‘Arrow’ season 4 spoilers: Charlotte Ross’ run extended as Donna Smoak

The symmetry between Felicity Smoak on “Arrow” and her mother Donna is fascinating; the two may not have much in common in terms of their respective narratives, but their story behind the scenes is remarkably similar. When Emily Bett Rickards and then Charlotte Ross were cast as their characters, the intention was never to have either be a significant part of the show. Yet, thanks to their performances and fan reaction, the writers are putting in the effort for us to see more of them.

We knew already that Ross was coming back for more Donna time during the sixth episode of season 4, but now TVLine has confirmed that you are also going to be seeing her for the nine and tenth installments. Given that one of these may be the midseason finale / winter premiere, the odds are rising ever so slightly that this could be a particularly important story for her.

Does this mean that Ross is on her way to becoming a more-permanent presence on the series? We’re not going to go that far, but there are two questions that many fans have long clamored to have some answers for:

1. Who is Felicity’s father, and is he someone we are going to see a lot of this season? If he is Damien Darhk, we are ready to pound our head against the nearest wall. Way too coincidental and cliche for this show.

2. Are we going to see a Donna / Quentin Lance romance? Fans seem to want it, and while we haven’t really seen enough of the two actors onscreen together to know if it could work, we’re certainly all for giving it a try.

If you’ve missed some other recent “Arrow” news, the link here will guide you over to one of the latest promos! Also, you can sign up now over here to have some further TV updates sent right to you, courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: The CW.)