Top 4 DC heroes (best to worst)

Green Arrow 

Batman used to be my favourite until CW's Arrow was released October 10th 2012. Arrow gave the character the Emerald Archer a more serious tone which I love. Yes he was basically Batman in a Robin Hood suit, but as the series progressed Arrow became his own character. I would love to see the DCU change things up by introducing a more comic book accurate Green Arrow, though if they take inspiration from the Arrow series I wouldn't complain. 

Batman

Batman was my favourite since I was a child and the Val Kilmer version of the cape crusader was my first introduction to the character. When Kevin Conroy was cast as the live action Bruce Wayne in CW's Crisis crossover, I started watching the Batman Animated series and became a true fan of the Bat. I wish we got more of Ben Affleck's Batman as I am also a huge fan of ZSJL, hopefully Netflix or Universal can get the rights to conclude the JL series with Zack Snyder. 

Superman

I was somewhat a Superman fan when I saw the Christopher Reeve's Superman movies and when MoS first came out I didn't really appreciate it until I saw it again multiple times. I did watch MoS one Christmas with my sister and at that point I understood how great the film was and the importance of a more modern version of the Son of Krypton. I hope to see Henry Return as Superman possibly on Netflix and/or Universal. His life of rejection as an actor not only with the Superman concept is down right insulting and I hope for his future success.   

Flash

Like Batman, Flash was a childhood favourite of mine. The idea of running super fast was such an amazing thing that I always wanted to do, as I have a mild disability that prevents me from playing sports. I first got into the Flash from the Justice League animated series. However lost interest overtime until the CW's Flash series came out, after Grant Gustin was introduced in season 2 of Arrow. I have recently started re-watching the Flash series and can't wait to see which actor will be selected for the role in the DCU.  

As a disclosure even though season 1 was a great start to the series, I've enjoyed the series more as the plots developed and we see more of the ensemble cast, characters and heroes. Witnessing the heroes grow together they have further developed into the characters from the comics: This is something that I've enjoyed the most. 

I understand that it took 4 seasons for Oliver Queen to finally call himself Green Arrow, but season 3 is special to me. When going though hard times this season was very much a comfort. In addition to the inclusion of Hong Kong being a big part of this season was a nice touch, as I have connections to that country. 

Season 1

Season 1 of Arrow was a great start, however the characters were undeveloped and the acting of Stephen as young Oliver Queen could have been better. It would have made the concept of using young Oliver Queen better if CW cast another actor to play the character. This would have given more range and dimensions to the emotion and mannerism of Oliver Queen, seeing him develop showing a distinction between past and present versions of the character. 

Season 2

Season 2 is in second last place for one reason only Slade Wilson as a bad guy was great, but for me he should have been a hero working alongside Oliver Queen for an entire season past and present. To stay true to Slade's roots CW could have had an additional season where he is the bad guy and maybe he was just pretending to be a friend of Oliver's. The reason to why Slade reveals his true intentions could be the same reasoning in season 2: Oliver picked Sara. 

Season 8 

Season 8 was great and all, but the reason its not the best season for me is because we know Oliver Queen was going to die and it was a buzz kill. Arrow is famous for resurrecting characters and sure Oliver Queen comes back as the Spectre, but why not resurrect him with the Lazarus Pit. Or have a doppelganger of Oliver Queen to die. We do see his doppelganger who saves Superman's and Lois' child, so he could have died in Crisis then we would have still kept our Oliver.

Season 5

Season 5 was regarded as the best season of Arrow, but for me the villain Prometheus was a missed opportunity in making the character really scary and more effective. Prometheus' identity should have never been revealed that way he could have been the Boogeyman of Arrow.  

Season 6

The best thing about season 6 is bringing a team of bad guys together something Arrow was missing in prior seasons. It was like Arrow's version of the Injustice League. And, when we find out that Ricardo Diaz was scheming in the background, the person we thought was the big bad, Cayden James was murdered by Diaz. Wow that was close to perfect of a season. 

