Although many of us were ready to break something after Laurel Lance AKA The Black Canary was killed off in Arrow season 4, we were pleased to at least see Katie Cassidy remain in the fold, albeit as Black Siren, an evil doppelgänger from Earth-2. Originally having been introduced over on The Flash, this counterpart eventually found her way to Star City, which obviously seemed like a more natural home for her.
In the time since, she’s effectively toyed with the emotions of Oliver Queen before later playing a vital part in Adrian Chase’s endgame in the explosive season finale that has since left DC TV devotees reeling. As it turns out, the decision as to which side she would choose came down to the wire, something executive producer and co-showrunner Marc Guggenheim told Entertainment Weekly’s Superhero Insider show on Sirius XM:
“Black Siren went back and forth. We had discussions about whether or not she should be allied with Chase at the end, or allied with Oliver at the end, albeit begrudgingly. We went back and forth and debated the pros and cons of it, and we really felt that true to Evil Laurel’s character, she wouldn’t help Oliver out in this circumstance. It would make more sense that she would be aligned with Chase, who she actually has to thank for her freedom for getting out of the pipeline where she was being held captive on Flash. It also gave us more interesting places to go with her character in Season 6.”
Ultimately, it was best that she remained on the side of evil, at least for now. After all, you wouldn’t have wanted the final two episodes of one of Arrow’s finest showings to become bloated with too many subplots, now would you? Besides, they could still play around with the idea of her going down the road of redemption next season given that Cassidy is once again a series regular.
In addition to that, Guggeheim reflected on the fan favorite actress venturing to the opposite end of the spectrum:
“For us, it was really simple. When Katie came back to be Black Siren in 510, we watched the cut of 510 and we were so excited about this iteration of Laurel. Katie just crushed it. I think it shows how much fun Katie is having playing this version of Laurel. We did what we always do, which is if something’s really working on the screen, we find a way to write towards it.”
Arrow returns for its sixth season on Thursday, October 12 on The CW. Will you be tuning in? Let us know in the usual place below!
