All three of The CW’s DC superhero series came to an end over the course of the last week, and not every series landed on its feet. Of the finales, fans seem to have generally regarded Arrow's as the worst of the lot. While you may have your own opinion on the matter, it seems that the Internet has made up its mind. Following the lackluster Arrow finale, fans have taken to the internet to voice their collective frustration in a genuinely creative way.
We’ve just learned that, in response to the overwhelmingly negative response to the Season 4 finale of Arrow, the Arrow subreddit has officially designated itself as a Daredevil fan page. Although the page remains dedicated primarily to Arrow content, the overall tone seems to have shifted to primarily negative comments about the Emerald Archer’s series as fans continuously draw comparisons to Marvel’s Daredevil – a series they generally consider far superior. These complaints range from the deteriorating quality of the show’s action sequences, to the decreasing relevance of the flashback sequences on Lian Yu, to an overwhelming hatred for Felicity Smoak and her relationship with Oliver Queen.
In many ways this is not an unfair comparison to make. Arrow has evolved as a series over the course of the last four seasons, and it has jettisoned many of the elements that made fans fall in love with it in the first place. Rather than tell a gritty, grounded crime drama, Arrow has become a series characterized by sanitized violence, outlandish set pieces, and an increased emphasis on the interpersonal drama of its central ensemble. Although this lighter approach has worked for many fans, plenty of others have seemingly jumped ship to declare that Daredevil is now the gritty, street-level superhero series to beat.
Of course, there exist plenty of other reasons why these comparisons don’t exactly seem fair. Arrow produces almost double the number of episodes as Daredevil per season, and it airs on a broadcast network where things like censorship and ratings become much more important. Daredevil has the freedom to take risks with its content on Netflix and as such it has become somewhat difficult for The CW’s Arrow to compete on the same playing field. Overall, the anger simply seems to stem from the fact that Daredevil has become the show that Arrow used to be.
The folks behind Arrow have always said that the show was designed to run for five seasons, with the end of Season 4 we now have one year for the show to return to its former glory. Whether or not it can pull it off remains to be seen, until then the folks on Reddit will be having a ball bashing The CW series and binge-watching Daredevil.
