Who is Arrow?

Arrow is an American superhero television series developed by writer/producers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg that is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow. The series premiered in the United States on The CW on October 10, 2012, with international broadcasting taking place in late 2012. Primarily filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, "Arrow" follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), who, five years after being stranded on a hostile island, returns home to fight crime and corruption as a secret vigilante whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrow.

Arrow (TV series)

The series takes a new look at the Green Arrow character, as well as other characters from the DC Comics universe. Although Oliver Queen/Green Arrow had been featured in the television series "Smallville" from 2006 to 2011, on the CW, the producers decided to start clean and find a new actor to portray the character. "Arrow" focuses on the humanity of Oliver Queen, and how he was changed by time spent shipwrecked on an island. Most episodes in the first five seasons have flashback scenes to the five years in which Oliver was missing. After Oliver's flashback arc is completed, episodes starting season seven have flash-forward scenes twenty years ahead focus on Oliver's previously unknown son William and aged protégé Roy Harper, exploring Green Arrow's legacy through them.

"Arrow" has received generally positive reviews from critics. The series averaged about 3.68 million viewers over the course of the first season and received several awards and multiple nominations. To promote it, a preview comic book was released before the television series began, while webisodes featuring a product tie-in with Bose were developed for the second season. The first six seasons are available on DVD and Blu-ray in regions 1, 2 and 4; a series of soundtracks was also released.

In October 2014, a spin-off series entitled "The Flash" premiered. In August 2015, an animated spin-off, "Vixen", was released, while a second live-action spin-off, "Legends of Tomorrow", premiered in January 2016, featuring several characters from "Arrow" and "The Flash". All four shows are set in a shared universe collectively known as the Arrowverse. The seventh season premiered on October 15, 2018. On January 31, 2019, The CW renewed the series for an eighth season.

The series follows Oliver Queen, billionaire playboy of Starling City, who is discovered on the mysterious island of Lian Yu five years after he and his father were shipwrecked. Upon his return to Starling City, he is reunited with his mother, Moira Queen, his sister, Thea Queen, and his friends, Tommy Merlyn and Laurel Lance.

In the first season, Oliver rekindles relationships and spends nights as a hooded vigilante hunting wealthy criminals listed in his father's notebook. He uncovers Malcolm Merlyn's plot to destroy "The Glades", a poorer, crime-ridden section of the city. John Diggle and Felicity Smoak assist Oliver's crusade. Oliver also reconnects with old flame Dinah Laurel Lance, who blames him for her sister's death. The season features flashbacks to Oliver's first year on the island, and how it changed him, while trying to stop a mercenary force targeting the Chinese economy.

In season two, Oliver has vowed to stop killing criminals. His family and allies are attacked by Slade Wilson, a man from Oliver's time on the island who returns to destroy his life. Oliver accepts aspiring vigilante Roy Harper as his protégé, and gains assistance from Laurel's father, Quentin. Oliver also teams with a woman in black, who is revealed to be Laurel's sister, Sara, who also survived the shipwreck. Flashbacks depict Oliver's continued time on the island with Slade, Sara, and the archer Shado, along with the origins of his feud with Slade.

In season three, Oliver's company Queen Consolidated is sold to businessman, scientist and aspiring hero Ray Palmer. After Sara is found murdered, Oliver becomes embroiled in a conflict with Ra's al Ghul. He struggles to reconnect with his sister, who knows Malcolm is her father, and Laurel sets out to follow Sara as the Black Canary. Meanwhile, Diggle struggles as a family man and Felicity becomes Vice President of Palmer Technologies (formerly Queen Consolidated). In flashbacks, Oliver is forced to work for A.R.G.U.S. leader Amanda Waller in Hong Kong; he and Tatsu Yamashiro work to stop corrupt general Matthew Shrieve from unleashing a pathogen, which Ra's al Ghul acquires in the present.

In season four, Oliver ends a short retirement and becomes the "Green Arrow". His team fights the terrorist group H.I.V.E., headed by the mystically enhanced Damien Darhk, who is attacking Star City (formerly Starling City). Diggle discovers his brother Andy is alive and a H.I.V.E. soldier; Thea works with Oliver as "Speedy", but with a violent temper; and Laurel attempts to resurrect Sara using the Lazarus Pit. Oliver's life as a vigilante and with Felicity are complicated by his mayoral run and the discovery of his son. Laurel dies in a fight with Damien, and Oliver discovers his plan to detonate nuclear weapons and rule the Earth's remains. In flashbacks, Oliver returns to Lian Yu to infiltrate Shadowspire for Waller, and encounters a mystical idol used by Darhk in the present-day narrative.

In season five, Oliver trains young heroes Wild Dog, Mister Terrific, Artemis, and Ragman to join his war on crime following Laurel's death and Thea's resignation. He also recruits a new Black Canary; former police detective Dinah Drake. Oliver tries to balance vigilantism with his new role as mayor, yet is threatened by the mysterious and deadly Prometheus, who has a connection to Oliver's past. Oliver is also forced to contend with Prometheus' ally Black Siren, a twisted doppelganger of Laurel Lance with a sonic scream. In flashbacks, Oliver joins the Bratva in Russia as part of a plot to assassinate Konstantin Kovar. There, he meets and is trained by Talia al Ghul, as a hooded archer, before returning to Lian Yu.

In season six, after an explosive battle on Lian Yu, Oliver must balance being a vigilante, the mayor, and a father to his son William. At the same time, new enemies emerge, initially led by hacker Cayden James, who puts together a team with drug dealer Ricardo Diaz, metahuman vigilante Vincent Sobel, Russian mobster Anatoli Knyazev, and Black Siren. As James loses control of his cabal, Ricardo Diaz comes to the fore, announcing to Green Arrow his scheme to take over Star City's criminal underworld and control the city's political infrastructure, all while Oliver must contend with his former teammates forming a rival team. As Diaz takes control of the city, Oliver is forced to recruit the aid of the FBI, in exchange for him publicly announcing his identity and going to federal prison. In the finale, Oliver is imprisoned in a supermax penitentiary.

In season seven, five months after Oliver's imprisonment, Diaz has recruited the Longbow Hunters, consisting of Kodiak, Silencer, and Red Dart for a new criminal agenda, including seeking revenge on Oliver's loved ones and allies. Unbeknownst to Diaz, the Hunters have their own agendas. At the same time, the former members of the disbanded Team Arrow struggle to keep Star City safe without Oliver. Another hooded archer, whose family history is linked to Oliver's, being dubbed by the press as the new Green Arrow, emerges in Star City. The season features flash-forwards twenty years into the future to Oliver's son William's adulthood, where he seeks out an aged Roy Harper on Lian Yu, and they discover an instruction made by Oliver and Felicity at some point.On January 12, 2012, The CW was preparing a new series centered around the character Green Arrow, developed by Andrew Kreisberg, Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim. A week later, the series, now known as "Arrow", was ordered to pilot, which was directed by David Nutter, who also directed the pilot for "Smallville", a series following Clark Kent on his journey to become Superman. At the end of the month, Stephen Amell was cast in the titular role of Oliver Queen. When developing the series, producer Marc Guggenheim expressed that the creative team wanted to "chart [their] own course, [their] own destiny", and avoid any direct connections to "Smallville", which featured its own Green Arrow/Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley), opting to cast a new actor in the role of Oliver Queen. Unlike "Smallville", the series does not initially feature super-powered heroes and villains. Instead, the team took inspiration from "Smallville", as one of the main themes of "Arrow" was to "look at the humanity" of Oliver Queen, as "Smallville" had done with Clark Kent. The decision not to include superpowers was, in part, based on the executives' desire to take a realistic look at the characters in this universe. Production on the pilot began in March 2012 in Vancouver, which would continue to act as the primary filming location for the series. The series' skyline shots use a combination of footage from Frankfurt, Germany, Center City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Maryland, Back Bay, Boston, and Tokyo, Japan. The series was given a full season pick up on October 22, 2012.

