TV Review: Arrow (3×13) – “Canaries”

Canaries brings back a familiar face.

Laurel Lance’s portrayal of the Canary is a direct result of her sister’s death. This week’s episode of Arrow brings Sara’s murder and Laurel’s lies to an end. With the help of our favorite neighborhood drug producer, Werner Zytle.

It seems like Vertigo just won’t die.

The drug has been consistently relapsing in Starling City, whether by The Count or Zytle himself. Canaries is dedicated to putting an end to Vertigo once and for all. To stop the pipeline and keep the drug makers out of the picture. But will Zytle ever actually stop?

Canaries opens in the middle of a fierce battle between Laurel and—wait for it—Sara Lance! This was no surprise, however, because we knew that Vertigo was making its rounds once again. It was only natural for us to assume that Laurel would somehow get herself drugged and into more trouble. None-the-less, it was refreshing to see Caity Lotz back in action as the original Canary. Though her presence was merely a hallucination, it was nice to catch a glimpse of her.

“You’re an addict.”

Oliver has certainly not had the homecoming he planned. With Felicity shooting down his love for her and the sudden democracy in the Arrow cave, Oliver is finding things much different from before he left. Can you blame the rest of the team? It isn’t like Oliver was on a vacation for a few days. To them, he was dead. Things changed and people had to step up. I think Oliver was being very inconsiderate towards Laurel when she was the one braving the streets during his absence. His words, however, were short-lived when Diggle asserted that everyone had to make adjustments when they thought Oliver was dead.

Perhaps one of the best moments of Canaries was when Oliver finally let Thea in on who the Arrow was. This time last season, Thea wouldn’t have been mentally or physically ready for the truth behind her brother. Up until she began training with Malcom, it was obvious that most people didn’t seem to think much of Thea. She was a spoiled rich girl who didn’t matter that much. She was merely a motivator for Oliver. But that all changed when she returned to Starling City and exhibited her many strengths.

As predicted, Oliver and the team defeated Zytle, again, without killing him. Sometimes, this new “code” of theirs can really get in the way. The fight this time around seemed a bit too easy than previously. Zytle wasn’t as fierce as he proved he could be in prior episodes. It was started and over within the first thirty minutes of the episode. This wasn’t completely a bad thing, however, because there was much other character progression to be done.

The truth about Sara and her fate needed to be told. At first, I didn’t believe that Laurel would actually cop up to it and tell her father—but indeed she did. I also contend that the more people who Captain Lance knows are in the Arrow team, the better. So far he has managed to figure out Roy, Felicity, more than likely Diggle, and now Laurel. Here’s the kicker—he wasn’t even mad.

The nagging seasonal antagonist had a big part in Canaries. Though not in the flesh, Ra’s al Ghul is preparing for his war against Merlyn and Oliver. The first piece? To kill Thea. His assassin proved to be too inept to finish the job—on account of Roy and Malcom staking out Thea’s apartment. With Thea’s life freshly on the line, there is no question that the three need to work together to defeat al Ghul. First, they return to Lian Yu.

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