Will the Canary be a Phoenix?

By now, the big spoiler moment for “”Eleven-Fifty-Nine” has probably already permeated every single corner of the internet — that is, the reveal of whose name is on the headstone in all the flash forward scenes for Arrow Season 4. Whether or not you’re a Laurel fan, the final scene of this week’s episode is going to be debated. And what better forum for this than the Arrow After Show hosted by the very talented and esteemed team of Adam Kruger, Olivia De Bortoli, Jack Hind, and Carolina Bonetti. However, this week is also extra special because we have Eugene “Andy Diggle” Byrd joining us and also putting in his two-cents. We can’t wait to see what sort of information we can pry out this “inside man” (yes, pun intended).

Will the Black Canary Rise Again?

Will the Black Canary be, metaphorically, more like a mythical bird — the Phoenix? Will she be resurrected somehow? The meat of this posting is definitely going to be dedicated to the “will they” or “won’t they” of bringing back Katie Cassidy’s character.

First off, who in the cast knew that Laurel Lance was going to meet her demise in this episode? According to Eugene, only Stephen Amell knew about this going into “Eleven-Fifty-Nine.” The rest of the cast seemed to be in the “Darhk.” Of course, that doesn’t mean speculations weren’t abound. And that’s what we do best here on the After Show. Since the start of Season 4, our hosts have been guessing who the major character death was going to be.

Adam was leaning more towards John Diggle biting the dust. I agree with Adam that if Diggs got taken out, it would’ve been devastating. This is Oliver’s brother-in-arms. I’m not even sure how Oliver would recover if John died. Maybe “Star City 2046” would arrive even sooner than we think. But alas, Diggleheads can rest comfortably knowing that Spartan is safe and sound (I’m not sure if John can keep it together after experiencing this) ready to fight another day.

Carolina thought Laurel was only going to be injured in this episode during the scene of Malcolm infiltrating the lair.

I actually didn’t think Laurel would die, even after Damien Darhk stabbed her with the arrow. I had a whole scene (be it a clichéd one) playing out in my head:

Laurel is critically injured, but a bombing at the hospital actually kills someone else right at … wait for it … 11:59PM.

Yes, I can be cheesy as all hell. Olivia also knew that it was, most likely, going to happen at the end. I mean, why else call the episode “Eleven-Fifty-Nine”? But I think everyone was still quite surprised that it was Laurel who went into the light.

Is this a final death? Why would we even ask that? Well, Arrow has been known to resurrect characters from the dead using many loopholes … **cough** … Lazarus Pit … **cough** … Sara Lance. Plus, Adam brings up a very good point: the idol being conveniently located in the lair and displayed seemed like a setup. If that relic is so dangerous, why not separate all the pieces out and bury them all over the world. Wouldn’t it make it that much harder to piece together?

Another small possibility of Laurel’s return is the gap between her “death” and what she had to tell Oliver. Could she and Oliver have faked her death so that she could go under deep cover? Seems like a pretty cruel thing to pull on the rest of Team Arrow though. And let’s not forget about poor Quentin’s heart. To tell you guys the truth, I thought we were going to get two deaths in this episode — Laurel and Quentin having a heart attack over the news.

Let’s Talk About Another “Byrd” in This Episode

Since Eugene is in this episode of the After Show, he’s not going to be safe from my puns. I full-heartedly agree with Jack on this: Mr. Byrd, props to you on the acting! Your Andy Diggle really had me guessing.

I actually really wanted Andy to be a good guy. However, when Oliver was threatening him, I kind of had a feeling that John’s little brother never really turned away from the Dark Side. Why? The whole episode seemed like a setup for John to not trust anyone anymore, as if the writers wanted to just pull the carpet out from underneath the character.

John was very adamant that his brother turned away from Hive. So when it was revealed that Andy played his older brother, it was that much more heartbreaking for the viewer. But still, like Adam, I really held out hope for Andy … even till the end. Like I said, props to Eugene’s acting, and it makes the situation that much more devastating.

The Fallout

One thing our hosts can 100% agree on is that Laurel’s death is going to be a catalyst for a lot of changes with Team Arrow. Carolina is really hoping that John will have his dark arc. I guess she’s not too hot on Spartan’s Black-neto look (Man Carolina, his helmet really irks you huh?), and is hoping that he might change — both figuratively and literally — during the last few episode of the season.

Adam thinks that Oliver might be somewhat damaged too because Darhk used Oliver’s arrow to kill Laurel. That could happen. Oliver’s already kicking himself for lying to Felicity. This is just something else to add to Oliver’s self-blame.

Olivia read that Quentin might take up drinking again. Now this is something that I think will definitely happen. There was nobody more like Quentin than Laurel. And Laurel herself was revealed to be an alcoholic too. Both father and daughter work in law enforcement and both have similar traits. I think Quentin will take this the hardest. She was probably the biggest reason why he got sober, so I wouldn’t discount the fact that he probably sees no other reason to remain that way.

Do you think the writers are going to resurrect Laurel? Could Laurel’s death be part of some elaborate plan? How do you think the team will handle this latest devastating death? It seems that the answer to all the flash-forwards has actually produced more questions! Adam, Jack, Carolina, Olivia, and I (and maybe even Eugene if he’s reading this) want to hear your theories.  So sound off in the comments!

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Join Adam Kruger, Jack Hind, Carolina Bonetti and Olivia De Bortoli every week, live and on demand, for review and conversation about each new episode of Arrow! Tweet in questions or comments to the hosts all week using the hashtag #ArrowAfterShow

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theStream.tv Fan Show Network Presents the Arrow After Show! Tune in each week, live or on demand, for review and conversation about the hit CW series, Arrow. Behind this hit series are writers & producers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg. Arrow is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow. The series follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen, portrayed by Stephen Amell, who, after five years of being stranded on a hostile island, returns home to fight crime and corruption as a secret vigilante whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrow. During Season 2 of Arrow, CW introduced DC Comic Superhero Barry Allen on the show before launching its own stand-alone series, The Flash. Throughout the last few seasons, audiences have seen popular DC Comic super villains and superheroes come to life including: Deathstroke, Deadshot, China White, The Huntress, Black Canary, and Merlyn. Arrow and The Flash will feature multiple crossover episodes connecting the DC Television Universe on the CW. If you love everything DC Television Universe then you don’t want to miss the after show live every Wednesday night!

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