For the first five seasons "Arrow" features two storylines: one in the present, and the other, shown in flashback, during Oliver's time on the island five years before his rescue. These flashbacks are used to illustrate how Oliver transformed into the man that returns to Starling City. Filming for the island flashbacks takes place in Vancouver's Whytecliff Park area, near beachfront homes. Much planning is required to keep the buildings out of camera frame. Guggenheim said, "Stephen [Amell] has to wear a wig, and his look has to be changed... there's a lot. It's actually incredibly ambitious to do these flashbacks every week, every single episode. Because like Andrew [Kreisberg] said, it's almost like it's its own show." Regarding the flashbacks after the fifth season, Guggenheim and Mericle stated that the series would explore flashbacks from other character's perspectives, such as Curtis Holt, along with the possibility of flashfowards. Guggenheim said, "We still want to make [flashbacks] part of our storytelling, because we do like them. We like when those non-island flashbacks sort of illuminate what's going on in the present day. That'll always be a part of the show and a part of the show's storytelling structure. It just won't be telling a serialized story."

The series develops relationship triangles: some love triangles, others designed to catch characters in "philosophical debates". Kreisberg provides one such example: "Every week, Oliver will be facing a bad guy, but the truth is, his real nemesis is Detective Lance, who's trying to bring him into justice... His daughter is going to be caught in the middle, because she loves and respects her father, and she's always believed in what he believed, but at the same time, she's going to see this dark urban legend out there that's actually doing a lot of good; the kind of good that she wants to be doing in her role as a legal aid attorney." Learning from previous experiences working in television, the producers worked early on identifying the major story arcs for the series, specifically the first season, including "mapping out" how to accomplish them. Taking inspiration from Christopher Nolan's "Batman" film series, the creative team decided to "put it all out there" and "not hold back" from episode to episode.

The team strives to include various DC Comics characters and aspects of the DC universe. Guggenheim cited Big Belly Burger, a restaurant franchise introduced in the Superman comics, which appears in "Arrow"'s third episode and onward. Kreisberg said, "There are so many characters in the DC Universe who haven't gotten their due in TV and film. We're so excited to reach into [the DC comics] roster and take some of these lesser-known characters that are beloved by fans, and do our spin on the characters."

Ahead of the 100th episode, Guggenheim talked about the commitment to quality the series strived for, stating, "We never skimped on the writing, the production or in the post-process going, 'This is going to be one of those stinkers, we might as well cut our losses and move on.' We worked as hard as we possibly can on the scripts. If episodes have come in bad, we reshoot... Even in season 5, we have no problems with doing reshoots, or pickups, or anything we need to do to make each episode as successful as it can possibly be." He also noted his biggest regret in the series was "I wish we had allowed the Oliver-Felicity storyline in season 4 to unfold at a more natural pace. We had set these tentpoles at the beginning of the season, and we were a bit too rigorous on how we hit them. That was a case where the planning overtook the storytelling. We didn't do things as naturally and as elegantly as we should have."

On April 2, 2018, The CW renewed the series for a seventh season, which premiered on October 15, 2018. On January 31, 2019, The CW renewed the series for an eighth season.

The realistic approach to the series included the costume design for Oliver's vigilante persona, created by Colleen Atwood. According to Amell, it was important for the suit to be functional, and the best way that he knew for that was if he could put the costume on by himself: "If I can put it on by myself, I think that people will buy it. And that was our idea. That's our world."

In the second half of season two, Oliver replaces his "paint" mask with a domino mask, similar to one worn by the character in the comics. The change is addressed on-screen, with Kreisberg saying, "He doesn't just put on a mask. It's actually a big plot point in an episode, and there really is a story behind, not only the need for the mask but also who provides him with it." On adding the mask now, Kreisberg stated that, "Conceptually, it was something we wanted to do because Oliver himself is evolving as the Arrow—from vigilante to hero, sort of from Arrow to Green Arrow—and we wanted to see that progression in his costume as well. As Oliver is embracing being a hero, being a hero means stepping out of the dark and being more of a symbol, so he has to take steps to conceal his identity more." He added that it will "allow the Arrow to interact with people who don't know his identity in a much more organic way than having him constantly keep his head down."

Costume designer Maya Mani put together roughly 50 mask options for the producers. Kreisberg said, "What's so wonderful about the design that Maya came up with is that it really is very simple, and it feels as if it's been part of his costume since the beginning... once we finally had this mask and put it on Stephen [Amell], even Stephen was like, 'This is the right one. In the episode "Three Ghosts", Oliver receives the mask from Barry Allen, who is able to create a mask that will help conceal his identity, while still being functional and allowing Oliver to see clearly.

To compose the score for "Arrow", executive producer Greg Berlanti invited Blake Neely, with whom he had first worked on "Everwood". Neely created a score that combined electronic and orchestral cues, varying between action themes and romantic ones. Berlanti told Neely the series would be dark, and the music should be as well. After reading the pilot script, Neely went away to start composing on his own. According to Neely, "Of course, Oliver has his main theme but also sub-themes for the many layers of his character. He and Laurel have a love theme. Mom had a theme for the Undertaking. The bad guys all have themes, which makes it sad for me when one of them dies. So I try not to become attached to bad guy themes. Diggle has a theme. Even the Island itself has a theme." A soundtrack for season one was released on September 17, 2013 by WaterTower Music. Two versions of a soundtrack for season two were released on September 16, 2014 by WaterTower Music and La La Land Records; the compact disc release includes two exclusive tracks not available on the digital release. On December 18, 2014, WaterTower Music and La La Records released a selection of music from "The Flash" / "Arrow" crossover episodes, as well as two bonus tracks from their respective 2014 midseason finales. The Season 3 soundtrack was released in December 2015, consisting of 2 discs for the first time (previous albums consisted on one CD).

"Arrow" premiered on The CW network from October 10, 2012, during the 2012–13 television season. In Canada, the show is broadcast simultaneously on the same day as the United States. The show premiered outside North America throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, on October 22, 2012. In Australia, the series premiered on May 1, 2013, on the Nine Network, before moving to Foxtel for the fourth season.

Season one received favorable reviews, with a Metacritic score of 73 out of 100, based on reviews from 25 critics, making it the highest rated CW show in five years. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes calculated an approval rating of 85%, based on 35 reviews, for the first season. The site's consensus reads: "The CW nails the target with "Arrow", a comic book-inspired series that benefits from cinematic action sequences, strong plotting, and intriguing characters." Mary McNamara of the "Los Angeles Times" called the series an interesting setup with a quality look, describing Amell as "a poster boy (no doubt literally) for the Katniss Everdeen set." Brian Lowry at "Variety" described the series as a "handsome but stiff surrogate for Batman that could benefit from sharper execution." In reviewing the final episode of season one, Alasdair Wilkins of "The A.V. Club" gave the season as a whole a rating of B+, noting that the show "hasn't quite figured everything out yet, but it's had some standout episodes."

