So, apparently you guys love yourselves some Arrow. My essay about the Laurel, Oliver, Felicity dynamic in CW’s Green Arrow show needed a mere five days to become the third most viewed article in the history of this site. Granted, this site has only been around for 4 months, but that’s still awfully impressive. We clearly should have started covering this show far sooner. Oops. Thanks to those who have read the article and the passionate, articulate few who have even left comments (feel free to join in).
However, the first season is behind us now. What can we expect from season 2? Those of us spoiled by Netflix/DVD box set marathon viewing are left listless and despondent when we actually have to wait multiple months to see new content.
We simply can’t wait to see what awful wig Stephen Arnell wears in one of the island flashbacks next!
Thankfully, since the first season finale aired the producers and stars of the show have been talking up a real storm as to what is in store next year. There are some genuine spoiler-y tidbits from interviews the show’s executive producer Marc Guggenheim conducted with both Entertainment Weekly and TV Guide as well as one that fellow executive producer Andrew Kreisberg conducted with ZapIt.
*BELOW THIS POINT THERE WILL BE NO HOLDING BACK ON SPOILERS *
Concerning the 3-4 Month Gap Between Seasons
It’s not every show which will end its season with the protagonist having completely failed to stop the bad guy. Due to his failure, The Glades were decimated by the extra earthquake machine Merlyn had hidden away. So, how likely are we to pick right up where we left off and get straight to the rescue and clean up effort? Not very. According to Guggenheim, “There will be a time jump, not really to skip over anything, but rather it’s just consistent with the choice we made early on with the show. We always try to pass time naturally.”
Concerning the Aftermath of the Destruction of The Glades
Oliver’s father’s notebook drove the story in the first season; according to Guggenheim, the aftermath of the destruction of The Glades will drive the story in the second season. Moreover, we can expect the local economy to take a nose dive, “You’ve got Merlyn Global and Queen Consolidated both not in The Glades, but the two biggest employers of people in Starling City and those companies are in some dire straits. We’re going to see in Season 2 that the economy in Starling City is pretty decimated” (TV Guide).
Concerning Malcolm Merlyn’s Apparent “Death”
Based upon Guggenheim’s comments, you can confidently count on seeing John Barrowman on this show again. He told EW, “The one thing I will say with respect to both Tommy’s death and Malcolm Merlyn’s death is this is a show that does flashbacks.” Now, will we be seeing Malcolm in anything other than flashbacks? Guggenheim is too good to be suckered into answering that one.
Concerning How Everyone Will React to the Hood Having Failed the City
Do super heroes react to injustice or does injustice rise in response to them, like a comic book arms race? This is The Dark Knight question – would the Joker have existed if Batman hadn’t? For Arrow, is the destruction of The Glades a reaction to the Hood or simply the type of corruption he is meant to respond to? Teasingly, Guggenheim promises, “There will be a variety of different points of view held by not just the citizens of Starling City, but our characters as well, which is where we’ll get a lot of interesting debate and conflict” (TVGuide).
Concerning The Impact of Tommy’s Death on Laurel and Oliver
Photo credit: grizzlybomb.com
D-R-A-M-A, drama! As you might expect, Laurel is going to feel kind of bad, “Laurel, by sleeping with Oliver, chose Oliver over Tommy and yet it was Tommy who came to save her. She feels an enormous amount of guilt over, ‘Did I pick the wrong guy?’” (TVGuide). Oliver will also, obviously, feel the impact of Tommy’s death. However, they aren’t really saying anything specific about that other than to reinforce how Tommy’s death will have an effect on not just Oliver and Laurel but also Thea, Moira, and Detective Lance.
Concerning How Much Closer We Are To Laurel Throwing on Fishnets and Calling Herself Black Canary
Photo credit: comicbookmovie.com
The death of Tommy is going to impact Laurel, more than just in her relationship with Oliver. Guggenheim told TV Guide, “It’s going to drive a lot of what Laurel does in Season 2, both good and bad.” However, does that mean full-on Black Canary (minus the super sonic scream)? Well, the woman who would be the one forced to wearing the corresponding fishnet stockings told EOnline, “[Laurel]’s starting to stand up for what she believes in and maybe not always go through justice…hopefully season two she sort of going to be evolving into Black Canary.”
Concerning Felicity and the Olicity Phenomenon
Photo credit: tumblr.com
She started out as the recurring IT girl who never quite bought all of the cover stories Oliver had for the computer wizardry he was asking of her. Now, she has been promoted to a series regular, has some Tumblr pages devoted exclusively to her, and has earned a nickname from shippers: Olicity. Can you guess, from that name, which character some fans really want to see Felicity get with? She is becoming the non-Oliver breakout character of the show.
