10 Best ‘Arrow’ Episodes, According to IMDb

Arrow, the show that started the Arrowverse, was groundbreaking for the superhero genre and the CW in 2012. Its gritty, grounded tone paired with the excellent use of flashbacks made the show unique compared to any other programming at the time. Arrow took the world by storm and had both comic fans and general audiences clamoring for more.

The show lasted about eight years, running from 2012 to 2020, and engaged fans up until its finale, “Fadeout.” As showrunner Marc Guggenheim told People, “I think we have a very passionate fandom for both good and ill. More times, more often good than ill.” The story of Oliver Queen returning home from the treacherous Lian Yu and becoming the Green Arrow won the hearts of fans everywhere.

10 “Deathstroke” (Season 2, Episode 18)

IMDb Rating: 9.1/10

After Thea suffers a devastating breakup, Slade uses this opportunity to make his move. He pretends to comfort her, using her vulnerability to kidnap her and use it against Oliver. Major conflicts arise in Oliver’s life as the hunt for Thea begins and Slade introduces himself by his new name, Deathstroke. Throughout the chaos and pandemonium, Slade eventually reveals that Thea’s real biological father is, in fact, Malcolm Merlyn and goes as far as telling Laurel Lance that Oliver is the Arrow.

Leave it to Deathstroke to bring everyone’s secrets to the forefront and provide viewers with nail-biting tension and suspense. This episode does a great job at defining exactly why Deathstroke is Arrow’s best villain. He brings nothing but conflict and tears the protagonist down like no other. His actions in the episode manage to perfectly set up everything the show needed for the second half of the season, serving as a perfect mid-season climax.

9 “The Brave and the Bold” (Season 3, Episode 8)

IMDb Rating: 9.1/10

While hunting a boomerang-equipped serial killer named Digger Harkness, Team Arrow discovers suspicious involvement from A.R.G.U.S. When Harkness begins targeting ARGUS and Lyla, Arrow steps in with the help of the Arrowverse’s Flash, Barry Allen. As the endgame approaches, Harkness places five bombs around the city and only Flash and Arrow together can save everyone. Meanwhile, Team Arrow seeks Cisco and Caitlin’s help to study the arrow that recently killed Sara Lance.

Everyone loves a good crossover episode and if anyone is good at doing it, it’s the CW’s Arrowverse. The way the writers manage to make a villain like Boomerang serious and grounded is a testament as to why Arrow is as good as it is. Not to mention, Arrow teaming up with the more lighthearted Flash proved to be a potential challenge for the Arrow writers, given the show’s darker tone. But they managed to make Boomerang a satisfying, formidable opponent and kept the character dynamic between Arrow and Flash well-balanced.

8 “Fadeout” (Season 8, Episode 10)

IMDb Rating: 9.2/10

Arrow Season 8, Episode 10, “Fadeout” was the inevitable finale of the show that started it all. After the craziness of Crisis on Infinite Earths, OIiver dies and comes back as the cosmic powerhouse known as the Spectre. The episode brings some of the major losses of Oliver’s life back due to the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths, bringing about a new “Prime-Earth” such as his mother and Tommy Merlyn. They all get a chance to come together one last time as a cast to officially bury their hero, Oliver Queen.

The episode wraps up eight years of storylines and character arcs incredibly well, bringing everyone to a place where the audience feels good and has closure leaving these characters behind. “Fadeout” also received a ton of praise for giving Oliver something they thought he couldn’t before; a happy ending. He gets to spend the rest of eternity with the love of his life, Felicity.

7 “Three Ghosts” (Season 2, Episode 9)

IMDb Rating: 9.2/10

When Oliver is poisoned by the Acolyte and Felicity needs to inject a cure to save him, the cure results in him hallucinating and needing to confront his past and fears head-on. Meanwhile, Barry Allen continues his guest appearance on Team Arrow as him and Felicity work together to find Roy, who has been kidnapped by Brother Blood.

The highlight of this episode comes in Oliver’s hallucinations, in which he sees characters from his past, such as Shado, Slade and Tommy. Some of the best writing in the episode comes through when Oliver faces off with the Acolyte again, getting Roy killed in the process. Just as all hope seems lost, Oliver sees a vision of Tommy, who tells him that he’s a hero and needs to get back up. This gives Oliver the strength to get up and heroically finish the fight, and resuscitate Roy.

6 “Seeing Red” (Season 2, Episode 20)

IMDb Rating: 9.2/10

Roy is sent into a fit of blind Mirakuru rage as a side effect of the Mirakuru serum and, in turn, causes things to get very heated between OIiver and Sara as their morals collide. Sara believes that Roy has been fully taken over by the serum and must be killed to be stopped. The events lead to an altercation with Slade, who captures Oliver’s mother and Thea, telling Oliver he can only save one of them. His mother, Moira, offers herself up to save both of her children and is stabbed through the chest by Slade and his katana.

