Arrow Dinah Laurel Lance/Katie Cassidy Thread - Part 1

[Primal Slayer]

BAM! Look at those guns!

 

[Arrowshieldfan]

so She been training.......? I guess they are slowly preparing her for BC

 

[Primal Slayer]

She's been training since the show went on hiatus. Girl takes her craft seriously.

 

[Boy Scout]

OMG

First time I've used that smiley. Seemed appropriate. t:

 

[Paradox1]

She puts me to shame dude.... Damn I gotta start working out again.

 

[p4poetic]

OMG

Nice.

 

[sezibuf]

Thanks my man for this I needed it too.

 

[Mikelus]

Katie looks stronger than Gal Gadot, that's how Wonder Woman should be! Oh yeah, she's ready to be Black Canary. t:

 

[lanesrader]

shes really gone through a big transformation
now

 

[DrRocket]

I'll admit, I've never been a fan of laurel and wanted her killed off but if she returns ala how she was in supernatural, count me as a fan.

 

[AspieXLDS]

So far, she's doing a good job of getting in shape for the role. Now the pressure is on the damn writers to make us believe she can become Black Canary. Since we're talking a five year plan, by the end of which Oliver is fully Green Arrow and Laurel Black Canary, in my opinion that means they need her to be ready by the end of Season 3.

But if any writing team can somehow manage to save a character that people hate.... it's these ones. I freely admit I've disliked both Thea and Moira in the past, and yet I find myself intrigued by THea's new journey and I was stunned for HOURS after Slade killed Moira. So I'm going to go with the assumption that they had so much they were doing in Season 2 that the character got sidelined big-time.

Because let's face it: her storyline with the Hood in Season 1 was excellent, as was her lawyer storyline for the entire season. If they get that level of writing or better back, I'll be very impressed and more than willing to believe Laurel as the Black Canary.

 

[JC00]

Now the pressure is on the damn writers to make us believe she can become Black Canary.

Step 1: Start having her go by her first name.
Step 2: Stay away from any hint of an Oliver/Dinah romance. Sorry but the writers already ruined that and if they are thinking about it hold off until the final Season, whether that be Season 5, 6, or whatever.

 

[Mikelus]

Step 1: Start having her go by her first name.
Step 2: Stay away from any hint of an Oliver/Dinah romance. Sorry but the writers already ruined that and if they are thinking about it hold off until the final Season, whether that be Season 5, 6, or whatever.

I think they may, that's why Ollie will try with Felicity and who knows who else before him and Dinah Laurel get together again:

Arrow: Andrew Kreisberg Talks About The State Of Oliver & Laurel

Kreisberg appealed to the iconic comic book pairing as being like “Lois and Clark” – “they can break up, get together, sleep together, break up, get married, get divorced, she forgives him,” he points out… but he did admit that with the success of the show, “Lauriver” is one of those things that they can take their time on.

“Having Oliver and Laurel get together in Season 1 was what people needed then, but then they needed them to go on a break, so Oliver can have his storyline with Sara for this season, which is what felt right to us. He has women in his life. He has Laurel, he has Felicity… Helena’s doing a 10-to-20 stretch… so I think that Laurel will always be one of the closest people to him, whether that’s romantic or not,” Andrew continued.

Kreisberg is well aware that some fans have questioned decisions and the sanity of the folks bringing Arrow to life, and that inevitably, some fans will be upset, but there is a plan. “I think that a lot of the things that we have done, have been leading up to what we’re doing in the finale, and then moving that forward to Season 3,” he said.

http://www.greenarrowtv.com/arrow-andrew-kreisberg-talks-about-the-state-of-oliver-laurel/16823

 

[p4poetic]

Step 1: Start having her go by her first name.
Step 2: Stay away from any hint of an Oliver/Dinah romance. Sorry but the writers already ruined that and if they are thinking about it hold off until the final Season, whether that be Season 5, 6, or whatever.

If they do this, would they have to change the casting credits?

 

[JC00]

If they do this, would they have to change the casting credits?

