Arrow: 6 Things That "Sara" Did Right (And 3 It Didn't)

2. Laurel's Motivation

While we're on the subject of dramatic irritation and unnecessary theatrics, we have the Season 3 Laurel Lance saga. In an ambitious move that may not pay off as intended, Arrow producers have gifted the Black Canary origin story to the extraordinarily unpopular Laurel. It's a plot that was predicted by many fans over the hiatus, and there's been some serious doubt about whether the show could manage to oust Sara and boost Laurel without damaging the flow of the series. So far? Not so much. Nothing about the storyline feels organic, and beats that could have been emotionally resonant are ruined by an alarming lack of subtlety. In the Season 2 finale, Sara bequeathes her jacket to her sister as a promise to return...and Laurel grins maniacally and proclaims it a perfect fit. In "The Calm," Sara's plummet from the rooftop was so sudden as to boggle the mind...until the Canary mask fell at Laurel's feet. In "Sara," Laurel cuddles the stuffed shark that had once been Sara's in a moment that is surprisingly touching...until Laurel puts down the shark and examines Sara's jacket. We get it. Sara's Canary is dead, and the Black Canary will rise in her place with Laurel behind the mask. But why? In "Sara," Laurel is grieving and angry and vengeful. That's fine. It's even okay that Laurel wanted to go outside of the law to find and punish Sara's killer. Her sister died, and she was irrational. Who wouldn't be? There's just no reason why she should be motivated into becoming a vigilante. Sara wasn't murdered by a mugger. Oliver wanted to right his family's wrongs. Roy wanted to help people overlooked by the authorities. Diggle wanted to make a difference in civilian life after leaving the army. Even behind-the-scenes accomplice Felicity had her own reasons. Lawyer Laurel does not. Fans of a show about a hero who cleans up the streets by dressing in green leather and firing trick arrows at criminal ne'er-do-wells are generally pretty willing to suspend their disbelief. If the story is fun to watch and follows a logical progression, who cares if the windows at the Queen Consolidated high-rise always shatter or the Arrow never breaks his nose? Viewers can hand-wave a lot of farfetched stories in a comic book show, but the defining plot of the ostensible female lead should not require so much obtrusive rationalization in-universe...or out.