In terms of consistency and quantity, it’s hard to beat the Arrowverse when it comes to superhero content. The universe that began with the small-scale and gritty Arrow has exploded into a rainbow of colorful padded leather and wild twists.
The Arrowverse has taken its many, many heroes (and villains) and put them into exciting, interesting and unpredictable situations. Part of that long lists of stories involves romance.
No different than the comics that spawned them, the Arrowverse hasn’t been afraid to explore the love lives of their very attractive heroes.
Some of the love stories of the Arrowverse get their inspiration from the comics, other are pure invention. None of them are the same.
Romance is just one of many facets of the Arrowverse. However, the romantic melodrama has tendency to overtake the entire series.
This is perfectly fine, even welcome, when the romance in question is compelling and dynamic. Yet it can be almost intolerable when the romance is awful and no one, but the audience, seems to realize it.
A bad romance can not only derail a season, as the series puts more and more time into a story that’s just not working, but it can irrevocably damage one or both characters.
It’s hard to root for someone when they make such terrible decisions. Luckily an excellent romance can really drive a character to new and exciting heights, even correcting problems from a previous failed relationship.
Here are the 10 Couples That Hurt The Arrowverse (And 10 That Saved It).
Saved: Oliver and Felicity – Arrow
There’s probably no more divisive couple in the Arrowverse than Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak. It’s hard to deny, wherever you may stand, that Felicity and Oliver’s relationship tends to dominate Arrow, pushing all other stories to the side.
Yet even if “Olicity” can take up the spotlight, the couple has done more good than harm.
The chemistry that developed between Oliver and Felicity occurred organically. Felicity was meant to be one-off character, but Emily Bett Rickards interacted so well with Stephen Amell (and the rest) that she kept coming back. The connection between the characters felt real and genuine.
Furthermore, Felicity had a huge impact on Oliver’s character development.
Felicity played an integral role in morphing Oliver from the angry, murderous vigilante to a much more mature, measured and reasonable person. Felicity helped turn The Hood into the Green Arrow.
Hurt: Kara and James – Supergirl
The big romance of Supergirl season 1 proves that it’s possible to have two very attractive, very likable characters and have absolutely no chemistry between them.
From the very first episode, the connection between Kara and Jimmy (sorry, James) Olsen was forced.
The two were fine as friends but every time Supergirl tried to sell the audience on the idea that Kara was smitten with James, it rang false.
Supergirl was so convinced Kara and James should be together that they provided no reasons why they would be together. James was defined solely by Kara’s desire for him. The character still hasn’t recovered from that one-dimensional portrayal.
Thankfully in the very first episode of Supergirl season 2, Kara and James called it quits. Yet it can’t possibly erase how unbearable their will-they-won’t-they routine was throughout season 1.
Saved: Jefferson and Lynn – Black Lightning
Black Lightning isn’t officially apart of the Arrowverse (yet). However, it’s close enough to qualify for a position on this list. Really, any excuse to praise the terrifically layered and magnetic relationship between Jefferson and Lynn Pierce is worth it.
The two might be divorced but there’s rarely been in a couple in the Arrowverse, let alone all of TV, that are as mature and companionable.
Lynn and Jefferson are two sides of the same coin.
The two are fantastic parents to their two daughters. Although Lynn disapproves of Jefferson’s vigilante activities, they also work rather well as a crime-fighting unit.
There are serious reasons why the two aren’t officially together. Jefferson’s nighttime activities being the biggest factor. Yet their sexual tension and hope that they’ll eventually reunite is one of the best underlying stories of Black Lightning.
Hurt: Dinah and Vincent – Arrow
Arrow has been through an almost shocking number of Black Canaries. Dinah Drake, who was introduced in season 5, immediately popped fitting perfectly into the Canary role. Dinah was strong, independent and acerbically amusing. Then Arrow (re)introduced her long-lost love, Vincent Sobel.
Dinah thought Vince had died. Instead he developed a metahuman healing factor and became the vigilante, named Vigilante. (Vince wasn’t very creative.)
There were a lot of missteps made with Dinah and Vince.
The romance was way too advanced for audiences to ever invest in fully. The audience was playing catch-up.
Furthermore, Dinah and Vince seemed to be barely tolerate each other during their rocky relationship. A relationship that ended with Vince being murdered and Dinah spinning to a murderous rage, which took her character to a dark and deeply unlikable place.
