They were 100% considering continuing the show with Emiko as the lead and Rene as her “Diggle” (the former is basically confirmed and the latter is my speculation). Likewise, they planned to continue with Mia as the lead at one point. They realized that neither route appealed to all the fans across the board (and maybe/probably not the executives either) and scrapped both plans.
Too bad for both of them. Pretty solid characters ruined by too rushed plot choices. It would've been better, in my opinion, try to set up a storyline with Emiko acting as Red Arrow, a ruthless vigilante acting with the ninth circle and giving more space to Dante. From here, making him as the main villain, and creating a plot in which Emiko finally learns how selfish and evil her former mentor is, and allies with Oliver.
For Mia, continuing Green Arrow and the canaries, basically, setting up it in the present.
I wonder if the CW passing on more Arrowverse spin offs and shifting focus on non-superhero shows after Covid hit (I.e Walker, All American) was a last ditch effort to try to become profitable, before the sale.
They seemed done with expanding the Arrowverse after the lockdown.
Possibly the old execs trying to save their jobs and change WB’s mind.
A lot of episodes in Season 7B work as individual episodes, but the overarching story doesn’t add up.
My thoughts on why that is:
a) Emiko was a backdoor pilot character meant to potentially take Oliver’s place as the lead, or lead a spin off after Crisis, but the fan’s apathy towards the character stopped this. They realized there wasn’t a big enough audience to sustain it. Then they tried a new plan with Mia as the lead and that didn’t pan out either.
b) they realized the series was almost over and they hadn’t had a female big bad yet. So Emiko’s abrupt villain might’ve been meant to rectify that (I don’t understand why they never made Talia a big bad, it would’ve been easier to write for sure)
c) I think actor availability might’ve played a role. I think it’s possible Dante’s actor ditched the show, or the actress cast as Emiko was no longer interested in being the lead.
Thanks for your accurate opinion! Yes, indeed also a high portion of audience ruined the character: she caught my attention during season 7A. I would've liked to see a true Talia al Ghul storyline, as a major villain...
Also I forgot to point out:
D) In 7x22, it’s obvious the episode was shredded in the editing room to fit in Felicity’s twenty minute goodbye tour. They sacrificed giving Emiko a proper final battle cuz they found out EBR was exiting as a regular.
To be fair, it probably felt more important to the creators of the show to give screen time to say goodbye to a 7 year character versus a new character that viewers had already lost interest in.
In comics, Emiko is a great character. Thea was partially based on her.
Because Thea already existed in Arrow, Emiko has to be a bit different from her comic counterpart to start with, and I think they handled that part well at the start. The 9th circle arc is one of my absolute favorite parts of Rebirth, and at one point in it, Emiko seemingly betrays Oliver, Dinah and co. and helps her mother (who is an assassin indebted to the ninth circle) capture them. But it turns out Emi was more or less faking that and she picks her new family over her mother and it's all very heartwarming at the conclusion etc.
I think they wanted to veer it in a different direction and surprise us like they did with Adrian Chase / Vigilante / Prometheus. But it just doesn't land, I think in part because by this point in the show we really want to see Oliver get some Ws on the personal front. It doesn't sting when Adrian betrays him, he was just a coworker. When it's Oliver's sister who he really wants to build a relationship with, well that just sucks and feels bad. I think it makes all the lameness around the 9th circle portrayal stand out more as a result too.
Yeah, such an idea would have been dense with meaning. Not least because, let's not get it wrong, Oliver's resentment of his father as soon as he finds out about his degree of kinship with Emiko is one of the few really good things about this season. Imagine combining both that and what you said: that would have been very interesting!
With this emiko story I had the impression that they wanted to introduce something new, but the character was so uninteresting and boring. It was like they didn't really know what to do with this character. Portraying her as Robert's daughter fighting her brother and tried to be mysterious blah blah was so lame ....
..... It would have been more interesting if they had met at a fight, introduced themselves ( by the way, I'm your sister ) and then fought together or something like that.
I agree that a Talia al Ghul story would have been more interesting. There was a previous story that could have been continued.
They were 100% considering continuing the show with Emiko as the lead and Rene as her “Diggle” (the former is basically confirmed and the latter is my speculation). Likewise, they planned to continue with Mia as the lead at one point. They realized that neither route appealed to all the fans across the board (and maybe/probably not the executives either) and scrapped both plans.
