Top Five Things We Want to See in 'Arrow' Season 4: Spoilers, Rumors & More!

The CW's Arrow had a divisive Season 3, as some fans did not like the direction of many of the characters, specifically the pairing of Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak in a relationship known far and wide as "Olicity." Nevertheless, with the new season comes new possibilities, so allow us to present the top five things we want to see in Arrow Season 4. (Possible SPOILERS to follow!)

Better Flashbacks

The flashbacks in Season 3 were not as terrible as many fans believed them to be, but Oliver's adventures in Hong Kong were not nearly as compelling as his the island flashbacks in Seasons 1 and 2. In Season 2, the flashbacks tied organically and directly to the present day, in which Slade Wilson was making Ollie's life a living hell. We got to see how Slade turned on Oliver and became increasingly paranoid.

In Season 3, the writers bent over backwards a little too much to force the flashbacks to connect to the modern day, whether it was through clunky dialogue or some other plot development. It felt a lot like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

Season 4's flashbacks are supposed to begin in Coast City, which is where Oliver finds himself in the present day living in romantic bliss with Felicity. Hopefully, the writers find a way to get back to what they were doing in the first two seasons and create compelling flashbacks that inform the present day story.

Consistent Power Levels

Part of the appeal of the first two seasons was how Oliver's foes outmatched him, which forced him to improve himself in order to overcome them. Malcolm Merlyn/The Dark Archer beat the tar out of Ollie in their first showdown in Season 1, and by season's end, Oliver had trained enough and used his father as inspiration to drive an arrow through his rival. In Season 2, Slade outmaneuvered Oliver at every turn, and only a final, cunning strategy helped Oliver defeat his former friend.

In Season 3, things took an odd turn. In the excellent midseason finale, "The Climb," Oliver duels Ra's al Ghul, the centuries-old leader of the League of Assassins. To be blunt, Ra's makes Oliver his b*tch. He completely dominates the fight, save for a brief glimmer of hope toward the end of the battle. Yet in the Season 3 finale, Oliver manages to overcome Ra's and kill him despite very little improvement throughout the season.

However, this problem was not exclusive to Oliver. Laurel Lance's transformation into Black Canary was one of the best parts of Season 3, but she went from struggling with muggers to fighting multiple League of Assassins members at once with very little learning curve other than a few brief mentions of a trainer she was seeing for help.

The fighting on Arrow has always felt realistic and grounded, so let's get back to that in Season 4.

Lighter Tone

Arrow does not need to become The Flash, nor should the two shows have the same tone. However, Arrow got really, really dark last season. Now that Oliver is becoming the Green Arrow, he should start to take some inspiration from the comics. Crack a few jokes. Smile once in a while.

The romance aspect of the show can work, as long as it does not override the rest of the developments on the show. Felicity became so single-mindedly focused on Oliver and his pain last year that it turned her from a likable and strong female character into a whining and crying mess who existed purely in the shadow of Oliver. Now that they are together and happy, let Oliver and Felicity's love support the show rather than weigh it down.

Crossovers

We already know this one is coming, but we want more! The crossovers with The Flash were some of the best parts of Season 3, and the expanding DC TV universe (DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl) provides opportunities for even deeper and richer crossovers. Plus, we've got Matt Ryan coming onto the show as Constantine! The possibilities with the Constantine tie-in alone are staggering.

Strong Villain

Slade Wilson is the gold standard for Arrow villains thus far. Executive producer Marc Guggenheim has teased that the Season 4 villain, Damien Darhk, is "pure evil." Ra's was a powerful villain, but he lacked proper development at times. He was just there and wanted to destroy Starling City because...well, just because. A well fleshed out Damien with consistent motives and goals would go a long way toward a strong Season 4.

What are some things would you like to see in Season 4 of Arrow? Let us know your wish list in the comments section below.