For the sake of Arrow, and Dinah’s character, Vince just should’ve stayed dead.
Saved: J’onn and M’Gann – Supergirl
Supergirl twisted things a little in developing the connection between their Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian. Typically, M’Gann is the “niece” of J’onn J’onzz and is significantly younger than him. In Supergirl, the two were made contemporaries and given a star-crossed love affair.
Like the comics, M’Gann tried to pass herself off as a Green Martian, when she was a White Martian. This put her at odds with J’onn, whose entire family had been destroyed by White Martians.
Yet slowly the two conquered the barriers of their respective races and found love with each other.
M’Gann and J’onn’s moments have been brief together. On-screen their only bit of affection has been a singular kiss. Thankfully, actors David Harewood and Sharon Leal have made the most of their limited time. The romance has ushered both characters forward, allowing them to explore new depths.
Hurt: Eddie and Iris - The Flash
The Flash’s first season is one of the best years of a superhero show, ever. Nearly everything worked from the villain, to the core team dynamic and even the various villains of the week. Still, there is a very notable weak spot in The Flash season 1, the romance.
From the very first episode, Barry is obviously in love with Iris. Yet The Flash needed a way to keep Iris and Barry apart so, while Barry was in a coma, Iris struck up a romance with Eddie Thawne.
Thus began a relationship that had the sole purpose of keeping Barry and Iris apart and do little else.
Eddie was never developed beyond being nice and boring. The audience never was given a reason to care, not even when Eddie proposed to Iris.
It was an emotional release when Eddie sacrificed himself in the finale, and no one spoke of him again.
Saved: Thea and Roy - Arrow
Thea Queen was an original creation of the Arrow team. Before Thea, Oliver never had a little sister, in any form. So, Arrow was free to do whatever they wanted with the character.
Part of that original journey ended up pairing up Thea with Oliver’s famous sidekick, Roy Harper.
Thea and Roy started off in cliched fashion. Thea was the prissy rich girl and Roy was poor guy from the wrong side of the tracks. Thankfully, Arrow took a more interesting route.
The two ended up being a really endearing example of a first love that lasts and is true.
It helps that after Roy was written out of the show, Arrow gave Thea several disappointing and dull boyfriends. Roy couldn’t help but look the best.
Still, when Thea was written out of the show too, it was heartwarming to see her literally ride off into the sunset with Roy.
Hurt: Oliver and Laurel – Arrow
If Thea and Roy are example of how to do a first love story right, Laurel and Oliver are the polar opposite. This is should’ve been a home run for Arrow. Black Canary and Green Arrow are one of the best couples in comics. Laurel and Oliver are their Arrow counterparts, but it never worked.
Arrow made the questionable decision to begin the series by establishing that Oliver had cheated on Laurel several times.
With that as a base, the show never managed to sell the audience on why these two “belonged” together.
Laurel and Oliver were the definition of dysfunction. It wasn’t even fun dysfunction, it was just depressing and repetitive.
Wisely Arrow decided to dump Oliver and Laurel after season 2. Though it’s arguable that Laurel never really found her spot on the show, separated from a romantic future with Oliver, even after she became the Black Canary.
Saved: Oliver and Sara – Arrow
Arrow wasn’t incapable of doing an Arrow and Canary romance. It just didn’t happen with Laurel and Oliver. Sara was envisioned as the other woman.
She was the sister of Laurel, who Oliver used to cheat on Laurel when he felt things getting too serious. Yet out of that immature decision grew a romance that was compelling and full of the delightful back-and-forth missing between Laurel and Oliver.
Sara was the first Black Canary Arrow created and still one of the best. In the field or out of it, Oliver and Sara worked so well together. They were fun to watch in every situation and helped each other grow as humans, as they got over the many demons in their past.
Arrow did have the two break-up because, as Sara explained, they were too similar.
Yet the romance was an exciting and important chapter in both characters’ story.
Hurt: Mon-El and Kara – Supergirl
In Supergirl season 2, nearly every aspect of the show improved. This included the romance. With Kara’s second major romance with Mon-El, Supergirl improved immensely over the affair with James. Yet it was still disappointing.
The chemistry that was lacking between Kara and James is present in Mon-El and Kara. This only makes sense as actors Chris Wood and Melissa Benoist are together in real life. Yet the romance with Mon-El took up way too much time and did too little in season 2.