Season two received acclaim from critics for the action sequences, storytelling, performances of the cast, drama, and the portrayal of Slade Wilson. Rotten Tomatoes reported a 96% approval rating based on 14 reviews, with the site's consensus reading: "The second season of "Arrow" boasts more fantastic action, as well as a widening cast of intriguing, richly written characters." Jeff Jensen of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the first half of season two a rating of B+, saying, ""Arrow" possesses an intelligence that shines through its TV-budget production values, which aren't too shabby. The writing is adult and witty, the action is exciting, and Amell holds the center with well-cultivated ease." "The A.V. Club"s Carrie Raisler gave the first half of season two a rating of A-. She said, ""Arrow" [has] officially established itself as one of the most satisfying shows on television. The most satisfying thing of all is that it did so by respecting its characters... ["Arrow" respects] the character's comic-book roots in its overarching plotlines, all while using the network-appropriate soap-opera stories to do the heavy character lifting."

Despite receiving positive responses for the season three premiere, the second half of season three was met with criticism, particularly for its preoccupation with romance, leading to accusations of the show "devolving into a CW fever dream" and "turning Star City into "Dawson's Creek"" and becoming a'soap opera'. The flashback sequences were characterized as sporadic and "superfluous", with Ra's al Ghul described as a "shallow" and "underutilized" villain "absent of clear antagonism", although Matt Nable was generally praised for his portrayal of the character. Furthermore, while parallels to Batman had always existed in the show, the use of such a major character from Batman's rogues gallery and the essential application of the "Daughter of the Demon" and several other Batman and Ra's al Ghul storylines applied to Oliver Queen came under particular fire from viewers, who accused the show of "ripping off" Batman. The season finale was described as "dull", "lacking scope", and "underwhelming" by IGN's Jesse Schedeen in light of the "high standard" the show had previously established for its finales. He cemented the mixed reception of season three as being "haphazardly paced" and "struggling to develop a clear sense of direction". The third season holds a score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 10 reviews, with the site's consensus concluding: ""Arrow" stays on target with new characters and a steady supply of exciting action."

The fourth season received mixed reviews. The season earned praise given to the action scenes and Neal McDonough's performance as Damien Darhk. However, it also received increasingly negative reviews for its mundane flashbacks, lack of narrative focus, and formulaic season finale. Ryan Fleming, of Deadbeatspanel.com noted that "Arrow" was "honoring the comics, but it isn't beholden to them. Characters... have been introduced, but they aren't exact replicas of their comic counterparts. Instead, the characters tend to be loosely connected." Lesley Goldberg of "The Hollywood Reporter" noted the presence of the character Thea "Speedy" Queen as one of the larger departures from the comics in the series, as well as the character's early willingness to kill. Comic Book Resources's Kevin Melrose has also noted the series tendency to have loose connections to the source material. Rotten Tomatoes gave the season an 85% approval rating based on 10 reviews, with a critic consensus reading: "Season four of "Arrow" flourishes with a refreshing new tone, a thrilling new villain, and a gripping story arc."

The fifth season received mostly positive reviews from critics, giving praise for the performances of Stephen Amell and Josh Segarra, action sequences, storytelling, and the season finale. IGN gave Season 5 a score of 8.7 out of 10, stating that the it "managed to overcome them and recapture a lot of what made the show so memorable in its first two seasons." Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 90% based on 19 reviews.

The sixth season received mixed reviews from critics. IGN gave Season 6 a score of 6.7 out of 10, stating that it "captured the show at its best and worst, with a strong finish redeeming months of dissapointment." Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 79% based on 7 reviews, and the average score is 6.83/10.

"Arrow"s premiere episode drew 4.14 million viewers, making it The CW's most-watched telecast of any show on any night in three years, and The CW's most-watched series premiere since "The Vampire Diaries" in 2009. In its second episode, "Arrow" became the only new network drama in the 2012–13 season to hold its ratings in both adults 18–34 and adults 18–49 from its premiere to its second week. In Australia, the premiere received 1.32 million viewers, making it the third most-watched broadcast on the network that night. The UK broadcast was the highest-rated telecast of the week on Sky 1, with 1.85 million viewers. In Canada, the first episode got 1.32 million viewers, making it the fourth most-watched airing of the night and the twenty-third of the week.
"Arrow" has generated other media and spinoffs, including digital comic books and Internet-based mini-episodes with characters from the series.

To promote the series, DC Comics produced a 10-page preview comic for the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con, written by Kreisberg, illustrated by Omar Francia, and featuring a cover by artist Mike Grell. The comic was regarded by the production crew as sharing the same canon as the series, with Kreisberg commenting, "[For] anyone who grabs a copy: Hold onto it and as the series progresses, you'll appreciate it more and more." It was later released free online. On October 10, 2012, DC Comics debuted a weekly digital comic tie-in written by Kreisberg and Guggenheim and drawn by various artists, including Mike Grell, which remained in continuity with the television series. The series lasted for 36 chapters, running until June 2013. These were collected, together with the initial preview comic, into "Arrow: Volume 1", released in October 2013. Titan Magazines published the comics in a physical format in the UK. The first issue was published on October 17, 2013 and contained the first four chapters of the series, with the complete series lasting 6 issues.

A follow up to the original digital title, "Arrow: Season 2.5", is written by Guggenheim and Keto Shimizu, one of the show's executive story editors and writers, with art by Joe Bennett and Jack Jadson. "Arrow 2.5" is intended to tell one continuous story across two arcs, that fits within the television narrative. Guggenheim stated, "We've tried to put in all the elements that people like about the show... We're going to see what's happened to Detective Lance after he collapsed in the season [two] finale. A good chunk of the burning questions left over will get answered in the tie-in comic. Particularly towards the latter half of the series, we're going to start introducing characters [in the comic] who you'll see in Season 3... before they show up on TV." On the comic's relationship to season three of the show, Guggenheim said, "Season three is designed to stand on its own feet without requiring anyone to do any outside reading. But what the comic book will give is a deeper appreciation for some of the moments [in the show] and a more complete narrative experience. If you want to go deeper into the story, that's what "Season 2.5" is for." Shimizu added that the comic also allows the writers to "accomplish things on the page that are nearly impossible to do with our production schedule and our budget", including bigger action sequences, as well as visits to locations such as Kahndaq that cannot be recreated on the show. Additionally, the series has one to two pages each issue dedicated to the Suicide Squad, leading up to their own issue later in the run. The character Caleb Green, who has ties to Robert Queen, was created specifically for the comic. Guggenheim said "The goal is to end "Season 2.5" basically five minutes before Season 3 begins." The comic launched digitally biweekly on September 1, 2014, with its first physical release featuring a collection of the digital releases releasing on October 8. The series featured 24 digital issues, which constituted 12 physical issues.

A third series, "Arrow: The Dark Archer", is written by Barrowman with his sister Carole, and with an art team led by Daniel Sampere. The comic, initially set between season three and four of the show before flashing back, explores a younger Malcolm Merlyn and his past, with Corto Maltese and Nanda Parbat featured. Barrowman, who initially pitched the series to DC Comics as another with the ability to tell Merlyn's backstory, said he "had a backstory in my head for Malcolm from the beginning and a lot of it has made its way into our comic and onto the screen. I think it's always been my job to help the audience relate to Malcolm in some way despite his questionable morals and evil ways." Executive producers Guggenheim and Kreisberg helped the Barrowmans ensure the story would fit within the continuity of the series. The 12-chapter series was released digitally once every two weeks starting January 13, 2016, before the entire story was collected in a single print edition in September 2016.

