We have likely seen the last of Felicity Smoak.
After it was announced that season eight would be Arrow’s last, Emily Bett Rickards announced that she would be leaving at the end of season seven, and we’d be saying goodbye to Felicity just a few episodes later.
The season seven finale sent Felicity into hiding in the present day, in a cabin where we know she’ll raise her and Oliver’s daughter into the Mia we all know and love. In the future, Felicity stepped back from her work as a vigilante, visited Oliver’s grave which listed his death in 2019 (hello, 2019 crossover), then had the Monitor take her to wherever Oliver is, from whence she can never return.
Even as the Monitor claimed she could never return, the door remains open for Rickards to come back in the final season, as showrunner Beth Schwartz told us ahead of the finale.
“We would welcome her to come back whenever works for her,” Schwartz told us. “I’m not saying anything, but definitely it would be great to have her back at some point next season.”
In a recent interview with Collider, Rickards says she has no plans to return.
“I feel like Felicity has done her time,” she told the site. “I don’t know if anybody is going to like what I’m saying, but I feel like Felicity has done her time. We knew this was coming for a while–for over a year–so the whole thing is exactly what we wanted to happen. I trust the writers, and that’s in their hands.”
In fact, she plans to take a break from TV in general.
“I think I’m going to take a break for a while and do a little bit of theater, coming up in New York,” she said. “And then after that, I’m hoping to continue doing theater for a little bit longer. My friends are a bunch of creative geniuses, so no matter what, that’s the way I’m going right now. I’ll never say no to doing TV again. For now, life has changed dramatically already.”
She’s currently starring in the movie Funny Story, about a well-intentioned father who inadvertently wreaks havoc on the life of his estranged daughter.
Stephen Amell, on the other hand, recently made an appearance at a convention and said he’d be happy to come back as Oliver Queen on another Arrowverse show in the future…which makes sense, since he’s the title character and the superhero who started it all (in this ‘verse, anyway).
“I owe so much to them,” he said at MegaCon 2019. “So if five years from now, they’re wrapping up Show X and they were like, ‘You know what would be the cherry on top of the sundae? Would you come back?’ What am I going to say? No?”
“If it’s a sh–ty idea I’d say no,” he continued. “You do what you can. I owe a lot to people, so if they need something from me, they can always have it.”
Rickards is, of course, not the first star to leave a show before its ending, and if she does change her mind and decide to make an appearance in the final season, she’ll join the below list of stars who made cameos as their former shows came to an end.
CMT
Connie Britton on Nashville
Death didn’t keep Rayna Jaymes from a Nashville swan song when Connie Britton appeared in a flashback/dream sequence (and then for a cast-wide singalong).
ABC
Josh Dallas, Ginnifer Goodwin and more on Once Upon a Time
The final season of ABC’s fairy tale hit was a reboot, but for the grand finale a large portion of the original cast returned to close the book on the series.
CBS
Josh Charles on The Good Wife
The character Will Gardner died in season five, but that didn’t keep Josh Charles from showing up in the series finale. Dream sequences are powerful narrative devices!
FOX
Topher Grace on That ’70s Show
After leaving for Africa at the end of season 7, Eric Foreman (Topher Grace) returned at the end of season 8 just in time to kiss Donna (Laura Prepon) and watch the arrival of 1980. Both Grace and Asthon Kutcher had left after season 7 to pursue other projects, though Kelso made appearances in several episodes in the final season, including the finale.
Mario Perez/ABC via Getty Images
Ian Somerhalder, Elizabeth Mitchell, & Everyone on Lost
Almost all of the dead characters on Lost got to come back and be reunited with their soul mates in the final episode, including the ones played by Ian Somerhalder, Maggie Grace, Dominic Monaghan, Elizabeth Mitchell, Rebecca Mader, Jeremy Davies, and Cynthia Watros.
The WB
David Boreanaz on Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Despite being very busy on his own show, Angel (David Boreanaz) returned to Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the final two episodes of season seven. And it’s a good thing too, because Buffy had to tell him she was cookie dough, and she was not done baking. He also had to hand off the amulet that would eventually allow Spike to save the world, but whatevs.
CBS
Josh Charles on The Good Wife
Two seasons after he was shockingly killed, Will Gardner (Josh Charles) returned as a ghost to guide Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) through the show’s series finale. Weird? Sure. Welcome? Completely.
FOX
Jennifer Morrison on House
Jennifer Morrison left House in season six (to, you know, save an entire universe of fairytale characters), and returned only once before the show ended in 2012 after eight seasons. She and Kal Penn both appeared in the series finale as visions that House (Hugh Laurie) was having as he tried to decide if his life was worth living.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc
Angus T. Jones in Two and a Half Men
Angus T. Jones did his best to leave Two and a Half Men totally behind around 2012, citing religious reasons, but did show up for a minute in the finale to reveal that Jake had left the army, moved to Japan, got married, inherited some step kids, and managed to gamble his $250,000 check from his supposedly dead father into $2.5 million. Not bad!
Colleen Hayes/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe in Parks and Recreation
Sure, Ann (Rashida Jones) and Chris (Rob Lowe) hadn’t been gone all that long by the time Parks and Rec ended, but it was beyond great to see them again in the finale, and to learn that they were moving back to Pawnee…even if we wouldn’t be around to watch them live there.
FOX
Everyone on Glee
Glee’s series finale reunited the majority of the cast to find out how everyone was doing after college and beyond. We even got a glimpse of the unholy trinity—Quinn (Dianna Agron), Santana (Naya Rivera), and Brittany (Heather Morris) together again.
James Stenson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Sherry Stringfield, Eriq La Salle, Laura Innes, and Noah Wyle on ER
Aside from being Alexis Bledel’s first post-Gilmore TV role, the 2009 ER finale was also a beautiful reunion for many of the show’s original doctors, who all returned to attend a party to celebrate the opening of Dr. Carter’s (Noah Wyle) clinic. Sherry Stringfield, Eriq La Salle, and Laura Innes all got back together with Wyle one last time, just missing George Clooney and Julianna Margulies‘ appearances just a couple of episodes before.
Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images
William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger on CSI
At least part of the old team got back together for the final episode when Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) was called to Las Vegas to deal with a bombing in her casino. Even Gil Grissom (William Petersen) found a way to get involved after leaving the show in 2009, and the series ended with Sara (Jorja Fox) quitting her brand new promotion and sailing off into the sunset with Grissom. Unfortunately, Nick (George Eads) was nowhere to be found.
Chris Haston/NBC
Steve Carell on The Office
Michael Scott’s (Steve Carell) surprise attendance at Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Angela’s (Angela Kinsey) wedding after being gone for two seasons was possibly the sweetest return of all, especially thanks to an incredibly well timed “That’s what she said.”
Arrow will return to The CW in October, and will end in January.
