Arrow Flashbacks and Season 4

[DoomGuy91]

Im sure we are in general agreement, that the flashbacks of season 3, showing the adventures of Past Oliver, were a disappointment compared to season 1 and 2.

So how would you want the flashbacks of season 4, to try to regain the quality of the flashbacks of the first two seasons?

I think one of the things hold the flashbacks in season 3, was that it lacked good new villains.

I would like to see in season 4 a villain(s) that is far better then what we got in the past season. And I would prefer if he/she stayed in the past, and wasn't a villain that carried on into the present world. However I wouldn't mind if said villain carried over into the season 5 flashbacks (if there is one).

What are your ideas to improve the flashbacks?

 

[Omegabat]

The flashbacks were mediocre because the whole season was bad period,I dont think there was a problem with in the flashbacks themselves,just a general problem as a whole.
Lazy writing,Olcity pandering,bad characterizations, non sense plot etc are the real problems.

 

[Golgo-13]

The flashbacks for next season, i assume will revolve around him being in Russia with the mob….

 

[coluanprime]

I'd like the flashbacks to have enough plot that the occupy more than 2 minutes of the episode.

 

[Boy Scout]

Same. They felt very obligatory this season.

 

[Slade W]

Some of the flashbacks were underwhelming this season IMO but for the most part I enjoyed them and I liked the action scenes in a lot of them.

 

[Slade W]

I should add that it is interesting watching Oliver's development in them. This season he was much more competent, battle ready and experienced than he was in previous seasons (a far cry from being completely useless like he was for the most part in season 1) but it is clear that he is still learning and has quite a bit to go before becoming the person we see before us in the present day of the show.

 

[The Infernal]

I liked the overall story they tried to tell with the flashbacks, but I don't think they were all great this season. I think this show is really pushing their luck with the flashbacks now. They've managed to fit a lot already with Oliver on the island, but it's already feeling overstuffed by this season. The more they add the more it takes away from the significance of him being stranded there, which they already did a lot of damage with by having him in Hong Kong for a year. I say have a shorter flashback story next season that wraps that part up and focus on Arrow stories moving forward instead of over-mining the island.

 

[Boy Scout]

Frankly, I think they need to go back to the island as fast as possible. It was much more interesting than Hong Kong ever was. Plus, the longer they keep him away from it, the less significant it becomes, which is at odds with everything we were led to believe in seasons one and two.

 

[The Infernal]

I agree. He should be back on the island (in flashbacks) I just think that season 4 should wrap it up rather than them continue it into season 5. Too much happening on the island can take away its significance in much the same way as Oliver leaving for a year to go to Hong Kong.

 

[Slade W]

I remember during season 1 and 2 there were so many people who believed that the LOA had a base on the island and that Oliver would eventually come across them. It is funny how it did not turn out like that at all.

 

[Slade W]

Slade was a big loss to the flashbacks this season, it must be said. He brought so much to them both in season 1 and 2.

 

[Man of Steel]

Really hoping for a (pre-ring) Hal Jordan to appear. Maybe he's the one that teaches Oliver how to fly planes.

 

[gugumugats]

Really hoping for a (pre-ring) Hal Jordan to appear. Maybe he's the one that teaches Oliver how to fly planes.

I'm really hoping for that. Have pre-GL Hal in Arrow flashbacks and have present-day Hal in the Flash (without using the ring yet)

They could then make the Flash/Arrow Crossover a bigger event by making it GL focused.


If Hal Jordan answers the question of "why can Ollie fly a plane" then then the remaining hanging threads are the Russian mob and the return to Lian Yu.

 

[DoomGuy91]

I would like to see him began to have longer hair and more facial hair, similar to how he first appeared in season 1.

 

[DoomGuy91]

as Oliver leaving for a year to go to Hong Kong.

It was much less then a year he spent in Hong Kong. Add that to the fact that there wasn't a time jump of months (like there was between season 1-2 flashbacks) when season 3 flashbacks began, it makes me wonder if they writers are planning on keeping the flashbacks longer then 5 seasons. Instead of the whole 5 seasons worth of 5 missing years.

Of course if they do a large time jump in the beginning of the flashbacks of season 4, then the start of it could be his 4th year missing.

 

[Lencho01]

We'll see how Oliver learned to pilot an airplane.

 

[kguillou]

Are there any scars left on Ollie's body that we haven't seen the origin of yet in the flashbacks?

 

[haephestus]

What are your ideas to improve the flashbacks?

Get rid of them. I know they were a central component of the show for the first two seasons, but the most recent season showed that being a slave to the "flashback" formula was a real detriment to the show.

The Hong Kong flashbacks could have been radically condensed and included in a single "flashback" episode at an appropriate time during the season (e.g. maybe when Maseo rescued Oliver). The flashbacks seemed to simply rinse and repeat Oliver looking for something/someone or hiding from someone in the same Hong Kong food alley set time and time again.

IF Oliver has a past with HIVE (or some other flashback event that is directly relevant to the primary storyline in season 4), then I'd prefer to simply see present day Oliver tell Team Arrow the truth (instead of hiding it until the last possible moment) or have one or two flashback episodes throughout the season.

Honestly, by the end of season 3, I would have been happy if they showed Oliver getting on board a ship, the ship sinking and Oliver once again finding himself stranded on Lian Yu. I'm not sure there is anything critical which the flashbacks need to show us about Oliver's character going forward.

I would much prefer that more emphasis was put into the development of his present day character instead of showing how he learned to fly a plane, speak Russian, line dance, yodel, etc.