Arrow Review: Eleven-Fifty-Nine (Season 4 Episode 18)

The opposite of a happy ending is not necessarily a sad ending, no. The opposite of a happy ending is an unsatisfying ending.

We don’t ever want things to come to an end. Especially not things we enjoy. The last pages of a book we love are sweet torture, and the last few minutes of a show we’re attached to can sometimes feel like the end of an era. And yet, things end. That’s just the way it is. Sometimes they end well, and sometimes they don’t, but they all end.

Arrow brings the journey of the Black Canary to a close in “Eleven-Fifty-Nine”. Dinah Laurel Lance, the one who the Pilot episode informed us would always be trying to save the world essentially died trying to do the exact thing her introduction promised.

Saving the world – or at least, her city.

Being a hero.

That might not be a happy ending, or a welcome one for some viewers, but in my book, it was a satisfying one.

Let’s be clear — Arrow didn’t always do her justice. Most of the time they didn’t know what to do with the character, especially when they decided to move away from the soap-operaish love triangle of the first season. She was supposed to be the Black Canary, yes, but she was also supposed to be the love of Oliver’s life, and one without the other just seemed to throw the writers for a loop.

But if “Eleven-Fifty-Nine” proves something is that the writers knew what to do all along. They just botched it. They could have given me this strong, determined and badass woman and instead they give me a nonsensical, contradictory and at times unlikeable character.

And yet, that’s not who we should remember. We should remember Laurel Lance as the woman she was this episode – as the woman she was in “Beacon of Hope” – not as the one who spent too many years in a dysfunctional relationship with Oliver Queen, or as the one who only realized how much she loved Tommy when he was gone. The show certainly will. They will pay homage to the good things: to the loving daughter, the devoted sister, the strong woman who fell down and got herself back up.

And so should we.

The Black Canary might not have been what some people wanted her to be, but she was still the Black Canary and her legacy will leave on for the rest of the time Arrow is on the air. You can’t make a show about the Green Arrow without the Black Canary, we heard today, and in a way, they won’t. Everyone will carry on her spirit. And they will move on.

This is not the end of Arrow. Not by a long-shot. This is the beginning of a new Arrow, one that might not look exactly like the one in the comics, but who still has a lot of people along for the ride. One with strong and badass female characters, an epic love story and real friendships. One that we wouldn’t trade for anything.

So, tonight, we have nothing more to say than: Goodbye, Laurel Lance. Goodbye, Katie Cassidy. Thank you for saving the world, in your own way. Thank you for four years.  We’re now ready for the rest of the journey.

Other things to note:

• They seriously could have given Oliver a better reason to go Russia than finding flashback girl’s parents. It’s like they don’t even try with the flashbacks.
• I’m disappointed that it was Damien and not Malcolm. That probably means Barrowman will still be around next season, and as much as we love him, Malcolm needs to go. NOW.
• The whole cast killed it in the last scene. We didn’t think they could make us sob hysterically over Laurel Lance, but here we are.
• A part of me is imagining the celestial reunion between Tommy and Laurel and sobbing.
• Team Arrow should be renamed Team Guilt after this episode.

What did you think of this episode of Arrow? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

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