Outside the obvious physical attraction, Supergirl didn’t do much to show why Kara fell in love with Mon-El. Mon-El refused to listen to Kara and, at worst, disrespected her.
Supergirl tried to develop Mon-El from selfish to selfless and have him develop an undying love with Kara at the same time. It just didn’t work. Kara had way too much patience for Mon-El, when he didn’t deserve it.
Saved: Diggle and Lyla - Arrow
Diggle and Lyla are truly the unsung romantic heroes of Arrow. Diggle has been in nearly every episode of Arrow. Lyla’s appearances have been infrequent.
Yet the few times that Lyla and Diggle have been together, Arrow proves how solid and healthy they are together.
Before Arrow began Diggle and Lyla were divorced. Throughout the series the two reconnected and rekindled their romance, eventually marrying in season 3.
The two know each other inside and out, making their scenes some of the most economical and satisfying in all of Arrow. Diggle and Lyla’s fights, rare as they may be, always lead to some fascinating character development or a just plain great scene.
Most Arrowverse relationship, even the interesting ones, are full of angst and melodrama.
However, Diggle and Lyla are reasonable adults and that never gets dull to experience.
Hurt: Felicity and Ray - Arrow
Ray Palmer is easily the most unluckiest in love character of the entire Arrowverse. Ray has never had a successful relationship. It is kind of sad, but Ray absolutely deserved his romance with Felicity to end in disaster.
Ray was brought into Arrow season 3 and quickly established himself as the obstacle in an Oliver and Felicity romance. This alone would be aggravating.
Yet the way Arrow created Felicity and Ray’s romance was even more disturbing. Ray “charmingly” stalked Felicity, until he eventually wore her down and she went out with him.
Once together they were insufferable match of quips, social awkwardness and geeky talk.
Felicity and Ray were a two-headed monster of nerdiness and it was just way too much.
Ray’s relationship with Felicity made him unintentionally unlikable. So much so that when Felicity eventually broke it off with him to be with Oliver, it nothing but a relief.
Saved: Maggie and Alex - Supergirl
Maggie and Alex did meet an unfortunate end, due to Maggie’s actress wanting to leave the show to explore other opportunities.
Even in a premature break-up, Maggie and Alex were a breath of fresh air to Supergirl’s troubled history with romance. The relationship proved that Supergirl could tell a good romance, if given the right characters, chemistry and situation.
The romance was a huge step in Alex’s character too. It was by meeting and falling for Maggie, that Alex realized she was gay.
This resulted in one of the most realistic and interesting coming out stories in TV history.
Alex’s coming out started a pattern of Supergirl approaching “Sanvers” with a refreshing point of view. The two felt genuine. Every scene of them felt like it was moving Alex’s character forward. Even their break-up, an issue over wanting child, felt heart-breakingly relatable.
Hurt: Caitlin and Ronnie – The Flash
Caitlin and Ronnie’s romance was marked by tragedy. The Flash began with Caitlin thinking Ronnie was dead. Later she realized he was alive and they reunited, only for her to lose him, immediately afterwards.
The intention was for the couple to be this achingly disastrous pair who just couldn’t get the timing right.
In practice, it was just laughably cruel how much trouble The Flash put Caitlin through.
Caitlin’s entire character was defined by the status of Ronnie’s life, even after he died (permanently).The two spent so little time together, there was no reason to care about Ronnie. Caitlin never hesitated to remind people that Ronnie was (or wasn’t) deceased. It was exhausting.
The poor status of their romance made it even more perplexing when The Flash decided to double down on Caitlin’s terrible love life by putting her into romances with people who either turned out to be evil, ran away from her or did both.
Saved: Sara and Nysaa – Arrow
The Arrowverse has been a place of inclusion and representation. One of the big lessons is that anyone can be hero no matter what they look like or who they love.
The first major example of queer representation in the Arrowverse came courtesy of Sara and her assassin lover, Nyssa al Ghul.
Nyssa al Ghul’s introduction in Arrow season 2 not only revealed that Sara was trained by the League of Assassins, but that Sara was bisexual. The relationship could’ve been cheap and manufactured.
Instead, it felt very honest. Sara and Nyssa had a difficult and complicated relationship but one that challenged audience’s perceptions and pushed the characters to surprising new limits.