On November 6, 2013, a six-episode series of shorts, titled "Blood Rush", premiered alongside the broadcast of the show, as well as online. The series, which was presented by Bose, and features product placement for Bose products, was shot on location in Vancouver, similarly to the main show. The miniseries features Emily Bett Rickards, Colton Haynes and Paul Blackthorne reprising their roles of Felicity Smoak, Roy Harper and Quentin Lance, respectively.

The episodes set during the course of the second season of the television series, show Roy coming to Queen Consolidated to have a meeting with Oliver. As he is out, Felicity tells Roy to go wait in the lobby. As Roy leaves, Officer Lance calls Felicity, telling her that the blood sample the Starling City police found on the vigilante, which Felicity destroyed, has resurfaced. Felicity then calls Roy, using Oliver's voice encoder, asking him to break into the lab to retrieve the sample. Felicity guides Roy through the lab, where he is able to recover the sample. As Roy is leaving, doctors enter the room, seemingly trapping him. He notifies Felicity, who then hacks into the building's PA system, and issues an evacuation notice, giving Roy a chance to escape. Roy gets out of the room before it enters into lock down, and is able to avoid two guards with the help of Felicity and exit the lab. Roy returns to Queen Consolidated, and Felicity offers to mail the acquired sample for Roy as he goes in to meet with Oliver.

A Green Arrow skin based on Oliver Queen's appearance in "Arrow" appears in the 2013 video game "" as downloadable content. The playable skin was given as a bonus reward to the first 5,000 voters of "Injustice"s promotional Battle Arena competition, but was later released as a free download. Stephen Amell lends his voice and likeness to the skin.

"" features an "Arrow" downloadable content pack that adds multiple playable characters, including Arrow, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Huntress, Slade Wilson, Roy Harper, Canary, and Malcolm Merlyn as well as vehicles and an exclusive level set during Oliver's time in Lian Yu. Amell reprised his role in addition to voicing the traditional Green Arrow in the game, while Cynthia Addai-Robinson reprised her role as Amanda Waller.

In September 2018, Warner Bros. announced that the season pass for the game "Lego DC Super-Villains" would include content inspired by "Arrow".

On February 23, 2016, Titan Books released "Arrow: Vengeance", a tie-in novelization written by Oscar Balderrama and Lauren Certo, which is set before and during the second season, detailing the origins of Slade Wilson, Sebastian Blood, and Isabel Rochev, and how they eventually meet and collaborate with each other to battle Oliver's alter-ego as seen in the television series. On November 29, 2016, Titan Books released "The Flash: The Haunting of Barry Allen", a tie-in novelization written by Susan and Clay Griffith, set during the second season of "The Flash" and the fourth season of "Arrow", which features characters from both shows; the story continued in "Arrow: A Generation of Vipers", released on March 28, 2017, again written by the Griffiths.

In August 2017, it was confirmed that "Arrow" executive producer Marc Guggenheim would co-author a fourth novel, alongside James R. Tuck, entitled "Arrow: Fatal Legacies", which was released in January 2018. The novel focuses on events between the fifth-season finale and sixth-season premiere.

The first guidebook to be released was "Arrow: Heroes and Villains" by Nick Aires and published by Titan Books, released in February 2015. Described as "a companion" to the series, the book features sections on the various characters of the series, along with descriptions, backgrounds, comic book origins, and "where they stand as of the end of the second season of "Arrow"".

A follow up to "Heroes and Villians" by the same author and publisher, titled "Arrow: Oliver Queen's Dossier", was released in October 2016, during the series' fifth season. The book is presented as information collected by the Green Arrow and Felicity Smoak over the course of his four years of activity. Included in the book are "handwritten notes" and "police reports" regarding the Green Arrow and those he targets.

In July 2013, it was announced that Berlanti and Kreisberg, along with Nutter and Geoff Johns, would be creating a television series, "The Flash", based on the character of the same name, with an origin story for Barry Allen. The character, played by actor Grant Gustin, was set to appear in three episodes of season two of "Arrow", with the final one acting as a backdoor pilot for the new series. However, it was announced in November 2013 that the backdoor pilot would not be happening, with a traditional pilot being made instead. In January 2015, The CW president Mark Pedowitz announced the intention to do a "Flash"/"Arrow" crossover every season, and The CW announced that an animated web-series, "Vixen", featuring the DC heroine of the same name and set in the universe of "Arrow" and "The Flash", would be debuting on CW Seed in late 2015. The character later made a live-action appearance on "Arrow" in the fourth-season episode "Taken". The next month, it was reported that a spin-off series, which is described as a superhero team-up show, was in discussion by The CW for a possible 2015–16 midseason release. Berlanti and Kreisberg would executive produce alongside Guggenheim and Sarah Schechter. The potential series would be headlined by several recurring characters from both "Arrow" and "The Flash", with the potential for other "Arrow"/"Flash" characters to cross over to the new series as well. In May 2015, The CW officially picked up the series, titled "DC's Legends of Tomorrow".

During the 100th episode of Arrow season 5, some returning characters from previous seasons make an appearance in "Invasion!", a crossover episode of "Supergirl", "The Flash", "Arrow" and "Legends of Tomorrow", where Thea, Diggle, Sara, Ray and Oliver are abducted by the Dominators and were put in dream stasis to gather intel while they are shown what would their lives be like if Oliver never got on the boat. The next season, "Arrow" crossed over with the three shows again during the "Crisis on Earth-X" event on November 27 and 28, 2017. During the 2018 CW Upfronts, Stephen Amell announced that Batwoman and Gotham City will be introduced in the 2018 annual crossover event.

In August 2015, it was confirmed that Matt Ryan would appear on "Arrow" in the fourth-season episode "Haunted", per a "one-time-only-deal" that would involve his character being "brought in to deal with the fallout of the resurrection of Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) via Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus Pit." Due to "Arrow" and "Constantine" sharing the same studio, the producers of "Arrow" were also able to acquire Ryan's original outfits. John Badham, who was a director on "Constantine", directed the crossover episode. On filming the episode, Guggenheim stated it felt like the production team was "doing a "Constantine"/"Arrow" crossover, and it's so exciting... we're just really glad we got the chance to extend Matt Ryan's run as Constantine by at least one more hour of television. I think you'll see he fits very neatly into our universe. It never feels forced, it feels right."


What is the highest title in the English peerage?

The ranks of the English peerage are, in descending order, Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron. While most newer English peerages descend only in the male line, many of the older ones (particularly older baronies) can descend through females. Under English inheritance law all daughters are co-heirs, so many older English peerage titles have fallen into abeyance between various female co-heirs.

Peerage of England

The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain.

Until the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, all Peers of England could sit in the House of Lords. (Women peers of England were only granted seats with the Peerage Act 1963.)

Baronets, while holders of hereditary titles, are not peers and do not confer nobility. Knights, Dames, and holders of other non-hereditary orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom are also not peers.

In the following table, each peer is listed only by his or her highest English title (with the exception of the Duke of Norfolk/Earl of Arundel) showing higher or equal titles in the other peerages. Those peers who are known by a higher title in one of the other peerages are listed in "italics".

