Green Arrow – Green Arrow & the Canaries

By: Courtney Groom

The episode opens with intercut scenes of a motorcycle speeding through the streets of Star City in 2040, pulling up outside the club Verdant (which was previously owned by the Queens). The masked figure takes of their helmet to reveal themselves as Earth-2 Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) not looking any older than she did in 2020. Once inside the club she approaches a young woman named Bianca Bertinelli (Raigan Harris) telling her that her life is in danger. Bianca takes no notice and carries on dancing as Laurel tries to follow her. Bianca is then suddenly kidnapped by some nameless goons and Laurel runs outside of the club to try and catch them but they are nowhere to be found. The last time we saw Star City in 2040 pre-Crisis it was a crime-ridden crumbling city. But now it’s gleaming and glamorous as ever.

We next find ourselves at Queen Manor. Mia Smoak (Katherine McNamara) wakes up next to a mystery man. Mia walks over to her dresser where she pulls out a high-tech computer from the drawer where we learn that Rene Ramirez (Rick Gonzalez) is now the mayor of Star City. The mystery man wakes up and approaches Mia where we learn he is none other than J.J. Diggle (Charlie Barnett). Mia and J.J. flirt and kiss and it comes up that today is Mia’s college graduation day. As a graduation gift J.J. presents her with a small box and as she sees the ring inside, he gets down on one knee and proposes. After a stunned moment Mia says yes.

Elsewhere, Laurel enters a bar called The Fishnet and asks the barman for the owner. He points to the stage where we find Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy) singing and playing the piano to Sunny by Boney M. Dinah also looks like she hasn’t aged since 2020. After finishing the song, she and Laurel go up to her apartment, which is above the Bar behind the face of a clock. Dinah asks Laurel how she found her, and Laurel says Sara (Caity Lotz) helped track her down in the future. Dinah tells Laurel that she woke up in 2040 the day after Oliver’s funeral in 2020, to discover that she doesn’t even exist in this future. She doesn’t understand how or why it’s happened but being in the future allowed her to let go of the past and start a fresh new life.

Laurel then begins to tell Dinah about Bianca’s kidnapping, and Dinah asks if she came to the future just to save a kidnapped socialite. Laurel shows Dinah news footage of Star City in 2041. The city is in flames, with rioting in the streets and police in military gear, much like what we have seen in the pre-crisis flashforwards.  She says that the city falls apart following the death of Bianca Bertinelli, which according to the future happens in three days. Laurel says she needs Dinah’s help in preventing the city from falling apart, but Dinah is hesitant to help. Laurel plays the Oliver card to convince her and says they’ll need one more person for this mission.

That night Mia and J.J. arrive at Mia’s graduation party and are met by paparazzi. One of them asks Mia what her father would think of her life choices. Mia replies that her father saved Star City so people could enjoy it and that’s what she’s going to do. She also makes a joke about him being proud of her because he never graduated. Once inside the party Mia and J.J. are greeted by William Clayton (Ben Lewis) and Zoe Ramirez (Andrea Sixtos), who congratulate Mia on her graduation. William offers her a job at SmoakTech, which Mia politely declines. Later, as Mia makes a speech thanking everyone for coming and toasting to the class of 2040, she sees Connor Hawke (Joseph David-Jones) enter the back of the room. After the toast she finds J.J. talking to Connor and Mia makes a crack about Connor being in rehab. The two give a dead eye at each other a bit before Mia excuses herself to talk Trevor (Chad Duell). She asks him if he’s seen Bianca and he says he hasn’t.

Suddenly Dinah and Laurel appear saying Trevor is the last person Bianca texted before she disappeared. Trevor walks away and says she’s calling security because she doesn’t recognize who they are. As she walks away Laurel touches her arm with a red-glowing ring she’s wearing. When she does, memories of her pre-Crisis life flood back to Mia and she instantly remembers everything. Mia collapses and as J.J. helps her to her feet she looks around at everyone and remembers their past lives, including J.J.’s past as the murderous leader of the Deathstroke Gang.

Mia leaves to talk to Laurel and Dinah, who she now remembers. Laurel says Cisco (Carlos Valdes) was able to replicate J’onn J’onnz’s (David Harewood) ability to restore people’s memories, which is what her ring did. They tell Mia that Bianca has been kidnapped and they need Mia’s help to find her. After a brief moment of hesitation for Mia over whether she can even be the Green Arrow, Laurel throws a glass at her, which she catches easily. Dinah and Laurel fill Mia in on what they know about Bianca’s kidnapping, and suggest that Mia visit the Bertinelli family to see what they know.

At the Bertinelli mansion, Mia tells Bianca’s parents and brother she thinks Bianca might be in trouble. While elsewhere on the grounds Dinah works on hacking into the security cameras so Laurel can safely plant bugs around the building. Bianca’s brother, Logan (James Drew Dean), tells Mia he thinks Bianca will probably turn up soon and her parents agree.

