S04.E19: Canary Cry

[Mellowyellow]

Ok finished this properly with hubby.

Must say this episode and the last has been good for my soul. Has calmed me down somewhat from my raging rampage after episode 15.

*sheepish look* I cried when Laurel died! I was sad! It was sad!!!! I felt so bad for her! Her whole life she's been in love with Oliver and it seems like there is just enough history between them for him to string her along and not quite cut the strings with her until the day he finds "the One", then he shuts her down, lapses happily into being her friend while she's still secretly pining for him. 

In "Broken Hearts" I got the impression from the last scene between Oliver and Felicity that Oliver would be happy to have a quickie wedding with Felicity just to "lock her in" even if she was still angry with him and things were bad between them (obviously my beloved girl dumped his lying a$$ but I will no get into that lest I have another tantrum). However with Laurel, he always puts one foot in with her (usually with her nudging him) and then bails (that kiss and then bailing to Lian Yu). I felt so bad for her. She just wasn't the girl for him and when he met "the girl" he clearly could jump in head first.

I had a friend who went through this in real life! One was with a guy since High School, they always had these hopes and dreams together (mainly she always had plans and she'd be really happy when he went along with them) but he NEVER quite committed so they were on/of/stale/on again/off again/fighting/good until one day after they graduated from uni, he just met another girl that he loved enough and decided to end it. Married the other girl, had kids, very happy etc. My friend has since moved on (happily married with 3 kids of her own) and is very happy but she admits to me that she loved him very much and would not have left him, had he not definately left her and married someone else.

So crazy as it seems, I can see Laurel hanging around until Olicity raise 5 kids or whatever. 

[bijoux]

2 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

it seems like there is just enough history between them for him to string her along and not quite cut the strings with her until the day he finds "the One", then he shuts her down, lapses happily into being her friend while she's still secretly pining for him. 

I didn't see it happening that way at all. Oliver was romantically done with Laurel as of the start of the second season and, barring screaming, you're a poopy face, at her completely clear about it. They stated they could only be friends in season 2 premiere, then he actually, physically pushed her away when she tried to kiss him. And once she started dropping by the Arrow cave in season 3, he all but put up a sign saying "No Laurels allowed in my playhouse" on the door. Nothing he's done after the first season could be qualified as stringing her along in my book.

I can see it applying to their relationship pre-island, but even then Laurel should shoulder part of the blame because while I was willing to believe she was willfully ignorant about the cheating once upon a time, her last episodes made me certain she damn well knew about a lot, if not all of it. She just chose to accept it in the interest of hanging onto Ollie. Being a cheating scumbag is on him. Chosing to remain with the cheating scumbag is on Laurel.

[Mellowyellow]

I agree with you he was romantically done with her in second season and imo second season is when his stuff with Felicity started so yes that was when he was in fully fledge friend mode.  Most certainly season 3 was his dramatic love affair with Felicity and Laurel was nowhere on the radar but I guess my point is I can buy that she was pining for him all this time, even during season 3 when he was embroiled in some epic love affair with someone else and had nothing to do with her really 

 

I don't actually blame Oliver for not being able to love her. You love who you love (and he loves Felicity which is good taste right there!) but I do feel bad for her that she was so so so into him.  Not saying it's good or healthy but I feel bad for the character. 

[AyChihuahua]

I think he did kind of string her along in S1, and he didn't push her away when she kissed him in the flashback (he TOTALLY DID when she tried to kiss him inS2, which has always made me LOL bc I feel like that was SA even more than Oliver). 

At least now, with the benefit of hindsight, that's what it looks like (they weren't writing it that way at the time, but it makes sense now).

[Sakura12]

I still think getting back together with Sara the second she got back should've been the big sign for Laurel that he's just not that into you. That's twice he choose her sister over her. TWICE. I don't know how much more Laurel needed to understand that. There was enough evidence right in front of her. Maybe that's why Oliver shoved his relationship with Sara in Laurel's face. It's was a way to get Laurel off his back. 

Then she still called him the love her life. That just made her seem really pathetic. And not a hero anyone would want to look up too. I don't know if that was done on purpose or not. Arrow's Laurel Lance is not the Black Canary anyone deserved.

[kismet]

Pre-Island Ollie strung LL along. But Post-Island OQ made it rather obvious in s1 where he stood with LL from a romantic angle, and definitely clear by the s2 premiere that it was forever over. For most of s2-s3, it was hard to believe that they were even still friends. S4 he basically got strong armed by his policital campaign and his sister to actually try being LL's friend.

I feel bad for LL, but she was pining away on an Island of Hopes & Dreams all by herself. Maybe she thought he might change. But when he actively chooses to push you away in every capacity for 3.5 years straight, chooses to have relationships with Helena, McKenna, Sara and Felicity. He is just not that into you, doesn't even begin to explain how he probably feels about you.