Season 7

Season 7 was a great season. The only issue that I have with it is Emiko Queen, who should have had a more thought out story from the writers. Its possible that around season 6 and 7 the production of the series was ending so they rushed Emiko's story. I think if there was at least 10 seasons of Arrow then the series would have been nearer to perfect, since there will always be issues with everything we do. 

Season 4

Season 4 was said to be the worst season of Arrow mostly because of the strange development of Felicity complaining about Oliver all the time. However with that aside as I didn't mind it and Felicity was going to pay off in season 5 by accepting Oliver for who he is. This season had one of the best villains in Damian Darhk. Yes the only way Oliver was going to defeat him was getting powers but he became the Spectre so I guess we shouldn't complain. 

Season 3 

Season 3 is the overall best season for me, as it has given me comfort through hard times and I love the inclusion of the League of Assassins with Ra's Al Ghul. I know he is a Batman villain, though Arrow has made Ra's into a unique formidable adversary for Green Arrow; by killing the Emerald Archer in the mid season finale. Yes Oliver should have been revived by the Lazarus Pit, as I think that would have been amazing and killing Ra's would have healed him from the blood lust of using the Pit. Though I can't complain with a developed ensemble of heroes and a great villain. In addition to a gut trenching death of Sara Lance that sparked the rise of the Black Canary, a cornerstone of the Green Arrow mythos. 

In first place

Ra’s Al Ghul: He is my favourite Arrow villain is that he was the first villain to kill Oliver, which makes him the most formidable foe for the Green Arrow. Another reason is nostalgia, Ra’s Al Ghul as been a major villain for the DC heroes in comics and BTAS.

In second place

Damian Darhk is my second favourite villain in Arrow. Because of Neal McDonough’s acting and presence in the 4th season of Arrow. He was an unstoppable villain who challenged Oliver in every way as Darhk had telekinesis and vary of other powers. This focused Oliver to think outside the box to defeat this excommunicated League of Assassins member.

In third place

Ricardo Diaz: The Dragon is in third place because he was a compiling villain that didn’t have the fighting skills or powers to defeat the Green Arrow, as he cheated in one of his fights with Oliver. Ricardo was able to control Star City and turn the people against Team Arrow and Oliver. Even though he wasn’t as smart as Cayden James, he was still able to be a thorn in Oliver’s side for longer than any villains in Arrow. Diaz was not the only villain for one season but two. 

In fourth place

Cayden James: Cayden James Hacker turned terrorist is fourth on the list because even though he was the first villain in Arrow to build a team of villains. He wasn't a particularly strong bad guy. However, I did like his backstory for why he became a villain. The concept of a team of villains paid off, making season 6 was one of my favourite seasons of Arrow. I wished Arrow would have made him a season-long villain not just a villain half of season 6. 

In fifth place

Malcolm Merlyn: The Dark Archer is in fifth place not for any bad reason, I just think that the other villains on the list were slightly more compiling. I think the Dark Archer would have been higher on this list if he never turned to the light side. Even with him being this low on the list he was still a very great villain in season 1 of Arrow with understandable reasons as to why he did what he did.

In sixth place

Deathstroke: You might be wondering why Slade Wilson is low on the list. I don’t think he was a bad villain I just liked him better when he was a good guy like in season 1, season 5, and season 6 when he returned to Star City to get his son Joe back. 

In seventh place

Prometheus: Adrian Chase or Simon Morrison is in seventh place because I think Malcolm Merlyn was the better Dark Archer. No offense to the actor and the character I just didn’t see him as a threatening character at times. The most threatening Chase was when he kidnapped Susan Williams and Oliver Queen, but other than that I thought he was slightly boring. What would have been an interesting turn for Prometheus is if we never found out about his secret identity and made Adrian Chase Vigilante like in the comics. 

In last place 

Emiko Queen is in last place. Even though she is last she's still a good villain; being the reason why Robert Queen died. What makes her a weak villain compared to the others of Arrow, is that there wasn't much focus and strength behind her character development. She was acting as the good guy as the new Green Arrow to find her mother's killer, but she could have done that as the head of the Ninth Circle. 

