The Green Arrow in the Arrowverse isn’t anything like the character in the comics. In reality, he operates more like Batman, patrolling the streets of Star City at night and mentoring young heroes to help him with his crusade. Despite being a unique take on the character, though, Oliver Queen headlines a pretty successful show. Arrow has eight seasons, and while a couple of them leave a bit to be desired, there’s far more good than bad. Rewatching The CW show will reveal several solid episodes per season, and they rarely cover the same ground, presenting Oliver and Co. with new challenges that test their skills.
There are so many good episodes of Arrow that it’s difficult to decide which should be considered the “best.” However, just like when Slade Wilson forces Oliver to pick between his mother and sister, there’s no way to get out of this situation without making some tough choices.
10) Season 8, Episode 10, “Fadeout”
The final episode of Arrow is a rough one because Oliver isn’t around. He dies during the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover, and his friends gather to remember him in “Fadeout.” Unfortunately, a villain with connections to Oliver’s past ruins the reunion when he kidnaps William, the Green Arrow’s son.
The present storyline, despite its major cameos and emotional moments, can’t hold a candle to the flashback one. Oliver and Diggle team up one more time in “Fadeout,” and the former takes on a warehouse full of goons one last time. The action sequence is one of the best in Arrow‘s history, ensuring that the show goes out with a bang.
9) Season 7, Episode 7, “The Slabside Redemption”
Throughout Arrow Season 6, Oliver can’t get the better of Ricardo Diaz, who sets up a drug operation in Star City. It gets so bad that even Diggle finds himself buying from Diaz’s guys to get an edge out in the field. Without any other options, Oliver teams up with the FBI to take down his enemy.
Oliver’s plan works, but he has to go to prison for his past crimes. “The Slabside Redemption” sees Diaz attempt to get revenge by entering Oliver’s new home and causing trouble. The Green Arrow spends the entire episode fighting his way out of the prison with some unlikely allies before finally reuniting with his friends and family on the outside.
8) Season 2, Episode 20, “Seeing Red”
Slade Wilson shows up in Star City in Arrow Season 2 with bad intentions. He holds a grudge against Oliver because of the death of his beloved, Shado, on Lian Yu. Well, Slade finally gets his revenge in “The Promise.”
The majority of the episode features Team Arrow deciding what to do about Roy Harper, who has Mirakuru in his system. Oliver isn’t able to focus, though, because his mother is running for mayor and throwing rallies. After the event in “Seeing Red,” he gets into a car with his mother and sister, and they get into an accident. He comes to and has to watch as Slade plunges a sword through his mother’s heart in one of the show’s most shocking scenes.
7) Season 3, Episode 9, “The Climb”
Like Slade before him, Ra’s al Ghul goes after Oliver’s family. He wants to catch Sara Lance’s killer, and he knows that Oliver knows who it is. Thea is the culprit, as her father, Malcolm Merlyn, brainwashed her into doing it, but Oliver won’t let his sister die.
To avoid any further bloodshed, Oliver meets the Demon’s Head on top of a snowy mountain and fights him. It’s one of the more tense moments in the Arrowverse, and it’s hard to watch when Oliver loses and falls down the side of the cliff. It’s not a factor during a binge-watch, but “The Climb” was the midseason finale of Season 3, meaning there was a significant break after it, which only adds to the episode’s allure.
6) Season 1, Episode 23, “Sacrifice”
Oliver draws the short end of the stick when he has to go up against his best friend’s dad in Season 1. Malcolm blames the Glades, a rundown part of Star City, for the death of his wife, so he’s going to level the entire place with an earthquake machine. Oliver has no choice but to fight him, and things get pretty messy.
While Oliver stops the machine before it does too much damage, Tommy Merlyn dies after rubble falls on him. “Sacrifice” sees Oliver spend his friend’s last few moments with him. It’s a loss that the hero never really recovers from, which makes the Season 1 finale as important as almost any episode.
5) Season 8, Episode 6, “Reset”
One of the other losses in Arrow that hits Oliver like a ton of bricks is Quentin Lance, his father figure. He dies in the Season 6 finale, but Oliver’s multiversal mission in Season 8 allows him to cross paths with his old cop buddy again. Something is off, though, because Quentin knows things he shouldn’t.
It turns out that Oliver is in a Groundhog Day-type time loop that has him trying to save Quentin over and over again. He’s never able to pull it off, and once he’s able to accept that destiny is what it is, he breaks free. While it’s a painful episode, “Reset” shows the Green Arrow at his best, never backing down in the face of adversity.
4) Season 5, Episode 16, “Checkmate”
Oliver spends the beginning of Season 5 trying to figure out the Throwing Star Killer’s identity. A visit with a former mentor, Talia al Ghul, in “Checkmate” gets him the answer he’s looking for, and it’s shocking, to say the least. Star City’s district attorney, Adrian Chase, is gunning for Oliver, and with all the cards on the table, he’s taking the gloves off.
What makes “Checkmate” so great is that Chase is finally able to let loose and torment Team Arrow. He even goes as far as to kill his own wife to prove that he’s in it for the long haul. Prometheus is Arrow‘s best villain, and “Checkmate” is his coming-out party.
3) Season 2, Episode 23, “Unthinkable”
After losing his mother, Oliver goes after Slade hard, but it’s difficult to make any headway because of the army of Mirakuru soldiers. Slade unleashes his forces on Star City, forcing everyone to come together to keep the city from falling apart. However, Oliver gets the upper hand by tricking his former friend.
Oliver makes it seem like Felicity is the person he loves most in the world and allows Slade to take her. With some quick thinking, she’s able to distract the bad guy, which gives Oliver the chance to subdue him. The conclusion to their battle is great, and it’s one of those great early Arrow episodes where the flashbacks do a lot of the heavy lifting.
2) Season 5, Episode 23, “Lian Yu”
Prometheus forces Oliver back to where it all began in the Season 5 finale, capturing Team Arrow and taking them to Lian Yu. In need of help, Oliver recruits former adversaries, including Malcolm, Slade, and Nyssa al Ghul. They take on Prometheus in an epic fight that ends with the villain killing himself and blowing up the island.
As if the cliffhanger in “Lian Yu” wasn’t enough, the episode also features the end of the flashbacks, with the events in the past finally catching up to the moment Oliver is rescued in the pilot. The Season 5 finale is a full-circle moment for the show that’s hard to top.
1) Season 5, Episode 17, “Kapiushon”
While it may be tough to see anything other than a finale at the top spot, “Kapiushon” is a masterpiece. After allowing Prometheus to capture him, Oliver has to deal with the sins of his past and wrestle with the fact that he enjoys killing people. Prometheus breaks the hero and allows him to walk right out of his cell in a sinister moment.
Meanwhile, the flashbacks show Oliver finally embracing his true nature in Russia. He goes toe to toe with Konstantin Kovar, played by Dolph Lundgren. Their fight outdoes just about every other one on the show and helps earn “Kapiushon” the title of best Arrow episode.
Arrow is streaming on Netflix.
Which of the Arrow episodes on this list is your favorite? Is there one that you feel like is missing? Let us know in the comments below!
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