The superhero show that launched a universe, Arrow had been on for 8 seasons before the series came to an end in January. That’s no small feat, so it’s not surprising that some seasons are better than others in terms of quality, as is the case with Arrow‘s seasons 2 and season 5.
These two seasons are often regarded as the best of the series, each for equally valid reasons from the performances to the stories they tell snd new elements they introduce. It may be hard for fans to choose which one they like more.
Season 2: Deathstroke
Over the years we have gotten many versions of Slade Wilson but the one that is often considered the best interpretation of the character is the version played by Manu Bennett on Arrow. As the primary antagonist of the show’s second season, Slade is often touted as one of the best villains, not only on Arrow but in the Arrowverse overall – mainly due to the connection the show had established between him and Oliver during the first season. The show’s flashback technique made it extremely interesting to see the character’s downfall as well as his current efforts to ruin Oliver’s life simultaneously.
Season 5: Promethus
Adrian Chase, who’s real name is later revealed to be Simon Morrison, was introduced in season 5 as the new Star City District Attorney. Chase, going by the name Prometheus after being trained by and aligning himself with Talia Al Ghul, sought to ruin Oliver’s life as revenge for the Hood murdering his father. Many considered him the show’s best villain due to Josh Segara’s strong performance and the fact that he is one of the only Arrowverse villains to actually achieve their goals, serving as a perfect follow up to Damien Dahrk who lots of fans felt didn’t fit well into the series.
Season 2: Barry Allen
Something many may not remember happened in season 2 was we were first properly introduced to Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen with the character appearing as a guest star in the series. While the character only appears in two episodes, “The Scientist” and “Three Ghosts”, both help establish Barry as an ally to Team Arrow.
Both episodes also served as a backdoor pilot for his solo series in which we would see the character go on to become the Flash, with “Three Ghosts” even ending with Barry returning to his lab in Central City and getting hit with the lightning bolt that would give him powers.
Season 5: 100th Episode
100th episodes are extremely special milestones, with them usually being celebrations of the ones that preceded it. Incidentally, Arrow‘s 100th episode took place during the Invasion! crossover event which allowed them to the opportunity to do something unique. Thanks to the Team Arrow being abducted by the Dominators, they find themselves placed in an alternate reality where Oliver never got on the Queen’s Gambit, his parents are still alive and he’s engaged to Laurel and set to be married the following day. The episode ends with Oliver, Thea, Sara, Diggle, Ray all fighting their way out of the artificial reality.
Season 2: Sara Lance
In season 1 of Arrow, fans learned that Laurel’s sister, Sara, was on the Queen’s Gambit and died when it sank although their mother maintained the hope that Sara was somehow still alive. In season 2, it was revealed that her mother was right when Sara later appeared in Starling City as the Canary. We learned that she was found by Anthony Ivo, spent some time with both Oliver and Slade, and was later rescued and trained by the League of Assassins following the sinking of the Amazo before eventually returning home again and taking up vigilantism like Oliver had done the previous year.
Season 2: The Suicide Squad
In the Arrowverse, Task Force X was a team started by ARGUS leader, Amanda Waller, with the first team members being Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, and Shrapnel and led by Diggle and Lyla. The team was tasked with retrieving a nerve agent from an arms dealer named Gholem Qadir and while this was their first mission, it certainly wouldn’t be the last.
Season 5: New Team Arrow
Since most of the original members of Team Arrow left in order to go on their own personal journeys, Oliver eventually decided to recruit several new members to replace the missing ones. The first three recruits he chose were Curtis Holt, Rene Ramirez, and Evelyn Sharp. As the season progressed, the team would later include Rory Regan aka Ragman and Dinah Drake as the new Black Canary would join the team later on in the season. The members allowed us to explore new character dynamics as well as introduce us to more of the lesser known characters from the comics with each bringing a unique personality and skillset to the team.
Season 2: Laurel Learning The Truth
Oliver’s identity as the Green Arrow was a closely guarded secret in the earlier seasons of the show with only being known to a select few including Diggle and Felicity. One character that was kept out of the loop in season 1 was Laurel Lance, however, in season 2, Slade Wilson revealed to her that Oliver was the Green Arrow in hope of destroying the relationship between the two. Little did he know that learning that secret would set her on the path that would eventually lead to her becoming a hero in her own right as the Black Canary.
Season 5: Slade’s Return
Despite being a major threat to Oliver and the team, fans could not get enough of Slade, making him one of the show’s most popular characters. In season 5, we got to see the character in a role he hasn’t been in since the early days of the show, as an ally to Oliver. In the season 5 finale, Oliver goes to Slade who has Mirakuru completely removed from his system, and asks for his help in taking down Chase in exchange for information on his son, Joe. It made for one of the best moments of the season and it was great to see them fight side-by-side again, regardless of what happened before.
Season 5: Mayor Queen
After defeating Damien Darhk in season 4, Oliver Queen decided to run for Mayor of Star City. Running unopposed, Oliver was able to garner a lot of support and was eventually elected. His sister, Thea, would come to serve as his Chief of Staff, later recruiting Quentin Lance as Deputy Mayor. This allowed us to see Oliver attempt to balance his two lives as he had in previous seasons, this time with the character in the spotlight more than before, bringing a needed fresh element to the show.
