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10 most disliked Arrowverse storylines, ranked

The CW's Arrowverse provided plenty of entertainment over the past decade, but which of its storylines did it miss the mark on?

By Michael Patterson

Supergirl -- "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One" -- Image Number: SPG509c_0093r.jpg -- Pictured (L-R): Ruby Rose as Kate Kane/Batwoman, Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent/Superman, Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer/Atom, Grant Gustin as The Flash and Melissa Benoist as Kara/Supergirl -- Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW -- © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Supergirl -- "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One" -- Image Number: SPG509c_0093r.jpg -- Pictured (L-R): Ruby Rose as Kate Kane/Batwoman, Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent/Superman, Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer/Atom, Grant Gustin as The Flash and Melissa Benoist as Kara/Supergirl -- Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW -- © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved. /
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Legends of Tomorrow, Arrowverse
Legends of Tomorrow -- "The Ex-Factor" -- Image Number: LGN603fg_0001r.jpg -- Pictured: Caity Lotz as Sara Lance -- Photo: The CW -- © 2021 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved. /

5. Sara Lance being replaced by a clone

DC's Legends of Tomorrow made plenty of outlandish creative choices throughout its run, but almost all of them received a mostly positive response from fans. The show really leaned into the silliness and it became an underrated fan-favorite because of that. However, one decision that a lot of fans couldn't get behind was Sara Lance's unexpected death in season 6.

Sara had died before but she always came back to life. While that was technically true on this occasion too, she returned as an alien human hybrid clone that couldn't die. So yes, it meant that Caity Lotz was able to remain on the show and continue to portray "Sara", but it also meant that the original Sara - who we had known since Arrow season 2 - was dead.

Sometimes you can think too far outside the box, and this one just didn't land with fans - because no matter how many great storylines she was involved in, so much of the audience just couldn't see her as the real Sara.

4. New Team Arrow vs. Original Team Arrow

The feud between the original members of Team Arrow (Oliver, Diggle, and Felicity) and the newer members (Rene, Dinah, and Curtis) was by far one of the most infuriating storylines the Arrowverse ever tackled. It ruined the momentum that season 6 was slowly mounting and resulted a lot of eye-rolling from fans, who were fed up at the forced conflict between the two factions - and the lengths to which the writers were going to in order to villainize the newer members.

The irony is that Dinah, Curtis, and Rene actually had some points but the show continued to make them behave so far out of character just to make them the bad guys (and justify Oliver, Diggle, and Felicity's retaliation). And it just didn't help that fans didn't care for the newer trio in the way that they did the original characters. It was pointless and yet dragged on for a major portion of the season.

I didn't hate the story as much as other fans did, but their issues with it were 100% justified. It was so repetitive, going around in circles for no reason, as both sides of Team Arrow often came together to solve the case of the week only for Wild Dog's weekly "this doesn't change anything" to start the cycle all over again.

Conflict is fine. Repetitive, forced conflict is not.

The Flash, Arrowverse
The Flash -- "Growing Pains" -- Image Number: FLA707a_0393r.jpg -- Pictured (L-R): Grant Gustin as Barry Allen and Michelle Harrison as Nora Allen -- Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW -- © 2021 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved. /

3. The Forces

If you asked any Flash fan to pick the show's worst villain arc, there is a pretty good chance that the vast majority of them would say The Forces. A complete misfire of a storyline, it brought in human avatars for the Speed, Strength, Sage, and Still Forces, and it didn't take long for fans to see that it brought out the worst in the show.

The logic behind the storyline was baffling, as it brought back Speed Force Nora who looked like Barry's mom and yet was seen as one of Barry and Iris' "children". She was the most trustworthy of the four because they had history, but then she became the main villain and it was up to the other three questionable Forces to stop her.

Fans struggled with how the arc was all over the place and how the Forces shifted their allegiances so easily. It's a shame because the potential was there, but it just didn't live up to it. And even though it was ended rather abruptly, fans were happy to see the back of this storyline.

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