The CW holds a special place in my heart for its DC Universe. This was a network that saved my life in 2014 when I was at my lowest point, not far from a suicide attempt. It’s really this deep for me, even if that sounds pathetic when I type it.
Arrow and The Flash were shows I sank my teeth into because I had nothing else at the time. These 2 shows were the only things at that time that provided any joy in my life. That’s why I’m thankful. It’s also why I’ve defended The CW through a lot of its rough patches.
I want to take a look at some of the worst moments of their run with the DC Universe and see where we go.
Gotham Knights
Oh dear lord. This was perhaps the worst show I’ve ever watched. I am still unbelievably gobsmacked that this show was given the green light. It was awful. It’s even worse, considering it came off the back of the Gotham Knights video game, which featured completely different characters. This was one of two DC shows that got a single season and were canned afterwards for poor performance, to nobody’s surprise.
Personally, this was the show that killed off The CW’s DC adventures. They somewhat recovered with Superman & Lois, but Gotham Knights proved that The CW didn’t really have a clue with what they were dealing with anymore.
Naomi
Why?
No, seriously, why?
This was a show that didn’t need to happen. Nobody asked for it. Nobody cared. Weirdly enough, despite how bad the show was, it still had some very okay moments. It was just the overall consensus on the idea of this show that baffles me. It offered nothing; the action was lacklustre, the storytelling was poor. It’s again, another one of those shows that I’m confused as to who gave the green light for this.
A one-and-done season. I’m not even remotely shocked.
The Flash (season 5 and beyond)
The Flash started strong, but once I saw Barry and Godspeed have a lightsaber fight with lightning bolts, I kind of knew that ideas were running thin. Which is weird, considering The Flash’s rogue gallery is brilliant. The first 3 seasons were masterpieces, season 4 was alright, but then it got worse and worse as the seasons went on after that.
They shifted to 2 major villains per season, which hurt the show a lot. The side characters got worse with every replacement. I mean, some of the side characters were so poorly written, it got annoying in the end. Caitlin had perhaps the worst storytelling of any side character in history. The Killer Frost angle became so dumb and stupid, it felt unwatchable. Allegra was the most pointless character in any show, ever. She offered zero value. Chester was not Cisco, simple as. It fell apart. It’s a shame as well.
Arrow (season 4 and beyond)
Okay, I’m gonna say it.
Oliver and Felicity ruined the show. I don’t care, I said it. The show became so centred around their relationship, the show turned from being a superhero thriller to a soap opera drama. Utterly awful. It’s even worse, considering Oliver is with Dinah/Laurel (where they originally went in season 1 before turning their attentions to Felicity) in the comics.
Don’t get me wrong, over multiple seasons, you were bound to have to tell different stories. Felicity should’ve been season 3, maybe half of season 4, and that’s it. Switch back to Dinah/Laurel, how it’s meant to be. It killed the show in my opinion, although there were other aspects that hurt the show as well. The political standpoints were boring, some of the later side characters became annoying *coughs John Diggle coughs*, and the magic ruined the aesthetic of the show being grounded.
Supergirl (season 4 and beyond)
I’m starting to sense a theme here for the most part. A lot of these shows are a certain number of seasons before they got bad. It’s true for a lot of them. Supergirl was another victim of this. I was pleasantly surprised at how fantastic the first 3 seasons were. Then, like Arrow, it went political. It fell apart almost instantly.
Unfortunately, Supergirl never recovered. It never had a solid season again. It just gradually got worse and worse until it needed to die a very quick and sudden death. Thankfully, it did. I couldn’t bear to review it anymore. It’s a shame, because Melissa Benoist looks ripped out of a comic book when it comes to playing Supergirl.
Ruby Rose quitting the Batwoman show after a single season
Infamously, Ruby quit her role as the star character in Batwoman, which drastically hurt the show. Javicia Leslie came in as a new Batwoman, but she struggled in a major way. The result of Ruby quitting the show impacted what season 2 was able to offer. Unfortunately, by the time Javicia managed to make the role her own in season 3, it was cancelled. It’s such a shame considering how strong season 3 was.
Legends of Tomorrow (season 3 and beyond)
This is a hot take. I’ve come to learn that Legends of Tomorrow is a very liked show, but for us, we feel like it was a low moment. Legends of Tomorrow started in a serious way, especially for the first couple of seasons. Then it went completely stupid and unwatchable. As soon as I saw a Fairy Godmother show up, I knew that my time with the show was limited. I never enjoyed it much after that.
The Canaries
What a waste of one of the episodes of Arrow’s final season. It’s a shame because this looked good in the Pilot episode it got. It was cancelled with little explanation. Now, you may not have wanted this show; that’s fine. The reason why it’s a low point for me personally is that this got cancelled, but Naomi and Gotham Knights got greenlit.