The funny thing is she does find out who killed her mother before the season finale, it was Dante a member of the Ninth Circle who hired one of the Longbow Hunters: Kodiak to carry out Dante's order. But still she decides to be a bad guy, leader of the Ninth Circle; not joining the good fight with Team Arrow to take down the evil organisation: The Ninth Circle. Emiko became a good guy at the end of the season for real, fighting alongside Oliver to take down some of Ninth Circle members. 

What I understood from Emiko is that she blames the Queen family for the path she took. There was a scene in the season where Emiko finds out that Robert couldn't make her part of Queen Consolidated and his family, because the company belongs to Oliver, the family's legacy and if Moira ever found out about Emiko and her mother: Kazumi Adachi, Moira would have taken everything from Robert. So Robert resulted in abandoning Emiko and her mother. With Oliver being the last remaining Queen excluding Thea because Willa Holland left the series, Emiko wants to make Oliver suffer the way she suffered.  

What I found strange is the filmmakers didn't make Emiko blaming the Queen family the main focus until later in the season instead, Emiko was looking for her mother's killer. Maybe if Emiko was a villain for 2 seasons, season 7 and season 8, then the writers could have had Emiko find her mother's killer in season 7, then have her blame the Queen Family for being abandoned in season 8. This way the series could flesh out Emiko giving more coherent character development: being a good guy then turning bad, then redeeming herself in the end. 

First place: Flash vs Arrow

Flash vs Arrow is in first place because it's the first crossover where Flash has his powers; it’s the first crossover where Flash and Arrow fight and what’s even cooler is there is a scene where Oliver gets the upper hand against Barry and his speed. Just imagine if there were more sequences like that in the fight, Oliver could have won the battle. Oliver didn’t lose, by the way, it was a stalemate. What was also interesting is why Oliver and Barry were fighting. Barry got infected by a meta-human who could make people angry and Barry was angry with Oliver. 

Second place: Elseworlds

Elseworlds crossover is in second place because it was a whole lot of fun to watch. What was interesting in this crossover event is seeing Oliver living Barry's life, with Barry’s speed powers. At the end of this event CW revealed that next year’s crossover is Crisis on Infinite Earths. That will bring a whole lot of great fan service: one of them being two Supermen. What was also great was the introduction of Ruby Rose’s Batwoman in Elseworlds. I can’t wait to see her series on October 6th, 2019.

Third place: Crisis on Earth X

This crossover is in third place; because it doesn’t have the nostalgia feel of Flash vs Arrow and doesn’t have the fun element of Elseworlds. However, still a great crossover. What stood out to me was the doppelganger element of the episodes, where you see evil versions of our heroes and I think the VIP of the evil doppelgangers is Dark Arrow. Stephen Amell was really at the top of his game playing a bad guy. I think he had fun in the role because it shows and in interviews, he has said he would want to play the bad guy after Arrow ends.

Fourth place: Invasion!

Invasion is in fourth place because even though it was a great crossover It had a plot with a very serious nature. This made the episodes have dire consequences to the actions of our heroes, this meant the crossover wasn't fun like Elseworlds. Our heroes had to fight aliens that invaded Earth after Barry created Flashpoint. My favourite part of Invasion was the Arrow portion. Where all our Arrow heroes were taken by the aliens and placed into a shared Hallucination. In there we get to see the lives that our heroes would have had if some had never taken the hero's path: one example is Oliver marrying Laurel. I wish that this should have happened in the series of Arrow for real, but maybe this could happen in the movies. 

Fifth place: Heroes Join Forces

This crossover is in fifth place because I think it had the weakest villain of the entirety of the crossovers. The villain is Vandal Savage and although he was a weak villain, I think the actor did the best he could with the material he was given. Maybe he could return to DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and change fans' minds. In addition to a weak villain, this crossover introduces two characters that fans didn’t seem to like: the Hawk people; the Thanagarians. I thought that they were an interesting addition to the Arrowverse and maybe they will return in Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Last place: Crisis on Infinite Earths

Part 1 of the Crisis crossover had cameos from other DC TV properties and there were more through the rest of the crossover, which was great; however, the bad thing about the crossover is that Oliver dies in the first episode. Something that happens later in the event is that we get to see Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne. I think that he might be playing the older version of Michael Keaton's Batman from the 1989 movie because he kills the Joker. This is not true for Batman on Earth-89, as he just captured the Joker; shown in a newspaper report. One question on my mind is that will the Titans from the DC Universe streaming service crossover with the Arrowverse again? as you see Jason and Hawk in Part 1 for a few seconds. 

