Changes: Season 8 (Arrow)

Revision as of 02:23, 29 March 2020

Series overview
Season 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8

"He saved this city."

—Rene Ramirez to John Diggle

The eighth and final season of Arrow premiered on October 15, 2019 on The CW, and concluded on January 28, 2020. The season consisted of 10 episodes.

Synopsis

After a violent shipwreck, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen, was missing and presumed dead for five years before being discovered alive on a remote island in the North China Sea by two men on a fishing boat. He returned home to Star City, bent on righting the wrongs done by his family and fighting injustice. As the Green Arrow, Oliver successfully saved his city with the help of his team including computer-science expert Felicity Smoak, former soldier John Diggle, meta-human Dinah Drake, street-savvy Rene Ramirez, brilliant inventor Curtis Holt, former protégé Roy Harper, and Earth-2 Laurel Lance. In last season's finale, in the wake of discovering what his future holds, Oliver must leave his friends and family behind him and will find himself pit up against his most challenging battle yet, one that will leave the multiverse hanging in the balance. In Arrow's final season, Oliver Queen is forced to confront the reality of what it means to be a superhero.

Cast

Episodes

#	Episode name	Directed by	Story by	Original airdate
1	"Starling City"	James Bamford	Beth Schwartz & Marc Guggenheim	October 15, 2019
While trying to decipher The Monitor’s mission, Oliver returns to Starling City where he encounters familiar faces. Meanwhile, Mia and William's team clash with a new foe.
2	"Welcome to Hong Kong"	Antonio Negret	Jill Blankenship & Sarah Tarkoff	October 22, 2019
Oliver, Diggle, Laurel, and Tatsu seek out an important person within The Monitor’s plan. Connor has a heart to heart with his brother.
3	"Leap of Faith"	Katie Cassidy	Emilio Ortega Aldrich & Elizabeth Kim	October 29, 2019
Reunited with his sister, Oliver and Thea find themselves searching through a familiar maze of catacombs. Meanwhile, John and Lyla partner on a special ops mission.
4	"Present Tense"	Kristin Windell	Oscar Balderrama & Jeane Wong	November 5, 2019
When a mysterious new Deathstroke appears in Star City, Oliver and Team Arrow insist on taking down this villain themselves. Meanwhile, reeling from the loss of one of their own, the future Team Arrow figures out a new way to try and stop JJ.
5	"Prochnost"	Laura Belsey	Benjamin Raab & Deric A. Hughes	November 19, 2019
Upon learning the key to oppose The Monitor, Oliver and team return to Russia on a mission to gather the necessary materials. Diggle reunites with a figure from his past.
6	"Reset"	David Ramsey	Onalee Hunter Hughes & Maya Houston	November 26, 2019
After being double-crossed by Lyla, Oliver finds himself facing a life or death situation that seems very familiar. Laurel has the opportunity to make amends with the past.
7	"Purgatory"	James Bamford	Rebecca Bellotto & Rebecca Rosenberg	December 3, 2019
Oliver’s mission takes him to Lian Yu where he tries to ignore the repercussions of the looming Crisis until he receives help from an old friend. Meanwhile, a united Team Arrow faces a recognizable villain.
8	"Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four"	Glen Winter	Marv Wolfman & Marc Guggenheim	January 14, 2020
Stuck in the Vanishing Point, the Paragons search for a way to escape. The futility of the situation is compounded by The Flash's disappearance. However, hope appears in the form of Oliver, who reveals that he has become something else. Meanwhile, the origin stories for The Monitor and Anti-Monitor are revealed.
9	"Green Arrow & The Canaries"	Tara Miele	Beth Schwartz, Marc Guggenheim, Jill Blankenship & Oscar Balderrama	January 21, 2020
It's the year 2040 in Star City and Mia Queen has everything she could have ever wanted. However, when Laurel and Dinah suddenly show up in her life again, things take a shocking turn and her perfect world is upended. Laurel and Dinah are tracking a kidnapping victim with direct ties to Mia and they need her help. Knowing it will change everything, Mia can’t help but be a hero and she, Laurel and Dinah suit up once again to save the city.
10	"Fadeout"	James Bamford	Marc Guggenheim & Beth Schwartz	January 28, 2020
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.

