[Spoilers] Are we blaming Guggenheim too much for this? (And some thoughts for the future)

I mean, the immediate answer is 'no'. But let's think about it:

1. Guggie has written a load of good episodes for the show

2. He's also showrunning LoT, which hasn't had the same issues as this season of Arrow

3. He wasn't actually responsible for the hot mess that was GL

Sure, he doesn't seem to see the flaws in this season at all, but I don't think he's entirely to blame for them either.

Wendy Mericle had really only done one thing before joining Arrow as a writer, which was a short stint as a writer and producer on Desperate Housewives

She's written some fantastic Arrow episodes, but a lot of the issues with this season have been basic producer mistakes:

1. Introducing the villain too early and not having enough unreleated (or seemingly-unrelated) antagonists and main plots to spin the story out for 23 episodes (look at the first two seasons of Arrow, with the Deadshot arc and the corporate intrigue with Rochev and China White etc etc). A lot of the time it felt like the show was treading water, like Agents of SHIELD season one before The Winter Soldier came out.

2. Allowing certain favoured characters to get away with murder. Has Felicity been a hypocrite this season? Yes. But no more so than other characters, including Ollie and Laurel, have been in the past. The difference was that they got called out on their mistakes, and that was used as part of their character development. They weren't just treated as if they could do no wrong.

3. Poor fight choreography

4. Over-focus on relationships over the main thrust of the series. That's getting put down to appeasing the shippers, but honestly I suspect it has as much to do with needing something to keep the story moving for 23 episodes (see point 1 above).

5. An uninspired, weak, flashback story that essentially provides an origin for the villain's powers but doesn't dovetail thematically with the present-day plot the way it has in the past.

It's telling that the show really began to go downhill after the midseason, i.e.; at the point where Guggenheim could be excused for needing to focus on LoT.

Some blame needs to also be put at Greg Berlanti's door. I know his role in Arrow is much less hands-on these days, but he's still signing off on these plots, and possibly the actual scripts. He's also the person who put Guggenheim and Mericle in charge of the show, when perhaps they could have benefited from a more experienced voice to guide them.

I do, however, have some hope for season five. Right now my biggest concern is that it won't acknowledge Flashpoint, which it really needs to do. Aside from that, most of the issues are fixable. I don't have an issue with Olicity as long as it's well-written and not the focus of the show, make it more like how they handle Diggle and Lyla and I'm OK with it. Everything else? Poor writing and a focus on a single fantastical villain: fixable. Too much relationship drama: fixable. Not enough side-plots: fixable. Poor flashbacks: very fixable, since they're doing the Bratva and hopefully the origin of Ollie's first suit.

Stephen Amell has been talking about the show returning to its roots for season five, and for the first time in months he sounds genuinely enthusiastic. Kevin Smith has offered to write for season five. The casting-call for the main villain sounds promising, and could set up some interesting comparisons and contrasts with season one Ollie. Maybe, just maybe, between Barry and the Legends' mucking about with the timeline, and the full stop provided by the parting of the ways at the end of the finale, the writers and showrunners can seize the opportunity to do a soft reboot, not necessarily undoing what's happened but making a decisive step in a different direction (think along the lines of when Babs Gordon moved to Burnside, or indeed the Green Arrow story The Longbow Hunters, which was a big influence on Berlanti's vision for the show).

Here's hoping.