I think the major issue with this crossover is the cameos, it seems like the writers didn't focus on making a coherent story like the other crossover events sacrificing a good story for cameos. And even though the crossover was also bad because Oliver dies in the first part/episode, it makes sense because Oliver knew he was going to die and he would do anything to save the multiverse to save his family and friends. Sure his first death could have happened later in the crossover, say Part 3; but I guess Oliver's second death would not have packed a punch the way it did in Part 4 of the crossover, if his first and second deaths were in back-to-back episodes. And, we wouldn't have got to see the emotional reactions of Oliver's friends and family breathe throughout the 5 Part event. For me, It would also create a sense of awkwardness that I believe would put fans and audiences off the crossover. Jim Corrigan the other Spectre could have been the one to defeat the Antimonitor and die but Stephen Amell was gonna leave the Arrowverse anyway and him being the Spectre was a great way for him to leave the Arrowverse. The Shadow demons were disappointing. They were easily defeated unlike the Dominators from the Invasion crossover. It would have been cooler if the Shadow Demons were more powerful. I guess the writers wanted to make the Antimonitor appear as a God-like character more powerful than the Shadow Demons when the heroes fought against him.

It looks like the crossover would have been better if Oliver wasn't in it, as his first death was slightly underwhelming and there was nothing great to say about it by fans. During the end of season 6 of Arrow, Stephen Amell wanted to leave Arrow but was convinced to stay on for 2 more seasons. With that said I think without Stephen Amell the Elseworlds crossover wouldn't have been great. What would have made more sense for a better Crisis crossover is to balance out the cameos and make a coherent plot. To do this there seem to be only 2 options: have fewer cameos in the 5 episodes or have more episodes of the crossover.

Part 2, Oliver has died and the team is mourning. Even with the death of a character the episode still finds a way for comedy, this is great because I believe TV shows should be fun and positive. The episode references Felicity as she is in the Crisis tie-in comic and the episode introduces Paragons, unlike the original Crisis comic. Paragons are the heroes who are capable of saving the multiverse from the Antimonitor. This is strange as in Part 5 of the crossover not only did some of the Paragons defeat the Antimonitor but the other heroes joined in the fight.     

Throughout the crossover Kara wants to save her Earth from the antimatter wave, it would be interesting if she died trying as she died in the original Crisis comic. But I understand that this wouldn't happen because Supergirl is one of CW's best DC TV shows. Barry has more screen time in this episode unlike Part 1, so I don't know why fans were complaining. Kevin Conroy's Batman from Earth-99 debuted in this episode. That was cool but it would have been cooler if he was a good guy, not a killer. I understand why he was a bad guy because the writers wanted Kate to have a heroic story as she was made a Paragon. 

There were Supermen/Clark Kent cameos in this episode. The best one was Tom Welling who plays Clark Kent from Earth-167. There wasn't much to see with Tom's Clark Kent, just that he gave up his powers to raise a family. But it was just nice to see Tom Welling again in a DC property. I wished it was more than that, like a fight between him and the Antimontor. Though, I understand why, the writers wanted to keep the focus on the main characters to continue developing the main plot. And, I think if CW gave Tom Welling more to do in the crossover, it would most likely cost them a lot more money. In this episode, the Team tries to bring back Oliver with the Lazarus Pit, which worked but they failed to restore his soul to his body. I have a feeling if Oliver's soul was restored to his body then he wouldn't have become the next Spectre. I don't know much of the Spectre, I only know somethings of him from Internet, animated short, and the Constantine TV series. 

