Charlotte Ross will return to Arrow later this season to reprise her role as Felicity’s mother.
Ross, an NYPD Blue alum, will return as Donna Smoak in Arrow season 3, episode 18. However, no other details have been released about her reappearance.
Donna first appeared earlier this season, in Arrow season 3, episode 5, “The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak,” which explored her background. In this episode, Donna visited Felicity after receiving a free flight — which turned out to be a trap.
We’ll be curious to see what brings her back to Starling City this time. Because the Smoak women did reconcile after a years-long strained relationship, perhaps they are trying to stay in better contact?
While we have now met Felicity’s mother, the identity of Felicity’s father remains a mystery. We know he was highly intelligent — a trait Felicity clearly shares — and abandoned Donna and Felicity, but no other details about him have been revealed. Could we meet him in this upcoming episode? The executive producers have been tight-lipped about his identity and when (or if) he could appear.
This news comes on the heels of Arrow, along seven other series, including Arrow spinoff The Flash, being renewed by The CW.
We’ve also learned the network is eyeing future spinoffs, including an animated Vixen series on The CW Seed and a potential Atom series, starring Brandon Routh. The former will debut in the fall while the latter is still in very early development.
Arrow returns with new episodes on Wednesday, January 21 at 8:00 p.m. ET on The CW.