Arrow Sara or Laurel For Canary?

[Dark Raven]

If Sarah's name was Dinah and Laurel's name was Sara...would we even be having this conversation? No, of course not.

This. There's nothing about Laurel that is like Canary apart from the name.

Not. One. Thing.

 

[DrRocket]

^ he speak the truth

 

[AspieXLDS]

I think it would be horrible to cripple Sara, that would probably be worse than death for some like her.

And why on Earth would they put the actress capable of doing her own stunts in a chair and it give the stunt heavy role to the actress that can't?

They said they were working on fixing Laurel's character from last season and all they have succeeded in doing is making her worse and took her even further away from the main plot and her journey towards becoming BC. A whiny self pitying drug addict is not my idea of a great hero origin story.

Laurel is not needed on this show, she's been replaced as Black Canary by Sara and the hero's popular love interest by Felicity.

Honestly, I agree with you. I just throw out possibilities as a way of creating conversation. I've been re-watching the series (again) and in all honesty, it's like "Hmm.... time to read that interesting article on that site while this scene plays out."

I like the actress in most of the roles she's given but in all honesty, she does better as a villain type. The one role I know of that she wasn't the villain type (her role in Nightmare on Elm Street) she didn't do very good at playing the 'good girl'.

I normally don't go with gossip I hear on forums, but I can't help but wonder if the rumor that she was forced onto the show has any truth to it.

Besides, I was behind the whole weight loss thing if it was part of the storyline for her character.... but it isn't. The actress decided she needed to lose a lot of weight for herself, not her character. If she made the choice for her own sake, she's not gonna respond well to the 'you're gonna need to beef back up for such and such role next season'.

In the end, I'm okay with any other love interest except Laurel. And considering the only time they've paired Oliver off with someone on television was with an OC that took over a position..... well, there's a precedent for Sara to be the BC all the way. So I'm a Sara fan, and honestly, with the images from that preview clip for "The Promise" where it shows Roy shirtless, and one of the pictures has her standing in the Arrowcave looking a bit commanding, well..... I can't see Laurel having the sort of presence that Sara does, especially in the Arrowcave. Her version would probably be, "HEY, I'M TALKING HERE!"

 

[Coconut1214]

I normally don't go with gossip I hear on forums, but I can't help but wonder if the rumor that she was forced onto the show has any truth to it.

I don't know the behind the scenes stuff but the fact that Cassidy was cast before Amell and they didn't do a chemistry test with them is kind of telling that she was cast because of her connection to the CW.

And I know the writers keep kind of saying Laurel has a journey, but why then are they giving the more interesting journey and wasting so much time building a character that they just plan on killing off? Sara has been a huge presence in this show this season, from her first introduction with the canary sounds, to her having a sonic scream device, to showcasing her skills that rival Oliver's, to giving her a reason to chose the name Canary (the pet she had when she little and seeing a canary when she got rescued) to connecting to her the major villains of the season (and maybe series) both her own (the LOA) and Arrow's (Slade), to giving her adopted sister/side kick named Sin and later on her meeting the Huntress.

What are they leaving for Laurel to have? Is she not only going take over Sara's hero status, is she going to take over her friendships and partnerships too? Is their new BC just going to take her sister's whole life? Why would anyone root for that? That's not how friendships and partnerships work. I also can't see Laurel fitting in with Team Arrow. Sara has fit in with Team Arrow pretty quickly. We know Oliver likes her, Dig respects her skills, and I think Felicity does like Sara, she just didn't want to be replaced which she isn't. So I agree Sara has a presence that shows she's not to be messed with while Laurel does not.

They would have to turn Laurel into Sara for that to work and why do that when you already have Sara?

 

[AspieXLDS]

I don't know the behind the scenes stuff but the fact that Cassidy was cast before Amell and they didn't do a chemistry test with them is kind of telling that she was cast because of her connection to the CW.

And I know the writers keep kind of saying Laurel has a journey, but why then are they giving the more interesting journey and wasting so much time building a character that they just plan on killing off? Sara has been a huge presence in this show this season, from her first introduction with the canary sounds, to her having a sonic scream device, to showcasing her skills that rival Oliver's, to giving her a reason to chose the name Canary (the pet she had when she little and seeing a canary when she got rescued) to connecting to her the major villains of the season (and maybe series) both her own (the LOA) and Arrow's (Slade), to giving her adopted sister/side kick named Sin and later on her meeting the Huntress.

What are they leaving for Laurel to have? Is she not only going take over Sara's hero status, is she going to take over her friendships and partnerships too? Is their new BC just going to take her sister's whole life? Why would anyone root for that? That's not how friendships and partnerships work. I also can't see Laurel fitting in with Team Arrow. Sara has fit in with Team Arrow pretty quickly. We know Oliver likes her, Dig respects her skills, and I think Felicity does like Sara, she just didn't want to be replaced which she isn't. So I agree Sara has a presence that shows she's not to be messed with while Laurel does not.