Peerage of England

In the British peerage, a royal duke is a member of the British royal family, entitled to the titular dignity of prince and the style of "His Royal Highness" who holds a dukedom. Dukedoms are the highest titles in the British roll of peerage and the holders of these particular dukedoms are Princes of the Blood Royal. The holders of the dukedoms are royal not the titles themselves. They are titles created and bestowed on legitimate sons and male-line grandsons of the British monarch, usually upon reaching their majority or marriage. The titles can be inherited but cease to be called "royal" once they pass beyond the grandsons of a monarch. As with any peerage, once the title becomes extinct, it may subsequently be recreated by the reigning monarch at any time.

Royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, there is nothing intrinsic to any dukedom that makes it "royal". Rather, these peerages are called royal dukedoms because they are created for, and held by, a member of the royal family who is entitled to the titular dignity of Prince and the style "Royal Highness". Although the term "royal duke" therefore has no official meaning "per se", the category "Duke of the Blood Royal" was acknowledged as a rank conferring special precedence at court in the unrevoked 20th clause of the Lord Chamberlain's order of 1520. This decree accorded precedence to any peer related by blood to the sovereign above all others of the same degree within the peerage. The order did not apply within Parliament, nor did it grant precedence above the Archbishop of Canterbury or other Great Officers of State such as is now enjoyed by royal dukes. But it placed junior "Dukes of the Blood Royal" above the most senior non-royal duke, junior "Earls of the Blood Royal" above the most senior non-royal earl (cf. Earldom of Wessex), etc. It did not matter how distantly related to the monarch the peers might be (presumably they ranked among each other in order of succession to the Crown). Although the 1520 order is theoretically still in effect, in fact the "Blood Royal" clause seems to have fallen into desuetude by 1917 when George V limited the style of Royal Highness to children and male-line grandchildren of the Sovereign. Thus peers of the blood royal who are neither sons nor grandsons of a sovereign are no longer accorded precedence above other peers.

Under the 20 November 1917, letters patent of King George V, the titular dignity of Prince or Princess and the style "Royal Highness" are restricted to the legitimate children of a sovereign, the legitimate children of a sovereign's legitimate sons, and the eldest living legitimate son of the eldest legitimate son of a Prince of Wales.

In 2012 Queen Elizabeth II extended the style "Royal Highness" from "the eldest living legitimate son of the eldest legitimate son of a Prince of Wales" to "all the children of the eldest son of a Prince of Wales should have and enjoy the style, title and attribute of Royal Highness".

Presuming the current Duke of Gloucester and Duke of Kent are succeeded by their eldest sons, Alexander Earl of Ulster and George Earl of St. Andrews, respectively, those peerages (or rather, the 1928 and 1934 creations of them) will cease to be royal dukedoms, instead the title holders will become "ordinary" dukes. The third dukes of Gloucester and Kent will each be styled "His Grace" because as great-grandsons of George V, they are not princes and are not styled "HRH". Similarly, upon the death of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (1850–1942) (the third son of Queen Victoria), his only male-line grandson, Alastair, Earl of MacDuff (1914–43), briefly succeeded to his peerages and was styled "His Grace". Before the 1917 changes, his style and title had been "His Highness Prince Alastair of Connaught."

The current royal dukedoms, held as principal titles, in order of precedence, are:

The following dukedoms are currently held as secondary titles by members of the royal family:

With the exceptions of the dukedoms of Cornwall and Rothesay (which can only be held by the eldest living son of the sovereign who is also the heir-apparent), these dukedoms are hereditary according to the letters patent that created them. Those patents each contain the standard remainder to "heirs male of his body".

By law the British monarch also holds, and is entitled to the revenues of, the Duchy of Lancaster. Within the borders of the County Palatine of Lancashire, therefore, Elizabeth II is hailed as "The Queen, The Duke of Lancaster" (even when the monarch is a Queen regnant, by tradition she does not use the title "Duchess"). However, legally the monarch is not the Duke of Lancaster: peerages are in origin held feudally of the sovereign who, as the fount of honour, cannot hold a peerage of him- or herself. The situation is similar in the Channel Islands, where the monarch is addressed as Duke of Normandy, but only in accordance with tradition. He or she does not hold the legal title of Duke of Normandy.

The following is a list of dukedoms previously created for members of the royal family, but which have subsequently merged in the crown, become extinct or have otherwise ceased to be royal dukedoms.

Under the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 the holders of the following dukedoms, who were simultaneously British princes and members of royal and princely families of Germany, were deprived of their British titles, having sided with Germany during First World War. The Act provides that a successor of a person thus deprived of a peerage can petition the Crown for revival of the title. No such descendant has done so as of 2018.While non-royal dukes are entitled to a coronet of eight strawberry leaves, to bear at a coronation and on his coat of arms, royal dukes are entitled to princely coronets (four cross pattées alternating with four strawberry leaves). The coronets of the royal family are dictated by letters patent. The Duke of York bears by letters patent, and the Duke of Edinburgh was granted in 1947 use of, the coronet of a child of the sovereign (four crosses patées alternating with four fleurs-de-lis), while the Duke of Cornwall and of Rothesay has use of the Prince of Wales Coronet, the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex the coronet of a child of the heir-apparent, and the current Dukes of Gloucester and of Kent, as grandsons of a sovereign bear the corresponding coronet.

At coronations, apart from the differentiation of princely coronets from ducal coronets, a royal duke is also entitled to six rows of ermine spots on his mantle, as opposed to the four rows borne by an "ordinary" duke.

Duke, in the United Kingdom, is the highest-ranking hereditary title in all four peerages of the British Isles. A duke thus outranks all other holders of titles of nobility (marquess, earl, viscount and baron).

Dukes in the United Kingdom

The wife of a duke is known as a duchess, which is also the title of a woman who holds a dukedom in her own right, referred to as a duchess "suo jure"; her husband, however, does not receive any title. In the order of precedence in the United Kingdom, non-royal dukes without state offices or positions generally take precedence before all other nobility, in order of date of creation, but after royalty and certain officers of state.

A royal duke is a duke who is a member of the British royal family, entitled to the style of "His Royal Highness". The current royal dukedoms are, in order of precedence:

With the exceptions of the dukedoms of Cornwall and Rothesay (which can only be held by the eldest son of the Sovereign), royal dukedoms are hereditary, according to the terms of the letters patent that created them, which usually contain the standard remainder to the "heirs male of his body". The British monarch also holds and is entitled to the revenues of the Duchy of Lancaster, and within the borders of the County Palatine of Lancashire is by tradition saluted as "The Duke of Lancaster". Even when the monarch is a Queen regnant, she does not use the title of "Duchess".A British or Irish duke is entitled to a coronet (a silver-gilt circlet, chased as jewelled but not actually gemmed) bearing eight conventional strawberry leaves on the rim of the circlet. The physical coronet is worn only at coronations. Any peer can bear his coronet of rank on his coat of arms above the shield.


How many episodes of The Good Wife are there?

On May 11, 2015, CBS renewed the series for a seventh season. It was announced in a commercial that aired during Super Bowl 50 that the seventh season would be the final season of "The Good Wife". A total of 156 episodes of "The Good Wife" aired over seven seasons.