Sara and Nyssa always seemed to find each other, in increasingly romantic ways.
The Arrowverse did have to wrap up their relationship in an unsatisfying fashion, due mostly to behind-the-scenes reasons. However, the Arrowverse would be a lot different without Sara and Nyssa.
Hurt: Nate and Amaya – Legends of Tomorrow
The core concept of Nate and Amaya’s romance is a sound one. Nate is a loser historian from present day and Amaya is a superhero from WWII, who has a whole destiny in front of her. It’s a fun and interesting time-travel romance for a time-travel series. It’s also not sustainable.
Nate and Amaya’s whirlwind romance might work well in a movie or short film. In an elongated TV show, it’s an exercise in repetition.
Since their introduction, Amaya and Nate have had the same argument and conflict. They love each other but eventually she'll have to break his heart.
Legends of Tomorrow has done little to spice up their romance or add new angles to it.
Nate and Amaya have been in a holding pattern for two seasons and it’s worn down any investment the audience should’ve had in them.
Saved: Sara and Ava – Legends of Tomorrow
Since Sara Lance jumped from Arrow to Legends of Tomorrow, she’s slept with many people throughout history. Sara’s little black book is basically an encyclopedia (and it’s awesome).
Yet few of Sara’s love connections have been as interesting and beneficial as the one with Special Agent Ava Sharpe.
Sara and Ava had a familiar route to the bedroom. They started off as enemies. Only with time did they discover that they had so much in common and struck up a love affair.
Sara and Ava are a perfectly functioning unit.
They balance each other as Ava plays by the book and Sara sets the book on fire.
There’s also a charming antagonism to them. They challenge each other in a way that brings out their best selves but still provides some compelling drama.
Hurt: Kendra and Carter – Legends of Tomorrow
More than any other Arrowverse series, Legends of Tomorrow struggled to find itself in season 1. Legends of Tomorrow season 1 was a mess with so many story threads, few of which connected. The most cohesive story of season 1, sadly, happens to be its most irritating.
Legends of Tomorrow began with killing off Carter Hall, just as his immortal lover Kendra remembered him and fell back in love with him.
However, since Carter can reincarnate, and Legends of Tomorrow can time-travel, this was a speed bump in their relationship.
Kendra and Carter reunited as Legends season 1 ended. It sounds like a lovely story but Legends of Tomorrow dropped the ball in execution.
Kendra ended up realizing that her feelings for Carter were incredibly rushed.
Legends of Tomorrow milked Kendra’s mourning of Carter but spent no time in giving anyone a reason to care. Kendra and Carter departed in season 1 finale and haven’t been missed.
Saved: Iris and Barry – The Flash
Some of the best Arrowverse couples have been the ones that have rejected comic book canon and gone their own direction.
The Flash’s Iris and Barry are the happy exception. This wasn't completely accurate to the source material. The Flash decided to make Barry the adopted son of Iris’ father, Joe, and have them be raised together.
However, that slight twist has just strengthened their partnership. Long before Iris and Barry got married, they were united. Time and time again, The Flash has established that Iris is Barry’s lightning rod. She keeps him grounded and gives him something to fight for as The Flash.
Likewise, Barry inspires Iris to be her own hero.
The complement each other perfectly. It's so cheesy when they assert, "We're The Flash," but it’s completely true.
Hurt: Oliver and Susan - Arrow
Season 5 of Arrow is excellent. It’s a terrific story that is woven together so tightly. No time is wasted and every major plot point builds on the last. It’s tremendous but it has a major flaw and that flaw’s name is Susan Williams.
There’s never been a character more paper-thin than Susan. She's a “tough-as-nails” reporter who investigates Oliver and then falls in love with him, Susan’s arc was ridiculous and insulting.
She seemed so unbelievably bland that fans were convinced she was evil. Yet the real twist was that there was no twist, Susan was just that boring.
Scenes between Oliver and Susan felt as if Oliver was trying to seduce a (very pretty) wall. Susan was a transparent and lame excuse to delay a romantic reunion with Felicity. Arrow barely tried to hide it too, which only further frustrated fans.
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Do you agree with our list? Who are your favorite and most hated Arrowverse couples? Which have been the most beneficial and which were just a waste of time? Sound off in the comments!