s death, and James was subsequently taken into custody. Shortly thereafter, he was killed by the true mastermind behind his son’s death; James’s former associate Ricardo Diaz.”

The second half of the season revealed Diaz, played by the excellent actor Kirk Acevedo, as the true Big Bad.

Unfortunately, Diaz was much like Adrian Chase (last season’s Big Bad): an Olympian-level (but not too super-powered) athlete who was always one step ahead, had the local law enforcement on his side … yadda yadda ad nauseum…

Season 6 was a cut and paste of Season 5. Both had an exciting conclusion but the dozen-plus episodes leading up to it was tedious television. I may have to treat Arrow Season 7 as I did Agents of Shield 2 & 3: watch only prime-numbered episodes (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, etc.), the mid-season cliff-hanger, and the last two shows. I wouldn’t lose any of the plot. And that’s a shame.

(Obviously this doesn’t count the line-wide cross-over. This year it was “Crisis on Earth-X” and got Arrow it’s highest rating of the year. The show had no sign of Cayden James or Ricardo Diaz. Hint. Hint.)

And don’t think we didn’t notice Arrow copying this season’s Flash plot with its “our-hero-is-on-trial” sub-plot – Arrow even copied the resolution – with Christopher Chance taking Ralph Dibny’s role!

(and hey, I’ve got to include this: I love Kirk Acevedo’s channeling his inner-Al Pacino as Diaz, but to bring in Rene’s daughter during the trial as a silent threat? Holy Vincenzo Pentangeli!

Google it…)

The solution? Only feature the Big Bad in half your episodes. Make the other 11 done-in-one or two-or-three-part (separate and resolved) story-arcs.

Gaining new viewers in a seventh season will be very hard to do. This might make for a good jumping-on point for what may be its last season.

But what do I know? Who am I?

I may be one of the two hundred thousand viewers lost, that’s who…

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Currytakeaways

From the author of "Abby's Road" The Long & Winding Road to Adoption, and how Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt helped!"

television

ARROW, Season 7

Welcome Back Kotter #3, March 1977

Batwoman coming to the CW

Agents of Shield Renewed for Sixth Season

Super Friends #3, February, 1977

The CW Fall 2018-19 Schedule

Isis #3. March 1977

Gotham Renewed for Fifth, Final Season

A review of the Flash Season Four Finale

Arrow Season 6: same old same … old …