[Laurel Lance: Black Canary, Black Siren.]

Is the show willing to explore a real darkness in Laurel?  Or are they only throwing the idea in to see if the audience will buy it?

I agree, addiction isn't a real darkness, it's an illness.  And while believing that Oliver and Sara had died was traumatic, it's wasn't the sort of thing that should have stopped her life, the way losing both parents and going into foster care would for a younger person, or being raped could.  Nor did it stop Laurel's life, she continued on to law school, passed the bar, got a good job and her own apartment and life.

Sara, on the other hand, with the shipwreck, year with Ivo, League of Assassins and goodness knows what else, I could truly believe that she has a darkness if the show told me so.  As Anatoli said "When did you get so scary?"

It feels like the show wants us to sympathize with Laurel without her actually showing a darkness or going through what it takes to get it.  Roy has his Mirakiru and his mother's addiction, Thea is learning about her parentage, Diggle had Afghanistan, Sara, Oliver and Slade all had their terrors, but the show is doing a half-assed job with Laurel.

If they wanted her addiction to be a real crucible, it should have lasted longer, and brought her lower.  As it was, it feels like it was just a hand-wave.

[Sara Lance: The Canary Rises In White]

 It's worth noting that in the last episode, Oliver wants do a thing.  Sara, who of the two actually uses her brain, tells him not to.  Felicity, the fan favorite audience surrogate who everyone wants to get with Oliver, enables him and tells him to do what he wants to do.  Oliver promptly blunders into a trap that proves to be an utter waste of time. 

Oliver was set on doing something.  In my experience, when someone is determined like that, telling them outright not to do a thing is a waste of breath.

In terms of plotting, they needed Oliver at the trap and distracted, and also it was time for some more fight scenes.  But if they wanted to write Oliver/Sara as a viable relationship, they should have had her strategizing with Oliver over what to do to get Thea back and fight Slade, Sara suggesting an alternative plan than going to the warehouse and the two of them do that. Sara and Oliver are good when it comes to fighting as a team but for strategizing, Diggle has been a better partner for him.

But then, Oliver doesn't always listen to Diggle either.  In which case Diggle tags along to clean up the mess.

[Sara Lance: The Canary Rises In White]

They do have a history, and an understanding of each other that no one else has so I completely understand why they might fall into a relationship with each for comfort and support especially given the stress of dinner at Laurel's and Slade being in town.   It may be the writing but while I can see that they care for each other a lot, I don't see them as loving each other, not the way Roy loves Thea or even as Moira loves Walter.  Paul Blackthorne's non-verbal acting in one short scene in Salvation let me know how much Quentin still loves Dinah.  With Sara and Oliver, it feels like it's comfortable sleeping with the other, like an old pair of slippers, rather than a real love.

I also got the impression from the first part of s2 that Sara thinks she's too damaged to be in a relationship, or to be worthy of a relationship, so the show appears to have skipped a few beats and several conversations getting her from there to a relationship with Oliver.

[S02.E18: Deathstroke]

If Laurel is any kind of a lawyer, or even if she has any common sense, she will realize that the police have no case against her father and won't give up Oliver to get Quentin out of jail.  But I really don't hold out much hope of that.

But what didn't happen was screentime for Oliver and Sara as a couple.

The Feb 5th interview at TVLine: As for whether Sara and Oliver are a couple now, “That’s actually part of the journey of these next five episodes,” reveals Kreisberg. “Oliver has not had many successful relationships, and part of him and Sara moving forward is [the question of], ‘Is this something that can work given both of our [pasts]?’”

But you're right.  We haven't really seen yet how Oliver and Sara function as a couple as opposed to a crime fighting duo, although the writers could have done something with their differences of opinion in Birds of Prey that would have let us know something more about both characters.  If they break up now, it will remain a big hole in the story.

And because it cannot be said too much, more Diggle please.

[S02.E18: Deathstroke]

Maybe Oliver sleeping on a cot in the Arrow Cave was supposed to show how worried he was about Slade and wanting to be close to his weapons all the time.  Even though Moira kicked him out, it's not like he couldn't afford a hotel room for a few weeks.

