Arrow - Canaries - Review

Arrow, “Canaries,” was written by the team of Jake Coburn and Emilio Ortega Aldrich and was directed by Michael Schultz. This is Aldrich's first writing credit, but he clearly understands the show and had expert guidance with Coburn. The episode featured some terrific fight scenes and stunts, but it was just as big on character development. Oliver (Stephen Amell) reveals his secret to Thea (Willa Holland), Laurel (Katie Cassidy) reveals her secret to Quentin (Paul Blackthorne), and there’s a cosmic shift in Team Arrow. All in all, it was a pretty big game changer.

Oliver determines that he has to reveal his secret to Thea. Malcolm (John Barrowman) insists that in order to defeat Ra’s Al Ghul, they have to join forces, and therefore, Thea has to know. He insists that Thea is ready to learn the truth. Diggle warns Oliver that “if Thea finds out you’ve been lying to her all this time, you will lose her forever.” And for once, Diggle couldn’t be more wrong!

I can’t even say how relieved I was for Thea not to be a spoiled brat about this! I absolutely adored her reaction to learning the truth. She completely puts the good that Oliver has done before any slight to herself. The reveal scene is a powerful one and Holland and Amell are brilliant in it. Holland plays her dawning realization perfectly. Neither we nor Oliver are expecting her to take this well. Amell’s face as he thinks he is about to lose his sister forever is simply heartbreaking – no words necessary.

Interestingly, this revelation does turn Thea against Malcolm. She blames him for trying to drive a wedge between her and Oliver. Given that Malcolm was right about how Thea would feel about Oliver’s revelation – that she was ready – did he also realize it would likely mean him losing her? In fact, Malcolm simply backs off and gives Thea her space. He doesn’t leave her unprotected, however.

I loved the scene when Oliver comes home after being blown out the window – and WOW! Special effects and stunt team! Thea remarks, “You smell like smoke. Korean barbeque?” And Oliver answers, “C4.” Thea then responds somewhat sarcastically, “It’s nice that we can tell each other this stuff now.” And Oliver, who has been carrying so much guilt for lying to his sister, knowing how much she resents being lied to, says “it is, actually.” Did anyone else also notice Oliver calling Thea Speedy several times this episode? She’s definitely going to be Speedy.

After stumbling upon a hurt Laurel in the lair, the hero business becomes a little too real for Thea and she turns to Chase (Austin Butler) for distraction. After they’ve made love, he tries to poison her, but Malcolm’s training kicks in and she realizes he’s poisoned the red wine. I was surprised – but happy – to have him revealed and taken care of so soon. I love how the show doesn’t need to unnecessarily draw plot points out, yet they take their time to establish those that need it – like Thea’s transformation and Laurel’s.

Thea learns a valuable lesson when Chase almost kills her. Roy (Colton Haynes) is waiting in the wings to save her. Protecting her – or at least having her back – is always going to be his prime directive it seems. Roy also proves to be no match for a Ra’s trained assassin, however, and it takes Malcolm to save them. Chase kills himself rather than give up any information of face Ra’s after having failed in his mission. Thea refuses to thank Malcolm – after all, he’s why she’s in danger in the first place.

         For his part, Malcolm tells her, “No parent needs gratitude for saving his child.” Malcolm is prepared to give up being close to Thea, foregoing both gratitude and love if it means saving her life. The incident shows Thea that they do need Malcolm. She’s not as strong as she thought she was. He seems to be the only one to be able to win against Ra’s forces. Malcolm tells them that “Ra’s preys upon the fears of his enemies.” The first lesson that Malcolm gives them is that to defeat him they will have to conquer their own fears.

Oliver and Thea head off to the Island to face those fears. Interestingly, the flashbacks end with Oliver returning to Starling, setting us up for a reversal of setting for next week’s episode. Another great example of how the writing weaves these stories together. The flashbacks this week really reinforce the themes of the present. Maseo (Karl Yune) flees with Tatsu and tells Oliver to do the same. They will go into hiding, but Oliver needs to go public to protect themselves against Waller (Cynthia Addai-Robinson).

         Maseo lies to Oliver to protect himself and his family, but still comes to save him in the end. Addai-Robinson is becoming increasingly chilling as Waller. She tells Oliver that she’s erased the message to his mother, and then she threatens Thea’s life. Nothing is stronger than Oliver’s bond to protect his sister and even though he’s withstood torture, he does give up Maseo to save Thea.

The lesson that Oliver must learn in the present is to give up some of his control. I loved the scene in the lair when Roy steps up and challenges Oliver about Thea. This is perhaps Haynes finest scene yet in the series. When Oliver barks at Thea to get out, Roy tells him, “Don’t talk to her like that. You brought her in. You don’t have the right to kick her out.” Oliver insists that he’s protecting her, but Roy isn’t having it: “By telling her what to do? Letting Merlyn get his hooks in deeper? She makes her own choices, Oliver.” Of course, this becomes more poignant when Roy follows Thea and sees her choose to go home with Chase. But it also resonates with how Oliver has been treating Laurel throughout the episode.

Oliver continues to resist the idea of Laurel joining the team. When he gets angry with Diggle (David Ramsey) about it, Diggle points out that “she’s not exactly lobbying for anyone’s permission.” And he also points out that “she can hold her own out there.” Oliver tells Laurel she’s being selfish, trying to get her to think about what it would do to Quentin (Paul Blackthorne) if anything should happen to her. Laurel tells him, “Fighting for your city isn’t selfish. It’s what a hero would do.” Oliver tells her flat out that she’s not a hero.

