Green Arrow & The Canaries

Last updated

"Green Arrow & The Canaries"
Arrow episode
Episode no.Season 8
Episode 9
Directed byTara Miele
Written by
Production codeT27.13959
Original air dateJanuary 21, 2020 (2020-01-21)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
 Previous
"Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four"
Next 
"Fadeout"
Arrow season 8
List of episodes

"Green Arrow & The Canaries" (also known as "Livin' in the Future") is the ninth episode of the eighth season of the American television series Arrow , based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, revolving around billionaire playboy Oliver Queen as he returns to Starling City (later renamed Star City), after having been shipwrecked for five years, and becomes a bow-wielding, hooded vigilante who sets out to fight crime and corruption. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe. The episode was written by showrunners Beth Schwartz and Marc Guggenheim alongside Jill Blankenship and Oscar Balderrama, and directed by Tara Miele.

Contents

Principal cast members Juliana Harkavy, Katherine McNamara, Ben Lewis, Joseph David-Jones and Katie Cassidy appear. The episode is the only one not to feature series star Stephen Amell, who plays Oliver Queen / Green Arrow. Set in 2040, it focuses Oliver's daughter Mia Smoak joining forces with Laurel Lance and Dinah Drake to rescue a kidnapped woman.

"Green Arrow & The Canaries" first aired in the United States on The CW on January 21, 2020, and was watched live by 0.89 million viewers with a 0.3/2 share among adults aged 18 to 49, marking a season high in overnight ratings. The episode received generally positive reviews from critics. Though it was developed as a backdoor pilot for a potential Arrow spin-off series named Green Arrow and the Canaries , that series was ultimately not picked up by The CW.

Plot

Two decades after Oliver Queen sacrificed himself to restore the multiverse, [a] crime in Star City has been quiet. Oliver's daughter Mia, who has just graduated from college, lives in Queen Manor and is in a relationship with John Diggle Jr. who proposes to Mia which she accepts.

When Helena Bertinelli's adopted daughter and socialite Bianca is abducted, Laurel Lance tells Dinah Drake, who awakened in 2040 after Oliver's funeral for unknown reasons [b] and that the current timeline does not remember who Dinah was, about Bianca's abduction. Laurel shows Dinah footage of a possible future of Star City falling back into crime if Bianca is not rescued and dies. A reluctant Dinah agrees to help Laurel rescue Bianca, but for Oliver rather than herself. Mia celebrates her proposal as a party which an alive Zoe Ramirez, her brother William, and J.J.'s ex-alcoholic brother Connor Hawke attend. Laurel uses a device on Mia which restores her pre-Crisis memories including J.J. being Deathstroke who had Zoe killed. Laurel reveals the device was created by Cisco Ramon containing J'onn J'onzz's Martian abilities. Laurel informs Mia of Bianca's situation which she disbelieves. However, Mia agrees to join upon recovering her Green Arrow training. Laurel plans for Mia to interrogate the Bertinelli's to gain information.

Having suspicions on the Bertinelli's having to do with Bianca's abduction, Mia, Laurel, and Dinah infiltrate the Bertinelli's house and places tracking devices around the house. Dinah gets a notification from the tracking device notifying them that Bianca's cousin Logan is having precautions and wants to move "it" out of the city which Laurel believes is Bianca. Laurel, Dinah, and Mia head to Bianca's location. However, they discover Logan is transferring a drug, not Bianca. The group are then attacked by a man wearing a Deathstroke mask and retreat to their headquarters. Laurel argues whether J.J. is behind the Deathstroke mask, prompting Mia to break into J.J.'s office, only to find that he was planning a honeymoon to Fiji and that Bianca is active on social media. Laurel and Dinah still suspect that Bianca is kidnapped and being covered up. That night, J.J. breaks up with Mia.

Dinah decrypts a video of Bianca, revealing her captivity at a greenhouse. Laurel eventually convinces Mia to become Green Arrow and help them save Bianca. Dinah shows Mia the decrypted footage, the background design of which Mia deduces to be biophilic, meant to power the building photosynthetically. They track Bianca in a downtown guarded building containing metahuman dampeners. Upon infiltrating the building, they discover Bianca's ex-boyfriend Trevor had kidnapped Bianca because of their breakup and was Deathstroke. The team manage to rescue Bianca and flee to the rooftop where they confront Trevor. Before burning the building down and committing suicide, Trevor threatens that they cannot stop "her"; the group escape with Bianca.

