When it comes to major announcements to be made about movies and TV shows, studios mostly tend to wait until during the work week to drop that stuff unless, say, it’s San Diego Comic-Con weekend or something comparable. But this past Saturday, I guess Emily Bett Rickards and company couldn’t wait until Monday morning to reveal that she’ll indeed be leaving Arrow – and she’s not even waiting until the final season to say “adios.”
What’s especially intriguing is that Felicity Smoak’s exit will come at some point before the season finale set to air this May, so we’re going to have to wait and see just how that works out. I have a pretty good guess as to how the producers will pull it off, but let’s first look at what co-star Stephen Amell had to say about the matter.
Before his latest post on Instagram, Amell hadn’t really said much regarding having to wish his colleague farewell, but he finally broke the silence with this touching statement:
“For me… August 3rd, 2012 is the most important day in the history of our show. It was the first day I worked with Emily. Her energy and the vibrancy she gave to Felicity Smoak is only surpassed by what she personally gave to me. She was a co-worker that became a best friend. So on the first day of our last episode together, I’d like everyone to know how deeply I appreciate the past seven years. EmBett… We wouldn’t be here without you. I love you. And I cannot wait to see what you do next.”
From the sound of that, I’d say their last episode filmed together was probably 7×21. Granted, Amell has said that he’s read the script for the finale already, but again, Felicity is supposed to bounce sometime before then and the penultimate episode sounds like as good of a time as any.
Getting back to what I was saying earlier, I think the best way to write Felicity off the show would be to say that she wants to raise her baby in seclusion, away from the supervillains she normally combats. In “Star City 2040,” it was revealed that she’d raised Mia in a cabin in the woods, so that’s a good bet where she’s headed.
In any case, we’ll find out soon enough, as Arrow returns with new episodes on Monday, April 15th on The CW.
