“My name is Oliver Queen. For five years, I was stranded on an island with only one goal: survive.” We’ve all heard that speech before haven’t we? If you’re an “Arrow” fan then you’re probably well aware that the flashback sequences are dangerously close to catching up to the end of that five year time span, and sooner than later they will be over.
“Arrow” season 5 is set to end the traditional island flashbacks that focus on Oliver Queen for better or worse, but showrunner Marc Guggenheim recently spoke to TV Line and he revealed that he had a different plan in mind for how they would end. Instead of wrapping up naturally, Guggenheim said that he always imagined that the end of the flashbacks would also culminate with the end of the series.
“It was really just a hope at that point [in 2012] that the show would run five years,” Guggenheim said, “and we always thought that we would intercut the final moment of the series with the first moment of the series, that it would form one big Moebius strip.”
Obviously that won’t be happening anymore as “Arrow” season 5 doesn’t look likely to be the end of the show’s run. Although a sixth season has yet to be confirmed, “Arrow” is a vital part of the DC lineup on the CW, and the show seems to have been revitalized in season 5. However, Marc Guggenheim also noted that there’s a part of him that wishes he could have stuck to the plan.
“There’s still a part of me that wishes we could do that. But I wouldn’t want to artificially extend the flashbacks [beyond five seasons], and I also wouldn’t want to artificially cut the show short. It would’ve been a beautifully elegant thing, and Five Years Ago Me would’ve loved it. But things change, and I do think it’ll make the Season 5 finale pretty awesome.”
“Arrow” will return on Wednesday with “What We Leave Behind.”
