Green Arrow & The Canaries (Arrow episode)

"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.

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.

"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.

Plot
In 2040, two decades after Oliver Queen's sacrifice saved the universe, crime in Star City has been quiet, Mia Smoak has led a successful life with her fiancé John Diggle "J.J." Jr., and Zoe Ramirez is alive. When Helena Bertinelli's daughter Bianca goes missing, Laurel Lance requests Dinah Drake's help in finding her. She then recruits a reluctant Mia, restoring her pre-Crisis memories with Martian technology developed by Cisco Ramon, and manages to convince her to take on the mantle of Green Arrow. Mia, Dinah, and Laurel rescue Bianca from the captivity of her ex-boyfriend Trevor, possessing a Deathstroke mask. Just as Mia learns that he is working for someone else, Trevor sets off the gas line and escapes. Afterwards, Dinah decides to establish the Canary Network. At Oliver's memorial, Mia recognizes the hōzen that William Clayton was given as a teenager as a tattoo on Trevor's hand before being tranquilized by masked men who make off with William and leave Mia behind. Elsewhere at the same time, a mysterious figure ambushes J.J. and uses the same Martian technology to restore his pre-Crisis memories, telling J.J that he "needs him".

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. In October, Arrow co-creator Marc Guggenheim released an image indicating Green Arrow and the Canaries as the name for the new series. 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.

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. The episode was directed by Tara Miele, and written by season 8 co-showrunner Beth Schwartz, Guggenheim, Jill Blankenship and Oscar Balderrama.

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. 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. 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.

Filming
The episode was filmed in October 2019.

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, marking a season high in overnight ratings.

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." 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." Delia Harrington of Den of Geek wrote, “Green Arrow & the Canaries” 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." 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."