In the aftermath, Mia and J.J. reconcile. Laurel decides to move in with Dinah, and the two begin setting up a base of operations to train a new generation of Canaries. While visiting Oliver's memorial statue, Mia recalls the symbol on Trevor's arm is the same as the Queen family hozen, just before the two are ambushed by cloaked figures, who kidnap William. Another cloaked figure breaks into J.J.'s apartment and uses Cisco's memory device on J.J.

Production

Development

In September 2019, it was announced that The CW was developing a female-led spin-off series of Arrow, with Katherine McNamara, Katie Cassidy, and Juliana Harkavy as the leads, reprising their roles from Arrow. The report also confirmed that an episode of Arrow's eighth and final season would serve as a backdoor pilot for the potential series. [1] In October, Arrow co-creator Marc Guggenheim released an image indicating Green Arrow and the Canaries as the name for the new series. [2] In January 2020, Guggenheim stated that when Arrow was renewed for its final season, series star Stephen Amell was contracted only for nine episodes; The CW later asked Guggenheim for an additional episode to bring the season's count to 10 episodes. Guggenheim realized this episode could become the backdoor pilot for the potential series, so he agreed. [3]

The episode, which is the season's ninth, was originally intended to be titled after the Bruce Springsteen song "Livin' in the Future", continuing the series' tradition of having the penultimate episode of every season titled after a Springsteen song. Because the studio mandated that the backdoor pilot be titled "Green Arrow & The Canaries," after the planned spin-off series, the writers were forced to scrap the original title, though Guggenheim considers it the "real" title. [4] The episode was directed by Tara Miele, and written by season 8 co-showrunner Beth Schwartz, Guggenheim, Jill Blankenship and Oscar Balderrama. [5]

Casting

"Green Arrow & The Canaries" is the only episode of the series not to feature Amell, due to the death of his character Oliver Queen in the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event. [6] [7] Main cast members Harkavy, McNamara, Ben Lewis, Joseph David-Jones and Cassidy return as Dinah Drake / Black Canary, Mia Queen, William Clayton, Connor Hawke and Laurel Lance / Black Canary. [c] The guest cast includes Charlie Barnett as John Diggle Jr., Andrea Sixtos as Zoe Ramirez, Raigan Harris as Bianca Bertinelli and Chad Duell as Trevor. [9]

Filming

The episode was filmed in October 2019. [10]

Reception

Ratings

The episode premiered in the United States on The CW on January 21, 2020. It was watched live by 0.89 million viewers with a 0.3/2 share among adults aged 18 to 49, [11] marking a season high in overnight ratings. [12]

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 86% approval rating for the episode, based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 7.06/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Although its placement as a penultimate epilogue to Arrow may give fans mixed feelings, there's no denying that "Green Arrow & the Canaries" is a tantalizing backdoor pilot for a new band of distinctive rogues." [13]

Chancellor Agard of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "As I watched, I couldn't stop thinking about how odd it is that this is Arrow's penultimate episode. When it ended, it didn't feel like we were heading toward the series finale. Nevertheless, I still had a lot of fun watching it." [14] Delia Harrington of Den of Geek wrote that the episode "pulls off something pretty impressive in just an hour, managing to answer many questions about how the Crisis on Infinite Earths affected Arrow's corner of the Arrowverse while the backdoor pilot gave the audience a sense of what the new show's vibe would be and, perhaps most importantly of all, setting up a number of mysteries to make a spinoff feel like essential viewing." [15] Allison Shoemaker of The A.V. Club wrote, "Does "Green Arrow & The Canaries" work as an argument for the existence of Green Arrow & The Canaries, the future series? Yes. Does it work as one of the final chapters of Arrow? Also yes, though somewhat less successfully." [16]

Future

In June 2020, Guggenheim said that, should the planned series not be picked up, he would potentially resolve the loose ends introduced in the episode in a comic book, while acknowledging that any other Arrowverse series could do the same. [17] In January 2021, The CW officially passed on the spin-off. [18] Guggenheim said this decision was made at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, feeling the pandemic was the "deciding factor" in not moving forward with the series. [19] In 2021, The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace urged viewers to rewatch the episode, as the "Armageddon" event of The Flash's eighth season would provide several answers to the loose ends left behind by the episode. [20]

Notes

  1. As depicted in the sixth Arrowverse crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths .
  2. As depicted in the series finale "Fadeout".
  3. Despite the "special appearance" bill, Cassidy is still considered part of the main cast. [8]

Related Research Articles

Green Arrow, a DC Comics superhero, has appeared in media other than comic books since 1973, including animated shows, live-action productions, and video games.

