Arrow Season Finales Ranked

Arrow Season Finales Ranked

We are in the middle of the Arrowverse seasons coming to an end, Arrow is a show that ended before I started this blog. So in today’s blog post I’m going to be ranking the 8 season finales to Arrow. Let’s get started! 

8. Schism (Season 4): A lot of people hate season 4, I’ve never hated it. It is the weakest season of the show, and one of the weakest seasons of the Arrowverse. But I do not like the season finale to season 4. It’s a bad episode, and a bad way to end season 4. Now this episode has no shortage of action, there’s like 3-4 action sequences in the movie. But they aren’t memorable, nor are they very good. The final fight between Oliver and Damien Darhk is just them punching in the street. Oliver doesn’t use his bow; it's literally just them throwing punches back and forth. Which might not have bothered me if this wasn’t the season finale, but for the season finale you want a big action sequence. And this episode doesn’t deliver on that. Felicity and Curtis are more involved with defeating Damien’s big master plan than Oliver is, and so when Oliver really isn’t the hero of the episode it sucks some of the joy out of it. So all and all this is a bad episode, it’s one of the weakest Arrow episodes, season 4 episodes, and one of the weaker Arrowverse episodes. 

7. Fadeout (Season 8): I really like season 8, I know some people thought that it was a bad way to end the show. I would give season 8 a B+. And the series finale is one that when I first watched it, I loved it and if I did this ranking after I finished watching it, it probably would have been top 5 or top 3. But as time went on, it moved down. I would give this episode a B-, it’s still good but not as good as I think the series finale should be. I think the big problem with this episode is that Oliver isn’t really in it. Oliver is the glue that holds this show together, so when Diggle and Felicity are the leads of the episode they aren’t good enough characters to lead an episode, like both of the characters but they aren’t designed that way. The ending where Oliver and Felicity reunite in the afterlife, is a very weird way to end the show. And it doesn’t feel like the logical conclusion to the show that was set up in season 1. Now the funeral scene is great, I was crying seeing everybody come back. And that one action scene is pretty good. So once again, I would go positive on this episode but a few things hold this episode back. 

6. My Name is Oliver Queen (Season 3): A good enough season finale to a good enough season in season 3. I really like the first 10 minutes of this episode where you have Oliver and Nyssa fighting Ra's al Ghul in the plane, and the way Oliver says “my name is Oliver Queen '' is an epic moment, and helps make the scene better. But having ninjas fight in a plane is a lot of fun to see. It’s also fun to see The Flash rescue the rest of Team Arrow from Nanda Parabat, and some nice jokes between The Flash and Felicity. And seeing the tension between Oliver and Team Arrow after the choices that Oliver made is really interesting, and provides some great moments. Now the final fight between Oliver and Ras is good, but the problem is you have the two characters in the same outfits, doing the same moves, in the dark. So it’s very hard to tell who is who, and who’s winning. So I wish they changed it so we can actually see what is going on. And the cliffhanger with Oliver and Felicity driving into the sunset, is a good way to end the season. 

5. You Have Saved This City (Season 7): I find season 7 of Arrow to be the most inconsistent season of the show. But I think the season ended on a positive note. I would give this episode a very solid B. It’s fun seeing Oliver and Diggle team-up with Roy and Bronze Tiger to defeat Emiko and her plans, and some great action scenes come from it. I think the final fight between Oliver and Emiko has some great action and some great moments between the two of them. Also, the final 5-10 minutes of the episode are very emotional. And seeing the choices that Oliver made in the Elseworlds crossover come and back and affect his future, seeing Oliver leave Felicity is a lot more emotional than I would have thought it would be. I even think the final moments of the episode are a bit rushed, and this should have been something that was spread over the final 2-3 episodes of the season. And in a lot of ways, this could have been the end of the show. Season 8 was a little bit extra, but I would have been fine if this was the series finale. And season 7 was the final season. Honestly, I like this episode. It has some great moments. But I think the ending was hurt a bit by season 8. 

