As for Dinah, the reveal that Crisis seems to have erased all record of her existence is an interesting development, one that may hint at similar problems across the Arrowverse. Laurel is now a woman without a world thanks to Crisis, so it's not difficult to see why she'd just as soon make her home in the future than stay in 2020. This episode also finds sufficient narrative reason to pair Mia with the two Black Canaries of old. Maybe that's a discrepancy between shows, but it's easy enough to explain by assuming the process is much more painful and destructive because these characters have been living their new lives for 20 years. Elsewhere, it's been like flipping a switch, whereas here the warring sets of memories create major emotional trauma. In general, Arrow is doing a lot more than its sister shows to explore the psychological effects of heroes having their post-Crisis memories overwritten by pre-Crisis memories. Because Dig and Lyla now have two children to raise, they probably never adopt Connor and never have that powerful influence over him as a child. Presumably, we're seeing the unintended ramifications of Sara Diggle being restored to existence in Crisis. The revamped timeline also adds a new layer to Connor, who's become a much much darker and more troubled character. If anything, this shake-up creates a more real and effective link between the two. But A) who really cares at this point? And B) with both Mia and JJ having their memories restored, we're still going to see ramifications from their pre-Crisis rivalry. A lot of that material goes unresolved here.
The obvious criticism with this soft reboot of the 2040 setting is that it prevents viewers from getting full closure with the pre-Crisis conflict. After seven seasons of Ollie fighting and losing so much and never making true, lasting headway in saving his city, it's good to have tangible proof it was all worth it in the end. That alone helps this episode feel like a proper Arrow coda. The fallout of Crisis has resulted in Mia and her friends returning to 2040 and having their memories realign to fit a world where Ollie's sacrifice has made Star City into the safest place in the country. In its favor, "Green Arrow and the Canaries" attempts to give viewers a clean break from the previous flash-forward material. That's the fundamental question this episode tries and never quite manages to answer. So what reason is there to be optimistic for a spinoff that completely detaches itself from the past? It's only when the flash-forwards have managed to forge a direct link between past and present (such as when Mia and her friends were dragged back into 2019) that this storyline has achieved any real resonance. Once the initial novelty wore off, the flash-forwards devolved into a dull, rote look at the future of Star City - more a way of continuing one of Arrow's most recognizable storytelling tropes than a truly necessary addition to the series. Still, there's little getting around the fact that the recurring flash-forward storyline has never been one of Arrow's more compelling plot points.
There's something fitting about the series opting to look ahead before it looks back and explores how Oliver's daughter chooses to carry on his mission two decades down the line. There's little for Arrow to do now but reflect on that sacrifice and the legacy of the Arrowverse's first hero. Oliver Queen is dead, having sacrificed his life twice in Crisis to save the multiverse. It's not as if this detour doesn't come at the right time. But after watching "Green Arrow and the Canaries," the jury is still out. With its penultimate episode, Arrow attempts to build a stronger case for that spinoff in the form of a backdoor pilot. On the other, it does so by doubling down on the weakest elements of the past three seasons of Arrow. On one hand, that spinoff promises to dull the sting of losing a show that's been a part of fans' lives for eight years. It's difficult not to feel ambivalence toward The CW's upcoming Green Arrow and the Canaries spinoff series. You can check out our reviews for Batwoman Season 1, Episode 10, Supergirl Season 5, Episode 10 and Black Lightning Season 3, Episode 10, with our Legends of Tomorrow: Season 5 Premiere review coming soon. We're checking in with all the Arrowverse shows this week to see how they build on the fallout of the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover. Warning: this review contains full spoilers for Arrow: Season 8, Episode 9, which serves as a backdoor pilot for the proposed "Green Arrow and the Canaries" spinoff.