Posted in: DC Universe, Movies, TV | Tagged: arrow, black canary, cw, entertainment, HRL, Juliana Harkavy, television, Wendy Mericle

Arrow Season 6: Wendy Mericle Talks Survival, Team Arrow, And Flashbacks

Along with yesterday's reveal of the new Black Canary costume, there were a few other tidbits executive producer Wendy Miracle shared with EW.com that are worth noting.

Arrow Season 6 doesn't start where the fifth left off. Like in real time, the show picks up five months later. Also, one of the main themes of the new season is family — the ones you are born into and the ones you build around you. And along with Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy), the other members of Team Arrow that joined in the beginning of Season 5, will now be full-fledged members of the team if they survived Lian Yu. This basically means Wild Dog (Rick Gonzalez) and Mr. Terrific (Echo Kellum) are on the team.

Mericle said this when talking about what made Dinah finally suit up:

"I think the combination of the costume and this new confidence she has as being part of the team is — this is it, she's come into her own very much so. It's a good step forward for her character, but it's also really representative and a good step forward for the team. People we brought in at the beginning of last season — probably, if they make it off the island — some of them will become full-fledged members of the team. That's a very different situation than we've had in the past. In a way, we're closing the circle on what we started in episode 501 and 502 last season, which was introducing these new characters and really bringing them along under Oliver's tutelage. This is going to be the culmination, for her, of where she ends up."

She talked about the symbolism of blowing up the island and what it means for Oliver and those around him:

"No matter what, our hope is that finale was powerful and also very destructive. It literally did blow up Oliver's past, but I think in many ways it's a reset for all of the characters. It was traumatic. It's a big traumatic event that will definitely have huge reverberations throughout the whole season really for Oliver, but for everybody. The show is still centered around the Green Arrow and Oliver Queen, but these other characters are coming into their own and there will be more stories this year. We have no flashbacks that we have to service, so there will be more real estate to explore the characters in addition to Oliver."

With the five-year arc complete and the flashbacks done, Mericle addressed rumors of the show going through a reboot:

"Reboot is one of those words. It's so funny. I think in some ways yes, I do, but I also think that word can get misconstrued very easily. This show is evolving and it's exciting because it is a new dynamic this season without the flashbacks. I know I keep saying we have more real estate, but we've been in the writers' room for three weeks and it's been amazing how different the show feels. There's just a lot more freedom. It's actually very exciting because we can take this show to different places now and to different directions. I'll repeat it, but it really is exciting to have the time and the space to talk about these other characters. We were always sort of pressed, and moved stories so quickly. We're still moving stories that same way, we just have a little more space to explore other points of view and other characters. It's fun."

On whether there be other types of flashbacks going forward:

"Absolutely. One of the advantages is we know how to use that device and we're going to use it for different reasons this season, which will be fun — different characters, different points of view."

Arrow Season 6 debuts October 12th on the CW.

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