I don't know. I'm certain it wouldn't be a problem. As that's who the character is and all they would literally have to do is type four letters before Laurel.

 

[dsfjr1190]

She can get as buff as she wants, but if the acting and writing isn't up to snuff it won't matter. And so far the idea of her as Black Canary is ridiculous.

I've never really liked Laurel other than her chemistry with Tommy, and probably never will, but the least the writers can do is make her actually likable. Time and time again they have failed, in my opinion.

What I think they need to do to make Laurel more likable:
1. Steer clear of the Oliver/Laurel romance. The actors have no chemistry.
2. Stop with the dialogue about how Laurel knows Oliver in her bones, knows him better than she knows her own name, etc. Its painfully obvious to anyone who has watched these two seasons that out of every character on the show she actually knows him the least.
3. Stop going back and forth on the darkness within Laurel. First they have her accept the darkness, then say she's better now, but wait - once the darkness is in it can never come out, so knows she's blackmailing people - but Sara gave her a jacket, she's a hero now!. Her trajectory makes no sense.
4. Stop making other characters dumb to have her look smart. In the finale she saved Oliver by attacking Slade's minion and by later using the exploding Arrow.... there is no reason Oliver wouldn't have used that Arrow earlier when he was in a situation where using it would have actually helped. The only reason he didn't was because the show wanted Laurel to save him with it. I'm not against the idea, but the execution was terrible.
5. Don't force her into Team Arrow. It won't do her any favors with her detractors, who consider Team Arrow interaction to be a show highlight. Her scene in the foundry didn't help. Use Laurel as needed; don't have her in a scene for the sake of having her in a scene.
6. Make her arc believable. I'm sure I wasn't the only one scratching my head at her arc in season 2.
7. Don't give us Laurel at the expense of Diggle, Felicity, and Sara. Those three are fan favorites. Giving us more Laurel and less of them isn't going to improve Laurel's standing with the fandom.
8. Don't force her into being Black Canary. Other than her name, there is zero reason that anyone would think she is supposed to be a superhero. This series hasn't exactly highlighted her heroic qualities. She may have been Black Canary before the New52, but the show has given us nothing character-wise that she could or would be able to fight crime (or want to for that matter). Don't force it.

Now, all of this said, even if they do all of this I'm not sure I will actually like the character (two seasons of hating her may be hard to overcome). But at least I wouldn't hate her anymore.

 

[JC00]

Pretty much nailed it with that post.

 

[AspieXLDS]

She can get as buff as she wants, but if the acting and writing isn't up to snuff it won't matter. And so far the idea of her as Black Canary is ridiculous.

I've never really liked Laurel other than her chemistry with Tommy, and probably never will, but the least the writers can do is make her actually likable. Time and time again they have failed, in my opinion.

What I think they need to do to make Laurel more likable:
1. Steer clear of the Oliver/Laurel romance. The actors have no chemistry.
2. Stop with the dialogue about how Laurel knows Oliver in her bones, knows him better than she knows her own name, etc. Its painfully obvious to anyone who has watched these two seasons that out of every character on the show she actually knows him the least.
3. Stop going back and forth on the darkness within Laurel. First they have her accept the darkness, then say she's better now, but wait - once the darkness is in it can never come out, so knows she's blackmailing people - but Sara gave her a jacket, she's a hero now!. Her trajectory makes no sense.
4. Stop making other characters dumb to have her look smart. In the finale she saved Oliver by attacking Slade's minion and by later using the exploding Arrow.... there is no reason Oliver wouldn't have used that Arrow earlier when he was in a situation where using it would have actually helped. The only reason he didn't was because the show wanted Laurel to save him with it. I'm not against the idea, but the execution was terrible.
5. Don't force her into Team Arrow. It won't do her any favors with her detractors, who consider Team Arrow interaction to be a show highlight. Her scene in the foundry didn't help. Use Laurel as needed; don't have her in a scene for the sake of having her in a scene.
6. Make her arc believable. I'm sure I wasn't the only one scratching my head at her arc in season 2.
7. Don't give us Laurel at the expense of Diggle, Felicity, and Sara. Those three are fan favorites. Giving us more Laurel and less of them isn't going to improve Laurel's standing with the fandom.
8. Don't force her into being Black Canary. Other than her name, there is zero reason that anyone would think she is supposed to be a superhero. This series hasn't exactly highlighted her heroic qualities. She may have been Black Canary before the New52, but the show has given us nothing character-wise that she could or would be able to fight crime (or want to for that matter). Don't force it.