4. Life Sentence (Season 6): There’s a number of things about this episode that I really enjoy. One of the major plotlines running through-out this season is the FBI investigating Oliver , maybe being The Green Arrow. And I think the way they close-out this story arc was very well done, and it ends with Oliver going to prison in the end (hence the title of the episode). Also it’s a bit satisfying seeing Team Arrow take down Diaz and his big plan, and I like that montage of Diaz’s forces being arrested and taken down. The final fight between Oliver and Diaz is very good, and it’s shot very well. I think it takes place on top of a building in the rain, and the music that plays makes it a very good little scene. But the stand-out of the episode is that the final conversation between Oliver and Quentin is one of the most emotional scenes in the entire Arrowverse, the acting by Stephen Amell and Paul Blackthrone is great. So all and all this is a very good ending to season 6, and one of the better season finales of Arrow. 

3. Sacrifice (Season 1): I find this to be the best episode from season 1, and has some pretty great moments in this episode. I think the opening sequence between Oliver and Malcolm, great acting and it’s done very well. And I like the fact that we see Oliver escape without using his weapons, but his skills that he learned on Lian Yu. The love triangle between Oliver, Laurel, and Tommy was done very well in this episode. It didn’t feel forced or cheesy in this episode but made sense. In some of the other episodes I don’t think it was used very well. And this is one of the most tense episodes on the show, because after Oliver escapes it’s just a non-stop streak of tense moment after tense moment. Where you have the bombs under The Glades going off, and wondering who is going to die. Is it going to be Roy or Quentin or who is it going to be. But SPOILER ALERT, but Tommy is the one that died. And I think it’s the saddest death in the Arrowverse, I was crying when that scene happened. And no matter how many times I watch this episode, I always cry. I love the final fight between Oliver and Malcolm, and the season ends on a great cliffhanger. Put all of it together and you get a fantastic end to season 1.

2. Lian Yu (Season 5): Honestly, this episode is basically tied with “Sacrifice”, but I think this episode is very well done. The idea of having the season finale of season 5 be on Lian Yu, is a great idea that provides some really great moments. And seeing Oliver team-up with Malcolm and Slade to defeat Prometheus, and I just love the Slade Wilson character and seeing him in this episode helps make the episode as a whole better. With the flashbacks, we get the conclusion to the Oliver and Kovar storyline, and I like that the final fight has parallels between the flashback fight and the present day fight. I think the final fight of this episode where you have Team Arrow go up against Prometheus and his army, is great. And everybody gets a moment in the spotlight to shine during that final battle. But I think this episode has the best cliffhanger of Arrow, with Prometheus winning in the end, and Lian Yu blowing up. It’s shocking, and something that I didn’t see coming. So this is a top tier season 5 episode, Arrow episode, Arrow season finale, and Arrowverse season finale. 

1. Unthinkable (Season 2): This might be my favorite episode of Arrow, because I love everything that happens in this episode. This is peak Deathstroke, this is the episode where I think Deathstroke was the best acted and the best written. Manu Bennett is fantastic as Deathstroke and his whole plan comes to an end. I think the final fight between Oliver and Slade is fantastic where I love that it is pretty much an exact parallel to the final fight on Lian Yu. The way it is done is great, and I love the way it is done. Before that you get a battle between Oliver, Roy, Sara, and the League of Assassins against Deathstroke’s miraku soldiers and it’s awesome to see an all battle in Starling City. There also are some great character moments between Team Arrow, Oliver and Felicity start the whole Olicity thing and the way it’s done and first revealed is great. I love Olicity as a couple and think they work really well together. The story of the episode is also great, and it’s satisfying to see Slade’s reign of terror come to end. This is a fantastic Arrow episode, so easily it’s number 1 on the list. 

There you have it, my ranking of the 8 Arrow season finales. How would you rank the Arrow season finales? And I’ve done a bunch of Arrowverse content on my blog, so you can check it out. Thanks for reading!