<i>Arrow</i> (TV series) American action-adventure television series

Arrow is an American superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, a costumed crime-fighter created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, and is the first series of the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with other related television series. The series premiered in the United States on The CW on October 10, 2012, and ran for eight seasons until January 28, 2020. Arrow was primarily filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Pilot (<i>Arrow</i>) 1st episode of the 1st season of Arrow

"Pilot" is the first episode of the television series Arrow, which premiered on The CW on October 10, 2012. It was written by series developers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg, and directed by David Nutter. The episode introduces Oliver Queen, a billionaire playboy, his mother Moira Queen, sister Thea, new bodyguard John Diggle, best friend Tommy Merlyn, ex-girlfriend Laurel Lance, and her father Detective Quentin Lance. It follows Oliver as he returns to Starling City, after having been shipwrecked for five years, and becomes a bow-wielding, hooded vigilante who sets out to right the wrongs of his father, who died during the shipwreck, and save the city.

Black Canary is a DC Comics superhero who has appeared across a range of live-action and animated television shows, as well as in several video games. Originally the pseudo name of the character Dinah Drake, the mantle was later passed on to her daughter, Dinah Laurel Lance. Both characters have appeared in different comic continuations and in other media, but the character has also been known by other names. She is usually portrayed as a proficient fighter, using martial arts as well as her trademark sonic scream or "Canary Cry".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oliver Queen (Arrowverse)</span> Fictional character in a television series

Oliver Queen, also known by his alter-ego the Green Arrow, is a fictional character in The CW's Arrowverse franchise, first introduced in the 2012 pilot episode of the television series Arrow. The character is based on the DC Comics character of the same name, created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, and was adapted for television in 2012 by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg. Stephen Amell portrayed Oliver Queen, with Jacob Hoppenbrouwer portraying a young Oliver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felicity Smoak</span> Comics character

Felicity Smoak is a fictional character appearing in comics published by DC Comics. Her first appearance was in The Fury of Firestorm #23, created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Rafael Kayanan. She was originally the manager of a computer software firm who opposed the superhero Firestorm because of his recklessness, eventually becoming the second wife of Edward Raymond and Ronnie's stepmother.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Lance</span> Fictional character from the Arrowverse

Sara Lance, also known by her alter-ego White Canary, is a fictional character in The CW's Arrowverse franchise, first introduced in the 2012 pilot episode of the television series Arrow, and later starring in Legends of Tomorrow. The character is an original character to the television series, created by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg, but incorporates character and plot elements of the DC Comics character Black Canary. Sara was portrayed by Jacqueline MacInnes Wood in the pilot episode, but subsequently by Caity Lotz.

<i>Arrow</i> season 1 Season of television series

The first season of the American action television series Arrow premiered on The CW on October 10, 2012, at 8:00 pm (ET) and concluded on May 15, 2013, with a total of 23 episodes, after the network ordered a full season on October 22, 2012. The series is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, a costumed crime-fighter created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, and is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with other Arrowverse television series. The showrunners for this season were Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg. Stephen Amell stars as Oliver Queen, with principal cast members Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance, Colin Donnell as Tommy Merlyn, David Ramsey as John Diggle, Willa Holland as Thea Queen, Susanna Thompson as Moira Queen, and Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance.

Green Arrow (<i>Arrow</i> episode) 1st episode of the 4th season of Arrow

"Green Arrow" is the premiere of the fourth season and seventieth overall episode, of the American television series Arrow, originally broadcast on The CW. Based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, the series follows the story of billionaire vigilante Oliver Queen who returns home after five years supposedly stranded on a Pacific island, featuring flashback sequences to his time away. The series is part of the Arrowverse franchise, alongside spin-off shows The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Batwoman and other associated media. At the start of the fourth season, the character is attempting to start a new life away from vigilantism in Ivy Town, alongside girlfriend Felicity Smoak. The episode marks the first time that the vigilante persona of Oliver Queen is referred to by his comic book alias of "Green Arrow". It is also the first episode in the series to feature a flash forward sequence as well as the established flashback sequences. The episode was written by season four showrunners Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle, developed from a story written by Greg Berlanti and Beth Schwartz and directed by Thor Freudenthal. It was first broadcast in the United States on October 7, 2015, on The CW.

