DC Entertainment

Why ‘Arrow’ Doesn’t End With the Death of Laurel Lance

Comments (29)
  1. callistawolf says:

    Great article. I wish her fans could grieve this using this reason rather than getting so irrational. There is meaning here!

    1. Nebuchadnezzar II says:

      Being a European, I never understood shipping, so take this as an objective thought after coming across lots of these arguments in the social media. Threatening staff because you hate their screenwriting decisions is awful. Kissing the writers’ asses for the same cause is awful as well. Canary fans acted irrationally. So did Olicity fans, with the celebration of Canary’s death and the whole “raise money to say thanks” gimmick right after they killed the canary. Equally irrational and low in my opinion. Yes, I know it’s going for charity, but let’s be serious. The timing betrays the intention. If both sides could step out of this war and look at it as someone more distanced, they’d soon realise the ridiculousness of it.

      1. Oh, there’s hateful people on every side of the fandom divide. Always. I think it’d be awesome if we could all remember that you’re insulting a real person because of a fictional character. Alas, sometimes I think that’s too much to ask.

      2. Nebuchadnezzar II says:

        Of course there is, but it also seems that the show’s writers are handling this so called war in the wrong way. Instead of ignoring both sides, they seem to lean towards one of them. That does not really help things become more calm.

      3. Alyssa B says:

        They clearly don’t understand the difference. Just like they don’t understand the difference between a television show and comic books.

      4. Stormie Woods says:

        I agree. If I could just express my dislike of Laurel without being told to kill myself or get cancer and die that would be great. Plenty of people don’t like Felicity’s character and I’m fine with that. I won’t however let attacks on Emily,her fans and misogyny go unanswered for.

    2. Alyssa B says:

      They’re merely blinded by hate and blaming everyone when instead they need to see the meaning here.

      1. callistawolf says:

        I can understand the strong feelings but I think resorting to hate and blame really dilutes any good message they might have to deliver.

  2. wicked511 says:

    Yes, exactly. The only thing that would end Arrow would be the actual for real death of, you know, the Arrow. I thought Laurel’s death was underwhelming and just plain bad and could have been executed better, but this definitely pushes the show into a new chapter where anything could happen. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and where they go from here.

    1. Alyssa B says:

      Some people forget this show is called “Arrow” and not “Black Canary.” And I mean this is the first significant storyline involving Laurel in a long time. I’m intrigued to see how this affects everything moving forward.

      1. wicked511 says:

        Exactly. If the show was called Arrow and Canary I would understand the outrage but it’s not. This is about Oliver Queen, everyone else is supporting. It’s not that hard to understand. Or maybe it is for some?

      2. Alyssa B says:

        I swear if I hear the “but in the comics” argument again…

        Both of these characters have existed as separate entities especially in the New 52 where they don’t even know each other so…

      3. wicked511 says:

        Ugh, I know. It’s so boring and predictable at this point.

        The thing that really gets me is that comic books don’t even have a specific set-in-stone, one size fits all, canon. They can change with every new creative team/writer/artist. Didn’t the latest run have Oliver as a werewolf? That’s the great thing about comics. They can pretty much do anything and get away with it. So I just view the TV show as a different interpretation of canon.

      4. susie says:

        Hey, this my first comment. I usually don’t discuss Arrow online. I read sometimes comments and that’s it. But since the season started with the whole grave mystery and the season progressed I read a lot of silly things online.
        First of all I never read any comic books in my life but that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy stories about heroes. I care what happens of my favourite TV show based on comics or not.
        Second I like the cast and did not want anyone to die on this show. But I also understand that sometimes when you tell a story you have to make choices which not anyone agrees with. In this case with the Black Canary. (And yes although I am a fan I did not enjoy every storyline on Arrow…*cough* baby mama *cough*).
        Since I started watching the show the most comment I read was: “But in the comics”….and I agree with Alyssa I can’t hear or read this anymore. I understand that as a comic book fan you want your favourite characters represent in the right way but this fact should not limit your story choices. The comic book fans are basically saying that everyone is fair game but don’t touch the acutal comic book characters from Arrow….well for me this is not good storytelling, sorry.
        The producers knew this would made a lot of people furious and I understand that they are sad that her favourite character died but to blame one character or the whole show that for me is just childish. And by the way the producers never said we are creating a show about Arrow and the Black canary plays a part and no matter what happens in the show they will end up together.
        And before everyone attacks me Yes I am a fan of olicity, OTA and Thea etc and No I am not a teenage girl anymore. And yes I would be very sad if one of them dies but I also know that sometimes this is how the stories goes. I will certainly not attack acutal people (producers, actors, writers etc.) for not following my preferred story. Thats just insane and kind of scary. I would have decide for myself I want to continue this journey with the show.
        Sorry this post was so long but I just had to write this down for my own good. 😉

        Thank you for reading this and please be kind English is not my first language. 😉 Thanks.

