Over its four seasons, one of Arrow’s recurring elements has been the importance of family. Different members of the Queen, Diggle and Lance families play key roles in the show, and in Felicity Smoak’s case, her mother has appeared a few times. However, the identity of her father remains a mystery, once that fans have been trying to figure out. Earlier this month, executive producer Wendy Mericle shot down the fan theory that Season 4’s main antagonist Damien Darhk is Felicity’s father, but Mericle does say something is going to happen between Oliver and Felicity that will play into revealing who the man is.
Reiterating how the Smoak patriarch won’t be connected in any way to H.I.V.E., Mericle revealed to EW that they’re still figuring him out, but there’s a shocking moment coming between Oliver and Felicity that will play into the storyline surrounding her father. She said:
It’s going to be something that is more personal, emotional, speaks directly to her story, and a big bombshell that’s going to be coming out — a big reveal between her and Oliver later in the story — and the story is going to really speak to that.
While it’s highly unlikely her father will end up being another devious supervillain, it certainly sounds like he’s a dangerous man, so him coming back into Felicity’s life wouldn’t bode well. As for this “bombshell,” presumably whatever it is won’t just give viewers more clues about who he is, but may also affect Oliver and Felicity’s relationship, and it won’t be in a good way. At least we can take comfort knowing Oliver can probably beat the guy to a pulp if necessary.
What we know about Felicity’s father only comes from fragments of conversations since Arrow Season 2. He left his family when Felicity was young, and presumably they haven’t seen him since. Felicity inherited her impressive intellect from him, as evidenced by him sometimes having conversations his wife wouldn’t understand. He is also some kind of criminal, as Felicity once made an offhand comment about how he’d be arrested if he was around.
While the wait for Felicity’s father continues, her mother Donna, played by Charlotte Ross, is going to play a bigger role this season. After appearing in two episodes during Season 3, she returned in “Lost Souls” while Felicity and the rest of Team Arrow were trying to rescue Ray Palmer. At the end of that episode, Donna was hanging out a bar that Quentin Lance was also visiting. They don’t know yet what their connections to one another are, but it’s implied there might be a romantic spark between the two. It’s been confirmed that Ross will appear in more episodes this season, so we’ll see whether they strike up a relationship, and if that happens, let’s hope Felicity’s father doesn’t show up to ruin things.
You can catch Arrow Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.