Another Superman cameo was Brandon Routh. I think the writers could have done better with this cameo but again I think they wanted to keep the focus on the main characters making Lex a Paragon. This was a cool interesting development for Lex giving him more stories to tell in the Supergirl TV show. People were complaining about the Superman vs Superman: Brandon Routh vs Tyler Hoechlin fight, as the CGI, wasn't good but I didn't mind it. What was great about Brandon Routh's Superman was that he needed to switch between acting as Clark Kent and Ray Palmer and it was great acting on his part.

Kevin Conroy's Batman/Bruce Wayne to me looks like an older Warren Christie who will play the present-day Bruce Wayne in future episodes of the Batwoman series, which is cool and at the end of the episode you see the Antimonitor it would have been great to see more of him throughout the entire crossover.

In Part 3, you find out who all the Paragons are, this leads to an all-out battle with the Shadow Demons near the end of Part 4 which was quite disappointing. We also find out which Flash dies in Crisis which was a satisfying exit for the character. There was a cameo of Lucifer, which I think will lead to more crossovers in the future. Near the end of Part 3, the Antimonitor was controlling Lyla which was a bit disappointing as I wanted a fight between the actual Antimonitor and the heroes, but I guess the creators were saving money for Part 4 and the finale of the crossover. My favourite cameo of this episode is Barry Allen Flash from Earth-90.

Part 4, Oliver as the Spectre appears. Some fans think he looks like a drug addict, but I think he looks all right. The Paragons are in the Vanishing Point, a place introduced in DC's Legends of Tomorrow. They are there safe from the Antimonitor. The Spectre helps the Paragons and Barry leave the Vanishing Point using the Speed Force. However, Spectre's help comes at a cost, which will be explored in the latter half of season 6 of The Flash. This episode humanises the Monitor by showing flashbacks of him and his wife and also when the Paragons time travelled. Lastly, this episode explores how the Antimonitor was born.

During the time the Paragons were able to leave the Vanishing Point through the Speed Force, the Antimonitor attacked them and some of them got lost in the Speed Force. Because of this Barry needs to find the other Paragons before escaping their current location or the antimatter wave will kill them. The Speed Force was a cool way for Barry to meet Barry from the DCEU: Ezra Miller. And, I believe because of this, WB and DC allowed bringing back Michael Keaton as Batman into the DCEU Flashpoint movie. Another cool thing that happened is the introduction of Ryan Choi. Who I believe might become the new Atom with the Legends or the Flash Team. All events in the crossover so far are the reason why the multiverse was re-created. In my opinion, this episode of the crossover is the best in terms of telling a proper story not to rely on cameos. Part 4 of the crossover was written by Marv Wolfman and Marc Guggenheim. Lastly, it was cool seeing past events of the Arrowverse in the Speed Force.

In part 5, the heroes saved and created a new multiverse and now some Earths have merged, causing differences in the heroes' lives. Some of the changes are bad but it's better than a multiverse destroyed by an antimatter wave. Just before creating a new multiverse, the heroes thought they defeated the Antimonitor, but he is back and the hero must beat him again this time for good. All the DC TV, movie, game, and comic properties are part of the same DC multiverse, they are all connected. This means that the Antimonitor could make a return possibly in the DCEU, which would be cool but before that can happen the Justice League must defeat Darkseid. I think the final episode of the crossover was slightly underwhelming. It had some of the silly aspects from DC's Legends of Tomorrow TV show. I think the episode would have been better if the seriousness of Part 4, was carried over into this episode. But I guess CW wanted the crossover to end on what they thought was a positive fun note but was kind of silly. Not all episodes or crossovers need to be all positive or fun, there needs to be a balance and I think CW DC have done better episodes or crossovers which have a balance of comedic/serious tones. Overall even though this crossover might have ended on a slightly underwhelming note it was still an impressive accomplishment. 

