"Green Arrow and the Canaries" Deserves to be Picked Up

Earlier this year "Arrow" came to an end with its eighth season. The majority of it focused on Oliver's (Stephen Amell) part of the crossover event, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and his short relationship with his adult daughter Mia Queen (Katherine McNamara). Oliver died during Crisis - twice - and the first episode post-crossover was the backdoor pilot starring Katherine McNamara as Mia Queen, Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance, and Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake.

I typically hate backdoor pilots. I particularly hate backdoor pilots and introducing spinoffs in the final season of a show. The final season of a show should be an opportunity to tie up all loose ends and say goodbye to the characters that we've come to know and love. The final season is not a chance to vie for more content. However, this backdoor pilot was really fun. The basis for the show is kind of convoluted, includes time travel and alternate lives, but it was entertaining and if you know the Arrowverse then well, who cares about convoluted set ups? The action was cool and the motivations for the characters all make sense and that all anyone really needs from a superhero show.

In the last two seasons of "Arrow" we were graced with some flash forwards that gave us some insight in the lives of Oliver Queen and Co.'s offspring in 2040. Star City has been run to the ground - criminals run the city and law enforcement is a joke - and it's up the kids to help save Star City. After Crisis on Infinite Earths, Oliver Queen sacrificed his life to make Star City a utopia with literally no crime.

Mia Queen leads the show by taking up the mantle of Green Arrow with the help of the Canaries (Laurel Lance and Dinah Drake). Both women have time traveled to 2040 because crime is somehow back in Star City and they want to help stop it. We get to glimpse the future that Oliver sacrificed his life for and see McNamara get to be a total badass as the Green Arrow.

In the wake of "Arrow" ending it feels wrong to have an Arrowverse without the Green Arrow. "Arrow" is the show that started it all, without him there is a huge gaping hole where Stephen Amell used to stand. A show with Mia Queen at the helm would be the natural progression here. McNamara emulates the best of her TV parents and is her own awesome character all at the same time. It doesn't hurt that she's also an incredible Green Arrow.

The backdoor pilot left off on a pretty big cliffhanger. William (Ben Lewis) was kidnapped right in front of Mia while visiting their father's statue and some unknown villain went to JJ (Charlie Barnett) and gave him his memories from his old life back. The drama is there! Mia and JJ are engaged in this universe but in their old one they were enemies! What is happening? Who took Will? Is JJ totally evil again? Will Connor get his memories back too? We need answers CW!

When all is said and done this cast is incredibly capable of shouldering the burden that is continuing the Green Arrow story. Katherine McNamara, Ben Lewis, Joseph David-Jones, Charlie Barnett, Katie Cassidy, and Julianna Harkavy are incredible actors and I'm not done with their story and I don't think they are either. The Green Arrow deserves to be remembered in this wonderful universe and "Green Arrow and the Canaries" will be the perfect way to honor the original show while standing on its own two feet.

The CW still hasn't announced anything about the possible new show. Hopefully, we get an announcement soon whether or not it gets picked up. I think many fans hope that the show gets picked up so we can once again live in the world of Star City's superheroes.