Arrow S04E19 Review: Quentin's Rock

Arrow, Season 4, Episode 19: Canary Cry

These reviews will probably come out with nary but a day or two between them, but in real life there was a three-week gap between last episode and this one. This episode is still kinda messy, but the somber tone that Laurel's death had settled down upon the main cast members is heartwrenching and really well done. We've got Oliver's flashbacks to... a moment within the story's timeframe, actually, between seasons one and two, where a guilt-ridden Oliver and a clueless Laurel bond together after Tommy's death. It's a nice way to send off Laurel, highlighting the relationship she had with Oliver as well as showing Oliver's growth over the course of two and a half seasons, how he's willing to embrace his role as a friend who can eulogize instead of being a guilt-ridden mess.

Of course the flashbacks got a bit shippy, and it really shouldn't have been because it's in a point where Laurel should be mourning Tommy and not be falling for Oliver or whatever, but it's hard to portray the two of them as close without coming off somewhat shippy.

We've got Quentin being absolutely destroyed, yet at the same time embarking on a manic quest to search for a way to bring Laurel Lance back from the dead, rebuffing both Nyssa (in a welcome return) and Oliver's insistence that there's no possible way... and I do hope this is also meant for the audience. Quentin's anger and dismissal of everyone as being against him, before eventually breaking down about how Laurel has been his rock through everything he lost... man, Quentin is easily one of the rawest character in the show in terms of emotions, and watching his scenes here just makes me sad... especially when you know Laurel and Quentin went through so much with each other and never lost their love for each other.

John Diggle also went through a great moment as he gave in to his rage, blaming himself for not listening to Oliver's paranoia and trusting Andy, eventually leading him to hunting down Ruve Darhk... but is stopped from killing her. Dammit, Oliver, this would've solved a lot of problems! But we're operating on a more optimistic code of honour, and executing the mayor of the city (ties to terrorist organization notwithstanding) in cold blood isn't quite the superhero thing to do. It's a great, powerful moment for Diggle as, well, not only did a very close friend die, his own brother and Diggle's trust in said brother was what led to the death happening.

Felicity had very minimal role last episode, and she had a somewhat limited role in this one too as she reflects that her little lover's spat with Oliver and her not being present during the operation that led to Laurel's death might've contributed, no matter how minor the scales' difference is, to Laurel's death. And how she's guilt-ridden herself at not comforting Diggle at their earlier scenes in this episode.

Also, hey, random doctor who's cool about Green Arrow coming in with a wounded Laurel and does her best to keep patient confidentiality and everything? You're cool. I have no idea if we've seen her before, or if she's an important character, or, hell, I don't even know her name, but in the normally-depressing world of Arrow, it's a nice ray of sunshine when one of these random civilians are all like, 'yeah, you guys fight for us, let us help you out for a change'.

It's sad that the main plot thread that brings these powerful scenes together was badly contrived and just unnecessary. The impostor Black Canary, Evelyn Crawford Sharp (known as the Starling in the comics, Black Canary's sidekick in one of the Birds of Prey comics), is one of the HIVE's victims, and she's going around intent on killing Ruve Darhk, claiming that the Green Arrow failed her. Except that, y'know, it felt way too soon to have this plot, and at the end of the episode raises a crapton of questions that can only be answered by 'shit writing'. We spend so much time talking about how the sonic weapon is keyed to Laurel's voice signature, yet we never get an answer to how Evelyn managed to use it on her own. We have no idea why she wasn't arrested, or how she showed up at Laurel's funeral at the end. Maybe they're building for a new Black Canary mantle-bearer, but she's honestly just shoehorned in and you'd think using a pre-established character like, oh, Sin (anyone remember Sin?) from Season 2 would've made more sense as someone who would want to uphold the Canary mantle.

Also the funeral scene finally comes back around to the ones we've seen, and it honestly felt jarring when it went from introspective and hopeful straight to Oliver and Felicity swearing vengeance upon Damian Darhk and ready to kill him. But such is the nature of scenes written and then events being written to suit those scenes, sense be damned.

The episode really had enough material to work on with just them remembering Laurel Lance without having this stupid impostor running around without really making sense. We could've probably even had Ruve be more of a presence with her demanding a hunt for the vigilantes instead of just baiting Fake Canary to come along. We could've had more Quentin Lance screentime for extra tears. It's okay for what it does, but it really could've been better.