Pre-Island Ollie might have cheated on LL repeatedly, but he always returned to her. At no point beyond that one-night stand did OQ ever try to really return to LL. I feel bad for LL because its sad to have people stuck in their own head canon or fixated on their own broken heart. In the end, it was pathetic that she never tried to move on from OQ, who clearly had moved on from her for almost a decade now.

I really wish that they had found a way to perhaps have LL say that OQ was her first love and she'll never forget that feeling because that is relatable and not pathetic. But having her harp on him being her one true love, was just a little too much for me and completely made me lose respect for her as a character.

[bijoux]

4 hours ago, Sakura12 said:

 That's twice he choose her sister over her. TWICE.

I actually never took him going away with Sara as chosing her over Laurel. It was a way to get Laurel to break up with him because he wouldn't man up and tell her he couldn't offer her what she wanted. I don't doubt that Sara and Oliver felt a kinship before the island, but I think them going off on Queen's Gambit was probably more about their feelings for Laurel than for each other. On Oliver's side there was cowardice and on Sara sibling rivalry and resentment. That decision is probably the most relevant Laurel's been to their lives. And if that's not a sad and sobering thought, I don't know what is.

[TrueMyth]

22 minutes ago, kismet said:

Pre-Island Ollie might have cheated on LL repeatedly, but he always returned to her. At no point beyond that one-night stand did OQ ever try to really return to LL. I feel bad for LL because its sad to have people stuck in their own head canon or fixated on their own broken heart. In the end, it was pathetic that she never tried to move on from OQ, who clearly had moved on from her for almost a decade now.

I felt that Oliver was fixated on Laurel during season one.  He made overtures towards her throughout season one, but was either rebuffed by her anger and bitterness, or trying to respect Tommy's feelings.  I don't think he actually loved her any more, but he did think that he did.  He had/has a lot of self-loathing, so her aggression towards him was what he thought he deserved, which is why he tried to move on with Helena and McKenna.  It wasn't until season two, when he'd already had her again and was starting to wake up to his feelings for Felicity that he realized that he wasn't into Laurel.

I think Stephen Amell has grown as an actor over the course of the series, but his portrayal of Oliver's feelings for Laurel in season one are probably his worst work.  He smiles at her, but it never really reaches his eyes.  Cassidy on the other hand went so fully into the hatred and disgust in the early episodes, that the "softer" feelings she tried to bring out in later episodes in season one felt very flat to me.

With the character revelations in Canary Cry, it does make a lot of KC's choices make more sense, particularly in seasons two and three, but I still feel her harshness with Oliver in early season one made it hard to root for them as a couple from the start.

[bijoux]

8 minutes ago, TrueMyth said:

I felt that Oliver was fixated on Laurel during season one.  He made overtures towards her throughout season one, but was either rebuffed by her anger and bitterness, or trying to respect Tommy's feelings.  I don't think he actually loved her any more, but he did think that he did.  He had/has a lot of self-loathing, so her aggression towards him was what he thought he deserved, which is why he tried to move on with Helena and McKenna.  It wasn't until season two, when he'd already had her again and was starting to wake up to his feelings for Felicity that he realized that he wasn't into Laurel.

Moreover, my read on the situation was that he thought he had to. It was supposed to have been what made him survive the past five year and, what's more, be a part of his redemption. But as you've said, that got tangled with a lot of self-loathing so things got muddled.

[Midnight Lullaby]

I think Oliver definitely believed he loved Laurel in season 1 but the moment he got her he realized he didn't. It was very selfish of him even if I can sympathize because of what he went through on the island and I think she initially represented his idea of a second chance of life so he didn't intentionally lead her on. The problem is he realized he was over Laurel by the end of season 1 while she for some reason still believed they were going to happen. From season 2 on there's not a moment where Oliver let her believe he could see her as more than a friend and I think he honestly didn't imagine she still considered him the love of her life. I think that if Oliver leaving her behind again, hooking up with her sister again and watching him fall in love and plan a life with someone like he never wanted to do with her didn't make her stop pining for him there was no hope for her. And this is quite pathetic for someone who was presented as a strong woman that didn't need a man to define her life.

[kismet]

15 minutes ago, TrueMyth said:

I felt that Oliver was fixated on Laurel during season one.  He made overtures towards her throughout season one, but was either rebuffed by her anger and bitterness, or trying to respect Tommy's feelings.  I don't think he actually loved her any more, but he did think that he did.  He had/has a lot of self-loathing, so her aggression towards him was what he thought he deserved, which is why he tried to move on with Helena and McKenna.  It wasn't until season two, when he'd already had her again and was starting to wake up to his feelings for Felicity that he realized that he wasn't into Laurel.

