During the course of Arrow’s five and a half-year run, the show has featured not one, not two, but almost four iterations of the Black Canary.

Some don’t necessarily count Sara Lance’s debut as the Canary, or Evelyn Sharpe’s turn during her revenge spree, but the simple fact is more than one person has taken on the mantle. The current iteration comes in the form of the Season 5 addition, Dinah Drake. Now that we’re four episodes into Season 6, let’s take a look at the ways Dinah can be better expanded upon as a character so she isn’t only seen as living in the shadow of her predecessor.

Make Her Unique

When Dinah Drake was added to the team, there was much upheaval about her only being a Laurel Lance replacement as opposed to her own character. She had similar dialogue and interactions with the team and shined very little while out on the field. Season Six has done a better job at utilizing her on missions, but what exactly is it that she brings to the table that Laurel herself couldn’t have if she’d stayed alive?

Dinah does present herself with a tougher exterior than Laurel, and actually possess the “Canary Cry,” but many of her scenes feel like wash, rinse, and repeat cycles that we’ve seen in the past. Dinah has shared scenes with Quentin involving his alcoholism recovery; she’s served as a confidant for Diggle whose questioned his motives on the team; and she even has her own entry point in the SCPD as an officer. Laurel has served as this character for both men; Quentin being her father and having dealt with alcoholism herself, and Diggle as a respected friend and colleague of hers while she was on the team and her job in the DA’s office as a lawyer.

Having Dinah simply fill whatever hole Laurel left in the series is a far cry, no pun intended, in making her a distinctive character from Ms. Lance.

Give Her a Storyline

Dinah Drake’s entry point into the team featured her two-year escapade in finding the man who murdered her partner/the man she was in love with. When that story was tied together in a single episode, Dinah fell into the background of the series as a supporting player. The season was already overcrowded with newer characters whose storylines had been in motion since the beginning of the season, but Dinah’s never kept momentum. This season, though, she’s been given more of a POV. However, her character seems to only be relevant if she and Diggle have a conversation about his injury from Lian Yu.

Dinah needs her own story that drives her character’s narrative and not just someone else’s, especially a man’s. She’s proven herself to be a headstrong, assertive,

and very capable woman, so playing second fiddle to someone else isn’t something we need to see from her.

Have her go off on her own missions; explore what it means to be the Black Canary for her. We experienced Laurel channeling her grief to become the vigilante over the course of a season. Dinah, after refusing to join Team Arrow several times, just decided to give in and take up the mantle when her revenge crusade left her feeling unfulfilled. We briefly saw her question if she was even worthy of the mantle, but it was a story that was quickly resolved yet again. The audience needs to be able to connect to her and feel as though she’s worthy of being on the team, not just because she can fight or has the cry, but because she’s earned it through the trials and tribulations she’s faced.

Give Her a New Codename

There are a ton of negative implications that come with the idea that a female character can simply replace another, especially one with the same name as the character after her. Dinah has Laurel’s first name and her codename as the Black Canary. Comic book fans know that Dinah Drake was actually Laurel’s mother and the mantle was passed down to her, she wasn’t an entirely new character that replaced her.

The damage seems to already be done as far as Dinah being her real name, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she has to continue as the Black Canary. There are an abundance of female characters in the DC universe, characters that the Arrow-verse hasn’t minded drawing inspiration from to make them come to life on-screen. Giving Dinah a whole new codename may be a bit messy, storytelling wise, but it’s a move that needs to be made to advance her character. Many fans have speculated the idea of her becoming Lady Blackhawk, a DC heroine who fought to join the ranks of male fighter pilots in WWII. Imagine Juliana Harkavy playing a modernized version of the hero! The namesake could even serve as a memorial to Laurel’s Black Canary.

This piece is in no way meant to discredit Harkavy’s performance on Arrow. I simply believe there are different routes that could have been, and still can be, taken with her character. Dinah should be given the opportunity to shine, but it’s going to be hard for her to do so if she’s living in the shadow of someone before her.

What do you think about Dinah as a character thus far? Leave your thoughts and comments below!

Arrow airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW! Follow The TV Type on Twitter!

Share this: Share

Twitter

Facebook



Tumblr

Reddit



Pinterest

