With Arrow season 4 coming to a close, star Stephen Amell hopes to see season 5 return to its roots. And he’s absolutely right.

Arrow began as a superhero series grounded in reality. Its stakes were city-wide in season 1, as the big threat was Malcolm Merlyn and his plot to level the Glades, a section of Starling City, in revenge for his wife’s death. Malcolm was also the father of Oliver’s best friend, Tommy, so there were a lot of personal stakes as well — particularly when Malcolm’s plan resulted in the death of his son.

I still get teary-eyed thinking about Tommy’s death. Don’t lie, you do too.

This intimate setting and level of stakes made Arrow‘s first season work. Oliver was figuring out the kind of man he was going to become after returning from Lian Yu, starting as someone not bothered by killing but taking Tommy’s accusation of him being a murderer to heart. Moreover, Arrow‘s first season really found its groove when the original Team Arrow of Oliver, Diggle and Felicity came together in the second half of the season. That core trio and their dynamics were the glue that held the show together.

Season 2 stepped up from season 1, and I think most fans would agree it is Arrow‘s best season. It explored the aftermath of the destruction of the Glades before introducing Slade Wilson as the season’s present day villain. We learned in the flashbacks that Slade blamed Oliver for the death of Shado, the woman he loved. Meanwhile, Oliver took Tommy’s words to heart and worked on becoming a hero rather than killer. Again, the stakes were exceptionally personal and remained in Starling City as Slade’s soldiers laid siege to the city.

Season 2 also brought in Sara Lance, the Canary, and made her story relevant by featuring her in the flashbacks as well, tying her to Slade’s personal vendetta. Though season 2 also introduced Barry Allen with the intention of spinning him off into his own show, his presence never felt out of place. It expanded the world while also bringing in some much-needed levity since Barry is a bit lighter of a character.

Seasons 3 and 4 of Arrow, however, really got away from what made seasons 1 and 2 work. Season 3 began with the murder of Sara Lance (which I wrote about here) and dovetailed into a story about the League of Assassins and Ra’s al Ghul. At the time, this seemed like a natural move since both Sara and Malcolm were trained by the League. And I quite enjoyed Matt Nable’s portrayal of Ra’s, but Ra’s’ motivations felt strange and out of sync with what made Arrow work in its first two seasons.

Oh, and let’s not forget The Flash was in its freshman season at this point. There was obviously a lot of effort on the part of the producers to launch the show successfully — and they did. The Flash is The CW’s highest-rated series and is critically well-received. But, in hindsight, it feels like attention was diverted from Arrow to focus on The Flash.

That diverted attention was clear in Arrow‘s fourth season as well, which saw Greg Berlanti and co. launching not one but two new series: Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl.

Arrow‘s fourth season began in a way that seemed like many of the shortcomings in the third season were being corrected, like making Oliver and Felicity a happy, functional couple and resurrecting Sara. But once the set-up for Legends was done, Arrow moved to focus on magic — something that really departed from its original conceit as a superhero series grounded in reality.

As season 4 has gone on, it’s really felt like the show has lost its identity. It has incorporated convoluted soap opera-esque drama between Oliver and Felicity, the original Team Arrow has been more at odds than together, there has been more spectacle for the sake of spectacle rather than story and the flashbacks have felt out of place from the present day.

It killed Laurel Lance, the Black Canary, to follow up on a misguided promise of a shocking death in the season premiere. Prior to that, though, the moment Felicity rose out of her wheelchair, I think, is the moment season 4 lost me. And if you follow me on Twitter or read my Arrow reviews, you’ll know my thoughts on Malcolm Merlyn’s continued presence.

That’s not to say Arrow season 4 hasn’t had any positives; I really enjoyed the first half of the season as a whole. Plus, the introduction of Vixen into the live action universe was wonderful. Curtis Holt has been an excellent addition to the cast. And I’ve liked seeing Donna Smoak become more of a character.

My goal here isn’t simply to list the negatives of this season of Arrow. But the fact that two series were being launched this year can’t be a coincidence. Arrow star Stephen Amell agrees and hopes that season 5, without a new Berlanti spinoff being launched, will help Arrow return to form.

“Supergirl is coming” to The CW, “but we don’t have to introduce a new show next year,” Amell tells Variety. “In season 2, it was the introduction of The Flash and crossovers there, and last year there was a lot with Legends of Tomorrow, and we don’t have to do that this year because Supergirl is already established. So I would like to focus on a lot of the stuff that I think Arrow does very well.”

And what does Arrow do well? Focusing on its core characters and their dynamics, grounding events in reality, and making the stakes personal. When Arrow does those three things, it works. When Arrow moves away from one or more of them, it is lost.

To that end, Amell says of season 5’s villain, “I’ve heard that our big bad, our villain, is something that you can really only do once you’re in the fifth, sixth or seventh season of a TV show.” While he wouldn’t say who it is, he teases, “As far as I know, they don’t have superpowers. I’ll tell you that.”

So, that’s promising, right?

The Arrow season 4 finale airs Wednesday, May 25 at 8:00 p.m. ET on The CW.