Team GATV Roundtable: Looking Back At Season 3

How do you feel Season 3 of Arrow compared to the first season of The Flash?

LAUREL: Part of the reason Arrow season 3 was a little off for me was the comparison to The Flash — that show came out firing on all cylinders and didn’t slow down all season. It’s impossible not to compare the two shows, and The Flash just had more interesting stories told in a better way this season.

DEREK: As I’ve talked about numerous times in the reviews over on FlashTVNews, the first season of The Flash is a tour de force of consistent entertainment. It’s on the same level of Arrow season 2, and may even in fact surpass it (though I really, really like Arrow season 2.) So it’s really not a huge insult to say that season 3 doesn’t hold a candle to The Flash, which is a season with no bad episodes, maybe 2 or 3 less-than-good ones, and numerous greats. The tone is night and day between the two shows, too, and I think The Flash’s upbeat tone was so refreshing in the grand scheme of superhero media that it made Arrow’s darker tone seem even more dreary by comparison.

CRAIG: Arrow’s biggest help is also the biggest indicator of weakness: The Flash Season 1 was so balls-to-the-wall great that I feel some of Arrow’s flaws were highlighted more. As much as Ra’s al Ghul didn’t scare me… Harrison Wells did. As much as Oliver Queen was a bit of a jerk… Barry Allen was a hero. I know Arrow is like the night and The Flash is the day, but I was finding I was enjoying the latter a lot more last season.

And as far as dark shows go, though it wasn’t mentioned here, I think the success of Marvel’s Daredevil clouded my opinion too. That show was very dark and violent, but with Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, it was SCARY. I also felt more like the characters were actual people, with their own interests and agendas, more than just reacting to what Oliver is doing at any given time.

MATT: It’s such an unfair and unfortunate comparison because The Flash is such a different show. It’s allowed to be wild, to be silly, to be awing, and because it paints in such broad and bright strokes, it’s actually a more emotional show, as well. The series benefits from the two years in the trenches that the team spent on Arrow. This first season was not a perfect season, to be sure, but it was one of the most assured I’ve ever seen of a series. That assuredness was earned by the work put in on Oliver Queen’s show. Unfortunately, you can’t help but feel that splitting creative energy towards working on the new series played some part in the deficiencies of Arrow Season 3. Pound for pound, The Flash was the much better fighter this year, and I found myself far more entertained and engrossed as a result.

STEPHANIE: I think it’s difficult to compare a third season of one show to a first season of a different show since some of the goals of a first season are different from those of a later one. Arrow did a better job of exploring its supporting characters, while The Flash had a more engaging main character. The Flash successfully created and sustained a mysterious and surprising villain, due in part to their evil Harrison Wells tags.