Over the course of the last five years, Arrow has delivered plenty of insanely awesome moments. However, there's one specific scene that fans have waited to see since the very beginning: a bearded Oliver Queen running through the jungle to salvation from his purgatory on Lian Yu. It's a glorious moment that seemingly punctuates his arduous five-year flashback journey, but returning to that moment apparently won't mark the end of the series. Arrow showrunner, Marc Guggenheim, explained:
It was really just a hope at that point that the show would run five years. 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 Mobius strip.
Although most of us had generally assumed that Arrow would come full circle over the course the series, that plan seems to have changed. Marc Guggenheim recently spoke to TVLine and explained that -- while the original intention was to end the series with Oliver escaping Lian Yu -- the creative team behind Arrow has decided not to go down that particular route. Those plans were initially put in place early in the show's existence when the idea of a five season run seemed like a moonshot; now that Arrow has established a strong degree of popularity (and it will likely run considerably longer than five years) the writers have room to play with the story and deviate from the original plan. Season 5 will end with Oliver escaping Lian Yu, and the show will move forward from there.
Personally I find this a bit disappointing, because I love the Mobius strip idea as a way to cap off the entire show, but it also opens up some interesting opportunities for the series going forward. Overall, this generally seems to indicate that Arrow will soon veer off into some genuinely different and exciting territory. Fans have waited quite a while for the flashbacks to take Oliver to the first moments of the pilot, but with the main flashbacks apparently ending after this season (at least in their current format) there are no more moments that the series has to address. This means future Arrow seasons could take place entirely in the present, or even devote more time to flashbacks for other characters.
Of course, it's obviously worth noting that this instantly raises some major continuity issues regarding Arrow's flashbacks. As of right now, although Oliver is in his fifth year away from Star (ling) City, he's currently sporting a relatively short haircut, and he's miles away from Lian Yu in the heart of Russia. With Arrow bringing him back to the island by the end of this season, the flashbacks will need to explain how his hair and beard grew so fast.
Arrow has never been afraid to take some serious left turns with its storytelling, so we will just have to wait and see how this pans out. CinemaBlend will bring you more information concerning the future of The Emerald Archer's solo series as new details become available to us. Arrow airs every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. EST on The CW. For more information related to all of the most highly anticipated spring TV debuts, makes sure to check out our midseason premiere guide and fill out your television viewing schedules accordingly!
