I started watching Arrow when it first appeared on television, but my DVR kept filling up and not catching episodes. I ended up rewatching the first season on Netflix but didn’t go back to it when Season 2 came out. Then I learned that the Flash was actually sort of a spin-off from that show’s universe. The idea of missing out on two great, related shows eventually pushed me back to trying again with them. So this Marvel girl took the plunge back in to do things properly. But there’s a whole lot I wish I’d known earlier that would have made this easier for me.

1. Order!
I understood that Flash was a spin-off of sorts from Arrow, so I had to do some research to figure out what order to watch the episodes in. I was surprised to find that it wasn’t just an episode or two I needed to be careful of, but more than a handful of crossover episodes as well as episodes that mention what’s going on in the other show by way of a news report on in the background or an offhand comment someone makes. Luckily, there were some nice people online who have made excellent lists to help us keep it straight. Unfortunately, the lists I was going off of were not quite as comprehensive.

2. Supergirl
I had NO idea that the shows were in the same universe, so imagine my surprise when I’m watching Supergirl and suddenly the Flash shows up and mentions a tiny little spoiler, offhandedly. Gah! All my attempts at watching things in order and then I miss up? Typical.

3. Jesse L. Martin
Why does this guy look so familiar to me? Where do I know him from? It took me until halfway through the first season of the Flash before I finally broke down and IMDBed him. Then I flailed. He played Tom Collins (my second favorite character) in RENT! OF COURSE HE DID! And if someone had told me he was on the show, I would have watched it a hell of a lot sooner (especially if someone had told me there was an episode where he sings–which there is!)

4. Wentworth Miller
OMG How did no one tell me Wentworth is a reoccurring baddie on the Flash? I would have been there in a heartbeat if you’d told me that! So great to see him in such a fun, complex role again.

5. AND Dominic Purcell
And when Wentworth Miller’s character has to team up with another baddie on the show, who appears? Why, Dominic Purcell, of course. WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME my favorite Prison Break teamup was alive and well in the DC tv universe? This is EPIC to me! I’ve loved Dominic’s acting since John Doe and Wentworth’s since Dinotopia, but seeing them together again like this is so great.

6. Legends of Tomorrow
Wait, SERIOUSLY?! I must be way too stuck in the Marvel ‘verse lately, because this show didn’t even get onto my radar. I had no idea it was another spin-off and certainly didn’t know that both Wentworth and Dominic were part of the main cast. The most amazing moment came several episodes in when Dominic’s character is in a Russian Gulag and Wentworth’s character turns to his teammates and actually says “This isn’t my first Prison Break.” I might have actually screamed. Unfortunately, I didn’t pick Legends of Tomorrow up at the right time in the timeline either, so everything’s all wonky in my head until I get to the end of Season 1, I expect.

7. Vixen
Another spin-off to keep track of?

8. Constantine
Okay, I am thrilled at the attempt to make everything all fit in the same universe. But I haven’t watched any of those episodes on my DVR yet and when Constantine shows up on Arrow multiple times I was angry at myself for not having done so. I wish I’d known to watch those!

9. Tone Differences
For two shows in the same universe, Arrow & The Flash have vastly different tones. Arrow is so dark and angsty and The Flash is much lighter (though definitely has a lot of darkness deep down that’s masked by the humor). I wish I had been prepared for that when I needed to bounce back and forth from one to the other. The contrast was sometimes hard to take if I was intensely into the feel of one show and then had to move to the other for an episode or two.

10. To Not Wait
I wish someone had just forced me to give the shows more of a chance, then I wouldn’t have had to play catch-up the way I did. After Season 1 of Arrow, I really wasn’t sure if the shows were for me. But I should have known to keep at it for the sake of more John Barrowman, if nothing else. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to enjoy this goodness.