Back at Dinah’s apartment, Dinah sets to work monitoring the bugs they planted around the Bertinelli house. Laurel questions Dinah on why she’s hiding out at the bar when she could be out in the world making a difference. Dinah says she thinks she was brought to this future so she could realize she shouldn’t have ever been a hero, but Laurel reminds her she inspired all of the Canaries to be heroes in the pre-Crisis future. One of Dinah’s bugs turns on and they overhear Logan saying he’s worried about something being found out and they suspect it might be Bianca. Laurel says it’s time to suit up and opens a case to reveal Mia’s pre-Crisis Green Arrow costume, which she refuses to put on.

That night the three of them ride out on motorcycles to intercept a pair of SUVs surrounding the lead car, which Logan is in. They disable the engines as Laurel and Dinah distract the goons while Mia heads to the back of the car to free Bianca. Before she can open the car, Mia is attacked by a goon, who she takes down relatively easily. She opens the back door to find no Bianca, but several suitcases with vials of what look like the drug Vertigo. As Mia realizes they were wrong, from out of nowhere a bomb lands on the ground in front of Mia. She runs and the bomb explodes sending her, Laurel and Dinah to the ground. As Mia looks back through the smoke, she sees someone wearing a Deathstroke mask.

Back at Dinah’s they’re all annoyed that they were wrong about Logan having Bianca. Mia is also angry with Laurel and Dinah for having left her alone, asking what would’ve happened if she had forgotten how to fight. Laurel snaps back that Mia’s fiancée J.J. is now their top suspect and Mia says there’s no way it’s him. They argue back and forth with Mia continuing to defend J.J. and Laurel suggests Mia should prove it if she’s so certain.

Later the three of them arrive at the art gallery where J.J. works. Mia goes off to talk to J.J. while Laurel makes her way to J.J.’s office and Dinah takes down the security cameras. Laurel is unable to get past the guard to enter the office, but Mia walks right in which annoys Laurel a lot. Inside the office Mia places a device on the computer and data starts transferring. Suddenly the computer freezes and guards and J.J. enter the office. Mia says she knows J.J. kidnapped Bianca and J.J. denies it. Mia tells him to show her what’s on the computer if he has nothing to hide. When he does it happens to be the plans for their honeymoon. Before Mia can apologize J.J. gets a social media alert from his phone from Bianca and storms out.

After a fallout between Mia and Laurel in which Mia says Laurel can’t get over the fact that Star City doesn’t need her here anymore, Mia tries to apologize to J.J. He suggests she has commitment issues, which is why she’s pushing him away and that when she looks at him it’s like she seems someone else entirely. He suggests they take a break and leaves.

Meanwhile, back at Dinah’s we see she and Laurel are working on decrypting the video. Dinah says Laurel is pushing Mia too hard and Laurel admits it is because she doesn’t want Mia to make the same mistakes. She has by pretending to be something she’s not. They successfully decrypt the video revealing that Bianca is definitely in danger and Dinah agrees that Star City does need the Green Arrow.

Laurel arrives at Mia’s to apologize, and Mia tells her J.J. broke up with her. Laurel shares what she said to Dinah and asks Mia if she was happy before she “woke up.” Mia says that living in the shadow of her dad is what led her to choose to do nothing with her life. Laurel responds that being a hero sucks and that it never gets easier, but it also gave her purpose so maybe putting the suit on can give Mia hers. Mia finally agrees to suit up as the Green Arrow alongside Dinah and Laurel in their Black Canary gear to rescue Bianca.

The three of them zipline over a building, crashing through a skylight and finding Bianca. Just then Trevor enters the room with some goons. He pulls out his Deathstroke mask and says that Bianca is just a pawn in a larger game. Dinah, Laurel and Mia take them down while Trevor escapes. They grab Bianca and run after him, fighting through some more guys on their way to the roof. They find Trevor who breaks a gas line and threatens to blow up the building with his lighter. They try to talk him out of it, but Trevor says “she” won’t let them stop what’s coming. He drops his lighter into the gas and Mia, Dinah, Laurel and Bianca zipline off of the building down to the ground as it explodes behind them.

Later at Dinah’s home Mia says Bianca is okay and Laurel thanks both Mia and Dinah for their help. Dinah says that someone pushed Trevor to do what he did and she wants to find out who and why. Mia says Star City needs the Green Arrow again, but that she’s also not going to give up her life. Mia and J.J. make up while Laurel tells her that she’s not leaving until the city is safe. Dinah suggests they turn her apartment into a base for the Canaries and that she’s ready to help the next generation of heroes.

Later that night Mia and William visit a statue memorializing their father. William says he’s been getting calls from the media asking if he’s the new Green Arrow. As they reflect on their lives William pulls out the arrowhead that Oliver gave him decades ago. As they look at the arrowhead both of them are shot with tranquilizer darts. Two men appear and kidnap William, leaving Mia collapsed on the ground in front of the statue of her father.

Back at J.J.’s apartment he is awoken by a noise that he assumes is Mia. A hooded figure grabs J.J. and flips him over the couch and onto the floor. He has a similar red-glowing device to the one Laurel has and he touches J.J. with it. Memories of his past life flood back to J.J. and he stands, looking furious.