Stephen Amell Talks Arrow Season 2 Finale Stunts, Bigger Stunts in Season 3

The Season 2 finale of the CW's Arrow featured some tremendous fight sequences as the war between Oliver and Slade Wilson for Starling City drew to a close. The action was so intense that the show's stunt coordination earned the Most Likely to Earn Someone an Emmy award in Entertainment Weekly's 5^th Annual Season Finale Awards.

When star Stephen Amell teased the finale to EW, he plainly said, "If we can't win the stunt Emmy for this episode, then the system is broken, for sure. I'm starting a campaign, because it's movie sh*t that we do in this finale." 

Stunt coordinator J.J. Makaro and fight coordinator James Bamford spoke to EW to receive the award and spoke about the major fight scene in the tunnel, as well as the clash between Oliver and Slade.

"Both fights actually became more of a practical, on-the-day kind of situation," Makaro said. "We really, really strongly rehearsed the final fight where we had to figure out where the editing points were gonna be [between past and present], but [the tunnel] was more a logistical planning situation where we just put James in a room and he just sat there and he planned. He sat for hours staring at the tunnel [thinking] where he was gonna put his people, where the camera was gonna move."

Makaro made clear that his team is able to succeed because the show's other departments have such respect for what they do. He adds people often ask him and Bamford how they plan to top themselves next time.

"We have that question asked of us every episode," Makaro says. "We've got the most incredible writers. They come up with terrific ideas, they use them to fuel our imaginations and leave us open to take that and make it even bigger. So they keep pushing the bar higher and higher and higher for us. And that's the fun and thrill of doing the show...'Try to top this, try to top this.' Greg Berlanti, our producer, has a mantra that says, 'Never leave anything behind.' Don't save anything for tomorrow. Give it your best, give it your all, and then figure out tomorrow how to do it better."

What did you think of the fights in the Season 2 finale? Will Season 3 manage to top it? Let us know in the comments below.