I think Stephen Amell has grown as an actor over the course of the series, but his portrayal of Oliver's feelings for Laurel in season one are probably his worst work.  He smiles at her, but it never really reaches his eyes.  Cassidy on the other hand went so fully into the hatred and disgust in the early episodes, that the "softer" feelings she tried to bring out in later episodes in season one felt very flat to me.

With the character revelations in Canary Cry, it does make a lot of KC's choices make more sense, particularly in seasons two and three, but I still feel her harshness with Oliver in early season one made it hard to root for them as a couple from the start.

Fair enough :) I always read s1 as he still loved LL and was trying to make up for all the pain he caused her. But I don't think it was a romantic type of love. I also think that he saw her as a way of getting back the life he lost. And I was actively invested in them perhaps getting back together by the end of the series. I wouldn't say I shipped them. But I totally got into the lost loves find a way back to each other. Until, I realized by the mid to end of s1 that he didn't really want to get back with her, he just wanted a simpler life and that is what she represented. Perhaps one with less death & tragedy. Even there one night stand felt off, because it literally was like he realized that his mission was going to over soon, so he could get back to his "life".

It's odd because as I type out this response, I realize that both OQ & LL just wanted a simpler life. Yet, I believe OQ because he actually tried to get one multiple times. Whereas LL never stepped out her delusions to even pursue a simpler life or authentic life. Which is likely why I feel OQ's romantic journey on the show feels authentic and LL's feels pathetic. And I hate to say that because in s1, she had so much potential and just seemed to fail so many times.

By s2, it was clear that there was not even a shred of romantic love left in OQ for LL. I'm not even sure, there was any physical attraction left. I believe he would have lived out a life of celibacy as opposed to being physically involved with her ever again. Even mouth to mouth CPR might have been a step too far.

KC totally acted out the entire series as LL being in love with OQ despite reality telling her time and time again that it was not going to happen. So perhaps her choices make sense, but it also makes them more sad. For 9 years LL obsessed over her ex-lover and sister, and never bothered to move forward with her life. And when you think about it her major arc after s1, was essentially trying to find a way to steal her sister's life. I'm not an actress, but if I was given this note about my character about OQ being her one true love & trying to be her sister, I would actively campaign for her to get a real life of her own.

[tv echo]

I mostly agree with what's been posted above.  In S1, I think Oliver was so PTSD-ed that the couldn't really feel emotion for anyone - that is why his smiles seemed so fake.  His 'love' for Laurel was a remembered love or maybe his attempted tether to humanity. Unfortunately, she didn't help by reacting to his presence with hostility and bitterness.

When Oliver first returned to Starling City in S2, it was Laurel who first said that their sleeping together was a mistake and then Oliver agreed that they couldn't go backwards.  So in her head canon, Laurel may have thought that she was the one who essentially shut the door on their relationship (out of guilt over Tommy's death) and therefore that she only had to open that door again in the future (later, when she got over that guilt). Maybe she thought that the Felicity relationship was Oliver's second choice and only realized in S4 that it was his first choice. Yes, I gritted my teeth and re-watched the following scene, which only reinforces the ret-conning of the S4 O/L flashback scene...

Oliver and Laurel "But we can't go back." 2x01 Arrow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rieruw9Y-D4 

Edited May 31, 2016 by tv echo

[TimetravellingBW]

I agree Oliver loved the idea of Laurel in Season 1, but didn't love Laurel herself. He'd been in hell for five years realizing what a great life he'd wasted. I think he fixated on making things right with Laurel, because that represented making everything in his old life right again. We saw he struggled with realizing the people he left behind weren't as perfect as he remembered them with Thea and Moira. Oliver held onto that mindset that Laurel was the key to his redemption throughout S1, but I think the end of S1 broke that belief in him and he realized Laurel and their relationship was just as flawed as everything else. Also, given how shitty he felt about betraying Tommy, I suspect his idealized version of Laurel took a hit when she threw Tommy under the bus, especially as we now know she happily celebrated their future over Tommy's barely-cold dead body. Oliver never judged Laurel to her face and clearly took most of the blame for betraying Tommy on himself, but I wonder if that removed his rose-tinted glasses about what the so-called selfless, perfect person Laurel was.

I think Season 2 was when he saw Laurel and everyone as they were, and prioritized building authentic relationships with Diggle and Felicity. Imo it was when he stopped "making up" for everything Ollie did. I agree that by then he'd given up on any romantic feelings for Laurel and realized they'd been driven by idealization and guilt. And then Laurel's alcoholic spiral broke his idealization and sleeping with Sara shows he clearly moved on from the guilt for cheating. S3 reads as Laurel bleating after him, while Oliver wonders if Lian Yu is in need of any ADA lawyers. He didn't seem to even want to be friends with her, let alone get together again. It's notable the writers had to kill Sara to justify why Oliver would put up with Laurel barging into the lair: Had Sara been off with the League instead of dead, I think he'd have been a lot harsher about telling Laurel to get the hell out of his team. (I.e. "This started with the three of us.")

