Arrow ‘s Colin Donnell tells BuzzFeed News about the personal and professional journey he went on after his character, Tommy Merlyn, died on The CW hit. Plus, watch an exclusive clip from his return!
The CW
By the end of Season 1, the writers for The CW's hit series Arrow realized something: Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) needed more levity and less romantic drama in his life. So, they brought in the humorous computer wiz Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) and wrote out Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell), Oliver's best friend and — along with Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) — the third corner of a love triangle that just wasn't working.
But instead of simply eliminating that romantic entanglement, executive producers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg decided to kill off Tommy and use his death as a catalyst to propel Oliver's journey forward.
"It was, of course, hard to get the notice that I wasn't going to be coming back in Season 2, but my ultimate goal with anything — film, TV, stage — is to serve the story and this did," Donnell told BuzzFeed News, nearly a year and a half after Tommy's death in the Season 1 finale.
Typically that would be the end of Donnell's Arrow journey, but, thanks to the show's heavy flashback narrative structure — and enduring fan affection for the character — Tommy briefly returned in ghostly form in Season 2 and now, he's back in a bigger way. The writers crafted a Season 3 episode (airing Wednesday, Oct. 15, titled "Sara") that will use Tommy to illuminate an unexpected period of employment in Oliver's post-island, pre-vigilante life.
"I love bringing Tommy back, but last season was such an abbreviated version of him," Donnell said of the brief Season 2 cameo. "This time, I get to be in more of the episode. I've never gotten the chance in my career to revisit a character like this, so to be able to fall back into this skin again is neat and fun for me."
Donnell on Arrow
The CW
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