With her dark past revealed to Star City and the SCPD having a warrant on her, Laurel embraces her old identity of Black Siren. Dinah wants to hunt her down, while Felicity wants to save her from falling back into the dark.
- Alternate Self: Turns out there's an Earth-2 Sara Lance. In fact, she's the reason Laurel is so savvy with Felicity being pregnant, as Earth-2 Sara was expecting in the past (with her sister looking after her).
- Annoying Arrows: Subverted. Kodiak initially scoffs at Oliver shooting him from behind...but then he drops unconscious, due to the arrow being laced with anesthetics.
- The Anticipator: Shadow Thief anticipated the possibility of Laurel turning on her and brought a few men as backup.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Oliver asks himself a very pointed one about Emiko. The Ninth Circle has unlimited resources so why hasn't she found the man who murdered her mom? Turns out Dante is behind it all and has been blackballing her investigation.
- The Atoner: Laurel fully embraces her Redemption Quest at the end, deciding to return to Earth-2 to start making amends for her crimes there.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- Sara saves Dinah from Laurel and Shadow Thief, using the original Laurel's old canary cry device.
- Laurel makes her debut in the flashforwards by unleashing a Canary Cry that takes down a Galaxy One assassin and saves Mia's life.
- Blatant Lies: Laurel claims not to care about Quentin anymore. Sara later finds her kneeling over his grave with a mournful expression.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Both Dinah and Felicity bring up valid reasons for their respective approach of dealing with Laurel.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Sara and unlike her last appearances, this isn't a cameo, coming back at Felicity's request to help bring Laurel down.
- The Longbow Hunters (or rather specifically, just Kodiak) return after having not been seen since "Due Process".
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Kodiak doesn't even know the name of Emiko's mother, the woman he murdered years ago.
- Call-Back: Much like how Felicity was the first supporter of Earth-1 Laurel becoming Black Canary way back in Season 3, she's also the one who encourages Earth-2 Laurel to take up the mantle.
- Celebrity Paradox:
- Felicity mentions Mr. Robot. Its main cast includes Stephanie Corneliussen (Valentina Vostok) and B.D. Wong (voice of Godspeed).
- Felicity also mentions Charlie's Angels. The 2011 reboot series has Victor Garber (Martin Stein) and Annie Ilonzeh (Joanna de la Vega) as main cast members, while (Peyton List) (Lisa Snart), Nicholas Gonzalez (Dante Ramon), and Richard Brooks (Warden Wolfe) all guest-star. note
- Continuity Nod:
- Sara and Felicity's conversations make references to the ones they had in Season 2.
- Sara uses an upgraded version of Earth-1 Laurel's electronic Canary Cry.
- After Earth-2 Laurel saves her, Mia remembers the Show Within a Show documentary she saw from the 150th episode and mistakes Laurel for her late Earth-1 counterpart.
- Darkest Hour: In the future, the Canaries have been taking massive casualties due to a purge from Galaxy One.
- Decomposite Character: This episode is a tribute to and A Day in the Limelight for all the Arrowverse characters that make up the Black Canary.
- Dynamic Entry: Black Canary makes her debut in the Flash Forward by saving Mia from being killed via screaming the assailant away from her.
- Easily Forgiven: Even discounting everything prior and just focusing on what happened this episode, Laurel was still an accessory to several murders by Shadow Thief.
- Feminist Fantasy: The episode is centered around the female cast.
- Four-Philosophy Ensemble:
- The Conflicted: Earth-2 Laurel, who becomes so disillusioned after being outed for her past crimes that she spends most of the episode in regression despite legitimately wanting to make amends.
- The Optimist: Felicity, the only person who legitimately believes in Laurel's Character Development.
- The Cynic: Dinah, who (understandably) has a bias against Laurel and dismisses her as a Hero with an F in Good.
- The Realist: Sara, who hopes that Earth-2 Laurel really wants to make a better version of herself but is nonetheless prepared for the worst case scenario of her fully embracing the dark side.
- Fragile Speedster: Mia's a naturally gifted fighter trained by an expert combatant, but fighting head-on against a much larger and heavily armoured opponent, her blows do next to nothing and she's quickly overwhelmed.
- Freudian Trio:
- The Spock: Dinah thinks that Laurel is just a criminal who's fallen back into old habits and therefore needs to be prosecuted regardless of what they've been through.
- The McCoy: Felicity is convinced no matter what that there is still good in Laurel and just wants to talk her out of returning to crime, fully prepared to completely forgive her for everything.
- The Kirk: Sara knows Earth-2 Laurel isn't her sister and is aware of her dark past but, while admitting true redemption takes time, she still believes Laurel can be reasoned with, having a dark past herself and trusting her dad's judgement.
- Hero of Another Story: Laurel Lance chooses to return to Earth-2 to be its Black Canary as part of her atonement.
- If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: A heroic example; Felicity, Sara, and Dinah dare Black Siren to kill them to prove that she's truly evil. She can't do it, turning on Shadow Thief instead.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Laurel spends most of the episode pretending not to care about her friends in the hopes that they'll give up on her redemption, like she has. It falls apart when they show that they'd rather die than give up on her.