With Oliver and Laurel's S2 "We can't go back scene" it's one of the many that read differently with the new flashbacks after Tommy's funeral. Without them I agree with @tv echo that Laurel was the one who shut the door on the L/O relationship. But with the flashbacks it just reads as Laurel trying to save face. I mean it goes "I'm really excited about the future Ollie" --> Oliver leaves --> "After the funeral we both needed time to figure things out on our own...I made a mistake when I slept with you." That just screams Laurel trying to scrape together the remains of her dignity, after the guy she was planning a future with (again!) headed off voluntarily to an island literally known as Purgatory. But I do wonder if she still conned herself into believing that Oliver only left because of guilt and Sara/Felicity were just stand ins for her. 

Edited May 31, 2016 by TimetravellingBW

[AudienceofOne]

9 hours ago, tv echo said:

which only reinforces the ret-conning of the S4 O/L flashback scene...

I fast fowarded through those scenes so for me they literally don't exist. But if I have to try to incorporate them into the narrative, I prefer to think of them as Laurel's dying hallucinations. The brain flails all over the place when you're dying. So Laurel was dying and hallucinating and that's why they made no sense.

You're welcome.

[Hecate7]

On 5/31/2016 at 5:08 PM, AudienceofOne said:

I fast fowarded through those scenes so for me they literally don't exist. But if I have to try to incorporate them into the narrative, I prefer to think of them as Laurel's dying hallucinations. The brain flails all over the place when you're dying. So Laurel was dying and hallucinating and that's why they made no sense.

You're welcome.

I think everyone's being way too hard on Laurel here. She was too busy dealing with her sister's death, at first, and Oliver's. Then Oliver came back but her sister was still dead, and Tommy loved her. Then Tommy died and she couldn't bring herself to just bounce right back to Oliver, out of respect for Tommy.  She believed herself to be the love of Oliver's life, and to be fair, everyone else thought she was, too, until Oliver actually told Felicity different.

By then, Laurel was too busy being the Black Canary to have a boyfriend. Laurel didn't need a man in her life to define her. She loved an unattainable, unavailable man, and was content to do that because the rest of her life was so busy and full that she didn't really need a relationship. Let's face it, Oliver was her muse, the inspiration she needed to put on Sara's jacket and become the Black Canary, train with Nissa, etc.... This doesn't make her pathetic. It's not like she was sitting by the phone, or begging Oliver to leave Felicity and return to her. She was a friend who secretly still loved Oliver. I remember those shoes looking rather sweet on Felicity--what's the big deal with Laurel wearing them? She's not pathetic, she's romantic and loyal, and her life was just too short for her to have met the guy that would have given her what Oliver couldn't.

[apinknightmare]

11 minutes ago, Hecate7 said:

I remember those shoes looking rather sweet on Felicity--what's the big deal with Laurel wearing them?

Primarily because for the most part, Oliver was always a good friend and partner to Felicity even before they got together romantically. 

And also for the most part, from what it seems like given what the show has shown/told us, Oliver wasn't a good friend and partner to Laurel. Not when they were together before the Gambit, and not when he returned to Starling. He treated her like garbage. So, I do think it was pathetic for her to be holding onto her feelings for him after all these years, because he never gave her any reason to. It's not some sweet what might've been scenario where the timing just wasn't ever right between two people who genuinely cared about each other - he never gave her any reason to believe he cared about her at all.  

[dtissagirl]

13 minutes ago, Hecate7 said:

She was a friend who secretly still loved Oliver. I remember those shoes looking rather sweet on Felicity--what's the big deal with Laurel wearing them?

The deal is from episode 201 onwards, Felicity was written as having feelings for Oliver as part of an actual on-going romantic narrative. For a character to have a secret within a narrative, it has to be shown to the audience that they're hiding something. But here, Laurel was so *secretly* in love with Oliver that no part of the writing of the show after S1 took any time to show it to viewers that she was secretly in love with Oliver. For 65 episodes. That's not a secret, that's NOT PART OF THE STORY. And then she was out of the blue in love with him in her not-death bed that suddenly turned into her death bed. BZUUH???

[Carrie Ann]

I think her words implied that she wasn't trying to find a new love not because she was too busy but because she'd, at some point, determined that Oliver was IT. If her revelation had been more along the lines of "I never found that again," (even given how horrible their relationship had actually been) versus "I will never find that again," it would have improved it for me, slightly anyway. It would have seemed like she wasn't just planning to silently hold a candle for him for the rest of their lives...even possibly hoping that his other relationship(s) would fail. I don't know. It was just not a good look and wholly unnecessary, as @dtissagirl said.