List of The Good Wife episodes

"The Good Wife" is a legal drama television series created by Robert King and Michelle King, which premiered on CBS on September 22, 2009. The show tells the story of Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies), whose husband Peter (Chris Noth) has been jailed following a very public sex and corruption scandal. She returns to her old job as a defense attorney under Will Gardner and Diane Lockhart (Josh Charles and Christine Baranski) to rebuild her reputation and provide for her two children, Grace and Zach (Makenzie Vega and Graham Phillips).

From the first to the fourth season, all episode titles have the same number of words as the number of the season in which they appear; that is, all season one episodes have one-word titles, all season two episodes have two-word titles, etc. Starting with the fifth season, the number of words starts to decrease; the idea of the creators was that – ratings permitting – the show would run for seven seasons, which would allow for a symmetry in the title lengths: 1–2–3–4–3–2–1 to count words in each season's titles, respectively.


What genre is better call Saul?

Better Call Saul is an American television crime drama series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. It is a spin-off prequel of Gilligan's prior series "Breaking Bad". Set in the early 2000s, "Better Call Saul" follows the story of con-man turned small-time lawyer, Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), six years before the events of "Breaking Bad", showing his transformation into the persona of criminal-for-hire Saul Goodman. Jimmy becomes the lawyer for former beat cop Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), whose relevant skill set allows him to enter the criminal underworld of drug trafficking in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The show premiered on AMC on February 8, 2015. The 10-episode fourth season aired between August and October, 2018. The show has been renewed for a fifth season.

Better Call Saul

Jimmy is initially working as a low-paid solo practitioner, with the back room of a nail salon as his home and office. His friend and romantic interest, Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) works as a lawyer at the firm of Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill (HHM), where Jimmy and she were once employed in the mailroom. Partners at HHM include Jimmy's nemesis, Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian), and brother, Chuck McGill (Michael McKean). Mike conducts illegal drug-related activity with Nacho Varga (Michael Mando), in addition to becoming right-hand man for drug lord Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) who runs a fast food restaurant as a business front. Odenkirk, Banks and Esposito are all reprising their starring roles from "Breaking Bad".

Like its predecessor, "Better Call Saul" has received critical acclaim, with particular praise for its acting, characters, and cinematography; many critics have called it a worthy successor to "Breaking Bad" and one of the best prequels ever made. Some have also deemed it superior to its predecessor. It has garnered many nominations, including a Peabody Award, 23 Primetime Emmy Awards, seven Writers Guild of America Awards, five Critics' Choice Television Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. The series premiere held the record for the highest-rated scripted series premiere in basic cable history at the time of its airing.

"Better Call Saul" follows the life of the character Saul Goodman beginning about six years prior to the events of "Breaking Bad". In 2002, Goodman, born as James "Jimmy" McGill, is a former con artist trying to follow a legitimate career as an aspiring lawyer in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He seeks to become a partner in the law firm in which his older brother Charles "Chuck" McGill is a senior partner. However, Jimmy's work is frequently overshadowed by Chuck's past reputation, and he struggles to find a way to prove himself, even with the help of another associate in the firm, Kim Wexler, with whom he also becomes romantically involved. At the same time, Jimmy frequently takes care of Chuck, who claims to have electromagnetic hypersensitivity, a condition that makes him physically ill in the presence of anything with an electrical component and has caused him to take an extended leave from his firm and regular law work. Interspersed among Jimmy's activities are the prior histories of other "Breaking Bad" characters, including Mike Ehrmantraut, a former police officer who becomes involved in illegal drug trafficking schemes, and drug kingpins Hector Salamanca and Gus Fring, who help distribute drugs illegally brought to the area from Mexico.

The series also provides brief glimpses of Saul's fate some time after the events of "Granite State", the penultimate episode of "Breaking Bad", in which Saul fears for his own safety and takes on a new identity in Omaha, Nebraska as Gene, the manager of a Cinnabon store. He reminisces about his past, but remains paranoid that someone might discover his true identity.

The fourth season features scenes taking place closer to the timeframe of "Breaking Bad", which was set in 2008; the story, as described by co-creator Vince Gilligan, "brings us into the world — or at least points us on a path toward the world of Walter White and the territory of Walter White". In "Quite a Ride", the cold open takes place concurrent to events near the end of "Breaking Bad", with Jimmy as Saul destroying documents and taking money from the Saul Goodman office made memorable in that series.

In July 2012, "Breaking Bad" creator Vince Gilligan hinted at a possible spin-off about Saul Goodman. In a July 2012 interview, Gilligan said he liked "the idea of a lawyer show in which the main lawyer will do anything it takes to stay out of a court of law", including settling on the courthouse steps. Gilligan noted that over the course of "Breaking Bad", there were a lot of "what if"s their team considered, such as if the show won a Primetime Emmy Award, or if people would buy "Los Pollos Hermanos" T-shirts. The staff did not expect these events to come to fruition, but after they did, they started considering a spin-off featuring Saul as a thought experiment. Further, Saul's character on "Breaking Bad" became much more developed than the staff had originally planned, as he was originally slated to appear in only three episodes; with the growth of Saul's character, Gilligan saw ways to explore Saul's backstory.

In April 2013, "Better Call Saul" was confirmed to be in development by Gilligan and Gould; the latter wrote the "Breaking Bad" episode that introduced the character.

Bob Odenkirk stars as lawyer Jimmy McGill (known as Saul Goodman in "Breaking Bad"). In January 2014, it was announced that Jonathan Banks would reprise his "Breaking Bad" role as Mike Ehrmantraut and be a series regular.

New cast members include Michael McKean as McGill's elder brother Chuck. McKean previously guest-starred in an episode of Odenkirk's "Mr. Show" and Gilligan's "X-Files" episode "Dreamland". The cast also includes Patrick Fabian as Howard Hamlin, Rhea Seehorn as Kimberly "Kim" Wexler, and Michael Mando as Ignacio "Nacho" Varga. In October 2014, Kerry Condon was cast as Stacey Ehrmantraut, Mike's daughter-in-law. In November 2014, it was announced that Julie Ann Emery and Jeremy Shamos had been cast as Betsy and Craig Kettleman, described as "the world's squarest outlaws."

Going into Season 3, it was announced that Giancarlo Esposito would return to play Gus Fring.

The showrunners have teased that "familiar faces" from "Breaking Bad" will make appearances during Season 4. They will also cast an actor for the character "Lalo", mentioned only by name in the episode "Better Call Saul" episode of "Breaking Bad". Both Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul said, as of Season 3, they are both open to reappearing on the show as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, respectively, if asked, believing that Gilligan would have a sufficiently good reason to bring them in. Paul had previously mentioned the possibility of a cameo during Season 1 but this fell through. Anna Gunn also mentioned a "talk" with Gilligan over possible guest appearances as Skyler White. Dean Norris, another "Breaking Bad" alumnus, stated he could not be part of the earlier seasons, partly due to his involvement in the CBS series "Under the Dome". Gilligan said that by Season 3 that show had been on long enough that any reuse of "Breaking Bad" characters would be more than "just a cameo or an Alfred Hitchcock walkthrough", and that their appearances would be necessary for the story.

By July 2013, the series had yet to be green-lighted. Netflix was one of many interested distributors, but ultimately a deal was made between AMC and "Breaking Bad" production company Sony Pictures Television. Gilligan and Gould serve as co-showrunners and Gilligan directed the pilot. Former "Breaking Bad" writers Thomas Schnauz and Gennifer Hutchison joined the writing staff, with Schnauz serving as co-executive producer and Hutchison as supervising producer. Also on the writing staff are Bradley Paul, and Gordon Smith, who was a writer's assistant on "Breaking Bad".

