Stephen Amell Reveals Why 'Arrow' Season 8 Is the Series' End

When The CW’s Arrow returns for its eighth season on October 15, it will mark the start of the show’s final year with a total of 170 episodes being produced. Like the other superhero series based on DC Comics heroes on the network — such as Supergirl, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning and the new Batwoman — the show is still going strong with a devoted fanbase. But for star Stephen Amell, there are very specific reasons he wanted this year to be the last. Largely it’s because the actor, 38, is Canadian and he has a desire to become an American citizen. However, given that Arrow shoots in Toronto, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult for him to do so.

Check out the Supergirl/Batwoman trailer released by The CW

“I want to put roots down in Los Angeles,” he explains during a Comic-Con interview. “I have a nice house there that I’ve spent maybe a hundred days in over the past four years. In order to become an American citizen, you have to spend over 50% of your time there over the course of five years. My daughter is a dual citizen, my wife is American, I own property there, I pay taxes, but I can’t vote. So that’s actually one of my goals: to spend enough time in the United States that I can qualify to become a citizen.”

Additionally, because of his nature, he finds that while he has desires to do a number of things career-wise, he’s too focused on the show to achieve any of it. “Another reason I wanted to be done with the show,” he notes, “is because I have a difficult time being an aspirational thinker when I’m in the midst of a project. It might actually be true what they say about men and multitasking: I can’t do it.”

While he plans for the future, Stephen is dealing with the here-and-now of this series, and the character of Oliver Queen/The Green Arrow, winding down while also being asked to assess its overall impact.

“That’s a really difficult question to answer,” he admits. “It’s hard for me to look at what we’ve done from 30,00 feet, because I’m deep into it at the moment. What I can say is that is that I’m proud of what we’ve inspired. Beyond The CW shows, there’s the Netflix shows Iron Fist, Daredevil, Jessica Jones and The Defenders. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. comes to mind. If Arrow is proof of concept that you can do a superhero show on TV and that it can work right — piggybacking off of Smallville, which should never go unmentioned — I feel like the legacy is we produced a bunch of content and people dig it. It’s not going to last forever, but I’m glad we were the first.”

Arrow Season 8 premieres on The CW October 15.

Please scroll down to see how Stephen has changed over the seasons, and for a titles guide to every episode of Arrow.

Be sure to check out and subscribe to our Classic TV & Film Podcast for interviews with your favorite stars!

Season 1 (Oct 2012-May 2013)

Episode 1: “Pilot”, Episode 2: “Honor Thy Father,” Episode 3: “Lone Gunemen,” Episode 4: “An Innocent Man,” Episode 5: “Damaged,” Episode 6: “Legacies,” Episode 7: “Muse of Fire,” Episode 8: “Vendetta,” Episode 9: “Year’s End,” Episode 10: “Burned,” Episode 11: “Trust But Verify,” Episode 12: “Vertigo,” Episode 13: “Betrayal,” Episode 14: “The Odyssey,” Episode 15: “Dodger,” Episode 16: “Dead to Rights,” Episode 17: “The Huntress Returns,” Episode 18: “Salvation,” Episode 19: “Unfinished Business,” Episode 20: “Home Invasion,” Episode 21: “The Undertaking,” “Episode 22: “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” Episode 23: “Sacrifice”

Season 2 (October 2013-May 2014)

Episode 24: “City of Heroes,” Episode 25: “Identity,” Episode 26: “Broken Dolls,” Episode 27: “Crucible,” Episode 28: “League of Assassins,” Episode 29: “Keep Your Enemies Closer,” Episode 30: “State v. Queen,” Episode 31: “The Scientist,” Episode 32: “Three Ghosts,” Episode 33: “Blast Radius,” Episode 34: “Blind Spot,” Episode 35: “Tremors,” Episode 36: “Heir to the Demon,” Episode 37: “Time of Death,” Episode 38: “The Promise,” Episode 39: “Suicide Squad,” Episode 40: “Birds of Prey,” Episode 41: “Deathstroke,” Episode 42: “The Man Under the Hood,” Episode 43: “Seeing Red,” Episode 44: “City of Blood,” Episode 45: “Streets of Fire,” Episode 46: “Unthinkable.”