[statsgirl]

I think an additional problem was that her relationship with Tommy  was healthier than any relationship we had seen her have with Oliver, either before the Gambit sank (where she was pushing him in the relationship and he was lying to her and cheating on her) or after he came back (where she alternated between hating him and telling him she wished he had been on the island a lot longer than five years, wanting him back, and being indifferent to him while he was either indifferent or frustrated with her).

At no time did we see Oliver and Laurel in a healthy romantic relationship whereas she was doing pretty good when she was with Tommy and said she loved Tommy and was going to fight for their relationship, so it seemed WTH? when she said that Oliver was the love of her life with no thought of Tommy at all.

Edited October 17, 2016 by statsgirl

[tv echo]

And the idealization of St. Laurel begins (which would carry over to Season 5)...

419 (Canary Cry) – DELETED SCENE: Everyone is in shock at Starling City Hospital after Laurel dies:
Quentin: "[Unintelligible words] I got to tell Donna." (Leaves)
Felicity: "I'll go with him. He shouldn't be alone right now." (Leaves)
Diggle: "I thought she was fine."
Oliver: "So did I. We, uh - we have to get this to the Bunker before the SCPD comes to investigate."
Diggle: "I'll do it... [Uninintelligible words]." (Takes bag containing Laurel's Black Canary suit and leaves)
Thea: "Are you okay?"
(Alex enters the hallway.)
Oliver: "Alex."
Alex: "It's on the police wire. An ADA got hurt during a prison break. It said it was your friend Laurel."
Oliver: "Yeah."
Thea: "She's, um... she's gone."
Alex: "Oh, my God. I'm so sorry. I know this is the last thing you want to hear, but there is an insane amount of press outside."
Oliver: "Um. Okay. Uh, yeah, I'll deal with them."
Alex: "Hey. Let me do it. I'm part of the Mayor's office. It's my job anyway. You shouldn't have to deal with that right now. Neither of you."
Thea: "Thank you."
Alex: "I really am sorry for your loss." (Leaves)
(Oliver holds a crying Thea.)

419 (Canary Cry) – DELETED SCENE: Quentin tries to contact Dinah and Sara in order to tell them about Laurel’s death:
(Donna and Felicity enter the apartment to see a grieving Quentin sitting there, holding his phone.)
Donna: "Hey, baby." (Hugs Quentin)
Quentin: "Sara won't call me back. I got to tell her what's happened."
Donna: "First you got to rest. Okay?"
Quentin: "Not now. I got to tell Dinah."
Donna: "Well, I can - I can call her for you."
Quentin: "No, no, no... I got it." (Gets up and moves to the window)
(Felicity comes over and sits next to Donna on the sofa.)
Donna: "He's like a lost puppy. I wish I could just scoop him up and make it all go away. I wish I could do that for all of you."
Quentin (on phone): "Dinah, it's me. Um, call me. Please. As soon as you can."
Donna: "Oh, my God.

419 (Canary Cry) – In a flashback to Tommy’s funeral, Laurel gives the eulogy in Oliver’s absence:
Laurel: “Um, I could probably say a few words. Tommy Merlyn was - was one of the greatest people that I've ever known. He was - he was so much more than just a billionaire playboy. I loved him. I loved him in - in every way you could possibly love someone. And so did Oliver… (Spots Oliver lurking in the trees) And I'm sure if Oliver could be here today, he would say so… But clearly, it's too painful.”

419 (Canary Cry) – Team Arrow and Quentin discuss the surprise appearance of the fake Black Canary:
(Oliver is sitting in the Arrow Bunker when Felicity, Diggle and Thea enter.)
Oliver: “Hi. I didn't know –“
Felicity: “You called for the team.”
Diggle: “What's going on, Oliver?”
Oliver: “Well… Darhk is out there and he has his magic back. As much as I'm sure all of us want to climb up inside of our own grief –“
Diggle: “We have to get that son of a bitch.”
Thea: “Definitely, but we haven't even put her in the ground yet.”
(Quentin enters.)
Oliver: “Uh, Captain?”
Quentin (putting newspaper on table): “Page 3. This was last night after Iron Heights. This article says that she used a sonic weapon against the dealer and - and the buyer.”
Felicity (going to computer): “Guys, CCTV footage from last night's attack.”
Quentin: “S-Sara came back. All the crazy things that we've seen. Maybe my baby - my baby girl, maybe she's not gone.”
Thea: “I - I mean, we - we saw her –“
Quentin: “Yeah, but, you know, I mean, ev - everyone thought Oliver was dead when the Gambit went down. Everyone thought Ray Palmer was dead. (To Diggle) Your brother.”
Diggle: “Captain, I know. I know, but this is different.”
Oliver: “John's right. This bag from the hospital was supposed to contain all of Laurel's belongings.”
Felicity: “Supposed to?”
Oliver: “Sonic device is missing.”
Diggle: “That explains it. There were people in and out of Laurel's room -  doctors, nurses, orderlies.”
Thea: “Wait. You think someone took it?”
Quentin: “Yeah. Laurel!”
Oliver: “Uh, Captain, let's not go there just yet.”
Quentin: “Now you don't think that with everything that we have seen, that we have all seen, that there is a ch - chance that Laurel is back?”
Diggle: “Cisco keyed the sonic device to Laurel's vocal cords. No one else is supposed to be able to use that.”
Quentin: “Right, right. (To Oliver) What do you think?”
(Oliver is speechless.)