They would have to turn Laurel into Sara for that to work and why do that when you already have Sara?

Totally agree with you. I've made some of the same arguments elsewhere, and get these two responses:

"Her name's Dinah Laurel Lance!"
"The producers said!"

Neither of them ever convince me... because in the end, the CW isn't run by half-witted sufferers of inbreeding (despite rumors about Hollywood to the contrary). They'll make the decision that will bring the most money to the show, and the most money comes from lots of viewers. Based on any social media site, including forums like this one, it'd be financial suicide for them to force Cassidy into the role of Black Canary.

The 12th picture at the link sends vibes of Sara being able to take charge to me. Don't know why, but it does.

http://www.greenarrowtv.com/arrow-the-promise-preview-clip-screencaps-roy-loses-his-shirt/16508

 

[Dark Raven]

Was Cassidy cast before Amell? I didn't know that. This is news to me. She doesn't have chemistry with him or most of the cast anyway. She seems to have been cast when their idea was for a slightly different kind of show, but the show has developed differently since, and now she doesn't really fit in at all.

 

[kane9321]

If Laurel ever becomes Black Canary then it better just be because Sara's dropped the name and taken another alias. Maybe Black Knight for CHECKMATE or something badass like that.

If they kill Sara off to shoehorn Laurel into the Black Canary role I'm quitting.

This for me too..a great show will be runied

 

[Destructus86]

Sarah talks like she's really cold...or she's trying to hold in false teeth

 

[Trex1979]

Put Laurel into the same situation Sara was, she would have probably turned out worse or maybe wouldn't have survived at all. Sara has a survival instinct. Sure, what she did wasn't great, but with the other alternative being getting raped and possibly killed by a bunch of barbaric pirates, you'll hurt a couple of innocents to ensure your own survival. As for the league, she owed them a life debt. We know that killing innocents wasn't easy for Sara, as it chipped away at her soul. In the end, she chose death, over re-joining the League.

Laurel to me is too emotionally unstable. She's more likely to become the next Huntress, than Canary. Look at the manhunt she led when she couldn't cope with Tommy's death. Or how she put 6 bullets into the fake brother blood. Six freaking bullets. She didn't simply rescue Oliver, she wanted to make sure the guy is dead. That was cold murder.

And then you have the occasional small scenes here and there, where Laurel quickly loses her temper. Like when Sara mentioned Oliver might not be ready to settle down. Laurel had crazy eyes.

Until the Producer's decide to put Laurel into a situation like Sarah's, than whose to say what would happen. All we have is assumption dictated by personal biases. But its important to remember that before Oliver came back Laurel was working as a lawyer for the underprivileged. I've found that her losing this social activism role is the biggest thing to hurt Laurel this season.

The situation on Ivo's freighter was a far graver one; the justification of "doing what you need to survive" is more substantive. Joining the League of Assassin's? When did she say she'd owe them a life debt? Even if true, its a flimsy excuse. And whatever her reason's for joining, is Sarah now completely absolved of her actions because she feels really, really bad about it? Sure killing innocents is hard; I imagine they weren't thrilled by it.

Laurel's did have a bad reaction to Tommy's death. It did lead to her calling the SWAT team on Ollie. But its not like she got all ESCAPE 2OOO Henry Silva and burned down the Italian equivalent of the Bronx. Besides Oliver reacted badly to Tommy dying as well; he stopped killing, but not before running back to his island like Linus back to his blanket.

Sure, Laurel put six bullets into the Fake Brother Blood. He was about to kill Oliver and she was under heavy stress from the previous events of that episode. But Sarah impaled the Dollmaker through the chest after he had tried to kill her sister in front of Quentin. And she did it when he was unarmed and incapacitated. Is that not 'cold blooded murder'?

As for the other stuff: you can argue it was a big sister getting annoyed because her sibling is being down on what would've been a big next step in her life. Or Sarah's whole story about the party, which we only get from her POV---for all we know Laurel called the cops because her underage sister was at a college party flowing with drugs and alcohol.

Television like any artistic medium is ultimately subjective; people will see what they want to see.

This is a Mr. T icon; it has nothing to do with what I just typed. But I would be remiss to not use it.

 

[Human Torch]

The problem going forward is,what to do with Laurel if she's not going to be BC.They've struggled with that all season.They had a great chance to have her turn heel and that could've opened up a lot of story possibilities,but it doesn't look like they plan to go that way now.

I'm guessing they'll stick to "the plan" to an extent.They probably have the rest of the season already written.I bet they alter the season finale so Sara lives, just to give them a chance to tackle the Sara/Laurel thing during the hiatus.

The 3rd season will probably see one of them depart.(Either Sara will be spun-off to BOP,or Laurel gets killed would be my guess.)

 

[Dark Raven]

Just make Laurel a villain, or don't write scenes for her. She's hardly instrumental to the plot most of the time that even if her scenes are all removed it won't affect much. She's really like an actress they're saddled with and have to find stuff for her to do so she doesn't feel left out, but maybe deep down everyone knows that it would just work a lot better without her and won't require additional effort on everyone's part.

