Arrow 7x16 : Star City 2040 review

Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it.

This week's episode of Arrow features very little of one Oliver Queen. Now you could say that's impossible but for this episode it really works. Instead we're finally given the sort or origin and growing up life of Mia Smoak. Beginning with her birth we see Oliver for the one and only time he's in the episode and Felicity in a secluded house. Felicity gives birth to their daughter and throughout the next few minutes we're shown Mia growing up in a montage of sorts. Beginning with her training. She gets trained by Nyssa Al Ghul of all people. As she gets older her skills improve and her will to fight gets stronger. Felicity is observing all of this from a distance. No mention of Oliver or where he's at during all of this which is weird. You think he'd be the one to train Mia, especially as she trains with a bow but nope. Years later and now much older Mia walks into her home and finds Felicity who hides on her as a way to test her instincts. Mia mentions how they rarely leave their home and go into the city. Felicity responds with that people knowing she's the daughter of the Green Arrow would be a big risk to take and it'd only put Mia in danger which is a fair point. Later while Felicity is around we see Mia again practicing with the bow. She fires off an arrow and discovers a secret room much to her surprise. Inside is various files, pictures of Felicity and William and even that picture of Oliver in season 6 where he supposedly got outed as the Green Arrow which was funny. This leads to Mia wanting to create her own path and after leaving a note for Felicity heads to Star City to find her real purpose in life. 

So that was the flashback of Mia's origins sort of. Fast forward to where we last saw her and William and their journey into the Glades begins. Mia seems really against vigilantes throughout here and makes traversal look a lot easier than it actually is. Back in Star City and after getting some intel on a group named Eden Corp and a company named Galaxy One, Rene, Dinah and Zoey walk into base and see Rene standing their. As we know he is the mayor and is a part of the attempt to destroy Star City by ways of explosion. He tells everyone that people will be evacuated before everything even begins but Zoey still seems heartbroken by her father's words which is understandable. In the Glades William and Mia infiltrate Galaxy One and learn that Felicity is being kept their in one of the sub levels. Connor Hawke arrives just in the nick of time as Mia is about to be outed and says she is with him. With him? well turns out Connor Hawke is a secret agent and has been for some time. His and Mia's relationship is pushed to the limit throughout and he even name drops Spiderman which was funny. Below Galaxy One and it's sub levels is a secret room where Felicity is being held captive. She is let out of her cage so to speak and tells everyone what's been really happening. She only became the Calculator so that she could get into Galaxy One from the inside and destroy both the bomb stockpile that is a huge threat to Star City / The Glades and Eden Corp. William seems happy to see Felicity but Mia gives her the cold shoulder almost and doesn't say very much to her. 

The episode draws to a close with the destruction of the bomb stockpile and Rene's turn (sort of) to the good side. As everyone meets up Rene says that there was going to be no evacuation like he was promised. This lead to him churning out the info that led to everyone's mission to destroy the item that was controlling the bomb stockpile. Held by the same guy who we saw earlier in the season talk with Rene about the whole bomb issue. His overall plan however? well he wants to expand the Archer programme and make it worldwide. We see Felicity try to mend things with Mia and says that she is very much like her father. All of this talk about Oliver and how he's missing just further implements in my mind the idea that he is going to die sacrificing himself in the Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover at the end of this year. All signs point to it in my opinion at least. So yeah the episode ends with a present day Felicity who we now know is the creator of the Archer programme itself. Overall this episode was really good to be honest. The origin of Mia was cool if a bit rushed and the inclusion of everyone working together in the future was cool. Next week things look set to return to normal though as Emiko has some secrets that might be revealed. Until next week it is then!

★★★