Now, all of this said, even if they do all of this I'm not sure I will actually like the character (two seasons of hating her may be hard to overcome). But at least I wouldn't hate her anymore.

Well said, and well-written. They do need to make sure that they really make us 'believe it'. But the way I look at it is this: Season 2, they had to focus on concluding the Slade-Oliver storyline in both flashbacks and in the present; they had to give Oliver his journey to becoming a hero, establish the origin for the Canary, whether Sara is the one and only or the inspiration is the on-going debate (I personally still favor her being the one and only but I'll let the writers have Season 3 to impress me); and they also had to handle Roy going from street thug to vigilante as well as dealing with the Mirakuru; Thea learning the truth; Moira's redemptive arc; and the shadow of Merlyn, amongst so many others.

Season 3, from what they've said, will be about building the character arcs of the now ensemble cast: I've heard on this forum, I think, that there's a Felicity-centric episode called Oracle, and that pretty much confirms her as likely being Oracle for this show's version of the Birds of Prey, which a lot of fans speculated would be the case. Thea is training under her father and will probably start out as an anti-hero/villain before moving to hero. They've said Season 3 is Thea's island.... and excuse me, because I'm about to rant....

So, Oliver gets the Island. Sara gets the League of Assassins. Roy gets Mirakuru and Oliver. Thea gets Malcolm, and by default, League of Assassins. But Laurel's "island" was drug abuse.... yeah. I'm not buying it. Now, if you said Seasons 1 and 2 were her island, I'd be more open to that...

Okay, so it was a mini-rant.... but anyways, back to the main topic.... Season 3 will have more ensemble elements, according to the showrunners, so I will give them Season 3 to convince me Laurel can become the Canary. If they have failed to do so by next May, I will simply assume that the rumors about KC being ram-rodded down their throats to be true.... please note I've nothing against the actress herself. The role she's given, she plays at her best. It's just an unfortunate truth in the case of Arrow that the role she's been given is sub-par.

 

[Human Torch]

Well,good for Katie if she wants to get more muscular,but I never considered that a prerequisite for Black Canary.I always took the character to be among the least muscular females in comics.

I'm guessing Katie wants to try that salmon ladder.Girl's competitive,I'll give her that.t:t:

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

Yeah, Black Canary's pretty lean.

 

[herolee10]

You know, looking back at things...

When Blood brought up the "crucible" to Oliver, and how there are those who become stronger from the pain that they encounter and experience.....while there are also those who won't move on from their pain as it's become the only thing that they're used to...

I had once thought that Sara was the one that was being referred as the one that would move on and become stronger from the pain, while Laurel was the one who was stuck in living with pain....but when you think about how season 2 ended.....

Laurel getting over her drug and alcohol funk while Sara returning back to the LOA....it seems like it was the other way around.

 

[vantheman77]

Glad to hear Wildcat Ted Grant coming to Arrow for the third season as he'll be spending some time with Dinah Laurel.

They need to get her back on track towards becoming Black Canary. I'm not interested in another drug storyline.

 

[luis4u]

[YT]NGuLWlLuEZM[/YT]

 

[godisawesome]

Anyone else had the thought that one of the transitions they might give the character is that she may start preferring her first name to her middle one at some point? It's a random thought, but it just occurred to me that such a transition could be read as a severing of ties with her earlier season interpretation and a larger focus on her comic basis.

 

[Primal Slayer]

It somewhat crossed my mind. Especially with everything she went through the past year, I think starting anew and letting "Laurel" die and let Dinah rise.