 

[dsfjr1190]

No one would watch a Laurel-led Birds of Prey spin-off. If they don't care to see her be Black Canary on Arrow, why would they follow her to her own show?

If anyone does get spun-off it would be Sara. Then they can toss in Nyssa, Sin, and Helena to complement her.

 

[mr. peasant]

No one would watch a Laurel-led Birds of Prey spin-off. If they don't care to see her be Black Canary on Arrow, why would they follow her to her own show?

If anyone does get spun-off it would be Sara. Then they can toss in Nyssa, Sin, and Helena to complement her.

Indeed. It's interesting - and perhaps quite telling regarding the creators' comfort with different storylines/character archetypes - that a new character like Sara has a larger, more developed supporting cast of related characters than Laurel who has been on the show for a season and a half now. Perhaps its because the show is focusing on the Sara storyline as its main at the moment, it does feel as though she is better integrated into the show than Laurel; who is a side character to Sara's story rather than the other way around.

 

[Dark Raven]

I certainly wouldn't watch a BOP spin-off with Laurel. But if they spin her off into her own legal series, then she can have her own adventures there, and I don't have to follow it and she won't be on Arrow. In fact, she could go and star on a new version of Killer Women.

 

[DrRocket]

^ as long as she's not on the show, I'm

 

[Matt.S99]

I feel all this hope/talk about Laurel becoming BC is really taking away from the fact and the awesome fact that WE ALREADY HAVE BLACK CANARY!!! And she's awesome!

 

[SpideyFan866]

I feel all this hope/talk about Laurel becoming BC is really taking away from the fact and the awesome fact that WE ALREADY HAVE BLACK CANARY!!!

And?


We already had a Black Canary in the comics when Dinah took on the mantle: Her mother.

BUT, in this case, the preceding Black Canary is her sister.

 

[JC00]

It was established early on that Sara Lance's Black Canary is the first iteration, but as the series has progressed, has that changed?
The one thing that's always very safe to say with Arrow is never make assumptions. One of the little tricks that we have up our sleeves is we'd like to use the audience's assumptions to surprise them and twist things. All I really want to say on the subject of Black Canary is, there is absolutely a plan and you'll have to watch the show with some degree of patience to see how that plan gets unfolded. But we know exactly where we're headed and we hope that everyone will stay along for the ride

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/arrow-spoilers-ep-oliver-slade-686086


To me that reads as that they acknowledge the fan response for Sara but are still going with their plan and forcing Laurel as Black Canary on us and we will have to painfully watch her slowly become Black Canary over multiple seasons.

Damn it you were all set on a Black Canary, we had the full backstory, the majority of us liked her. Now we gotta watch Laurel slowly become Black Canary

 

[Human Torch]

As I've said before, they can't be that dense,can they?

I'll be very surprised if they kill Sara at this point.(although,I guess the Lazarus Pit could be in play if they really want to go there) I'm still thinking they hedge their bets,keep Sara alive and either use her in a BOP spin-off,or bring her back after the undoubted backlash when Laurel becomes the BC.

 

[Matt.S99]

And?


We already had a Black Canary in the comics when Dinah took on the mantle: Her mother.

BUT, in this case, the preceding Black Canary is her sister.

People need to stop holding onto the name thing. I think it's pretty clear that there won't be another BC for a while(if at all) and it most likely won't be Laurel.

Or at least, just enjoy the good BC we have now.

 

[luis4u]

That's Slade Wilson and if we don't stop him he'll kill Olivers entire family!" It was delivered quickly but without real urgency or weight.I don't know it might just be nitpicky but it's something that immediately stood out and bugged me.

 

[JC00]

Well I see what Sara/Caity Lotz haters will start hanging there hat on now.

The delivery wasn't as much of a problem as how that whole scene was written. They could have done a vastly better job. I already posted my thoughts on how that scene could have been written better in the episode discussion thread.

But i'll repost here--

How about having her take more than 1 second of listening to realize it's Slade and not saying saying "Wait, hold on, I know that voice" and then going on to explain.

How about instead she stands there frozen for a few seconds and then says "Ollie and his family are in danger, we have to move, now" and then when she goes to get the knife and asks Diggle what's the biggest gun, that's when she says who it is and why they are in danger.

 

[DrRocket]

^ agreed

 

[Mr. Dent]

Sara and it's not even close. She looks perfect for the role, is a more enjoyable actress and they haven't driven her character into the mud. Honestly Laurel is starting to feel like an unnecessary character now.

 

[KenK]

No one would watch a Laurel-led Birds of Prey spin-off. If they don't care to see her be Black Canary on Arrow, why would they follow her to her own show?

If anyone does get spun-off it would be Sara. Then they can toss in Nyssa, Sin, and Helena to complement her.

I'd sooner watch that show than one with Laurel.

Side note, do you guys think Lady Shiva will ever get introduced on the show?