This video cemented Slade as Oliver’s greatest foe as far as many fans are concerned. The murder of his mother changes the course of Oliver’s life and character arc for the rest of the series and makes this an incredibly monumental episode for not only the character but the series as a whole. It also wonderfully sets the stage for the grand finale and final battle between Oliver and Slade, with Stephen Amell acting his heart out and crushing the audience’s hearts.

5 “The Slabside Redemption” (Season 7, Episode 7)

IMDb Rating: 9.3/10

When OIiver is told he’ll be discharged from Slabside prison, chaos breaks loose when Ricardo Diaz, The Dragon, arrives and lights a chain of electric fires throughout the jail. Oliver and Diaz get the chance to duke it out while Oliver’s trying to escape. With the help of Turner, Oliver barely manages to make it out of the prison alive to be picked up and discharged by Diggle and Felicity.

Arrow has always been good at shooting and choreographing their fight sequences and this episode is the perfect example of it. Fans and reviewers noted the fights being some of the best and most well-choreographed in the entire series, serving viewers an epic prison showdown. “The Slabside Redemption” may very well be one of the most action-packed of the season and fans adored it.

4 “Unthinkable” (Season 2, Episode 23)

IMDb Rating: 9.4/10

With Slade still planning to kill one more person from Oliver’s life, he kidnaps Laurel and eventually Felicity as well, noting her as the woman Oliver loves the most. Oliver is soon faced with the tough decision of whether he should kill Slade and break his “no-kill rule” or not. Oliver and Slade have their final battle on the Amazo and Oliver chooses not to kill Slade, locking him in a prison back on Lian Yu.

Season 2, Episode 23, “Unthinkable” features some excellent pacing, causing the episode to flow very well and never get boring or feel rushed. Oliver Queen’s character arc in this finale feels exquisite, seeing how far the character has come from Season 1 and how better of a hero he’s grown to be. Faced with an “unthinkable” choice, and choosing not to kill Slade, a choice Season 1 Oliver would never have made, does a lot for his character and had audiences rooting for him until the very end.

3 “Sacrifice” (Season 1, Episode 23)

IMDb Rating: 9.4/10

The finale of Season 1, Arrow Season 1, Episode 23, “Sacrifice,” finds Oliver Queen stuck as a prisoner to Malcolm Merlyn, the Dark Archer. Meanwhile, Felicity is brought in for questioning by Detective Lance due to her obvious affiliation with the Arrow, and she must do whatever she can to protect their secrets. Malcolm’s son and Oliver’s best friend, Tommy, dies trying to save Laurel as he’s pinned down by falling debris. The two friends take the chance to make amends in a heartwarming final dialogue.

The episode was packed full of twists and turns that wowed viewers all over the world, who took to the internet to express their joy. The finale of this first season was incredibly crucial to get right and sent audiences off of the season with a good taste in their mouths. The pressure was on as the very ambitious season finale played out, and it delivered better than anyone expected thanks to the wonderful writing team that made moments like Tommy’s death so impactful.

2 “The Climb” (Season 3, Episode 9)

IMDb Rating: 9.5/10

Season 3’s mid-season finale was a devastating one. Oliver was given 48 hours to find Sara’s killer for the League of Assassins, but when he finds out his sister, Thea, was the murderer all along. In order to protect his sister from the League, Oliver must scale a snowy mountain and face none other than Ra’s Al Ghul on the top. Their fight atop the mountain’s peak was brutal and chilling as viewers across the nation watched Oliver be slashed, stabbed in the heart and then kicked off the top of the mountain.

Matt Nable really brings his all to Ra’s Al Ghul role here. The fight choreography was incredibly well executed, with Amell noting that he did all the stunts and choreography for the fight, which helped sell the action a lot. The episode manages to be the most shocking episode of the show effectively killing Oliver at the end. The presumed death would shift the tone of the series to an even darker place than it had gone before.

1 “Lian Yu” (Season 5, Episode 23)

IMDb Rating: 9.6/10

The thrilling battle on Lian Yu in Season 5’s finale culminates in what may be the best season finale the show’s been given. With his friends and son captured, Oliver takes a big risk and recruits none other than Slade, Malcolm Merlyn and Nyssa Al Ghul to aid him in battle. The situation gets more dicey when it’s revealed that Chase has a team of his own consisting of Talia al Ghul, Black Siren and Evelyn Sharp.

The episode does an incredible job of wrapping up almost 5 years of plot lines and grips the audience with tremendous tension in the battle between Prometheus and Oliver. Prometheus’ deep insertion of himself into Oliver’s personal life creates wonderfully gripping stakes that had fans on the edge of their seats. With the episode ending with the destruction of Lian Yu and metaphorically Oliver’s past, fans were pretty happy with this astounding episode.

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