When any TV series lasts as long as Arrow has, it’s only expected that it not hold onto every original cast member. Amazingly enough, we’ve had stalwarts such as David Ramsey, Emily Bett Rickards, Katie Cassidy and Paul Blackthorne all stand by lead actor Stephen Amell from the very beginning, but we have lost a few along the way like Colton Haynes, John Barrowman and, most recently, Willa Holland.
Actually, Holland’s exit doesn’t come as too much of a surprise, especially when one considers the limited schedule she had during seasons 5 and 6. To be honest, when Thea Queen rode off into the horizon – in a red car, no less – with Roy Harper and Nyssa al Ghul, I knew in my bones that an announcement regarding Holland’s departure was imminent.
Of course, it’s to be expected that Stephen Amell express some emotion after seeing his onscreen sister move on, and he recently offered the following to TV Line:
“Quite frankly, the most important thing when you’re doing a show like this and you’re doing 23 episodes [per season] and you’re working long, hard hours, you need to make sure that everyone that’s here wants to be here.
“Willa was nothing short of professional and excellent, and always delivered tremendous performances. But I know that she wanted to move on with her career. And I totally respect that. And I’m glad that she’s going to get that opportunity.”
Still, it’s important we stress that Thea remains alive, so the door is open for Holland to make guest appearances here and there in the future if she so chooses. The ball is in her court, sure, but it’d be nice to see her again whenever the Thanatos Guild plot is revisited. Judging by the way things left off, we’re guessing that won’t be until season 7, so we’ll have to wait and see.
Arrow airs on Thursday nights on The CW.