Trivia

This is the first and only season not to feature any one main cast member in all the episodes.
In this season all main cast members both previous and current appear in at least one episode with the exception of Kirk Acevedo.
Season 8 featured the directional debut from Katie Cassidy, who directs "Leap of Faith", while "Reset" was David Ramsey's second episode he directed after "Past Sins".
Unlike the previous seasons, the Arrowverse annual crossover is part of the main storyline.
Marc Guggenheim briefly served as co-showrunner despite being a consultant at the time showrunner Beth Schwartz was on maternity leave.
This is the only season to feature new series regulars Katherine McNamara, Ben Lewis, Joseph David-Jones and LaMonica Garrett whose only credit for his respective episode appearances and also had an uncredited voice cameo as Mobius in "Purgatory".
Although Katie Cassidy is billed as "special appearance", she is still considered to be a main cast member, according to TVLine.
Season 8 would've been the first since Season 2 to feature two episodes named after songs by Bruce Springsteen including the penultimate episode that's been a tradition in almost every season. But "Livin' In the Future" was changed to "Green Arrow & The Canaries" at the request of Warner Bros. In addition, the backdoor pilot for the proposed spinoff Green Arrow and the Canaries was created after The CW asked Marc Guggenheim to make one more episode despite being aware that Stephen's not in all the episodes due to his deal when the episode order was going to be nine instead of ten.
This is the only season to not have a new arrowhead as the official title card. Additionally, the opening title card for "Fadeout" featured all the arrowheads from the previous title cards lined up together to form a crown very similar to the title card from the SDCC trailer.
The first seven episodes featured all the title cards from the first seven seasons in order.
Season 8 marks the third season in a row where the premiere and finale were both directed by James Bamford.
Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist were also credited in the special appearance bill in the series finale.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the shooting and production of The Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl and Batwoman, episodes of this season will have reruns which replaces the original schedule of the other shows of The CW.
This is the only Arrowverse show of the 2019-2020 TV Season to be completely unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic as it concluded prior to the mass shutdown of film and TV productions worldwide.

Gallery

Title cards

Concept artwork

Promotional images

Videos

Arrow Comic-Con®️ 2019 Sizzle The CW

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"

@@ Line 131: / Line 131: @@
 *Unlike the previous seasons, the Arrowverse annual crossover is part of the main storyline.
 *[[Marc Guggenheim]] briefly served as co-showrunner despite being a consultant at the time showrunner [[Beth Schwartz]] was on maternity leave.
-*This is the only season to feature new series regulars Katherine McNamara, Ben Lewis, Joseph David-Jones and LaMonica Garrett whose only credit for his respective episode appearances and also had an uncredited voice cameo as Mobius in "Purgatory"
+*This is the only season to feature new series regulars Katherine McNamara, Ben Lewis, Joseph David-Jones and LaMonica Garrett whose only credit for his respective episode appearances and also had an uncredited voice cameo as Mobius in "Purgatory".
 *Although Katie Cassidy is billed as "special appearance", she is still considered to be a main cast member, according to ''TVLine.''
 *Season 8 would've been the first since [[Season 2 (Arrow)|Season 2]] to feature two episodes named after songs by Bruce Springsteen including the penultimate episode that's been a tradition in almost every season. But "Livin' In the Future" was changed to {{Ep|Green Arrow & The Canaries}} at the request of Warner Bros. In addition, the backdoor pilot for the proposed spinoff {{S|Green Arrow and the Canaries}} was created after [[The CW]] asked [[Marc Guggenheim]] to make one more episode despite being aware that Stephen's not in all the episodes due to his deal when the episode order was going to be nine instead of ten.
@@ Line 138: / Line 138: @@
 *Season 8 marks the third season in a row where the premiere and finale were both directed by James Bamford.
 *Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist were also credited in the special appearance bill in the series finale.
-*Due to the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the shooting and production of {{S|F}}, {{S|L}}, {{S|S}} and {{S|B}}, episode of this season will have rerun which replaces the original schedule of the other shows of [[The CW]].
+*Due to the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the shooting and production of {{S|F}}, {{S|L}}, {{S|S}} and {{S|B}}, episodes of this season will have reruns which replaces the original schedule of the other shows of [[The CW]].
 *This is the only Arrowverse show of the 2019-2020 TV Season to be completely unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic as it concluded prior to the mass shutdown of film and TV productions worldwide.