REVIEW – Arrow Season 7 Episode 18 – “Lost Canary”

(WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SEASON 7 EPISODE 18 OF ARROW!)

It feels good to finally have a Canary themed episode of Arrow. What we have is a Canary that has lost her way. The hunt is on for Laurel Lance, once again Black Siren, in "Lost Canary".

We see now that Laurel has gone back to full Black Siren. There is a citywide manhunt for her, but Felicity isn't ready to give up on her just yet. So now she is set to prove that Laurel didn't commit the murder she is accused of. Unfortunately, Laurel has other plans.

Black Siren seeks out one of her old partners, Shadow Thief, and they start on quite the profitable crime spree. At this point, Felicity has already proved that Emiko framed Laurel, but Dinah feels like she is past the point of redemption. This is one of those moments that will really annoy fans who do not like Felicity. Especially since Felicity still believes Laurel can be redeemed after a battle with Dinah and Sarah (who made one hell of an entrance.) Felicity has her reasons, but it's hard to feel like they're good enough at this point. There is a larger argument of strict adherence to the law here, but we won't go there now.

While all of this is going on, Oliver and Diggle are trying to track down Emiko and figure out what the Ninth Circle is planning. Remember, Oliver knows the truth now about her. They go to search an apartment, where they end up running into one of the Longbow Hunters. Not much of a battle here, but they do get some helpful information. I know why they had to continue this storyline in this episode, but it just feels in the way in this Canary-centric episode.

There is also another side story in the future forward episodes, but this one seems a bit more relevant. The Canaries have taken some heavy losses thanks to Galaxy One. Mia wants to fight back, against some tough odds, but Dinah (and everyone else) tries to talk her down. Dinah tells her what the Canaries represent, and someone that she failed many years ago. At this point in the episode, you get that feeling like you see where they might be going here. So do they?

Sarah gets the idea that Felicity might be right, and finds Laurel at their father's grave. Am I the only one that still isn't ok after Quinton died? They might not be sisters, but they do have a bit of a bonding moment here. Sarah knows she could have killed Felicity and Dinah if she wanted to, and tells Black Siren her story. Fast forward to Black Siren turning on Shadow Thief, after she was unwilling to kill Felicity, Dinah and Sarah. This leads to a big Canary beat down of some bad guys and a pretty big explosion. To me this just cements my belief that Sarah is still the most badass Canary ever. I mean, from what I saw anyway, she showed the most skill. She also helped Laurel see that she needs to face her past. That means going back to Earth-2. It's not like she can just go back to being the district attorney.

This leads to Felicity handing out gifts. The first goes to Dinah, and a device that may help her get her cry back. The next is sure to infuriate fans of Arrow to epic proportions. Felicity wants to give Laurel's original Canary suit to Black Siren. I realize the Black Siren redemption story is a great one, but really? Also, is Felicity really the one to make this call? Outside of the Green Arrow suit, this one might be the most iconic. Now let me climb off my soapbox for the big finish.

Back to the future, and Mia's really bad plan. She goes after the man in the mask, and it doesn't take her long to end up in a very bad spot. That's when we see (and hear) that cry, which takes out the masked man. It's Laurel in full Canary gear. Looks like she ultimately took the path of the hero after all. She also tells Mia, politely as possible, to grow up and be better. It was quick, but might be a turning point.

All in all, this episode definitely had a lot of fun moments. It wasn't perfect, and probably not all it could have been, but it was nice to see the spotlight on the Canaries past and present. I think there was a lot of pressure on this episode ever since it was announced. I'm not sure if there was anything that could be done to live up to that hype. Given where they were in the story, it worked. It would have been nice to get more of a standalone, but there was really no time for that given the circumstances.

Next week, things will no doubt go back to the hunt for Emiko, the Ninth Circle and maybe another shot at redemption. What did you think of this week's Arrow?

(All photos credit: Dean Buscher/The CW -- 
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