5 reasons why The CW needs to pick up Green Arrow and The Canaries

The backdoor pilot was a resounding success

There’s no better way to begin this list than to start with the most obvious reason of them all. “Green Arrow and The Canaries” – the backdoor pilot episode that aired as Arrow‘s penultimate installment – was a major success for the network.

The placement of it (as the penultimate episode of Arrow) may have caused a little confusion but the reception to the episode itself was overwhelmingly positive, with critics praising the tone, setting, concept and performances of Cassidy, Harkavy and McNamara.

But it wasn’t just the critics who had good things to say about the pilot as the episode also drew a highly positive fan response – most of whom were ecstatic at the prospect of this concept becoming a weekly TV series. And that translated into viewing figures because “Green Arrow and The Canaries” drew the highest non-crossover ratings for Arrow‘s final season – bringing in 0.89 million viewers and a solid 0.3 in the all-too important 18-49 demographic.

To put those numbers in perspective, that’s much higher than the current seasons of Supergirl, Batwoman and Legends of Tomorrow were getting and it was also a lot higher than Arrow‘s final episode (which drew 0.72 million). It’s also on par with the numbers that new arrival Stargirl brought in – figures which were so impressive they convinced The CW to pick the DC Universe show up full-time for a second season.

It’s clear that there’s a demand for Green Arrow and The Canaries so the fact of the matter is that it just wouldn’t make sense for The CW to rob fans of something they clearly want (not-to-mention robbing themselves of the chance to build the Arrowverse even further).