419 (Canary Cry) – Diggle tells Felicity that he blames himself for Laurel’s death:
Felicity: “That was Oliver. Laurel's still, you know, there. So he thinks he has a lead on some woman who recently visits the emergency room a lot. I'm gonna try and cross-reference facial recog with last night's attack with the hospital security footage. Hey. At the hospital, you said that you'd never forgive yourself for what happened.”
Diggle: “Andy's working with Darhk, has been the entire time. He helped him find the idol, helped him out of jail. Oliver warned me, but I pretty much told him to go to hell. Laurel is dead because of me.”
Felicity: “I don't know what happened. I wasn't there. I don't know what to say.”
Diggle: “There's nothing to say.”

419 (Canary Cry) – Team Arrow identifies the fake Black Canary as Evelyn Crawford Sharp:
Thea: “It wasn't Laurel, but it was sure like seeing a ghost.”
Oliver: “And hearing one. That sonic device has been modified. My ear plugs did not do a thing.”
Felicity: “The sonic device is what shouldn't have done a damn thing.”
Oliver: “But you said Cisco keyed it specifically to Laurel?”
Diggle: “It should have only worked with Laurel.”
Felicity: “The crazy part is that this girl is using it at much higher decibels than Laurel ever did.”
Oliver: “Okay. So who is this girl?”
Thea: “When she attacked Alex, she accused him of working for someone.”
Diggle: “Ruvé Darhk?”
Oliver: “H.I.V.E. She said the Green Arrow left them at Reddington to die.”
Thea: “What's Reddington?”
Oliver: “Reddington Industrial is where Darhk held you all hostage over the holidays.”
Felicity: “You think this girl is one of H.I.V.E.'s prisoners.”
Diggle: “They weren't prisoners, remember? They were volunteers.”
Oliver: “Right, but still, let's check missing persons for a family with at least one teenage daughter who went missing over Christmas.”
(Felicity goes to the computer.)
Felicity: “The Sharp family. Mom and dad's bodies were found two days after Christmas. Cause of death - hypoxia.”
Diggle: “Could be H.I.V.E.'s gas chamber.”
Thea: “What about the daughter?”
(Felicity pulls up computer screen on Evelyn Crawford Sharp.)
Felicity: “Class president, academic decathlete, gymnast, basically a 16-year-old badass in the making. She never even missed a day of school.”
Diggle: “Until her parents met Damien Darhk, I'm guessing.”
Oliver: “She said we left them there to die, and we did.”
Felicity: “What do you mean?”
Oliver: “All those people at Reddington.”
Diggle: “There of their own choosing, Oliver.”
Oliver: “And we know that H.I.V.E. drugs people to make them susceptible to suggestion. She told me that we failed this city. She's not wrong.”

419 (Canary Cry) – Oliver and Felicity talk about Diggle and blaming oneself for situations like Laurel’s death:
Felicity: “I've been scouring traffic cameras for Evelyn, but I keep striking out. What are you doing here?”
Oliver: “Thinking.” 
Felicity: “Which is Oliver-speak for beating yourself up. Thought you were reformed from that.” 
Oliver: “Feels like as good a time as any to bring it back.” 
Felicity: “Because of Laurel? Or because of what the girl said?” 
Oliver: “Bit of both. I tried to do the right thing, and I came up short. I came up short for that girl… and for Laurel. Maybe I shouldn't feel responsible, but I do.”
Felicity: “Yeah. It's going around.” 
Oliver: “You mean John?” 
Felicity: “I mean me.” 
Oliver: “Hmm?” 
Felicity: “John was looking for someone to absolve him, reassure him that what happened wasn't his fault, and I couldn't do it. I think for a second I let him blame himself because for a minute it saved me from blaming me. I should have been there. I wasn't there with the team in the bunker. I know I would have just been behind a keyboard. I know it seems like hubris, but I've made a difference before, and I can't help think that if I was there, you know, maybe she'd still be here.”
Oliver: “Do you know why I always blame myself in situations like this? Because at least it's an answer. Sometimes, we just need a reason when a situation is completely unreasonable.”
(Cell phone vibrates.)
Felicity: “Hello?”
Thea (on phone): “Lyla called asking for John, except he's supposed to be checking in on her. I'm getting a bad feeling about this. 
Felicity: “I have trackers on all of you. I'll check, and I'll get back to you.”

