News Flash: Arrow Rating Highest Ever For Crossover Episode
By Nick Tylwalk
Sometimes news is entirely expected but still welcome when it arrives. Such is the word from Entertainment Weekly that this week’s episode of Arrow, the second part of a two-night crossover with The Flash, was its highest rated episode ever.
More from TV
- The Expanse: Every character ranked from worst to best
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters episodes 1 and 2 review: Aftermath
- The 9 best (and 8 worst) Arrowverse characters
- 10 things nobody wants to admit about The Walking Dead
- Harley Quinn renewed for a fifth season on Max (and it’s well-deserved)
Technically, more total people watched the series premiere of Arrow two years ago, but “The Brave and the Bold” captured a 1.4 rating among the most widely tracked demographic, adults 18-49, and that was a series record. The 3.9 million total viewers was second only to the premiere, and my guess is that the DVR numbers will be large as well.
This has been a good week for super hero shows in general, as both The Flash (which had the first part of the crossover and did slightly better than Arrow) and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. saw more people tune in than the previous week. That suggests it wasn’t only Barry Allen visiting Oliver Queen on his home turf that bumped the numbers up, but it sure didn’t hurt.
Fans will no doubt be clamoring for more crossover action, but the producers won’t want to go to that well too often for fear of making them feel less special when they do occur. Once a season sounds about right to me, though surely if Starling City ever finds itself under siege again, Arrow is going to be calling the Flash for a hand.