Interview: Wendy Mericle Talks About The Strong Women Of Arrow

Today, The CW put a spotlight on the female Executive Producers on the network, and Arrow Executive Producer and Co-Showrunner Wendy Mericle was one of those EPs spotlighted.

We caught up with Ms. Mericle after the panel in the scrum, and as the subject of the panel was powerful females, we asked her about the strong women of Arrow. (Don’t worry, we talked with her about Nyssa in another, soon-to-be-posted interview… and as for Sara, watch this space.)

We began with Thea Queen, who is set to have a big arc in Arrow Season 4.

“Thea’s going to have a big story,” Mericle tells us. “We’ve already hinted a little bit last season that she’s going to have some aftereffects from the Lazarus Pit, and she’s going to be dealing with those throughout the season and possibly have a new love interest.” That love interest will be played by Enlisted’s Parker Young.

The Thea character has grown quite a bit since the show’s first season, when she and Laurel Lance seemed to get quite a bit of criticism. Both of those characters have come a long way since Season 1, and we can expect more development in Season 4.  “That, to me, is the most exciting part of the season,” Mericle says. “They’re now full-fledged members of the team, and they’re bad-ass. They are out there; they replace Oliver, who left at the end of Season 3… there’s no learning curve; they’re out there. They’re getting the job down, and they’re awesome.”

There’s another heroine in Arrow who wasn’t even a part of things when the show began: Felicity Smoak, as played by Emily Bett Rickards.

“Felicity, obviously, has been such a key part of the show. She was somebody that we brought on in Season One, just kind of thinking ‘well, we need somebody to do some tech in the lair. It would be great!’ We did pull her name from the comic books, and she has just exploded into a fan favorite,” Mericle recalls. “It really is a testament to Emily Bett Rickards. She just brings this grounded humor, kind of girl-next-door… she’s very relatable.. and everyone kind of fights to get to write the Felicity scenes. The other scenes, too, but she’s a favorite of everyone.”

We will see all three of these heroines in Season 4 of Arrow, which premieres Wednesday, October 7 on The CW. Stay tuned to GreenArrowTV in the coming days and weeks for more interviews!