419 (Canary Cry) – Team Arrow continues to search for Evelyn Sharp, while Mayor Ruvé Adams has an arrest warrant issued for the Black Canary:
(Oliver and Diggle enter the Arrow Bunker.)
Thea: “Where have you guys been?”
Oliver: “Doesn't matter. Have we had any luck tracking down Evelyn Sharp?”
Felicity: “No. I keep hitting dead ends. Not the best choice of words. (Alert beeps) News alert.”
Ruvé (on TV): Tonight, my security detail and I were attacked by one of these lawless vigilantes who claim to protect this city. This attack came less than 24 hours after another vigilante named the Black Canary assaulted my chief of staff Alex Davis. Now these same masked criminals were confirmed to be at Iron Heights when one of this city's beloved civil servants, Laurel Lance, was fatally injured. Well, tonight, I say, no more! Tonight, I asked District Attorney Wallace to issue arrest warrants for these so-called vigilantes, beginning with Mr. Davis' attacker the Black Canary. We will dedicate the arrest and prosecution of this so-called Black Canary to ADA Laurel Lance, one of this city's brightest lights.”
Oliver: “Turn it off.”
Ruvé (on TV): “Thank you.”
Felicity: “She knows Laurel was the Black Canary.”
Diggle: “And now she has the whole police force gunning for a scared, frightened teenage girl.”
Thea: “I'll call Alex.”
Oliver: “Okay. We need to find Evelyn before the S.C.P.D. does.”
Diggle: “Yes.”

419 (Canary Cry) – In a flashback scene, Oliver and Laurel snuggle by the fireplace and reminisce about Tommy (who just died):
Laurel: “I'm glad you finally decided to come over.”
Oliver: “Well, it's been a week. I feel like Tommy would be pissed at me if I didn't eventually come out of my self-pity.”
Laurel: “Heh.”
Oliver: “Yeah. He loved you so much. This was right after you won student body president our senior year.”
Laurel: “Do you remember how I won?”
Oliver: “Of course. You were the most deserving candidate by far.”
Laurel: “Well, gift baskets encouraging people to vote for me, that didn't hurt either.”
Oliver: “That was Tommy's idea. No, but seriously, it's easy to buy people off with money that you didn't even earn. You did all the hard work.”
Laurel: “Hmm. We always did make a great team.”
Oliver: “Yeah.”
Laurel: “You know, I was thinking about what you said in the hallway after Tommy's funeral and wanting to help make the city a better place. We still can.”
Oliver: “Laurel Lance, always trying to save the world.”
Laurel: “Yeah, but it doesn't have to be just me. You can, too. We can do it together. I'm really excited about the future, Ollie.”

419 (Canary Cry) – Diggle and Felicity have another talk about blame; and Felicity’s software program locates Evelyn Sharp:
Felicity: “John.”
Diggle: “You got something?”
Felicity: “Yeah, an apology. I never should have let you think that you could have prevented what happened to Laurel, not even for a second. I was just dealing with my own guilt for not being there.”
Diggle: “You have nothing to be sorry about, Felicity. If I had listened to Oliver and not trusted my brother, Laurel would be alive.”
Felicity: “You don't know that.”
Diggle: “Oliver keeps saying the same thing, except I keep going through this over and over again in my head, and it - it's true. The only thing I don't quite get i, how I could have been so blind.”
Felicity: “Well, Andy's your brother, you know. We make exceptions for family.”
Diggle: “Yeah. And I'm the one constantly telling Oliver not to have a blind spot for family.”
Felicity: “And here you are taking the blame for something that's not your fault. You're just one illegitimate child away from a really awesome Oliver Queen impersonation. But just like we tell Oliver, what happened was not your fault, and Laurel would have wanted you to know that.”
(Computer beeps.) 
Diggle: “What's that?”
Felicity: “Evelyn Sharp. Facial recognition picked her up outside of Star City Plaza Hotel.” 
Diggle: “What's she doing there?” 
Felicity: “That's where Ruvé Darhk is. She's getting revenge for her family.” 
Diggle: “Well, if she's gonna kill Ruvé Darhk, my vote is 'yes.'”
Felicity: “It's not just killing Ruvé Darhk. In that mask, in that costume, she'd be killing Laurel's legacy.”