<i>Arrow</i> season 6 Season of television series

The sixth season of the American television series Arrow premiered on The CW on October 12, 2017, and concluded on May 17, 2018, with a total of 23 episodes. The series is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, a costumed crime-fighter created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, and is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with other Arrowverse television series. The showrunners for this season were Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle. Stephen Amell stars as Oliver Queen, with principal cast members David Ramsey as John Diggle, Willa Holland as Thea Queen, Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak, Echo Kellum as Curtis Holt and Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance also returning from previous seasons. Katie Cassidy, a principal cast member from seasons one to four and a guest actor for season five, was reinstated as a series regular for the sixth season as Laurel Lance / Black Siren. They are joined by Rick Gonzalez as Rene Ramirez and Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake, who were promoted to series regulars from their recurring status in the previous season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Diggle (Arrowverse)</span> Fictional character in the Arrowverse

John Diggle, also known by his code names Freelancer and Spartan, is a fictional character in The CW's Arrowverse franchise and Superman & Lois, first introduced in the 2012 pilot episode of the television series Arrow. The character was created for the series by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg. Diggle is portrayed by David Ramsey

<i>Arrow</i> season 7 Season of television series

The seventh season of the American television series Arrow premiered on The CW on October 15, 2018, and concluded on May 13, 2019, with a total of 22 episodes. The series is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, a costumed crime-fighter created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, and is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with other Arrowverse television series. The showrunner for this season was Beth Schwartz. Stephen Amell stars as Oliver Queen, with principal cast members David Ramsey as John Diggle, Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak, Echo Kellum as Curtis Holt, Rick Gonzalez as Rene Ramirez, Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake, and Katie Cassidy Rodgers as Laurel Lance also returning from previous seasons. Colton Haynes, a principal cast member for seasons two and three and a special guest actor for seasons four and six, was reinstated as a series regular for the seventh season as Roy Harper. They are joined by Kirk Acevedo as Ricardo Diaz, who was promoted to a series regular from his recurring status in the previous season, and new cast member Sea Shimooka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurel Lance (Arrowverse)</span> Fictional character in the Arrowverse franchise

Dinah Laurel Lance is the name of several fictional characters in The CW's Arrowverse franchise based on the DC Comics character of the same name, created by writer-artist team of Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino, and adapted by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg for Arrow in 2012. Katie Cassidy portrays the several multiverse versions of the character within the Arrowverse, all of whom are mostly referred to by their middle name, "Laurel", unlike the comics.

<i>Arrow</i> season 8 Season of television series

The eighth and final season of the American television series Arrow premiered on The CW on October 15, 2019, and concluded on January 28, 2020, with a total of ten episodes. The series is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, a costumed vigilante created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, and is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with other Arrowverse television series and associated media. Executive producers Marc Guggenheim and Beth Schwartz returned as co-showrunners for this season.

"Starling City" is the first episode of the eighth season of the American television series Arrow, based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, revolving around billionaire playboy Oliver Queen as he returns to Starling City, after having been shipwrecked for five years, and becomes a bow-wielding, hooded vigilante who sets out to fight crime and corruption. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe. The episode was written by showrunners Marc Guggenheim and Beth Schwartz, and directed by James Bamford.

"Fadeout" is the series finale of the American TV series Arrow, based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, revolving around billionaire playboy Oliver Queen as he returns to Starling City, after having been shipwrecked for five years, and becomes a bow-wielding, hooded vigilante who sets out to fight crime and corruption. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe. The tenth episode of the eighth season and the 170th overall of the series, it was written by showrunners Marc Guggenheim & Beth Schwartz, and directed by James Bamford.

"Welcome to Hong Kong" is the second episode of the eighth season of the American television series Arrow, based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, revolving around billionaire playboy Oliver Queen as he returns to Starling City, after having been shipwrecked for five years, and becomes a bow-wielding, hooded vigilante who sets out to fight crime and corruption. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe. The episode was written by Jill Blankenship and Sarah Tarkoff, and directed by Antonio Negret.

