The Olicity storyline took over Arrow Season 4, so much so, some fans really wanted Felicity to be the one to die instead of Black Canary. The shift in dynamic was interesting, especially considering Felicity was one of fans’ favorite characters in the first two seasons, while Laurel was seen as the annoying one. Either fans really just love to hate Stephen Amell’s love interest, or it was a larger problem. Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim thinks it’s the latter. He even went so far to say the Oliver-Felicity arc is one of his biggest regrets in the history of the series.
"I’d say probably my biggest regret is I wish we had allowed the Oliver-Felicity storyline in Season 4 to unfold at a more natural pace,” Guggenheim told Entertainment Weekly. “We had set these tentpoles at the beginning of the season, and we were a bit too rigorous on how we hit them. That was a case where the planning overtook the storytelling. We didn’t do things as naturally and as elegantly as we should have.”
Some critics believe the reason Season 4 was the series’ weakest is because the creative team succumbed to fan input. This may of caused the Olicity arc to spiral out of control faster than it would if the relationship had developed more naturally. Olicity, paired with the magical Damien Darhk storyline changed tone of the series, shifting it from the gritty, dark, street-level, superpowerless superhero show that fans fell in love with, to a series focusing on relationship drama and fantastical elements.
Guggenheim and the creative team have done a nice job of bringing back some of the same elements from Season 1 to Season 5. The first seven episodes of Arrow this year have been better than most of Season 4. The upcoming 100th episode of the series has the potential to be the best episode so far. Guggenheim said he thinks the episode has Stephen Amell’s best performance yet. Not to mention, the episode is a crossover with The Flash, Supergirl and all the Legends.
The “Invasion!” event continues tonight with Arrow’ s 100th episode at 8 p.m. on The CW.
