Arrow showrunner Beth Schwartz told ComicBook.com during a recent interview that the show’s writers’ room were very cognizant of making its upcoming 150th episode something special for the fans, who have been with the show for seven seasons.
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As with the show’s hundredth episode, which took place during the “Invasion!” crossover and featured an artificial world created around Oliver that brought back several old friends and foes, “Emerald Archer” will explore the history of the show. The episode will be a faux-documentary narrated by Cheers and Frasier star Kelsey Grammer, dealing with the rise of vigilantes following the appearance of Oliver Queen as “The Hood” at the start of Arrow.
“When we knew our 150th episode was coming up, we obviously wanted to do something special,” Schwartz told ComicBook.com. “I know for our 100th episode that we were all very pleased with how that turned out and it felt so nostalgic and perfect, and so we knew we kind of had to try to one-up ourselves. The room came up with the brilliant idea to film it documentary-style, and it allowed us to use all of our favorite characters from past and present in this format, which was something that was really important to us because as you’re hitting such a milestone, you want to see those characters that made the series what it is.”
The episode was directed by Glen Winter, who will soon work with DC Universe on the Stargirl pilot. Winter has directed several of the most-watched and most-popular episodes of the Arrowverse.
No word on whether the documentary will make mention of Batman, who according to “Elseworlds” actually predated Oliver Queen in the masked vigilante department, but whose identity is not public and who has vanished from the public eye.
Oliver’s identity being revealed, and the jail time he served, likely makes his story an attractive one for the documentary in-universe. Storytelling-wise, it allows Grammer’s narrator a much broader look at the life of the Green Arrow than would have been plausible in a documentary made before the end of season six.
You can see the official synopsis below.
ARROW FILMS THEIR 150TH EPISODE AS A DOCUMENTARY ENTITLED “THE HOOD AND THE RISE OF VIGILANTES” NARRATED BY KELSEY GRAMMER
The 150th episode of “Arrow” showcases a documentary entitled “The Hood and the rise of vigilantism” starring Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), and the rest of Team Arrow. As a camera crew follows Oliver and team around to talk about their past as vigilantes and what the Green Arrow means to Star City, Oliver must also deal with William’s (guest star Jack Moore) return from boarding school as well as a new threat to the city. The episode will feature “documentary footage” captured by the BTS crew and interviews from those who have worked alongside the Green Arrow. The documentary is narrated by Kelsey Grammer.
Glen Winter directed the episode written by Marc Guggenheim & Emilio Ortega Aldrich.
Arrow airs on Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, before episodes of Black Lightning. “Emerald Archer” will debut on February 4.