In developing the series, the producers considered making the show a half-hour comedy, but ultimately chose an hour-long format more typical of a drama. In October 2014, Odenkirk called the show "85 percent drama, 15 percent comedy." During his appearance on "Talking Bad," Odenkirk noted that Saul was one of the most popular characters on the show, speculating that the audience likes the character because he is the program's least hypocritical figure, and is good at his job. "Better Call Saul" also employs "Breaking Bad"s signature time jumps.

As filming began on June 2, 2014, Gilligan expressed some concern regarding the possible disappointment from the series' turnout, in terms of audience reception.

The first teaser trailer debuted on AMC on August 10, 2014, and confirmed its premiere date of February 2015. In November 2014, AMC announced the series would have a two-night premiere; the first episode aired on Sunday, February 8, 2015, at 10:00 pm (ET), and then moved into its regular time slot the following night, airing Mondays at 10:00 pm. In May 2015, Gilligan confirmed that more of the prominent characters from "Breaking Bad" would be making guest appearances in season 2, but remained vague on which characters were likely to be seen.

In June 2014, prior to the series' launch, AMC had renewed the series for a second season of 13 episodes to premiere in early 2016; however, it was later reduced to 10 episodes. The second season premiered on February 15, 2016.

In March 2016, AMC announced that "Better Call Saul" was renewed for a 10-episode third season which premiered April 10, 2017. AMC renewed the series for a 10-episode fourth season in June 2017 which premiered on August 6, 2018. The series was renewed for a fifth season on July 28, 2018, just prior to the airing of the fourth season.

Like its predecessor, "Better Call Saul" is set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Jimmy inadvertently becomes entangled in an embezzlement case involving the Kettleman family, who are represented by Chuck's firm Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill (HHM). Jimmy schemes to become the Kettleman's lawyer, which causes Kim, the HHM associate overseeing the case, to be demoted. Jimmy gains public attention from the case, and finds himself taking up several elder law clients. He discovers that Sandpiper Retirement Homes have been mishandling their residents' funds, leading to a potential multi-million class action lawsuit. Jimmy offers to hand off the suit to HHM because of their superior resources, and tries to persuade them to hire him to work on it, but Chuck secretly blocks this effort. Jimmy discovers Chuck's involvement and turns the Sandpiper case over to HHM in exchange for minimal counsel's fees, a percentage of any settlement or judgment, and Howard's commitment to take over caring for Chuck. Later, Jimmy learns that the Sandpiper case has gotten too big and HHM is portioning part of the work to a second firm, Davis & Main, who want to hire Jimmy due to his knowledge of the lawsuit and rapport with the clients.

Mike, a former Philadelphia police officer now relocated to Albuquerque to be close to his daughter-in-law and granddaughter, works as a parking booth attendant at the courthouse, where he meets Jimmy. Mike also moonlights as "muscle for hire" within the Albuquerque criminal underworld, and in this capacity helps Jimmy burgle the Kettlemans. In the same way, he is hired as a bodyguard by Daniel Wormald ("Pryce"), a pharmaceutical industry worker who steals valuable drug samples from his employer for resale on the black market. Through his work for Pryce, Mike attracts the attention of Nacho, a trusted associate of the Salamanca crime family.

Jimmy takes a job at Davis & Main and is put in charge of outreach for the Sandpiper case, but traditional notifications by mail produce few responses from potential class members. Jimmy does face-to-face solicitation to bring in more class members, but Chuck points out this could run afoul of state law. Jimmy then creates a TV ad targeted to seniors and airs it without prior approval from the senior partners at Davis & Main. While the ad draws in many clients, Jimmy is reprimanded, and Kim, who was aware Jimmy was making the ad, is demoted to entry level document review work at HHM. To regain her position, Kim solicits her personal and professional contacts hoping to land major new clients for HHM, and eventually arranges a meeting between HHM and Mesa Verde, a large regional bank. Though HHM secures Mesa Verde's business, Howard denies Kim any credit. Jimmy, who has quit Davis & Main, convinces Kim to quit HHM and establish her own firm co-located with his as a way to share overhead. She nearly persuades Mesa Verde to become her client, but Chuck persuades them to stay with HHM. Jimmy falsifies copies of documents concerning construction of a Mesa Verde branch to make Chuck look incompetent. When HHM and Mesa Verde present the construction proposal to the state banking agency, the discrepancies cause the plan to be put on hold. Kim obtains Mesa Verde as a client, while Chuck becomes obsessed with proving that Jimmy sabotaged him. When Jimmy next visits Chuck, Chuck feigns illness, provoking Jimmy to admit falsifying the documents. Unknown to Jimmy, Chuck has recorded his confession.

Nacho approaches Mike in secret and tries to hire him to murder Tuco, the nephew of his boss Hector Salamanca, because Nacho fears that Tuco may discover his secret drug deals with Pryce, and because Tuco's volatile behavior is drawing too much attention to the Salamancas' drug business. Mike refuses, knowing that if the Salamancas identify him as the killer they will take revenge on his family. Instead, he deliberately provokes a public altercation with Tuco outside a restaurant, resulting in Tuco's imprisonment for assault with a deadly weapon. Hector has no objection to Tuco spending time in prison as a learning experience, but objects to the length of the sentence, so he bribes Mike to tell the police the gun found at the scene wasn't Tuco's, which reduces the time Tuco will spend in prison. Mike begins to wonder if Hector suspects the truth about the fight, making him uneasy about the safety of his granddaughter and daughter-in-law. He attempts to draw the police into investigating the Salamancas by intercepting one of Hector's smuggling trucks and stealing the $250,000 it's carrying, while leaving the driver, Ximinez tied up on the side of the road. He intended for a passing motorist to render aid, but finds out from Nacho that a passer-by stopped and freed Ximinez, who then called Hector. Hector and his men then arrived to clean up the scene, including killing the good Samaritan. Mike then prepares to assassinate Hector, but an unseen third party disrupts his plan.

Chuck plots for Jimmy to learn through Ernesto and Kim of the existence of the taped confession. Jimmy breaks into Chuck's house to destroy the tape, but finds he's been set up; Chuck has Howard and a private investigator hiding in the house to witness Jimmy's actions, enabling Chuck to have Jimmy charged with several felonies and file a bar association complaint that could result in Jimmy's disbarment. At the hearing, Jimmy secretly creates a situation where Chuck's supposed electromagnetic hypersensitivity is tested, prompting behavior that makes Chuck's mental competence an issue. Jimmy's law license is suspended for a year, so to cover his portion of the expenses for the office he shares with Kim, he turns to producing commercials for local businesses in which he uses the on-air name "Saul Goodman". Kim takes on additional clients to fully cover expenses, leading to sleep deprivation, which causes her to crash her car and break her arm. HHM's insurance carrier learns from Jimmy about Chuck's condition and threatens to raise their malpractice coverage rates as a result, while Chuck works with a doctor to try overcoming his hypersensitivity symptoms. Chuck and Howard's relationship turns sour as Howard becomes increasingly concerned about Chuck's apparent obsession with Jimmy and the general impact Chuck's erratic behavior has had upon HHM. Howard pays the first installment of the several million dollars necessary to buy out Chuck's share of the partnership, resorting to personal savings and loans so that the buyout doesn't bankrupt the firm. Jimmy tries to make amends with Chuck, but Chuck rebuffs him, stating that Jimmy has never been particularly important to him. After Jimmy leaves, Chuck's electromagnetic hypersensitivity symptoms return, and after a fit of action that includes tearing the wiring out of his house and stacking his appliances outside, a despondent Chuck lays on a couch and intentionally knocks an oil lantern off a coffee table which then engulfs the house in flames.

