Arrow Season 7: 4 Ups & 1 Down From 'Training Day'

3. Dinah's Dilemma

When we first saw Dinah Drake back in her captain's uniform with that reassuring smile on her face, it was a little jarring. After all, she had recently had her throat slit by a serial killer and came very close to dying, so you would think that the writers would sense the rich potential for some deep emotional storytelling, right? Well thankfully they did and, after a little waiting, we got to see that the attack did leave her with some scars, both mentally and physically.

When the SCPD's first mission in the field with Team Arrow went awry, Dinah resorted to using her Cry and, to her shock, it failed miserably. The Cry itself came out like a faint shriek and she immediately had to stop because of the pain it caused her throat. In that moment, she realised that this Canary could Cry no more.

Heartbroken, her struggles to accept herself were reflected in the primary storyline as the Mayor forced her to choose between being a vigilante and the SCPD Captain, resulting in her choosing the latter. However, after overcoming her emotions and realising that it's possible to be a hero without powers, she was the one who brought down the episode's main villain.

Whether or not she keeps the Black Canary mantle remains to be seen, but if this week's episode proved anything, it's that Dinah has certainly earned her stripes when it comes to being a hero. She's a character that is often underappreciated and her emotional story intertwined with the episode's team-building storyline nicely, adding some depth that, without it, the main narrative would have lacked altogether.