Arrow spinoff, Green Arrow and the Canaries, landed season 8’s highest viewers for the backdoor pilot following the Arrowverse crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths. Since March 2019, Arrow’s end was determined when it was revealed that the eighth season would be its last. With the ongoing farewell season having mostly focused on setting up the massive five-part crossover that ended recently, it has also been paving the way for a new series. After debuting in season 7 as Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Felicity’s (Emily Bett Rickards) daughter, Mia (Kat McNamara) has been one of the bigger focuses in the last two seasons. Mia eventually made it to 2019 from 2040, where she got to meet her father in the flesh and take part in his final journey before he died in the Crisis.
With Arrow season 8 set to end Oliver Queen’s story in the Arrowverse, that doesn’t mean the end of the Green Arrow. Prior to the final season premiere, The CW put Green Arrow and the Canaries into active development, which would feature Mia as the new Emerald Archer. The spin-off would also star the two Black Canaries, Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) and Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy). Following Crisis, the backdoor pilot became Arrow’s penultimate episode to set up the legacy series. Despite Arrow’s crossover portion being the highest viewed episode of season 8, the backdoor pilot still did well.
According to TVLine, the Arrow episode “Green Arrow and the Canaries” scored a new season-high as it hit 0.92m in viewers, with a 0.3/2 in Adults 18-49 rating/share. This makes it the second-highest viewed episode of the season, with part 4 of the crossover having a 1.41m viewers and 0.5/3 in rating/share for Adults 18-49. With this being the initial numbers for Tuesday night, the final ratings may adjust either up or down. Despite being the new DC series The CW announced for development, it was Superman and Lois that ended up being ordered to series first.
However, while the backdoor pilot hadn’t aired yet, it was reported that The CW was possibly only going with one DC series. The spinoff’s future will be determined after the network has looked over all of their pilots. Given the impressive numbers and a solid critical response to the backdoor pilot, The CW might be determining its chances as a series pick-up sooner rather than later. Having spent a decent portion of Arrow’s final season with Oliver passing the Green Arrow mantle to Mia as well as evolved the two Canaries, the trio has a lot to offer as part of the Arrowverse.
The series finale of the Amell-led drama is set to air on Tuesday, January 28, which confirms Mia being back in the present for the send-off. Whether or not the episode will offer more setup for the spinoff remains to be seen. Another factor that will most likely be taken into account by the network is the backdoor pilot’s L+3 and L+7 ratings along with streaming viewers on The CW app. Whether it’s in the coming weeks or months leading up to annual upfronts, eager Arrow fans will hopefully soon know the future of Green Arrow and the Canaries.
Source: TVLine
