Changes: Fadeout

Revision as of 05:25, 20 June 2020

"Of course, life will go on. It always does. But how? What twists and turns it will take, I can't say. I don't know what the future holds...except to say expect the unexpected. Oliver may be gone, but his mission endures. That mission lives on, Oliver lives on, in the people he inspired. Some will take that mission to the rest of the world...maybe even beyond that. Because if the past eight years has shown us anything...it's that this universe is far bigger than any of us could have dared imagine. Even if it is a little less bright, without him in it."

—John Diggle's eulogy at Oliver Queen's funeral

"Fadeout" is the tenth and final episode of the eighth season of Arrow, and the one-hundred-seventieth and final episode overall. It aired on January 28, 2020.

Synopsis

After eight seasons, and the launch of countless superheroes, the series wraps up the story of the Green Arrow. Emily Bett Rickards returns as Felicity.^[src]

Cast

Main cast

Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Hood/Green Arrow
David Ramsey as John Diggle/Spartan
Rick Gonzalez as Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog
Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake/Black Canary
Katherine McNamara as Mia Queen/Green Arrow
Ben Lewis as William Clayton (archive footage)
Joseph David-Jones (credit only)

Special appearance by

Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance/Black Canary
Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers
Grant Gustin as Barry Allen

Special guest star

Guest starring

Co-starring

Uncredited

Manu Bennett as Slade Wilson (archive footage)^[1]
LaMonica Garrett as Mar Novu (archive footage)
Brandon Routh as Atom (photograph)
Franz Drameh as Firestorm (photograph)
Nick Zano as Steel (photograph)
Lucia Walters as Susan Brayden (photograph)
Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Vixen (photograph)
Dominic Purcell as Mick Rory (photograph)
Marc Guggenheim as a memorial visitor

Trivia

Marc Guggenheim posted a picture to clarify viewers on where the title came from. In it, the fadeout is the area on a longbow where the grip tapers into the risers and limbs of the bow.^[2]
- In the episode, Mia instructs William on the parts of a bow, pointing out the fadeout.
Stephen Amell and David Ramsey got the ending they wanted for their respective characters.^[3]
The final scene was a brand new scene Marc Guggenheim came up with after he just finished meditation class one morning at the time the ending had not been written. Guggenheim posted the script of the ending after he considered about doing it on the night of the airing in case it was cut.^[4]
- Stephen cried when Guggenheim told him about it at the Entertainment Weekly cover shoot. But there were a lot of hurdles because Emily Bett Rickards's involvement played a crucial role in getting the scene over.^[5]
This episode was preceded by a TV special airing prior to it, titled Arrow: Hitting the Bullseye.
Madison McLaughlin^[6] and Jessica De Gouw^[1] were unable to make an appearance due to scheduling conflicts.
Of the main cast, John Barrowman ("Malcolm Merlyn"), Josh Segarra ("Adrian Chase"), Kirk Acevedo ("Ricardo Diaz"), Ben Lewis (Older "William Clayton", Joseph David-Jones ("Connor Hawke") and LaMonica Garrett do not make an appearance with footage of the latter's appearance being recycled from "You Have Saved This City".
There was talk about getting Emily to appear in the flashbacks but couldn't because she was only available to film for two days.^[7]
Slade's appearance at the beginning of the episode makes use of unused footage from "Unthinkable" in which Oliver dreams of what would've happened if he had saved his mother.^[1]
From Mia's perspective, it had been two weeks after the events of "Green Arrow & The Canaries", as opposed to Dinah Drake and Laurel Lance's point of view, as they were versions two months before the events of said episode.
This is the first and only episode to feature two different title cards during and at the conclusion of the episode. Since the end title card reuses Season 1's title card, Oliver and Felicity wear the exact same wardrobe from when they first met in "Lone Gunman".
Marc Guggenheim made an uncredited cameo during the statue reveal. He can be seen on the left side next to Diggle, and behind Felicity and Dinah.
Rene says to Diggle that is arms are the size of "telephone poles", a reference to the first season when Oliver says a variation of the line saying to him that his arms are "the size of bowling balls."
This is the first episode since The Flash episode "Invincible" that Barry Allen and Laurel have been in the same episode.
- This is also the first episode that Kara Danvers and Earth-2 Laurel have been in the same episode.
Since Oliver Queen altered the reality when creating Earth-Prime, Tommy Merlyn is alive. However, Oliver stopped killing people because of Tommy in the original multiverse. This was explained in the flashbacks where it was John Diggle who convinced Oliver not to kill people in the new multiverse.
James Bamford directed his third and last Arrow finale.
This is the first (and only) time that Melissa Benoist has appeared on Arrow without the episode being part of a crossover.
Series creator Marc Guggenheim always planned for Arrow to end with Oliver dying. However, early plans for the series finale saw Oliver die in the final episode rather than ahead of it. Furthermore, the finale was originally envisioned with Oliver inspiring Batman to begin his own crusade.^[8]