Arrow season 1 episode 1

I’m usually not a big fan of origin stories, but in this case, because I didn’t know Green Arrow it was cool to see the origins of Oliver Queen. Another reason why episode 1: the pilot is the best episode of season 1 is because it shows Oliver as the Hood in his prime and it's kind of cool to see Oliver not worry about killing and snapping necks left, right, and center. Sure Oliver Queen didn’t train with Ra’s Al Ghul until season 3, though he did train with the next best person being Talia Al Ghul in his final year away from Starling/Star City. So Oliver was still an expert killer. In addition to making killing seem cool, is Oliver’s family interactions. Tension rises between him and Thea his sister as Oliver is trying to protect her from trouble and him between his mother Moira as she wants to spend more time with her son but as you know Oliver has a responsibility as the Hood. It was cool to see this all play out and develop for future episodes and seasons. 

Arrow season 2 episode 8: The Scientist 

This episode is the best in season 2 because it's a very important episode that introduces superpowers into the Arrowverse with Mirakuru and introduces Barry Allen before he became the flash. It would have been interesting to see the Arrowverse develop into a show that never introduced superpowers, but I’m glad CW did because we wouldn’t have got the TV shows like The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and Black Lightning. This episode was also great because we got to see character interactions between Barry and Felicity and Barry and Oliver. It was cool to see Barry and Felicity interact being the two smartest people in the room and them sharing a slight romance, which in turn makes Oliver jealous and has him butting heads with Barry; leading into topics about secrecy. To end, this is a great episode leaving seeds to grow for later episodes of Arrow and The Flash TV show. 

Arrow season 3 episode 9: The Climb

The Climb is the best episode in season 3 in my opinion because this episode is almost what the series was leading to if the show ended: a fight between Oliver and Ra’s Al Ghul. I would have preferred if Oliver won the fight but he didn’t. Oliver was still able to survive with the help of his friends. This caught Ra’s Al Ghul's intention making him want Oliver to take his place as Ra's Al Ghul. It would have been interesting if the series ended after the fight as apparently, Oliver will die at the end of season 8. I’m glad for episodes like this and I’m glad Arrow has run for 8 seasons because I wouldn’t have made this website and a Facebook page dedicated to TV shows and movies without them. 

Arrow season 4 episode 18: Eleven-Fifty-Nine

Although this is a sad episode as Laurel Lance the Black Canary dies, it’s still one of the best episodes of season 4, as the acting was great between all cast members. The legacy of the Black Canary was something the series started to explore since season 2. In season 4 a rogue vigilante was posing as the Black Canary, she almost ruined Laurel's legacy but Oliver was able to set the record straight. During Laurel's funeral, Oliver announced the truth Laurel is she was the Black Canary, a hero. The events of Laurel's death and the emergence of the rogue Black Canary led to the rise of Dinah Drake and Earth-2 Laurel Lance, who takes the mantle of Black Canary in season 5 and 7 respectively. Not to mention a team of Black Canaries led by Dinah Drake in 2040 Star City. In conclusion, Although it was sad to see Laurel Lance go the Arrowverse was better for it developing into what it is now.

Arrow season 5 episode 20: Underneath

In my opinion Underneath is one of the best episodes of season 5, because it pushed the acting abilities of Stephen Amell as Oliver and Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity in a bottle episode, which was mostly shot in the bunker or the Arrowcave as some characters call it. The acting of the two main stars, made you believe that Oliver and Felicity are in love and for some fans, their relationship makes the show. I guess without Laurel dying there would not have been an Olicity ship. On the other hand, I would have loved to see Oliver and Laurel get together like season 1 and the comics but I understand CW had to listen to some of the fans and create something new that makes the show unique setting apart from the comics. Overall I’m glad Felicity is a character in the Arrowverse because at times she is a great character, creating great character interactions except in season 4. 

Arrow season 6 episode 18: Fundamentals

This is a great episode for one major reason: the episode focuses on Oliver Queen having decided to separate himself from everyone he loves and go solo on his mission to save his city. Oliver gets drugged with Vertigo by the main big bad Ricardo Diaz and Oliver starts to hallucinate; he starts to see Adrian Chase the big bad of season 5, he also starts to see dying Laurel and his team all telling him that he has failed his city. Before he was drugged Oliver found out that Diaz has meetings in the police department at a certain time every day. After he was drugged he decides to invade the police department to kill Ricardo Diaz; even knowing that there are about 100 policemen there armed and ready to kill him. However, he was saved by Felicity and they escaped the police department. Besides the story being a major plus to the episode, the action sequence at the start of the episode was great too: Oliver in his season 1 suit kicking the butts of rogue police. 