Too bad for both of them. Pretty solid characters ruined by too rushed plot choices. It would've been better, in my opinion, try to set up a storyline with Emiko acting as Red Arrow, a ruthless vigilante acting with the ninth circle and giving more space to Dante. From here, making him as the main villain, and creating a plot in which Emiko finally learns how selfish and evil her former mentor is, and allies with Oliver. For Mia, continuing Green Arrow and the canaries, basically, setting up it in the present.
I wonder if the CW passing on more Arrowverse spin offs and shifting focus on non-superhero shows after Covid hit (I.e Walker, All American) was a last ditch effort to try to become profitable, before the sale. They seemed done with expanding the Arrowverse after the lockdown. Possibly the old execs trying to save their jobs and change WB’s mind.
I would honestly be excited a little bit if they decide to expand the Arrowverse, from the point of continuity, we can't say nohing
A lot of episodes in Season 7B work as individual episodes, but the overarching story doesn’t add up. My thoughts on why that is: a) Emiko was a backdoor pilot character meant to potentially take Oliver’s place as the lead, or lead a spin off after Crisis, but the fan’s apathy towards the character stopped this. They realized there wasn’t a big enough audience to sustain it. Then they tried a new plan with Mia as the lead and that didn’t pan out either. b) they realized the series was almost over and they hadn’t had a female big bad yet. So Emiko’s abrupt villain might’ve been meant to rectify that (I don’t understand why they never made Talia a big bad, it would’ve been easier to write for sure) c) I think actor availability might’ve played a role. I think it’s possible Dante’s actor ditched the show, or the actress cast as Emiko was no longer interested in being the lead.
Thanks for your accurate opinion! Yes, indeed also a high portion of audience ruined the character: she caught my attention during season 7A. I would've liked to see a true Talia al Ghul storyline, as a major villain...
Also I forgot to point out: D) In 7x22, it’s obvious the episode was shredded in the editing room to fit in Felicity’s twenty minute goodbye tour. They sacrificed giving Emiko a proper final battle cuz they found out EBR was exiting as a regular.
Yeah, I've noticed that too the first time i've watched... At least they fought toghether for a few minutes.
To be fair, it probably felt more important to the creators of the show to give screen time to say goodbye to a 7 year character versus a new character that viewers had already lost interest in.
In comics, Emiko is a great character. Thea was partially based on her. Because Thea already existed in Arrow, Emiko has to be a bit different from her comic counterpart to start with, and I think they handled that part well at the start. The 9th circle arc is one of my absolute favorite parts of Rebirth, and at one point in it, Emiko seemingly betrays Oliver, Dinah and co. and helps her mother (who is an assassin indebted to the ninth circle) capture them. But it turns out Emi was more or less faking that and she picks her new family over her mother and it's all very heartwarming at the conclusion etc. I think they wanted to veer it in a different direction and surprise us like they did with Adrian Chase / Vigilante / Prometheus. But it just doesn't land, I think in part because by this point in the show we really want to see Oliver get some Ws on the personal front. It doesn't sting when Adrian betrays him, he was just a coworker. When it's Oliver's sister who he really wants to build a relationship with, well that just sucks and feels bad. I think it makes all the lameness around the 9th circle portrayal stand out more as a result too.
Yeah, such an idea would have been dense with meaning. Not least because, let's not get it wrong, Oliver's resentment of his father as soon as he finds out about his degree of kinship with Emiko is one of the few really good things about this season. Imagine combining both that and what you said: that would have been very interesting!
With this emiko story I had the impression that they wanted to introduce something new, but the character was so uninteresting and boring. It was like they didn't really know what to do with this character. Portraying her as Robert's daughter fighting her brother and tried to be mysterious blah blah was so lame .... ..... It would have been more interesting if they had met at a fight, introduced themselves ( by the way, I'm your sister ) and then fought together or something like that. I agree that a Talia al Ghul story would have been more interesting. There was a previous story that could have been continued.
This was my impression too. The character was uninteresting to the point of being boring. She faded into the show and then faded back out. Lol
The first mistake was trying to make Emiko exacly as Green Arrow: i believe that was already one of the problems that made er uninteresting. XD
That too. First thought: déjà vu. Ra's al Ghul is back and sends some of his men to play Arrow again ... Was that intentional? Didn't go down well.
Right... If this was so, they could have tries to make a bond with Talia...
Yes, unfortunately they were too busy with weird storylines that didn't make sense.
Yeah, the police for example who acts like a d... With team arrow