- Lampshade Hanging: Sara lampshades on how far Felicity has come since the days of being a shy tech having a crush on Oliver. She is most notably shocked at hearing about Felicity almost killing Ricardo Diaz.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Mia advocates striking back against Galaxy One despite the Canaries heavy losses and increasingly bad odds. She nearly dies fighting one of their assassins before she'll consider trying a different tactic.
- Legacy Character: An odd example, since the character inheriting the mantel is technically the same as the person to originated it: when Laurel decides to become a full-fledged hero, Felicity gifts her with the original Black Canary costume that belonged to Earth-1's Laurel, allowing her to truly become Laurel's successor as the Black Canary.
- Loophole Abuse: Dinah tells the public that Laurel was acting undercover to expose Shadow Thief to absolve her of her crimes.
- My Greatest Failure: In the Flash Forward, Dinah comes to see turning her back on Black Siren when she was at her lowest as this.
- Mythology Gag: When discussing what they should call themselves, Felicity suggests "Birds of Justice". Sara is amused.
- One Drink Will Kill the Baby: Laurel stops Felicity from drinking wine during their celebration at the end, citing this very trope. She also mentions having done the same for her sister (Earth-2 Sara) in the past.
- The Paragon: Sara doesn't expect Laurel to try and live up to her Laurel's example, as even she herself feels unable to do so.
- The Power of Friendship: Ultimately, it was Felicity and Sara's devotion and compassion for her that stops Laurel from fully regressing to the dark side.
- The Purge: In the Flash Forward, Galaxy One has hunted down and killed most of the Canaries network.
- Put on a Bus: At the end of the episode, Black Siren decides if she truly wants to make amends, she needs to go back to Earth-2 and make up for all the evil she did there working for Zoom. Only to be subverted when she shows up in the last minutes of the Flash Forward Arc in full Black Canary gear.
- Rock Beats Laser: A natural Canary Cry vs. Sara's electronic choker? The natural Cry wins.
- Redemption Quest: Black Siren finally complete hers, signified by her donning the Black Canary mantle.
- Remember the New Guy?: Shadow Thief is said to be Earth-2 Laurel's colleague during her stint as The Dragon to Diaz, yet she was nowhere to be seen in Season 6.
- The Reveal: Dante arranged for the Longbow Hunters to murder Emiko's mom to turn her completely into his loyal apprentice.
- Revenge Before Reason: Mia is hellbent on revenge against Galaxy One, despite being heavily outgunned.
- Rule of Symbolism: The original Laurel/Black Canary literally died on 11:59 p.m. Her Earth-2 counterpart makes her first official appearance as Black Canary as an 11th-Hour Ranger.
- Secondary Character Title: Referring to Earth-2 Laurel Lance. Also a Spoiler Title.
- Special Edition Title: Instead of the usual Arrowhead, the episode's title card is Earth-1 Laurel's Black Canary symbol.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism:
- On one side, Felicity believes that Emiko is lying about her mom's murder, pointing out that with the Ninth Circle at her disposal, finding the bastard who did it shouldn't be a problem for her. Oliver's gut tells him that Emiko's not lying.
- On the other side, Dinah wants to bring Laurel into custody, but Felicity and Sara believe they should help her and not turn their backs on her. Felicity also points out that even when Dinah was at her darkest and lowest, Team Arrow didn't kick her out.
- Averted with Oliver and Diggle over Emiko. Oliver doesn't believe that telling Emiko Dante killed her mom will change her, but it will drive a wedge between her and Dante.
- Spoiler Title: An episode about Earth-2 Laurel with a Canary in the title. It's the closest Foreshadowing to Laurel's appearance in the Flash Forward.
-
Spiritual Successor: For The Flash (2014) Season 4 episode, "Girls Night Out", a similarly Feminist Fantasy episode. - Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: Dinah has some legit reasons to try and bring Laurel in. And ultimately, she relents.
- Take Up My Sword: Sara leaves the original Laurel's old canary cry device behind for Dinah to use, since her powers have been crippled.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: Laurel, having lost her DA job and been framed for murder, initially decides to abandon her attempts to be a better person and fall back into a life of crime. Felicity and Sara refuse to let her do it, and Dinah eventually comes around to the same.
- Third Line, Some Waiting:
- Dinah, Sara, and Felicity trying to bring Laurel in; Felicity and Sara want to save and redeem Laurel, Dinah wants to arrest her.
- The Flash Forward with Galaxy One hunting down the Canaries and New Team Arrow.
- Oliver and John trying to find Emiko's mother's murderer, hoping to leverage it to stop her.
- What You Are in the Dark: In the end, Black Siren doesn't want to be a villain. She cements it when she can't kill Sara, Dinah, and Felicity.
- Wham Shot: Laurel, now wearing her Earth-1 counterpart's wig, mask, and outfit, showing up in the last minutes of the Flash Forward Arc.
- Where It All Began: Laurel decides to return to Earth-2 since she plans to atone for everything she did, starting at home.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Sara gives one to Laurel, telling her that the road to redemption is a long and hard one.
- You Are Not Alone: Sara tells this to Earth-2 Laurel, reassuring her that she now has them to lean on.
