Arrow: Is it time to give up on the big bad plot line?

Most of the CW superhero shows follow a certain pattern. The smaller plots and lesser villains lead up to a big bad that anchors the season. Has this plot device outlived its usefulness?

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The villain or monster of the week inter-connected with the overall linking arc has led series from the likes of the X-Files to shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it comes with varied success. It can all lead up to a satisfying finale where the bad guy is finally vanquished or it can fall flat and leave a whole season of television feeling uneven.

The overall linking arcs encourage the audience to come back every week as opposed to sporadic viewing, but some of the best episodes of television have come from singular episodes that were unconnected. Every season of Arrow has had a big bad and they’ve gone from good to bad as far as stories go.

Slade Wilson and his vendetta against Oliver in season 2 worked well because it was the first time someone had such a personal motivation to take down the Green Arrow. We also had plenty of time to get to know Slade as a good man before he ever turned evil. Season 2 was the culmination of everything since the first episode of the series and the battle against Deathstroke was a satisfying climax to the season. Since then, it feels like they have struggled to reach those heights again. The most recent season hired an impressive actor but failed to give Cayden James the sort of depth he required and the new twist only makes things more problematic.

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One of the reasons that so many comic book shows struggle with this method of story-telling is the way comic books are structured. Even the longest running stories run about 12 issues before moving on to something new. Television has to sustain a story for 22 episodes a season. In the future, Arrow and its colleagues, might benefit from telling smaller stories.

I’m not saying that having connections and callbacks throughout the season are a bad thing. They can be great, but sometimes it is not a bad idea to hang your whole season on them. I would point to Marvel’s Agents of Shield as an example. In their previous season, they structured their season around four different short arcs that came together and brought a bunch of different elements into an exciting season finale. Now their current season has languished on one story line for the entire first half of the season and the show suffered from the slowing of the pace.

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Like it or not, attention spans are not what they once were and people might not want to stick to watch a big bad villain walk around talking about their mysterious ultimate plan again and again every week. Stories have to move and change or they risk losing their audience. This isn’t just an Arrow problem. You could point out a dozen different shows that are taking too long to tell their stories. I’m not giving up on Arrow or these other series, but it might be time for the big bad plot to become a thing of the past.

Arrow returns March 1 at 9/8c on the CW. Be sure to tune in!