Gus warns Mike not to kill Hector, because Gus intends to be the agent of Hector's demise and take over the Salamanca drug business, but believes the time is not yet ripe. Instead, Mike disrupts Hector's drug shipments in an effort to have the police investigate the Salamancas, which Gus encourages. To prevent Hector from taking over his father's business and using it as a drug front, Nacho switches Hector's heart medication with a placebo in an attempt to kill him without detection by inducing a fatal heart attack. Gus agrees to launder the money Mike stole from Hector by paying him for contracted security consulting at Madrigal Electromotive, the company that supplies Gus with the ingredients to make methamphetamine. In a sign of respect and anticipation of a future working relationship, Gus refuses to take payment for aiding Mike and pays Mike's withholding taxes, ensuring he won't sustain a financial loss as a result of the laundering. During a meeting with Gus, Hector suffers a stroke and collapses in front of Gus and Nacho.

Jimmy becomes depressed following Chuck's death, but when Howard states that he feels he may have been responsible because of the dispute over their malpractice insurance, Jimmy keeps silent about being the one who informed the insurer about Chuck's condition, allows Howard to shoulder the blame, and returns to his upbeat self. While serving his year of probation, Jimmy works in a mobile phone store, but starts selling pay-as-you-go phones on the side. Kim and Jimmy drift apart: she ends up as a partner at Schweikart and Cokely, giving her help with Mesa Verde's rapid expansion while still allowing her to serve as a "pro bono" public defender, which she finds more interesting and fulfilling. When Saul's associate Huell assaults a police officer, Kim works with Jimmy to con the prosecutor's office into reducing his sentence to time served, and she is reinvigorated by working cons with Jimmy. Jimmy attends his reinstatement hearing, but does not mention Chuck, causing the panel to label him "insincere" and decline his request. Kim helps devise a plan for his appeal, making sure Jimmy appears remorseful over Chuck's death. At the rehearing, Jimmy gushes over Chuck and the board grants his reinstatement. However, to Kim's dismay, Jimmy reveals he was lying about his brother in order to con the board. Despite assuring the board that he wants to do justice to the McGill name, Jimmy plans to practice law under the name Saul Goodman.

Gus knows Nacho was responsible for Hector's collapse, and blackmails him into becoming Gus' mole within the Salamanca operation. Gus pays for Hector's rehabilitation, but only to the point where Hector is aware of what goes on around him and has the ability to move his right index finger. Gus hires Werner Ziegler to oversee construction of the secret meth "superlab" under the industrial laundry. Gus and Mike arrange for long-term housing of Werner's team and devise a plan for them to work in secret, but the project falls behind schedule. Werner escapes and plans a rendezvous with his wife, but Mike captures him and reluctantly follows Gus' order to kill him. Werner's escape and the subsequent search and capture attract the attention of Lalo Salamanca, who arrives to help run the Salamanca organization and is suspicious of Gus.

"Talking Saul" is a live aftershow hosted by Chris Hardwick, which features guests discussing episodes of "Better Call Saul". The show uses the same format as "Talking Dead," "Talking Bad," and other similar aftershows also hosted by Hardwick. AMC announced that "Talking Saul" would air after the second season "Better Call Saul" premiere on February 15, 2016, and again after the second-season finale on April 18, 2016. It returned following the season 3 premiere and finale.

These episodes discuss season two of "Better Call Saul".

These episodes discuss season three of "Better Call Saul".

In December 2013, Netflix announced that the entire first season would be available for streaming in the U.S. after the airing of the first-season finale, and in Latin America and Europe each episode would be available a few days after the episode airs in the U.S. However, the first season was not released on Netflix in the U.S. until February 1, 2016.

Netflix is the exclusive video-on-demand provider for the series and makes the content available in all its territories, except for Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, "Better Call Saul" premiered on the streaming service Stan on February 9, 2015, acting as the service's flagship program. In New Zealand, the show is exclusive to the New Zealand-based subscription video-on-demand service, Lightbox. The episodes were available for viewing within three days of broadcast in the U.S.

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the series was acquired by Netflix on December 16, 2013, and the first episode premiered on February 9, 2015, with the second episode released the following day. Every subsequent episode was released each week thereafter. In India, the series is broadcast on Colors Infinity within 24 hours of the U.S. broadcast.

The series premiere drew in 4.4 million and 4 million in the 18–49 and 25–54 demographics, respectively, and received an overall viewership of 6.9 million. This was the record for the highest-rated scripted series premiere in basic cable history, until it was surpassed later the same year by another AMC series, "Fear the Walking Dead".

"Better Call Saul" has received widespread critical acclaim.

The first season of "Better Call Saul" received critical acclaim, particularly for its acting, writing, and directing with many critics calling it a worthy successor to "Breaking Bad". On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a rating of 98%, based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 8.17/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Better Call Saul" is a quirky, dark character study that manages to stand on its own without being overshadowed by the series that spawned it." On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the first season has a score of 78 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

The second season, much like the previous, received critical acclaim from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has a score of 97%, based on 30 reviews, with an average rating of 8.69/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Better Call Saul" continues to tighten its hold on viewers with a batch of episodes that inject a surge of dramatic energy while showcasing the charms of its talented lead." On Metacritic, the second season has a score of 85 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

The third season, much like the previous two, received critical acclaim, particularly for the character development of Jimmy McGill. On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season has an approval rating of 97% based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 8.78/10. The site's critical consensus is, ""Better Call Saul" shows no signs of slipping in season 3, as the introduction of more familiar faces causes the inevitable transformation of its lead to pick up exciting speed." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 87 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

The fourth season has also received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a 99% approval rating with an average score of 8.98 out of 10 based on 30 reviews. The site's critical consensus states, "Well-crafted and compelling as ever, "Better Call Saul" deftly balances the show it was and the one it will inevitably become." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 87 out of 100, based on 16 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

The first season was released on Blu-ray and DVD in region 1 on November 10, 2015. The set contains all 10 episodes, plus audio commentaries for every episode, uncensored episodes, deleted scenes, gag reel, and several behind-the-scenes featurettes. A limited edition Blu-ray set was also released with 3D packaging and a postcard vinyl of the "Better Call Saul" theme song by Junior Brown. The second season was released on Blu-ray and DVD in region 1 on November 15, 2016. The set contains all 10 episodes, plus audio commentaries for every episode and several behind-the-scenes featurettes. The third season was released on Blu-ray and DVD in region 1 on January 16, 2018. The set contains all 10 episodes, plus audio commentaries for every episode and several behind-the-scenes featurettes.

AMC has released two digital comic books for "Better Call Saul". The first, titled "Better Call Saul: Client Development", released in February 2015, in advance of the series premiere, details the history of Saul and Mike, acting as a spin-off of the "Breaking Bad" episode that introduced Saul. In February 2016, in advance of the second-season premiere, AMC released "Better Call Saul: Saul Goodman and the Justice Consortium in the Clutches of the Judgernaut!"