Arrow’s Final Season Will Break With A Significant Tradition — Here’s Why

Since the first season of Arrow, the penultimate episode of each season has taken its title from a song by rock legend Bruce Springsteen — but in the show’s eighth and final season, that tradition will change. Due to a mandate from the network that the backdoor pilot for the planned Green Arrow and the Canaries series share the name of the potential spinoff, the planned title for that episode — “Livin’ in the Future,” which would have continued the Springsteen-inspired naming convention — will be scrapped. Arrow consulting producer and co-creator Marc Guggenheim, who shared a few nuggets of information on Twitter today, revealed both the planned title, and the fact that the network had shot the plan down.

In spite of the decision to use the spinoff title as the episode title, Guggenheim encouraged fans to imagine that the Springsteen title was the “real” one. You can see Guggenheim’s tweet below.

Ironically, there has already been an episode this season — “Leap of Faith” — that shares a name with a Springsteen song, although that was a happy accident and not a direct reference to the tune.

The Springsteen titles go all the way back to the first season, when the second-to-last episode was named after the title track from the Darkness on the Edge of Town album. Another song off of Darkness on the Edge of Town, “Streets of Fire” was the episode where Arrow executive producer Marc Guggenheim confirmed, yes, these are Bruce Springsteen titles. Earlier in the season, an episode titled “The Promise” could have been named after a Springsteen song, as well, although that has never been confirmed. Season three featured “This Is Your Sword,” a song from Springsteen’s then-new album High Hopes, performed with Tom Morello (who wrote the Dark Horse series Orchid and scored Iron Man) on guitar. Season four had “Lost in the Flood,” named for a song from Springsteen’s debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. Season five featured “Missing,” a song prominently featured in Sean Penn’s film The Crossing Guard, which starred Jack Nicholson. Penn’s previous film, The Indian Runner, was an adaptation of the Springsteen song “Highway Patrolman.” And last year’s season six had “The Ties That Bind,” from Springsteen’s 1980 album The River. A regular presence at Springsteen’s live shows, the song deals with themes of family and honor that permeated all of Arrow‘s sixth season. Last year’s title, “Living Proof,” was a song about the birth of Springsteen’s first child, which obviously tied into the role Mia played in the season.

Arrow airs on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT, following episodes of The Flash on The CW.