DC TV Bits: ARROW Season Finale Logline, Andrew Kreisberg On [SPOILER]’s Exit, GOTHAM Adds New Writer/Producer

We only have three episodes left of Arrow‘s remarkable second season, and it sounds like the year will end on an incredibly high note. The CW has released the plot summary for the season finale, which airs on May 14th. Titled “Unthinkable”, the episode will deal with Oliver’s final (?) showdown with Slade, as the latter threatens a specific target close to The Arrow. Meanwhile, a conflict between Diggle and Amanda Waller is teased. The Suicide Squad is also expected to return in this episode, making it all the more exciting. Check out the logline below.

OLIVER MUST DECIDE ONCE AND FOR ALL IF HE’S A KILLER OR A HERO — Slade (Manu Bennett) moves forward with his plan to kill one more person in Oliver’s (Stephen Amell) life. While Oliver has fought all year to be more than the killer he once was, when Slade kidnaps someone close to Oliver’s heart, Oliver is pushed to the edge and realizes sometimes it takes doing the unthinkable to stop the monster. Meanwhile, Diggle (David Ramsey) takes on Amanda Waller (guest star Cynthia Addai-Robinson) with a little help from some friends, and Thea (Willa Holland) turns to Roy (Colton Haynes) in her time of need. John Behring directed the episode with story by Greg Berlanti and teleplay by Marc Guggenheim & Andrew Kreisberg (#223).

This section will be SPOILER HEAVY, as it goes over the stunning twists of this week’s Arrow episode, “Seeing Red”. So obviously, stop reading now if you haven’t yet seen the episode and don’t wish to be spoiled.

The end of this week’s Arrow was certainly an emotional shocker, as Slade made his most malicious move to date. Moira Queen, who has been a series regular since the pilot, was killed by Mr. Wilson as he made a successful effort to exact vengeance on Oliver. Needless to say, nobody saw this coming, and the final few minutes of “Seeing Red” is one of the series’ darkest and most intense scenes yet. Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg had this to say on this move to The Hollywood Reporter. “It wasn’t something we were talking about last year. I don’t want to give the impression that [it was like] ‘Welp! Somebody has to die; let’s spin the wheel. And, bad luck, Moira.’ ” Susanna has been with the show since the beginning, and she was one of our big gets early on that really signaled to the audience and to reviewers that this wasn’t your average CW show, it wasn’t your average superhero show. Like with Colin Donnell [whose character Tommy died in the season-one finale], these last episodes are her pinnacle.” Ultimately, the decision was made because there were no other ways to continue Moira’s story.

Kreisberg also weighs in on the revelation that Moira knew of Oliver’s secret life as The Arrow. “We had always talked about the idea that Moira knew Oliver was the Arrow. She’d be borderline low IQ if she wasn’t like, ‘Wait a minute!’ We liked that she had never told him, and everything just felt like it came together in this one episode.” Yet another twist in “Seeing Red” revealed that Oliver fathered a child with an unnamed woman before coming to the island, and that Moira paid the mother to lie about the baby’s fate. Kreisberg confirms that this plot point will be resolved in the third season. “The seeds for season two were planted in season one and again, the best part of the success that the show has had is knowing that we were going to make more and knowing that we could drop these things in and pay them off later. This is something that will be paid off in season three.”

As for the rest of this season, we have some more tidbits. In the penultimate episode, “Streets of Fire”, Thea will come face-to-face with her father, Malcolm Merlyn. “All hell is going to break loose in the city and Thea will find herself in a precarious predicament and she will be saved by her father,” says Kreisberg. “Malcolm is going to offer her what she doesn’t have anymore. If we were going to send Thea in that direction, she needed to have nothing pulling her back here.” Perhaps Malcolm will offer Thea a chance to train her? Other pieces of info include confirmation of Sara’s return this season (possibly with Nyssa and the League of Assassins?), Roy’s absence for a couple of episodes, and Oliver will continue having an identity crisis as his world falls apart.

For this final news bit, we’re switching from Arrow to Fox’s upcoming Batman series Gotham. According to Entertainment Weekly, Gossip Girl‘s John Stephens has signed on to join the prequel show – which has a series commitment at Fox – as a writer and executive producer. This is a part of a two year deal Stephens signed with Warner Bros. TV. Filming on the Gotham pilot recently wrapped, with a premiere expected for next fall. The planned series stars Ben McKenzie as James Gordon, David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne, Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock, Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth, and Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin.