Why Arrow Killed Off Laurel Lance In Season 4
Isabella Ramos The death of Earth-1 Laurel Lance a.k.a. Black Canary is one of the biggest controversies in the history of Arrow as she was killed off in season 4.
During the 8-year run of Arrow, one of the show’s biggest moments was in season 4 when Laurel Lance a.k.a. Black Canary (Katie Cassidy) was suddenly killed off. Season 4 began with a flashforward with Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) standing by a tombstone, set six months in the future. Viewers only knew that one of the main characters would die and that this death wouldn’t be undone by magic or time-travel. Eventually, the 18th episode “Eleven-Fifty-Nine” revealed that it was Laurel who ended up in the grave.
In an attempt to stop Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) from escaping, Team Arrow was once again powerless against the magic-based villain, who regained his abilities. Damien stabbed Laurel in order to punish her father Quentin (Paul Blackthorne) for betraying him. Despite being treated at the hospital where she was expected to make a full recovery, Laurel died in the final minutes of “Eleven-Fifty-Nine.” The sudden death sparked controversy, as it was a surprising decision to kill off the Black Canary, given her major role in the comic book mythology. Cassidy as well as showrunners Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle explained why Laurel was killed off.
The creative team felt that they had run out of Arrow stories for Laurel, despite the fact that she had only just become the Black Canary in the previous season. Despite being Oliver’s ultimate love in the comics, the producers decided to take her journey in a different direction. Killing off Laurel showed stakes in the Arrowverse, as several characters had died and come back to life previously. However, there are aspects to Laurel’s death that haven’t been fully taken into account. The flashforward death wasn’t decided until late in the season, as Cassidy revealed to TVLine that she only learned about Laurel’s fate two weeks before her death was filmed.
When they introduced a character's death in the Arrow season 4 premiere, the writers hadn’t decided who would die. Not only does it show poor planning, but it makes Laurel’s death unfair as her journey was far from over. Right before the airing of episode 18, The CW had announced that Cassidy would show up on The Flash that same season as Laurel’s villainous Earth-2 doppelganger Black Siren. Despite starting as a villain, this Laurel would resemble her comic counterpart with a metahuman sonic scream and experienced fighting capabilities. After Black Canary's Earth-1 death, Black Siren quickly took her place as Cassidy was back as a series regular by Arrow season 6. In countless interviews in the later seasons, it became clear that this Laurel was the version they preferred to write as she got redeemed in season 7 as Black Canary of Earth-2.
Even though this became a more accurate portrayal of the DC heroine, it came at the expense of Earth-1 Laurel who, through multiple Arrowverse tools, could have evolved into her comic counterpart. Ultimately, killing Laurel off for shock value as part of a poorly organized storyline makes the Black Canary a victim of the Women in the Refrigerators trope. While affecting the whole team, Laurel’s death progresses the storylines of two specific male characters: Oliver and Quentin. Because of her father's actions against Damien, it cost Laurel her life in the end. Whether it was intentional or not, Laurel's death was also used to drive Oliver back to Felicity as they were broken-up at that point.
During her final minutes in life, Laurel encourages Oliver to find his way back to Felicity right after telling him that he'd always be the love of Laurel's life, even if she wasn't his. Even though Crisis on Infinite Earths resurrected multiple characters, Earth-1 Laurel still remained dead (which itself came with a poor explanation). While Cassidy's performance as Black Siren gave viewers an evolved version of Laurel Lance, killing off Black Canary in a Green Arrow adaptation will always be remembered as one of Arrow's biggest mistakes of all time.
