Arrow Season 4, Episode 19 “Canary Cry”
Written by Wendy Mericle & Beth Schwartz
Directed by Laura Belsey
Airs Wednesdays at 8pm ET on The CW
Given how ridiculously inconsistent the concept of “death” is on Arrow, it’s no surprise the entire hour of “Canary Cry” is spent affirming and re-affirming that yes, Laurel Lance is dead, and no, there is no trickery about the world to bring her back. Over and over again, “Canary Cry” forces the information down our throats – unfortunately, all that talking doesn’t cover how half-baked this story turn actually is, and how much air it’s sucked out of the season as a whole to this point.
On a pure conceptual level, “Canary Cry” is a hot mess, torn between three stories: continuing the Damien Darhk story, mourning Laurel Lance, and playing the classic Arrow Guilt Hot Potato Game, where we get to hear the phrase “If I hadn’t ____, she’d still be alive” from different characters throughout the hour. Because of this mix, it’s nigh impossible for “Canary Cry” to really hammer home the effect Laurel’s death has on the crew – in fact, most of the episode is spent with characters stressed out over her supposed “legacy”, which is apparently something that matters now (and if we’re being honest, is pretty muddled: she’s done plenty of murder-threatening and taking ass-beatings in two seasons as the Canary, not exactly establishing how effective and meaningful her dual positions as vigilante and Assistant District Attorney really were to Star City). And when it does slow down to reflect on the life of Laurel, it’s never really about Laurel: everyone is searching for answers by blaming themselves, with only Quentin truly giving a voice to the vacuum Laurel will leave in the lives of Team Arrow, now that’s definitively six feet underground.
That’s probably the most disappointing aspect of this episode, and one that plays directly into the hesitations I’ve had about the Death Reveal since episode one of the season: since the writers clearly picked who they would kill halfway through the season, there’s no room to make her absence feel as weighty as it should. Laurel’s gone – but what does that actually mean? “Canary Cry” tries to find answers through a horribly-written (and thoroughly unresolved) story about a girl who stole the Canary screamer to get revenge on H.I.V.E., and a subplot where we see that she became a drugged-out alcoholic after kissing Ollie while mourning Tommy, then being completely disheveled after Oliver spurned her advances, and went back to Lian Yu to cry crocodile tears over his friend’s death (isn’t it odd how two of three Arrow finales have ended with him leaving Star City?). Thrilling, right?
It just feels like Arrow doesn’t know how to say goodbye to a characters its minimized, mistreated, and basically relegated to background status this season. Can you blame them, really? They didn’t know how to handle her character in life, overshadowed by every other female’s arc on the series, and immediately relagated to Least Interesting Member of the Lance Family once Quentin kicked the booze and Sara showed up in town. And ultimately, this is why her death feels so hollow: dropped in the midst of these larger stories about the fate of Star City (and its idiot constituents), H.I.V.E., Darhk, mystical magical things, and relationship/family dramas, Laurel’s death already feels swallowed by the many other, equally lifeless plot lines Arrow has brought to the table this season, in turn making scenes where characters talk about the Canary’s supposed “legacy” (again: never been a discussion in the past) feel as hollow and disingenuous as members of Team Arrow getting mad about killing at random points in the series (and again now – Oliver’s talking about killing AGAIN, kicking off another round of Oliver getting mad, trying to kill someone, then re-asserting himself as a non-killing good guy in time for next season’s premiere). Is that an effective way to say goodbye to a main character?
In the end, Laurel’s death had about as much impact as any average viewer could’ve predicted, given the events of this season: plucking Laurel out of the weekly rotation doesn’t really change anything, placing the impetus on “Canary Cry” to reveal what actually will change without her presence. And “Canary Cry” literally has no answer for that, fumbling through a number of predictable, repetitive character beats and surrounding it with the thinnest attempts to both contextualize her death, and carry on the torch of the Darhk story, which is definitively limping into the final stretch of episodes, even considering how ‘important’ it’s because in the wake of Laurel’s death. Turns out our long-held hopes for Laurel’s death bringing her character (and the world of Arrow) some meaning over the years turned out to be an empty prayer: with her exit, “Canary Cry” basically affirms how useless her character has felt through the series, offering nothing more than a muddled, ineffective sendoff as a testament to her presence over three and a half seasons.
Other thoughts/observations:
- Normally, I’d be thrilled to have an episode without Island flashbacks – but the ones we’re offered here are just as bad. Even in death, Laurel’s just a romantic object pining over poor Oliver.
- Shut up, Diggle.
- Quentin processing the tragedy of losing Laurel (and trying to come terms with the fact she won’t be able to come back this time) is the only part of this episode that works, and we have Paul Blackthorne’s consistently awesome performance to thank for it.
- Mayor Darhk is so much more fun than Damien. Here’s a woman (supposedly) without mystical powers, and yet she laughs as someone cocks a gun in her face. Love it.
- Where the hell did that girl get a replica Canary suit? AND HOW DID SHE USE THE CANARY SCREAM?
- Great funeral speech, Ollie… no wonder that mayoral campaign was an absolute bust.