Production

Preparation ran from October 22 until October 30, 2019. Shooting ran from October 31 until November 13, 2019.^[9]

Gallery

Videos

Arrow 8x10 Promo "Fadeout" (HD) Season 8 Episode 10 Promo Series Finale

Arrow Season 8 Episode 10 Fadeout Scene The CW

Arrow Season 8 Episode 10 Suit Up Scene The CW

References

Arrow season 8
"Starling City" • "Welcome to Hong Kong" • "Leap of Faith" • "Present Tense" • "Prochnost" • "Reset" • "Purgatory" • "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four" • "Green Arrow & The Canaries" • "Fadeout"

[EW-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 "Arrow boss talks series finale, the episode he'd redo, and biggest writers' room debates" - Entertainment Weekly

[2] Marc Guggenheim (@mguggenheim) - Twitter

[3] "Arrow's Stephen Amell Says He Got the Ending He Wanted for Oliver" - TV Guide

[4] "Arrow's New, Very Final Scene Will Present 'A Lot of Logistical Hurdles'" - TVLine

[5] "How Arrow saved the TV superhero — and why it had to end" - Entertainment Weekly

[6] Madison McLaughlin (@MadisonMcLaugh) - Twitter

[7] ttps://tvline.com/gallery/arrow-series-finale-burning-questions-answered/ar810b_0197b/[1]

[8] 'Arrow' Creator Reveals Finale Almost Went a Different Way

[9] Marc Guggenheim (@mguggenheim) - Twitter

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[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

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[9]