419 (Canary Cry) – Team Arrow tracks down Evelyn Sharp at the Star City Plaza Hotel:
Felicity (over comms): “Keep your eyes peeled. She's out there somewhere.”
Thea (over comms): “I'm on site.” 
Diggle (over comms): “Yeah. So is the anti-vigilante task force, and they have come ready to play.”
Oliver (over comms): We need to find that girl before they do.”
Guard: “Hey!”
Oliver (over comms): “I'm heading in.”
Guard: “Ma'am, you shouldn't be in here.”
Evelyn (as Black Canary): “Funny. I was gonna tell you the same thing.” (Canary cry sounds)
Aide: “The Black Canary is in the building. I need to get you to a secure location.”
Ruve: “Oh, you'll do no such thing. Let her come. Let her try.”
Felicity (over comms): “I found her. Second floor, 200 feet from the Liberty Ballroom, Ruvé Darhk, and a lot of a lot of innocent people.”
Oliver (over comms): ”On it.”

419 (Canary Cry) – Team Arrow loses track of Evelyn Sharp, but remembers Laurel:
Felicity: “No sign of Evelyn. Kid must have found out I was tracking her.”
Thea (looking at Laurel’s Black Canary costume): “Really missed her out there tonight.”
Felicity: “In a way, she was out there. In spirit, I mean, not in a Lazarus Pit kind of way, and ultimately, she made the right choice.”
Diggle: “I think Laurel would have liked that she inspired someone.”
Thea: “How can you say that? Evelyn Sharp just destroyed Laurel's memory out there tonight. Now the Black Canary's only gonna be remembered for whatever Evelyn's done.” 
Oliver: “Evelyn's not the Black Canary.” 
Thea: “Well, to every reporter and person with a camera in the room tonight, she was. Ruvé Darhk's gonna make sure everybody sees that footage. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, the Black Canary is now a gun-toting, would-be murderer.”
Oliver: “I'm not gonna let that happen.”

419 (Canary Cry) – Oliver gives the eulogy at Laurel’s funeral:
Oliver: “Uh, I knew Laurel Lance for… almost her entire life. She was my friend, and I loved her. Before she died, I was - I was lucky enough to hear her tell me that she loved me, too. Laurel Lance became a lawyer to help people who may have appeared helpless. She wanted to give a voice to the silent. But just being a lawyer wasn't enough. She wanted to do more for those people and for this city because she loved this city so much. By now, everyone knows that Laurel was killed in the Iron Heights prison riot, and while it's true that she was an Assistant District Attorney, that's not what she was doing there that night. Before she died, Laurel told me the truth. Laurel Lance was the Black Canary. In the past few days, I have had to sit and listen to people try and paint the Black Canary as a criminal. She was not a criminal. She was a hero. She was a hero in every way that a person can be. And if Laurel were here, I know that she would expect all of us to live up to the example that she set. She'd want us to save our city.”

419 (Canary Cry) – In a flashback scene, Laurel reads a letter that Oliver leaves behind for her (along with his old photo of her) before he left to return to Lian Yu at the end of Season 1:
Oliver (voiceover): “Dear Laurel, I wrote this letter because I don't have the courage to see the disappointment on your face. I know you're gonna go on to do amazing things, to help people, and to raise this city up… because that's who you are, that's who you've always been, and that's why I have to go away. I would only hold you back. You're the hero, Laurel. Maybe I'll come back eventually, but for now, I have to spend some time alone. I hope someday you'll understand my decision. Never doubt my love for you. You've always seen the best in me because you've always been the best of me. All my love, Oliver.”

419 (Canary Cry) – Oliver and Felicity have a conversation in the limo after Laurel’s funeral:
Oliver: “Are you okay?”
Felicity: “Are you?” 
Oliver: “No.”
Felicity: “You know what you have to do, right? You have to kill the son of a bitch.”
Oliver: “I know. I don't know how.”
Felicity: “Because of his magic.”
Oliver: “His ma - it's too strong. I've seen it before, back on Lian Yu. And it is not just magic. It's darkness. And whenever I have come up against it, I have gone nowhere. It - he feels unstoppable.”
Felicity: “I refuse to believe that. And I refuse to let you believe that. If Darhk wins, Laurel died for nothing. I fell in love with you for many reasons, and one of those reasons is that you always find a way. And you have to find a way now for Laurel, for the city… for all of us.”

Edited August 28, 2020 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Four 419 deleted scenes...

Arrow 4x19 Deleted Scene - Oliver and Thea's grief after Laurel's death

(Hermandat)

Arrow 4x19 Deleted Scene - Quentin tries to contact Dinah and Sara

(Hermandat)

Arrow 4x19 Deleted Scene - Alex's story

(Hermandat)

Arrow 4x19 Deleted Scene - Thea wants Alex's help

(Hermandat)