After Zytle (Peter Stormare) escapes, Laurel again confronts Oliver. Anybody else disappointed at how underused Stormare was in the episode? I did love Laurel taking out the cop with one punch! I also loved her sarcastic, “What’s wrong? Was my form off?” at Oliver’s continued disapproval. He tells her his concern has nothing to do with respect, but concern for her being an addict. Hard to believe anything could have made her angrier. She tells him, “Go to Hell, Oliver. You don’t get to play that card with me ever, and if there is anyone who is using adrenaline to hide the pain of real feelings and real life, it’s you.” Luckily, Oliver does tag Laurel with a tracer, so when she does get in over her head, he and Roy are able to save her. Of course, had he let her be a part of the team, she wouldn’t have been out there alone.

I liked the use of the vertigo to let Laurel face her demons in the same way that Oliver faced his own demons while under its influence. While it was great to have Caity Lotz back as Sara, it would have been even better to have had her as the real Sara – not this rage monster. However, Sara tells her that she’s a fraud and an addict and asks her why she’s trying to take her place. When Laurel wakes up, she finds comfort from Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards).

        Felicity tells her “I think Sara wore her mask just as much to hide her demons as she did to help people, and I don’t see that with you. You have a light inside you that Sara never had. Maybe you should stop trying to be Sara, and just be yourself.” It’s good advice for Laurel. It doesn’t negate what she’s achieved, but it also takes away the pressure to be as good as Sara was. This is a really great scene between the two of them, and it’s nice to see them developing this friendship – we say last episode that Laurel respected and admired Felicity’s skills.

Felicity is clearly happy to have another woman in the lair again, and actually comes to Laurel’s support more than once. Upon hearing that Oliver tagged her with the tracer because what Laurel was doing was reckless, Felicity snarks, “I don’t know how reckless it is.” She has a lot more faith in Laurel’s abilities than Oliver. Felicity also doesn’t spare Oliver’s feelings when Roy stands up to him. Diggle tries to smooth things over, but Felicity is having none of it! “No. We need this. Oliver, you were done. Dead. At least we thought you were and we had to go on with our lives and doting that meant not doing things your way.” Oliver points out that he’s back now, and Felicity continues, “That doesn’t mean that we can go back. You do not have the right to come back here and question everyone’s choices.” Once again, Amell is terrific in this scene and his face speaks volumes as he walks away.

Diggle is the one to come to Oliver. He tells Oliver that they had to make a choice when they thought Oliver was dead. They thought about just hanging it up, but then, “we realized we weren’t just fighting for you. We were fighting for ourselves too. And that includes Roy and Laurel.” Oliver points out that Laurel isn’t a soldier. And Diggle goes on, “you started something. Something strong enough to live past on past you. The question is, can you live with what it’s become?” As always, Diggle can put into words what Oliver needs to hear. Oliver is going to have to live with letting the others have input into decision, he’s going to have to give up some control. He’s also going to have to live with the others choosing to put themselves into danger because of their own decisions – he can’t simply protect them anymore. In reality, he’s already had to do this to some extent with Barry (Grant Gustin).

Oliver takes the first step by asking Laurel to come with him to help get Zytel when Roy isn’t available. Laurel is able to put her ghosts to rest – she tells Sara that she’s through trying to be her. She beats both the vertigo and Zetyl. With her second dose of vertigo, though, she comes face to face with Quentin whose specter tells her he deserves to know the fate of his own daughter.

        Rather than shy away again, Laurel finally comes clean to Quentin about Sara. Blackthorne and Cassidy really deliver a powerful emotional punch in this scene. I loved that Quentin had pretty much figured out it was Laurel in the black leather, and he was actually pretty okay with it. But most of all, I was really, really glad that they finally tied up the rather idiotic storyline of Laurel keeping it from him. Still, nothing to take away from the brilliant performance in this scene.

It may seem a little silly for the Arrow to promise to never leave the city again in the last episode and then be gone by the end of this one, but Oliver says, “You’ve shown me the city is safe in your hands.” He will never truly be gone from the city now that he’s accepted that the others carry the same mission.

There was a lot to like about this episode. The themes are weaved throughout the episode and the writers give us some great continuity back as far as the first season. Once again, all hail the stunt team! Fabulous parkour sequence to begin the episode and great Canary on Canary fight scenes. The stunt with Roy and Oliver getting blown out of the windows was excellent – and hopefully also owes a debt of gratitude to the excellent VFX team! I loved Thea acknowledging that is was lame for her not to recognize her own brother in the hood. And finally, Thea not only accepting Oliver as the Arrow but thanking him was both satisfying as a viewer and also a terrific indication of just how far this character has grown since we first met her.

What did you think of the episode? Were you surprised by Thea’s reaction? Are you convinced that Laurel has earned her way onto the team? Are you relieved that no one, not even Laurel, thinks of her as replacing Sara? Do you think Oliver will be able to adjust to the new order in the lair? Is it me, or is Oliver suddenly surrounded by some pretty fierce women? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

About the Author - Lisa Macklem

I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Forever, Defiance, Bitten, Glee, and a few others! Highlights of this past year include covering San Diego Comic Con as press and a set visit to Bitten. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.