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 *[[Rick Gonzalez]] as [[Rene Ramirez|Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog]]
 *[[Juliana Harkavy]] as [[Dinah Drake|Dinah Drake/Black Canary]]
-*[[Katherine McNamara]] as [[Mia Smoak|Mia Queen/Green Arrow]]
+*[[Katherine McNamara]] as [[Mia Queen|Mia Queen/Green Arrow]]
 *[[Ben Lewis]] as {{F|William Clayton|(archive footage)}}
 *{{F|Joseph David-Jones|(credit only)}}
@@ Line 72: / Line 72: @@
 *[[Dominic Purcell]] as {{F|Mick Rory|(photograph)}}
 *[[Marc Guggenheim]] as a memorial visitor
-==Plot==
-The episode opens with a voiceover montage with Oliver Queen giving a very general recap of his journey, bringing the audience up to his death and the rebirth of the universe due to his sacrifice. At the end, he declares that some part of him will always be the Green Arrow.
-Starling City 2014. It's the night that Deathstroke killed Moira Queen, but this time, that reality is different. Oliver frees himself and fights off Deathstroke, saving his mother. In the present, Moira talks to the Emerald Archer documentary crew about knowing about that alternative reality. She also explains that Oliver's friends have told her that he's the reason "everything changed" and that their world is a gift from him.
-Dinah is next, talking about processing everything, as does Rene, touching on Oliver's legacy. Diggle also talks, struggling a bit with the loss of Oliver. Once the cameras stop, Rene comes to chat with him. Turns out Oliver just fixed things. He got rid of all crime in Star City and it's time to honor him. At the bunker, the team - including Roy - toasts to Oliver. They chat about their future. Quentin Lance is alive and still mayor. He's endorsing Rene as his replacement. Dinah is chief of police. Diggle feels like things aren't over.
-Flashback, Starling City 2012. Diggle wants to help Oliver in the field. Oliver resists and researches his next target: John Byrne, a human trafficker. Diggle wants to know how many names are on the list. Oliver tells him the mission is never over. Flashback: the raft after the sinking of the Queen's Gambit. Robert Queen still ends his own life. We then move to Star City 2040. Mia wakes up in her bed and Sara is in her room, having time portaled to come get her for Oliver's funeral.
-At the bunker, Laurel is struggling. Roy gives Dinah her "Mark of 4" tattoo and reveals that he's nervous to talk to Thea. It's revealed Emiko is alive, too. Another flashback. Diggle continues to clash with Oliver about joining him in the field, with Diggle trying to convince Oliver that there are other ways to get justice than killing people and losing himself isn't worth it. In the present, Mia uses the computer in the bunker and tells Dinah that something happens in the future - William's kidnapping - and she currently feels helpless. The news then breaks that in the present, William is kidnapped from Central City.
-The team has a mission: save William. Felicity shows up. Ragman is also there, as is Curtis and Lyla. Felicity reveals she implanted a tracker in William, but it's not helpful now. She gets a list of possible locations and now the entire assembled team sets off to check them out to save William. Thea and Roy check one location and he's not there. Before they go to the next, Roy opens up to Thea and says he wants to marry her. Another  location, Ragman and Rene clear it. His rags work at long last and he's been fighting for justice to honor Oliver. Ragman tells Rene he is the member of the team most like their slain leader. Diggle and Lyla clear another. William's kidnapping has her rattled as she feels indebted to Oliver for giving them back their daughter. Green Arrow Mia then lands on a rooftop and finds William. John Byrne has him.
-A flashback explains the significance. When Oliver locates Byrne back in the day he doens't kill him. Instead, Oliver put him in prison and ruined his life. In the present, Mia chooses not to kill him either. He is going back to prison. Back at the Bunker, Felicity learns Mia is her daughter. The news reports the that Oliver must have inspired a new Green Arrow. Another flashback. Oliver gives Diggle training tips and tells him that he didn't kill Byrne. He took Diggle's advice. At the Queen Mansion, Thea says yes to Roy's proposal.
-Laurel meets with Quentin. She is having trouble with her existing and Earth-1 Laurel not since Oliver "fixed" everything. Quentin tells Laurel that Oliver didn't fix the Laurel situation because it didn't need fixing. At the bunker, Diggle, Dinah, and Rene have another moment together before turning off the lights one last time. Later, a statue of the Green Arrow is unveiled in Star City.
-And now, the funeral. Thea questions why Oliver couldn't bring back their dad. Moira explains that Oliver could only change the things that didn't change him, meaning Robert remains dead. Emiko approaches to meet Thea and is welcomed by both women as family. Tommy speaks with Laurel-2 and reveals that he's aware of the reality in which he was dead. He also says that Laurel-1 was his wife. It's unclear what her fate was, though implied that she died and remains dead. Nyssa and Talia are there as well with Nyssa explaining she had her marriage to Oliver erased. Mia introduces herself to Felicity and reveals that she did, in fact, meet Oliver. They hug. Barry pays his condolences as well, as does Kara. Anatoly is present, they buried a casket of mementos. Diggle offers a eulogy honoring Oliver's journey and sacrifice.