It's not the chemistry or lack thereof that's getting me with the Oliver/Sara hookup. (That's a Laurel issue.) Or the long term possibility of them as a couple - I haven't been able to get behind Laurel/Oliver at all, but earlier this season I was behind having Oliver/Sara get together WAY way down the road - like three or four seasons down the road, after they'd dealt with their various issues.

No, what's getting me is that having put them together, the writers are barely having them interact on screen, let alone act the way this show usually has their long term couples act on screen.

One of the reasons that I really liked this episode was because it seemed to be spread out more equitably over most of the cast.  Not only did Moira and Thea get some long overdue screen time, Roy got to call out Oliver, and Diggle and Felicity were back as more than background support for Team Arrow.  Even Quentin had a role. 

I don't know if it's on purpose or because the writers have a hard time getting a grip on Sara's role on the show, or because they're setting up something specific, but since Sara got together with Oliver in Heir to the Demon, it's pretty much been about the two of them with a side of Slade, and the rest of the cast far behind.   This show doesn't do relationships well. I think the best I've seen so far has been Diggle with Lyla and we've barely seen them.  But somehow I didn't find Oliver and Sara being in a relationship to be that interesting in terms of the characters.  It may have been because of the way they interact with each other (since they are pretty much two sides of the same character there not much conflict) or it may have been the storylines but while I thought they were great fighting partners, as an emotional couple it felt flat.  If this was a trial run for a few years down the line, I hope they can find a way to make them as a couple more interesting and to give other characters more time, keeping it from becoming the Oliver And Sara Action Hour.

I'm not expecting Oliver to break up with Sara just yet. The  producers did say the next five episodes would explore their relationship but I took that to mean the penultimate block of five episodes, before the final block of five.  Maybe Oliver and Sara will break up before the end of the season but I can't see anything that happened in this episode foreshadowing it.  Laurel might be willing to spill Oliver's secret to the police to free Quentin (I wonder if Slade/Blood suggested that deal to the DA), but I can't see Sara doing it, especially as she herself is vulnerable to being caught.

[S02.E18: Deathstroke]

Or the writers have been looking at their social media because I've noticed a lot of comments at various sites wanting more time spent on the original Team Arrow back again, and I wouldn't be surprised if their twitter reads the same.

It made sense for Sara to be concerned about what was happening to her father though. What made no sense is for them to arrest Quentin instead of going after Slade.  The news program at Laurel's apartment was saying there was a warrant out for Slade, and yet he still walks about town impervious.

[Sara Lance: The Canary Rises In White]

I agree that the sudden, heavy focus on Sara has made my enthusiasm for her wane a little. I also find it difficult to see her encouraging Oliver's Hood side instead of his Arrow side. We don't need to go back down that route. I do find it sort of interesting that Sara is further behind on her journey toward becoming a hero than Oliver is, but I don't think he's at the point where he should be in a relationship with someone like that. He's not a good mentor yet, as he admitted regarding Helena, and as he proved regarding Roy in this episode. I think at this stage (barring the show killing her off!), that is what will drive them apart. Just not agreeing on how to live their lives and help people, etc.

Personally, my ideal scenario would be that Sara IS the Black Canary on this show, and Laurel becomes a villain. Then Sara leaves Starling to go be a vigilante elsewhere, but returns regularly, or she and Oliver are both vigilantes in Starling, but operate independently. That's what I'm looking for. What I'm not looking for is a show called Arrow & Canary. Not interested in Lance drama taking over the entire show.

When you wrote "I don't think he's at the point where he should be in a relationship with someone like that", I thought of AA and how you need to be wary of being in a relationship with another addict.  Maybe their need to be a vigilante, for Oliver to right the wrong's of his parents and save the city, and for Sara to protect vulnerable women, is a form of addiction.

I think Sara/Caity Lotz was another stroke of serendipity for them.  She's like a strong spice which can make the food taste better but too much can also overwhelm the dish. I like your scenario of Sara and Oliver operating independently and occasionally teaming up.   Laurel would be good on the villain side but I fear Marc Guggenheim loves her too much to turn her dar,