"Leap of Faith" is the third episode of the eighth season of the American television series Arrow, based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, revolving around billionaire playboy Oliver Queen as he returns to Starling City, after having been shipwrecked for five years, and becomes a bow-wielding, hooded vigilante who sets out to fight crime and corruption. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe. The episode was written by Emilio Ortega Aldrich and Elizabeth Kim and directed by Katie Cassidy.

"Present Tense" is the fourth episode of the eighth season of the American television series Arrow, based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, revolving around billionaire playboy Oliver Queen as he returns to Starling City, after having been shipwrecked for five years, and becomes a bow-wielding, hooded vigilante who sets out to fight crime and corruption. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe. The episode was written by Oscar Balderrama and Jeane Wong and was directed by Kristin Windell.

References

  1. Porter, Rick; Goldberg, Lesley (September 24, 2019). "'Arrow': Female-Led Spinoff in the Works at The CW". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on September 25, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  2. Burlingame, Russ (October 15, 2019). "Arrow Spinoff Teased With "Green Arrow and the Canaries" Comic Book Mock-Up". ComicBook.com . Archived from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  3. Holbrook, Damian (January 15, 2020). "We Have Questions! Marc Guggenheim on the 'Crisis' Cameo & Casualty". TV Insider . Archived from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  4. Guggenheim, Marc [@mguggenheim] (November 2, 2019). "Unfortunately, the studio required us to officially title the episode after the planned spinoff, thus demonstrating no respect for tradition. Therefore, I would appreciate it if we could all just agree that the REAL title of 809 is "Livin' In the Future." Thank you all" (Tweet). Retrieved July 16, 2020 via Twitter.
  5. "(#809) "Green Arrow & The Canaries"". The Futon Critic . Archived from the original on July 16, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  6. Abdulbaki, Mae (November 19, 2019). "Why Oliver Queen Won't Appear in Arrow's Last Episode Before The Series Finale". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  7. Alvarez, Daniel (March 18, 2020). "Stephen Amell Didn't Watch Arrow Season 8's Canaries Spinoff Episode – Here's Why". Screen Rant . Archived from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  8. Mitovich, Matt Webb (October 16, 2019). "Arrow/The Flash: Burning Qs Answered About Earth-Two, the New Hood, Canaries Spinoff Set-Up and More". TVLine . Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  9. Grunenwald, Joe (January 22, 2020). "Recap: ARROW S8E9 – "Green Arrow & The Canaries"". Comics Beat . Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  10. Damore, Meagan (October 21, 2019). "Green Arrow & the Canaries Pilot Announces Start of Filming with Video". CBR . Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  11. Welch, Alex (January 23, 2020). "'NCIS,' 'The Conners,' all others hold: Tuesday final ratings". TV by the Numbers . Archived from the original on January 24, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  12. Mitovich, Matt (January 22, 2020). "Ratings: Arrow Spinoff Targets Season High in Viewers, Legends Returns Down". TVLine . Archived from the original on May 10, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  13. "Arrow – Season 8 Episode 9". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  14. Agard, Chancellor (January 21, 2020). "'Arrow' recap: Livin' in the future". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  15. Harrington, Delia (January 22, 2020). "Arrow Season 8 Episode 9 Review: Green Arrow & The Canaries". Den of Geek . Archived from the original on September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  16. Shoemaker, Allison (January 21, 2020). "The Arrowverse opens the door for Green Arrow & The Canaries". The A.V. Club . Archived from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  17. Mitovich, Matt Webb (June 17, 2020). "How Arrow Spinoff Mysteries Might Be Resolved If Pilot Isn't Picked Up". TVLine . Archived from the original on January 10, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  18. Andreeva, Nellie (January 8, 2021). "'Arrow' Spinoff 'Green Arrow and The Canaries' Not Going Forward at the CW, 'The 100' Prequel Still Alive". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  19. Burlingame, Russ (January 8, 2021). "Arrow Co-Creator Reacts to Green Arrow and the Canaries Announcement". ComicBook.com . Archived from the original on January 10, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  20. Drum, Nicole (November 13, 2021). "The Flash Showrunner Says Fans Should Rewatch the Green Arrow & The Canaries Backdoor Pilot Before "Armageddon"". ComicBook.com . Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. Retrieved November 27, 2021.