-Everyone begins to move on. Lyla heads to Metropolis with the kids. Mia returns to the future. Rene oversees his campaign. Dinah heads out into the unknown. And, then, something crashes into the earth near Diggle and he pulls an item out of the crater. Opening the box, he's bathed in a glowing green light.
-We flash forward one last time, to Star City 2040 and the moment where, in the Season 7 finale, The Monitor took Felicity into the unknown. She arrives, dressed from when she made her first appearance. She's in Moira Queen's old office. This is Oliver's afterlife: he's been waiting for her in the moment he first saw her and it's not in the IT department. It's when he saw her talking to his photo on his mother's desk all those years ago. Now, they have all the time in the world together in a perfect world.
 ==Trivia==
 *[[Marc Guggenheim]] posted a picture to clarify viewers on where the title came from. In it, the fadeout is the area on a longbow where the grip tapers into the risers and limbs of the bow.<ref>[https://twitter.com/mguggenheim/status/1187820843939835904 Marc Guggenheim (@mguggenheim) - Twitter]</ref>
-**In the episode, [[Mia Smoak|Mia]] instructs [[William Clayton|William]] on the parts of a bow, pointing out the fadeout.
+**In the episode, [[Mia Queen|Mia]] instructs [[William Clayton|William]] on the parts of a bow, pointing out the fadeout.
 *[[Stephen Amell]] and [[David Ramsey]] got the ending they wanted for their respective characters.<ref>[https://www.tvguide.com/news/arrow-season-8-stephen-amell-david-ramsey-character-endings/ "Arrow's Stephen Amell Says He Got the Ending He Wanted for Oliver" - TV Guide]</ref>
-*The final scene was a brand new scene Marc Guggenheim came up with after he just finished meditation class one morning at the time the ending had not been written. Guggenheim posted the script of the ending after he considered about doing it on the night of the airing in case it was cut.<ref>[https://tvline.com/2019/08/11/arrow-series-finale-very-final-scene-season-8/ "Arrow's New, Very Final Scene Will Present 'A Lot of Logistical Hurdles'" - TV Line]</ref>.
+*The final scene was a brand new scene Marc Guggenheim came up with after he just finished meditation class one morning at the time the ending had not been written. Guggenheim posted the script of the ending after he considered about doing it on the night of the airing in case it was cut.<ref>[https://tvline.com/2019/08/11/arrow-series-finale-very-final-scene-season-8/ "Arrow's New, Very Final Scene Will Present 'A Lot of Logistical Hurdles'" - TVLine]</ref>
 **Stephen cried when Guggenheim told him about it at the ''Entertainment Weekly'' cover shoot. But there were a lot of hurdles because [[Emily Bett Rickards]]'s involvement played a crucial role in getting the scene over.<ref>[https://ew.com/comic-con/2019/07/17/arrow-final-season-cover-story/ "How Arrow saved the TV superhero — and why it had to end" - Entertainment Weekly]</ref>
 *This episode was preceded by a TV special airing prior to it, titled {{Web|Arrow: Hitting the Bullseye}}.
@@ Line 107: / Line 84: @@
 *There was talk about getting Emily to appear in the flashbacks but couldn't because she was only available to film for two days.<ref>https://tvline.com/gallery/arrow-series-finale-burning-questions-answered/ar810b_0197b/[https://tvline.com/gallery/arrow-series-finale-burning-questions-answered/ar810b_0197b/]</ref>
 *[[Slade Wilson|Slade]]'s appearance at the beginning of the episode makes use of unused footage from {{Ep|Unthinkable}} in which Oliver dreams of what would've happened if he had saved his mother.<ref name="EW"/>
-*From [[Mia Smoak|Mia]]'s perspective, it had been two weeks after the events of {{Ep|Green Arrow & The Canaries}}, as opposed to [[Dinah Drake]] and [[Laurel Lance (Earth-2)|Laurel Lance]]'s point of view, as they were versions two months before the events of said episode.
+*From [[Mia Queen|Mia]]'s perspective, it had been two weeks after the events of {{Ep|Green Arrow & The Canaries}}, as opposed to [[Dinah Drake]] and [[Laurel Lance (Earth-2)|Laurel Lance]]'s point of view, as they were versions two months before the events of said episode.
 *This is the first and only episode to feature two different title cards during and at the conclusion of the episode. Since the end title card reuses [[Season 1 (Arrow)|Season 1]]'s title card, Oliver and Felicity wear the exact same wardrobe from when they first met in "[[Lone Gunman]]".
 *Marc Guggenheim made an uncredited cameo during the statue reveal. He can be seen on the left side next to Diggle, and behind Felicity and Dinah.
-*This is William's second episode where he does not have a speaking role.
 *[[Rene Ramirez|Rene]] says to [[John Diggle|Diggle]] that is arms are the size of "telephone poles", a reference to the first season when [[Oliver Queen|Oliver]] says a variation of the line saying to him that his arms are "the size of bowling balls."
 *This is the first episode since ''The Flash'' episode {{Ep|Invincible}} that [[Barry Allen (Earth-1)|Barry Allen]] and Laurel have been in the same episode.
@@ Line 117: / Line 93: @@
 *James Bamford directed his third and last ''Arrow'' finale.
 *This is the first (and only) time that [[Melissa Benoist]] has appeared on ''Arrow ''without the episode being part of a crossover.
+*Series creator Marc Guggenheim always planned for ''Arrow'' to end with Oliver dying. However, early plans for the series finale saw Oliver die ''in'' the final episode rather than ahead of it. Furthermore, the finale was originally envisioned with Oliver inspiring [[Bruce Wayne|Batman]] to begin his own crusade.<ref>[http://www.justjaredjr.com/2020/04/01/arrow-creator-reveals-finale-almost-went-a-different-way/ 'Arrow' Creator Reveals Finale Almost Went a Different Way]</ref>
 ==Production==