The CW's Arrow is currently in its fifth season, and longtime viewers can attest that the show has gone for some pretty wild plot twists in the past. Frankly, after the way the last couple of seasons have gone, it seems like Arrow is willing to try pretty much anything. As it turns out, however, Arrow co-creator and current showrunner Marc Guggenheim has a couple of things that he vows never to do:
There's two lines in the sand that I've drawn for Arrow for myself. I can't speak for Greg [Berlanti] or for Wendy [Mericle], but for as long as I'm involved with the show, the two things I never want to do is kill off Thea, and put Felicity in a mask and a costume. Those, to me, are two lines that I just think are a bridge too far. Thea, because we've taken so many family members away from Oliver, and Felicity because when you put a character like that in a costume, I think it diminishes who that character is and it makes the idea of superheroics seem silly.
Marc Guggenheim revealed his two things he won't do on Arrow during a chat with EW, and they might come as a bit of a surprise to Arrow fans. After all, the show has already kinda sorta killed Thea in the past, and it was only a last minute save with a Lazarus Pit that stopped her from joining her mom in the great beyond. She's come very, very, very close to death a few other times as well. Evidently, we needn't have worried about Thea. Sure, she could be stabbed, tortured, and tormented, but she was never going to be killed.
Then, there's the fact that Felicity Smoak did actually just hit the small screen in a mask and costume as a vigilante on a Marc Guggenhiem show. Since that show was Legends of Tomorrow and took place in an alternate reality in which Felicity wasn't really the Felicity we'd come to know and love, he technically did avoid putting the character as we know her in a costume. Guggenheim is clearly willing to come close to crossing his two lines in the sand; he just won't cross them altogether.
As somebody who has been very nervous for Thea this season, both because of her reduced screentime and the fact that Katie Cassidy's upcoming return may mean that there needs to be a vacancy in Oliver's crew, I'm glad to hear that Marc Guggenheim never wants to kill off Thea. I only hope he runs out of new ways to put the poor girl through hell sooner rather than later. As for Felicity... well, she already saves the day on a regular basis without a mask and costume. As far as I'm concerned, Guggenheim's lines in the sand aren't bad.
Of course, those lines only hold for as long as Marc Guggenheim is involved with Arrow. If he ever decides to leave The CW or even just depart from Arrow to focus his attention on Legends of Tomorrow, his replacement(s) might be willing to cross the lines he wasn't. We'll have to wait and see. For the time being, it looks like Felicity will be in plenty of trouble without any kind of mask, and Team Arrow will be pretty busy with Prometheus.
You can catch new episodes of Arrow on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW. Don't forget to check out our summer TV premiere schedule to discover what you'll be able to watch after Arrow ends for Season 5, and be sure to take a look at our rundown of 2017 TV renewals and cancellations.
