Arrow Character Spotlight: Dinah Laurel Lance

Across the Arrow-verse, it
would appear as though there are a lot of
mixed feelings about Laurel’s
character. On Social Media, I am a
member of
several Arrow discussion groups, and for some reason Laurel seems
to be the
character that gets
bashed the most. Personally, I really like Laurel. I think
that she has
developed into this strong,
independent character since Season
1.

I have met Katie Cassidy
multiple times at different
conventions, and
she is just as strong and independent as her character. You
can tell through
personal
conversations with her, as well as through press conferences how
dedicated
to and in love she is with the
character of Laurel Lance. As a
follower of the comics, I absolutely love
what Katie Cassidy has done with
the
character of Dinah Laurel Lance. The Black Canary is, without a doubt,
my
favorite DC
heroine.

Known simply as Laurel Lance, Laurel is the current
District
Attorney of Star City. When we
first saw Laurel in Season 1, she was a
legal aid attorney. I would say that
Laurel has definitely build up
more than
just her character strength, she has also built up quite a career.
Even though
she is Oliver’s
ex-girlfriend, she has grown to treasure Oliver as a beloved
friend. In
Season 1 when Laurel thought Oliver
was dead and had discovered that
Oliver had been cheating on her with her
sister, Sara, Laurel was absolutely

devastated.

It took five years for that devastation to turn to rage.
When
Oliver came back to
‘Starling City’ after all those years being presumed dead,
Laurel wanted
nothing to do with him. In her
eyes, he was not only a liar and a
cheater, but she blamed him for Sara’s
alleged death. After years and
forgiving
opportunities, Laurel willingly welcomed Oliver back into her
life, as friends.
When Laurel
discovered that Sara had also survived the shipwreck, she eventually
made
peace with welcoming Sara back in
her life as well.

When Sara aka
‘The Canary’ was killed in the
Season 3 premiere episode, Laurel
took up her
sisters mantle and eventually became ‘The Black Canary’. The
struggle was very
real, as
Laurel slowly realized the toll that ‘vigilantism’ takes on a person.

After training under both Ted Grant
and Nyssa Al Ghul, Laurel developed extreme
combative skills and became the
feared Black Canary. Laurel is
not only skilled
in combat, but she also possesses the ‘Canary Cry’, which
when used, renders
her
enemies temporarily deaf due to the loud screech that her device

emits.

Nothing is more important to Laurel then
family, which
is why Laurel insists on keeping
those close to her in her life
and safe. She went to the extreme’s by
bringing the body of her sister, Sara,

to the Lazarus Pit in order to bring her back to life. Laurel also did

everything in her power to fix her
broken relationship with her father, Captain
Quentin Lance.

Laurel,
herself, along with her personal
relationships are
now stronger than ever. Her sister is now resurrected and
is back to fighting
crime as
‘The White Canary’. Her father has overcome his anger with Laurel and

their bond is now closer than ever.
Physically, Laurel is a badass. She went
from an ordinary lawyer who didn’t
know the first thing about the
physical
aspect of fighting crime to a crime fighting superhero. A very
awesomely dressed
crime fighting
superhero, might I add. I absolutely love her costume. The design
and detail
are incredible!

What can we expect from Laurel this season?
Well,
currently, she is prosecuting Damien
Darhk (Neal McDonough) for all of his
heinous crimes. A very bold move, as
we all are aware of how dangerous
Damien
really is. I expect to see continuous character development, as
Laurel continues
to settle in to
her role as ‘The Black Canary’. I believe that Laurel is going
to play a
very key role in helping Oliver
and Felicity rekindle their romance.
No one knows Oliver better than Laurel,
and I think she is going to help
guide
him back to the light. She sees how much Oliver cares for Felicity and
despite
her and Oliver’s
complicated past, she has the best of intentions for Oliver.
Also, I’m also
hoping we get to see a combo duo
of Black and White Canary at
some point this season. Talk about ‘Birds of
Prey’!

As I mentioned

earlier, I really do love Laurel’s character. I admire her strength, as
well as
her loyalty. Katie
Cassidy and the writers of Arrow have really made this
character develop
beautifully, and I look forward to
seeing much more of Laurel
in the future.

Laurel will resume fighting
crime on Wednesday, March 30th

when Arrow airs at 8PM/EST on The CW.