
“Heir to the Demon” gave us a handful of reunions, but none more spiteful and volatile than that of Laurel and Sara. Since Sara’s return, we’ve learned that she was in fact the first one to crush on Oliver and knowing this, Laurel still went after him for herself. As we all know, she hooked him and reeled him in and thus began their “epic romance.” But when it came time to set sail, it was Sara, not Laurel, that Oliver invited along. And now thanks to some cleverly timed flashbacks, we realize Oliver’s choice may not have been as random as it seemed. Apparently Sara and Ollie had some texty flirtation going on while Sara was away at college and Laurel and Ollie were preparing to play house. I know it was suggested earlier that Ollie’s decision to invite Sara may have had to do with his cold feet about moving in with Laurel, but now I can’t help but feel that she was more than just a pawn in Oliver’s scheme to remain a playboy.
Regardless, we all know what happened next. Oliver. Sara. Shipwreck. Island. Freighter. Bombs. Cut back to Starling City six years later. After snake venom sends Laurel to the hospital under the guise of an OD, Sara is forced to fight her once-lover, save her mother, nearly sacrifice herself and eventually reveal herself to the world. But rather than be glad that her only sister (who she’s been mourning and blaming Oliver for the death of) is alive, Laurel nearly takes her head off without so much as a “welcome home.”
Sara: “I know you have a lot of questions.”
Laurel: “Nope.”
Sara: “How can you not have any questions?”
Laurel: “Because I already know all of the answers to them. How could you still be alive? Where have you been all this time? Why didn’t you call us? And the answer to all of them is because it’s Sara.”
Detective: “Baby, please…”
Laurel: “Dad, I swear, if you say one more word.”
Sara: “Laurel, look, I know you’re angry and you have every right to be but please don’t take this out on dad, if you need someone to blame, you blame me.”
Laurel: “Oh, I do blame you, Sara. Every single thing that’s gone wrong in our lives is your fault. You got on that stupid boat with my boyfriend. You didn’t call us to tell us you were still alive, even though it probably would’ve saved mom and dad’s marriage. And you brought some crazy assassin to Starling City, who nearly killed mom and who poisoned me. You, you stole my whole life away from me. Now get out.”
Honestly, I could not think of a more inappropriate reaction. I know Laurel is overwhelmed and in a dark place and her life has been difficult the past six years, but she was absolutely ruthless. Did she take a second to think of what Sara has gone through? Or how hard it must’ve been for Sara to be away from her family for so long? Nope. She just thought about herself. And to be honest, I’m not that surprised. It seems like Laurel is always blaming someone else for any problems. She long blamed her dad for her mom leaving. She blamed Oliver for Sara’s death. She blamed the Arrow for Tommy’s death. She blamed Blood for all her crazy conspiracies (okay, so maybe this one was true, but no one else in Starling City realizes it yet). And now she’s blaming Sara for…well, EVERYTHING.
“You stole my whole life away from me” seems a little harsh, no? Clearly, she is still bitter that Sara boarded the boat with Oliver, but considering all that’s gone on since and the fact that Laurel yet again had another chance with Ollie when he returned, you’d think she’d be able to put that resentment aside. Again, “ruining my whole life” is so melodramatic and self-centered….she doesn’t consider what Sara’s life has been like or what her dad’s life has been like (remember, he’s a recovering alcoholic and was demoted from detective to beat cop) or what her mom’s life has been like (as she continued to search for her lost daughter, never believing she was dead regardless of everyone telling her she was crazy). Nope, it’s all about Laurel.
In the beginning, I wanted Laurel and Oliver to be together again. I thought they were endgame. But now that I’ve seen how selfish Laurel is, I’m glad that Sara has finally gotten her chance with Oliver. After all, if Laurel hadn’t stepped in on him in the first place, this may have been how it would’ve all turned out anyways. But despite being the younger sister, Sara is the bigger person and I doubt we’ll see her throwing that in Laurel’s face any time soon.
Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8//7c on ABC.
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I just wish I didn’t feel like the “Sara loved him first” thing was a retcon. It felt more like another ding at Laurel’s character when it came up, and I think we’ve had enough of that.
I’m not completely down with whatever they’re doing to Laurel in general, so her reaction seemed true if only because of the corner they’ve backed her into. At this point, she’s almost feral with rage and grief.