Arrow season 7 episode 8: Unmasked 

This episode was great for 4 main reasons, the use of lighting, the action, the story, and many firsts that have happened. The new Green Arrow is unmasked, this scene had great music and shown great gymnastic skills by the actress who plays the new Green Arrow: Sea Shimooka. This episode is the first time Oliver suits up without his mask and hood on. This episode is also the first time you see Blackstar an important character to the Queen family. Additionally, we see Max Fuller since season 1 and for the first time in a long time, Oliver is unsure about himself not knowing whether he should suit up again as the Green Arrow, which is great acting by Stephen Amell.

There’s a cool scene where Oliver catches an arrow to save one of the 1 percenters. There is a first time in a while, a moment that Oliver and Felicity share that could be where their daughter was conceived and the first time we see the new Mayor of Star City in season 7: Emily Pollard, who grows to hate Oliver Queen for being a vigilante. There’s a cool chase scene of Oliver, Rene, and Dinah trying to get to the new Green Arrow and it looks like Stephen Amell did the stunt work himself, which was impressive, I believe he does 80% of the stunt work on Arrow. There was also a cool action scene where Oliver is getting to the main villain of the episode, in this sequence the action was great, the use of the camera was great and the use of lighting was unique: the use of blue, purple, red and orange. And, there’s a cool fight scene between Oliver and a hired archer in Felicity’s apartment. During this confrontation, Felicity pulls out a gun to shoot the unwanted archer in her apartment; after the fight scene ended Oliver and Felicity have a not so nice talk about her actions. This scene is interesting as it sheds light on Felicity’s development ever since Oliver was placed in prison. 

This episode is also great because it ends with SCPD hiring Oliver Queen as a police officer. In conclusion, this episode might be my favourite for the use of lighting in the scenes and action sequences.

Arrow season 8 episode 1: Starling City

Which is the best episode of Arrow season 8?

I think "Starling City" is the best episode of season 8 of Arrow, because; Tommy Merlyn of Earth-2 is the bad guy of the episode as the Dark Archer and I believe this is something that fans wanted ever since the end of season 1 when Tommy of Earth-1 died. Another interesting observation is that Oliver from Earth-2 is dead and the Monitor used his powers to send our Earth-1 Oliver to pose as Earth-2 Oliver to start his first mission for him, which is to steal Dwarf Star Particles from Queen-Merlyn Enterprises.

On Earth-2, when our Oliver comes back to Starling City from the island of Lian Yu he has been away for 12 years and the fact that Earth-2 Oliver was thought to be dead contributed to Thea's death from a drug overdose. This is interesting because the creators of the series have said they would never kill off Thea, however, this development is the reason why Tommy Merlyn went to the dark side; it would have been more interesting if we see Tommy's training may be from the League of Assassins. We might see that in other CW DC TV shows that haven't ended.

Another great thing about this episode is seeing Oliver and Diggle's friendship grow even more, as opposed to what happened in season 6 where Diggle was questioning whether Oliver was fit to lead Team Arrow. The parts of this episode seeing stories and scenes that mirrored past sequences from the early days of Arrow were amazing. That was a nice way to start the final season of the series.

This episode continues the flash-forwards from season 7, which leads to a reunion between certain characters later in the season. This was a nice development that I thought might happen before the season started. In addition, Adrian Chase is the Hood of Earth-2 and it was nice seeing him again. I know that I have said he wasn't a great character, but that was as a bad guy who reflected the Dark Archer/Malcolm Merlyn. If he was the Vigilante like the comics and was more like an Anti-Hero, then maybe he would have been a better character; I'm not saying this to shoot down the actor who plays Adrian Chase as he was still an okay bad guy in season 5 and great as a good guy in season 8. Adrian Chase as the Hood in a spin-off series for DC would be cool to see.