And so it happened this past month: Arrow had its series finale.
If you're unfamiliar with the show, Arrow premiered on the CW 8 years ago and followed the DC Comics character The Green Arrow, who was a bit of an odd choice to create a show around. He wasn't a wholly obscure character, but he wasn't a Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, or even Aquaman. Still, the creators launched the show with a gritty, realistic angle and found success.
Admittedly, I didn't jump on board right away. I just wasn't interested. But I eventually caved by binging the first three seasons on Netflix, mainly because I was draw in to a spinoff show on the CW featuring the more well known DC character the Flash. And I must say, it was one of the most successful spin offs I had ever seen. I'm not talking about the quality of the Flash as a show, but just the way it boosted the story it came from. The Flash and Arrow worked hand in hand, complimenting each other while also building upon a special shared universe between them.
Before we knew it, both shows were having crossovers like crazy, even creating a whole separate show called Legends of Tomorrow filled with a bunch of supporting characters that weren't being used. In addition, Supergirl premiered on CBS, and, after a disappointing first season in the ratings, was moved to the CW so that it to could crossover with Arrow. This shared universe even allowed the character Constantine, who had a failed first season on NBC, to move over and join the fun. Add in Batwoman, and the whole gang was able to pull off Crisis on Infinite Earths, an extremely impressive comic book adaptation spanning multiple shows, featuring a bazillion cameos, and more characters than fans could keep up with.
I saw many of my Facebook friends bemoaning Arrow's lackluster series finale, citing how it didn't move them the way a finale should. In its defense, it did air around the same time as The Good Place, which knocked its finale out of the park. But during the *SPOILER ALERT* funeral for main character, all the other characters that exist in this shared universe were gathered together to say goodbye. And to me...this was the real finale moment. Not because it was a funeral for a character, but a funeral for a show. Arrow started from nothing. It was alone. And it birthed this entire universe that truly accomplished something remarkable. Something it deserves credit for and, quite frankly, we may never see on television again.