Arrow season 7 episode 16 preview: Flash forward to ‘Star City 2040’

Next week, Arrow season 7 episode 16 is unleashing an episode that has been anticipated for a good while: “Star City 2040.” There have long been plans for a flash-forward episode, one that could actually allow us an opportunity to see precisely what is going on there … and hopefully, one that will give us a little bit of hope. We know that Arrow is a dark show … but this has been bleak. Super-bleak. We’re not sure knowing that the show is ending next season helps with this at all, especially with everyone debating the idea that Oliver could end up dying in the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover.

We suppose that for now, there is no reason to focus on things more than half a year away, especially in contrast to what lies directly before us. We know that nothing’s happening to Oliver Queen in the near future (at least in the present), and this episode is going to be an opportunity to see things from a different perspective. It’s also going to continue the strange tradition of having Katherine McNamara on two different shows at the same exact time. What a weird, crazy coincidence that turned out to be.

For some more details as to what’s coming within “Star City 2040,” check out the synopsis that CarterMatt has for you below:

FLASH FORWARD TO THE FUTURE – Mia (guest star Katherine McNamara) and William (guest star Ben Lewis) venture into the Glades on a dangerous mission. There they run into Dinah (Juliana Harkavy), Roy (Colton Haynes) and Zoe (guest star Andrea Sixtos) who deliver some devastating news. The flash forwards share highlights from Mia’s childhood with Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards). James Bamford directed the episode written by Beth Schwartz & Oscar Balderrama (#716). Original airdate 3/18/2019.

Here’s a question we’re going to be asking for a while…

Is there a chance we see a “next generation” spin-off in the future? Think about it — you could throw in here Mia, Nora West-Allen from The Flash, or even Zari from Legends of Tomorrow. There may be some retooling of the timeline required, but it’s not exactly like the Arrowverse is completely opposed to the idea. Just look at Flashpoint randomly becoming the source of Killer Frost’s powers.

If this does ever happen, clearly it’s not an immediate focus. That seems to be instead on Batwoman, and we wouldn’t be surprised if it takes the place of Arrow on the CW schedule in early 2020. A Next Generation spin-off likely wouldn’t work until the fall of 2020 at the earliest, and even then it may not be the sort of carrot The CW wants to bite into given that they may still have The Flash on the air then. If you show too much of the future, doesn’t that spoil the present? This has long been one of our greatest concerns in general when it comes to some of these flash-forward stories. Yes, we know the present can change and the future can be different, but if you dive too much into this paradox, then all of a sudden you could consider some of these flash-forward stories to be a total waste of time and not even remotely canon to anything else that is happening.

The impact of Felicity Smoak

If you missed our feature all about Emily Bett Rickards’ character over the weekend, you can take a look at that over here. Meanwhile, be sure to share in the comments what you want to see on Arrow season 7 episode 16! (Photo: The CW.)