Season 3 (October 2014-May 2015)

Episode 47: “The Calm,” Episode 48: “Sara,” Episode 49: “Corto Maltese,” Episode 50: “The Magician,” Episode 51: “The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak,” Episode 52: “Guilty,” Episode 53: “Draw Back Your Bow,” Episode 54: “The Brave and the Bold,” Episode 55: “The Climb,” Episode 56: “Left Behind,” Episode 57: “Midnight City,” Episode 58: “Uprising,” Episode 59: “Canaries,” Episode 60: “The Return,” Episode 61: “Nana Parbat,” Episode 62: “The Offer,” Episode 63: “Suicidal Tendencies,” Episode 64: “Public Enemy,” Episode 65: “Broken Arrow,” Episode 66: “The Fallen,” Episode 67: “Al Sah-Him,” Episode 68: “This is Your Sword,” Episode 69: “My Name is Oliver Queen.”

Season 4 (October 2015-May 2016)

Episode 70: “Green Arrow,” Episode 71: “The Candidate,” Episode 72: “Restoration,” Episode 73: “Beyond Redemption,” Episode 74: “Haunted,” Episode 75: “Lost Souls,” Episode 76: “Brotherhood,” Episode 77: “Legends of Yesterday, Part 2,” Episode 78: “Dark Waters,” Episode 79: “Blood Debts,” Episode 80: “A.W.O.L.,” Episode 81: “Unchained,” Episode 82: “Sins of the Father,” Episode 83: “Code of Silence,” Episode 84: “Taken,” Episode 85: “Broken Hearts,” Episode 86: “Beacon of Hope,” Episode 87: “Eleven-Fifty-Nine,” Episode 88: “Canary Cry,” “Episode 89: “Genesis,” Episode 90: “Monument Point,” Episode 91: “Lost in the Flood,” Episode 92: “Schism.”

Season 5 (October 2016-May 2017)

Episode 93: “Legacy,” Episode 94: “The Recruits,” Episode 95: “A Matter of Trust,” Episode 96: “Penance,” Episode 97: “Human Target,” Episode 98: “So It begins,” Episode 99: “Vigilante,” Episode 100: “Invasion!,” Episode 101: “What We Leave Behind,” Episode 102: “Who Are You?”, Episode 103: “Second Chances,” Episode 104: “Bratva,” Episode 105: “Spectre of the Gun,” Episode 106: “The Sin-Eater,” Episode 107: “Fighting Fire With Fire,” Episode 108: “Checkmate,” Episode 109: “Kapishon,” Episode 110: “Disbanded,” Episode 111: “Dangerous Liaisons,” Episode 112: “Underneath,” Episode 113: “Honor Thy Fathers,” Episode 114: “Missing,” Episode 115: “Lian Yu.”

Season 6 (October 2017-May 2018)

Episode 116: “Fallout,” Episode 117: “Tribute,” Episode 118: “Next of Kin,” Episode 119: “Reversal,” Episode 120: “Deathstroke Returns,” Episode 121: “Promises Kept,” Episode 122: “Thanksgiving,” Episode 123: “Crisis on Earth X, Part 2,” Episode 124: “Irreconcilable Differences,” Episode 125: “Divided,” Episode 126: “We Fall,” Episode 127: “All for Nothing,” Episode 128: “The Devil’s Greatest Trick,” Episode 129: “Collision Course,” Episode 130: “Doppelganger,” Episode 131: “The Thanatos Guild,” Episode 132: “Brother in Arms,” Episode 133: “Fundamentals,” Episode 134: “The Dragon,” Episode 135: “Shifting Allegiances,” Episode 136: “Docket No. 11-19-41-73,” Episode 137: The Ties That Bind,” Episode 138: “Life Sentence.”

Season 7 (October 2018-May 2019)

Episode 139: “Inmate 4587,” Episode 140: “The Longbow Hunters,” Episode 141: “Crossing Lines,” Episode 142: “Level Two,” Episode 143: “The Demon,” Episode 144: “Due Process,” Episode 145: “The Slabside Redemption,” Episode 146: “Unmasked,” Episode 147: “Elseworlds, Part 2,” Episode 148: “My Name is Emiko Queen,” Episode 149: “Past Sins,” Episode 150: “Emerald Archer,” Episode 151: “Star City Slayer,” Episode 152: “Brothers & Sisters,” Episode 153: “Training Day,” Episode 154: “Star City 2040,” Episode 155: “Inheritance,” Episode 156: “Lost Canary,” Episode 157: “Spartan,” Episode 158: “Confessions,” Episode 159: “Living Proof,” Episode 160: “You Have Saved This City.”