Heather – I completely agree that Laurel’s reaction was in character…that being said, her character and what they’ve done with her has been bothering me for a while now and I think this melodramatic reaction just pushed me over the edge. I feel like they just keep making her more and more unlikeable and by the time they try to redeem her, it may be too late.
I’m right there with you. It feels like an internal campaign against her from TPTB and I keep getting the vibe that they’re going to write her out before they even try to redeem her, and that bugs me no end.
It looks to me like the writers know exactly what their doing with Laurel right now. They’ve been making her more, if not antagonistic, hostile from the beginning of Season 2 and I’m not really sure if they plan on redeeming her at any point considering that her reaction to anything good has been her default anger.
My theory is that Sara will be the ultimate incarnation of the Black Canary and that Laurel is simply a red herring to keep us fooled until they make it abundantly clear where Sara’s headed. Nothing that’s happened with Laurel this season, especially these last few weeks, has given any indication that she’s capable of being the Black Canary or any hero for that matter. Oliver, Diggle, Felicity, Sara, and even Roy and Thea to an extent, all have demonstrated a characteristic essential to heroes: the willingness to put the well-being of other people above your own, sometimes to the point where you’re willing to sacrifice your life for the safety of others. Laurel may have had that attribute or the potential for it in Season 1, but ever since the Quake she has become more self-centered, selfish, inconsiderate of others; it’s a devolution, the opposite of a hero. She’s remained consistent in this way all season and I think she’s being set up for something even worse, especially if her anger and outbursts are becoming physical and violent, as they were with Sara.
Laurel has definitely made a turn for the worse in season 2…there’s been such a drastic change in her that I’ve even wondered at times whether they were trying to set up her to be a future villain. That being said, I don’t think she’s a strong enough character for that. Her grief and anger just don’t hold the weight needed for that kind of turn. So I can’t see her being a villain, but you’re right, in no way has she displayed any of the potential “hero characteristics” so I can’t see her being a hero either. At this point, I’d be happy enough with her just being a less bitter, less angry and far less volatile regular person.
Laurel is such a self-absorbed and whiny b*tch that I’m not sure those who aren’t swayed by comic book canon that she and Oliver will end up together will ever be able to see her as worthy of that happy ending.
This episode was disappointing in that it didn’t use Alex K. enough, the flashbacks were pretty thin on information, and a long fight between Roy and Nyssa was cut for those thin flashbacks.
Felicity’s visit with Moira and her telling Oliver the truth about Thea at the big announcement party both didn’t fit her personality and reeked of author convenience.
Oliver and Laurel both refuse forgiveness or understanding for past events. Oliver, in particular, seems out of character by refusing his mother’s explanations. If he considers the ramifications of allowing crazy Malcolm to be part of Thea’s childhood, he’d see that she made the right decision.
Sorry, but I have a bone to pick with you now about your reactions:
1. I’m not going to even dispute anything about Laurel, because I can’t stand her either.
2. The Roy scene was cut because it didn’t serve the purpose of advancing the story, which the producers said in the interview. Not sure about whether the flashbacks clarified anything new except what life in a pre-island Lance household was like, but I’ll give you that one.
3. Felicity found out about Thea’s parentage because she followed the trail, not exactly knowing where she would end up. She was still contemplating whether she should tell Oliver when he confronted her because it was obvious to him that there was something bothering her. She didn’t know if she should tell him the truth because she didn’t know whether or not telling him would be best for him and she didn’t want to ruin their relationship with this huge secret hanging over her head. This is the biggest one I have problems with because Felicity was acting very much in character.
4. While it is true that Oliver is a bit hypocritical when confronting Moira about her lies, seeing as how he is lying to both his family and the Lance family about what he really does, his biggest problem with his mother is that he doesn’t trust her anymore. He and Thea just came out of their mother’s murder trial thinking that there were no more secrets between them, and now Oliver realizes that he doesn’t know who his mother is anymore. And yeah, it really would shatter Thea’s world if (when) she found out that her real father is a mass murderer and that her mother kept this secret from her for her entire life. But that’s why Oliver said that Thea could never know this; he’s angry because now his mother has made her secret his secret and he has to lie to Thea because their mother has told one too many lies.