11 things nobody wants to admit about the Arrowverse

The huge episode counts worked against most of the shows

Occasionally, you can have too much of a good thing. This was particularly true for the Arrowverse shows when it came to episode-counts. The Flash, Arrow, and Supergirl all had 22 – 23 episodes for the majority of their runs, and while this certainly didn’t hinder them right out of the gate, it eventually began to work against them.

It all comes down to the fact that the shows operated as both episodic procedurals and season-long mysteries, meaning that it could switch between standalone villain-of-the-week episodes and the primary storylines. It was a dream in the first seasons, as we saw heroes like the Emerald Archer, Scarlet Speedster, and the Girl of Steel all learn what it means to be a hero as they went up against some iconic DC villains (while also struggling with an overall season villain).

It really was a strength at the beginning, but it was inevitable weakness waiting to happen. The perfect example of this was The Flash season 4, as its central villain relied on a group of new metahumans, with each episode being devoted to a new villain-of-the-week. It made each one feel like it was tied to the central story, but in reality, they weren’t. And it dragged the main storyline out for far too long, losing the momentum it had in the beginning.

More episodes also meant more of a chance for ratings drops, and that’s exactly what happened. If these shows had shorter, more concise seasons (see: Arrow season 8), they wouldn’t have gone stale as quickly, the actors wouldn’t have been as overworked, and each series could have been bigger successes for far longer. Sometimes less is more.