However, neither the actors nor the producers are actually saying much about Felicity and season 2 at the moment. Emily Bett-Rickards told TVFanatic she would like to see Felicity’s personal life explored a bit more, such as something as simple as explaining her family situation (parents? Siblings?). When asked by EOnline about the fans who are rooting for Oliver and Felicity Stephen Arnell diplomatically replied, “I want us to keep working together. I want people to keep enjoying it.” Personally, beyond romance or anything in that arena it might simply be interesting to see Felicity have scenes with any of the regular characters other than Oliver and Diggle, and the finale definitely set her up as being a go-between for the Hood and Detective Lance.
Concerning Roy Harper’s Inevitable Sidekick Status
For starters, Colton Haynes, who plays Roy Harper, has been upgraded to a series regular in season 2 (according to Entertainment Weekly). Andrew Kreisberg told ZapIt, “Oliver Queen and Roy Harper will have a long and storied career together. As with all of these things, especially stuff that’s derived from the comic books, we’ve tried to both satisfy fans’ expectations, and turn them on their head. I think that Roy’s desire to be under the Arrow and Oliver’s desire to be as private a person as possible are going to collide.”
Concerning Thea and Maturity
They didn’t have her say, “I must have wicked aim,” in the season finale for nothing. However, more than any possibility of her becoming the comic book character Speedy is the guarantee that they intend for her to be a far more mature and stronger character in season 2. Kreisberg told ZapIt, “She really underwent an evolution this season, and in Season 2 when the characters pick up, we’ll see a Thea who has really internalized her experience, one who has really grown a great deal.”
Concerning Moira and Redemption
She will likely be headed to a trial of some sort for her part in the undertaking. However, Guggenheim actually holds a law degree and joked these scenes are the easiest he’s ever had to write for the show. Kreisberg added reconciliation between Moira and son Oliver is very possible, since, “If ever there was a hero who could understand what Moira has done, it’s Oliver. Oliver made a lot of difficult decisions himself those five years on the island, and not all of them were the right decision. He can understand how she can find herself in the place that she did” (ZapIT).
Concerning Diggle, Flashbacks, and Deadshot
So much went down in the season finale it might be startling for some to realize the season ended with no conclusion to the Deadshot/Diggle vendetta. Worry not, though, because they decided to simply carry that one over. According to Kreisberg, “Diggle’s pursuit of Deadshot is going to be a big part of Season 2.” Moreover, on the topic of Diggle Kreisberg teased, “Doing flashback episodes to Diggle’s life — whether it’s in Afghanistan, or when his brother was alive — we’re definitely interested in that” (ZapIt).
Concerning Detective Lance and the Real World Implications of Being a Cop Helping a Vigilante
Photo credit: starpulse.com
Oliver=Bruce Wayne/Batman; Detective Lance=Commissioner Gordon. That has been the plan for the show from day one, and next season will finally be the point where Lance stops hunting The Hood and actively working with him. However, Guggenheim promises a slightly new angle, “In the Batman mythos, rarely do they ever call Commissioner Gordon out on the fact that he’s working side-by-side with this vigilante. We’ll take a different kind of approach and a slightly more realistic one to the realities of what Lance has elected to do and is going to continue to do” (TVGuide).
Concerning The Island Flashbacks and Shado
Guggenheim, Kreisberg, and Arnell have promised some unexpected twists in the island scenes next season, and exactly how Slade feels about Oliver having saved Shado rather than leave the island “is certainly something that we’re going to be exploring in the second season premiere” (TVGuide). Plus, there will also be more explosions (which is kind of like saying that tomorrow the sun is going to shine – things blow up during the flashback scenes. That’s just what they do).Photo credit: screencrush.com
Far less concrete is the speculation about various DC comic book characters who might be incorporated into the show next season. For example, much was made of comments Guggenheim made about maybe using Hal Jordan (Green Lantern version or pre-ring) , but that came from a casual conversation. The same goes for talks of using other DC characters like Nightwing and/or The Question, which came from a conversation the producers had with comicbookresources.com about their wishlist of DC characters to use in the show. The speculation about Ted Kord popping up, aka the second Blue Beetle in the comics, might have some legs though.
So, basically what we have is a lot of clues as to story directions but precious little specific detail – which is exactly how this game is played. Those desperate to know if Laurel will find out Oliver’s identity as the Hood next season will have to wait. The same goes for those dying to find out just how close Oliver and Felicity will become, or if she will at least get a love interest of her own. The second season is expected to begin sometime in October, and unlike most other shows on the CW it will be airing on the same night and at the same time as always: Wednesdays at 8 PM EST/7 PM CST.
If you need more Arrow now, remember that DC has been publishing a series of digital comics specific to the show. Guggenheim told TVGuide, “We’re going to continue to publish the Arrow digital comic for the next few weeks into June. I wrote a two-parter that closes out the finale. It’s really meant as a companion piece for the season finale. It takes place during the finale and in the week following the finale. You’ll actually get a chance to see some things that happened in Starling City after the events of the finale exclusively in the comic book.”
If you have any thoughts or questions on any of the points discussed above or just have general wishes for what you’d like to see next season then get thee to our comments section. Be sure to check out Guggenheim’s full interview with TV Guide here, his full interview with EW here, and Kreisberg’s full interview with ZapIT here.