Arrow Review: Star City 2040 (Season 7 Episode 16)
We get a glimpse at the bleak future and the Queen-Smoak kids’ mission to find their mother on Arrow Season 7 Episode 16, “Star City 2040.”
The hour definitely plays as a backdoor pilot that gives more insight, fills in some blanks, while leaving a few noticeably unfilled, about 2040.
Seeing the hour kicks off with Oliver, Felicity, and baby Mia being born in a cottage-like house in the middle of the woods is sweet and very telling of where we’ll be seeing Olicity even a few months from the present.
Oliver being there for Felicity and the pair sharing “I love you’ s” as Felicity gives birth is a brief, heartwarming moment for the Queen-Smoak family before things shift and the future begins to move at full speed, giving us more information than we can process at one time.
That shift is clear as Felicity looks on as young Mia gets trained by none other than the former heir to the demon, badass assassin, Nyssa.
Nyssa’s appearance is a pleasant and somewhat random surprise that brings up a few questions, including why Nyssa is the one training her and not Oliver. It feels like there’s a heartbreaking reason for Nyssa’s need to train Mia and that sets off a bit of an anxious tension over what we don’t know about the future.
From Felicity’s expression, it’s blatant that there’s something wrong and it’s become essential that Mia gets trained. But what could be happening that leads to the training?
Flash forward 20 years to the future and the Queen-Smoak siblings are on a mission to save their mother, going against her wishes and essentially proving they are indeed their parents’ children. Their trip to the Glades provides a few more quality sibling bonding moments that are equal parts happy and sad to see, considering it’s taken 20 years for them to get to know each other.
But it’s William and Mia’s first scenes with Felicity in 2040 that hit those emotional high points.
William and Felicity’s reunion is an amazingly touching moment that feels like a culmination of the distance Felicity and Oliver have kept between them and their son over the last 2 decades.
From the last time William saw his parents in 2019 to the way he’s described his abandonment, the fact that he’s so quick to understand Felicity’s explanation and how open he is to the hug and love after everything is impressive and shows how he ultimately understands the life his parents lead and what it means.
I love this moment between William and Felicity for that reason; it breaks your heart and warms it simultaneously. Both are happy and seemingly scared at the same time to approach each other, with the pair sharing how they never thought they’d see each other again.
It’s on par with the moment William discovers that Felicity was the angel investor in his company, Harris Consolidated. There’s something about the look on William’s face that adds to the small, fast-moving scene and ultimately the scene he reunites with Felicity.
While William and Felicity easily make amends, Felicity and Mia aren’t that lucky. After seeing Mia leave home after finding Felicity’s secret home office, it’s not hard to see why their relationship is fraught.
Seeing her reaction to Felicity’s attempted explanation feels like a look into the past and Thea’s response to discovering any of the secrets Moira kept from her, a connection I didn’t expect to make.
In the same breath, a lot of Felicity’s composure and strategy to keep her family together reminds me of Moira as well. If there is one redeeming quality Moira Queen always had was her resolve and determination to keep her family safe.
There’s a moment of understanding, though, between the pair as Mia finally gets the full picture about who precisely the villains are in Star City. Mia finally understands what William’s understood for a very long time, that her parents were on the right side of the fight.
Mia and Felicity’s emotional conversation comes as they each get their own version of acceptance from each other, as Felicity says how proud she is of her daughter and how Mia finally understands the truth.
The Archer reveal is surprising but also leads to about another dozen questions that hopefully get answered in the coming episodes. What does it have to do with Oliver and what does Felicity believe she’s at fault for?
With more of the future unveiled every episode, the absences are beginning to loom larger over the future — Oliver, Diggle, along with the remainder of the Diggle-Michaels family, Lyla, and JJ.
After years of rooting for these characters, it’s hard not to notice their absence and wonder if they survived the 20-year jump. Now, the question is not only what happened to Oliver, Diggle, and Lyla, but also when we’ll be finding out about their fates.
Random Thoughts
- Casting Jade Bamford, stunt coordinator, and director James Bamford’s daughter, as young Mia Smoak is adorable and definitely makes sense for the training scene.
- Rene becoming the next generation’s Malcolm Merlyn is not a thing I anticipated happening, though there has been some strangeness with his whole Mayoral situation leading up to this moment so I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising.
- Mia taking on an entire room of security guards is peak Oliver’s daughter and so fantastic to watch.
What did you think of this episode of Arrow? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Arrow airs Mondays at 8/7c on The CW.
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Brianna Martinez
Brianna spends her time away from briefs, legal research, and pleadings, watching TV and writing about it. She generally has a lot of feelings about TV, which you can read about here and on Twitter.