      5. Alyssa B says:

        The whole “but in the comics” has literally no meaning here because Arrow has proven over the course of four seasons that it’s nothing like the comics. Sure there are elements from the comic books, but they’ve never been held down by comic canon, which has made this a damn good show.

      6. Alyssa B says:

        The whole “but in the comics” has literally no meaning here because Arrow has proven over the course of four seasons that it’s nothing like the comics. Sure there are elements from the comic books, but they’ve never been held down by comic canon, which has made this a damn good show.

      7. susie says:

        Thank you. This statement “but in the comics” is bugging me since I started watching the show. 😉

      8. Alyssa B says:

        I swear if I hear the “but in the comics” argument again…

        Both of these characters have existed as separate entities especially in the New 52 where they don’t even know each other so…

  3. wicked511 says:

    Yes, exactly. The only thing that would end Arrow would be the actual for real death of, you know, the Arrow. I thought Laurel’s death was underwhelming and just plain bad and could have been executed better, but this definitely pushes the show into a new chapter where anything could happen. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and where they go from here.

  4. Kendall says:

    I get people being upset but there is so much good that’s coming from this death that I can’t say it wasn’t ultimately for the best of the show and the other characters. I’m especially excited to see Diggle go through such a dark arc of self doubt and pain and vengeance, Quentin being so broken that he will have to lean on his new family(by Paul Blackthorne’s own words) of Team Arrow and I’m happy we get to see more Quentin with everyone else because of it, Thea and Felicity I think will have some really great development because of this as well though the writers haven’t made that clear yet what they’ll be, but ultimately this will affect Oliver the most, the main hero, the star of the show with his name in the title.
    Oliver will be the guiding light who will get his four family members out of the dark like they’ve always done for him. Talk about character development

    1. Alyssa B says:

      Couldn’t agree more. Laurel’s death will serve a significant purpose. It’s not senseless. This is going to affect everyone on this show moving toward the end of the season.

  5. Stormie Woods says:

    The comic canon argument is just dumb to me. Plenty about this show isn’t in the comics yet Felicity’s character gets the majority hate for that. I’ve never liked Laurel’s character so her death in itself doesn’t move me. I am however interested to see how the other characters move on. Personally for me I think Oliver will be the light to bring Felicity,Dig and Thea back from the darkness. Also I’m looking forward to see how Lance deals with everything because Paul Blackthorn is going to kill it with that.

    1. Kendall says:

      Paul and David in particular I thought were phenomenal in 4×18 and I definitely think it will be even juicier this time around for Paul because as he said in his interview, Lance will lean on his new family Team Arrow and I can’t wait for those scenes and how those actors will pull out great stuff from each other

      1. Alyssa B says:

        I’m really looking forward to Paul’s storyline for the rest of this season and next. It’s about time. He’s a phenomenal actor and this will give him a lot to really dig into emotionally.

      2. Alyssa B says:

        I’m really looking forward to Paul’s storyline for the rest of this season and next. It’s about time. He’s a phenomenal actor and this will give him a lot to really dig into emotionally.

    2. Alyssa B says:

      Exactly. Some people are so blinded by hate that they can’t see that Laurel’s death is going to serve a purpose for the team and in ultimately defeating Damien Darhk. Her death isn’t meaningless. There have been worse deaths on television before. Laurel’s was honorable. And the only person safe on this show is Oliver.

  6. Donna says:

    I agree that the death of Lauren will be evolutionary to all the characters. A change where we will know the different reaction of them. I believe that the death of Lauren, will bring a significant change in each character to the arrow team and we will know the strengths andweaknesses of each team member of the arrow. I consider myself a fan of tv arrow 🙂

  7. Starman says:

    The irony is thick here.

    When Sara was killed off at the start of Season Three, I protested how utterly pointless the death was in my episode guide for the series and in a separate article. Sara’s death served no purpose but shock-value and spurring-on Laurel’s replacing her. The problem is they could have done it much more effectively had Sara died at the end of Season Two. She could have made a heroic sacrifice in the battle to save her city and inspired Laurel to take up her mantle as a way of honoring her rather than as some substitute for her drug addiction/a coping mechanism for her death.

    And I complained about every horrible moment that tore Sara down in order to build Laurel up (i.e. Felicity’s awful “you have a light” speech.), that pretty much pissed on everything Sara had been and her journey for redemption and her struggle to use the skills she learned to survive to try and help people and be more than just a killer.

    When I voiced these concerns, the Laurel fans told me to suck it up and get over it because nothing I could do would change the show-runner’s minds.

    Now here we are a year later…. and Sara Lance was brought back by popular demand. Because the writers agreed when it was pointed out, “Yes, we COULD have done more with her story.” And, on Legends of Tomorrow, they have.

    Something to consider.

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