‘Arrow’ 7×18 recap: The ladies take center stage

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Arrow Season 7 Episode 17, titled “Lost Canary”. Do not read if you have not seen the episode or read ahead at your own risk of being spoiled.

Beyoncé once said girls run the world and in Arrow‘s return from a brief hiatus, it was the ladies who took center stage.

All season, I’ve dubbed Earth-2 Laurel as “Evil-But-Turning-Good” Laurel and on Monday night, she seemed to finally pick a side and stick to it, but not without help from some fierce ladies of Star City.

The episode begins with Laurel (Katie Cassidy) kicking some serious ass as she quickly handles some armed thugs. Laurel reunites with her old partner in crime, Shadow Thief (Carmel Amit). As the two catch up, Laurel gets a call from her new BFF Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) but she ignores it.

In case you forgot, Emiko Queen (Sea Shimooka) not only exposed Laurel’s criminal past but also framed her for murdering a witness. Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) orders a city-wide manhunt for Laurel because of the evidence against her. Felicity, on the other hand, does believe her and calls Sara Lance (Caty Lotz) a.k.a. White Canary to help. Sara’s entrance was pretty badass. Writing about it won’t do it justice; you just need to see it in action.

Sara and Felicity reminisce but then get down to the important business when Sara says “you can’t force redemption on someone.” Felicity was about to give up until they realize that the delayed detonation of the bomb that was waiting for them at Laurel and Shadow Thief’s hideout was probably Laurel’s way of saving them. They find Laurel at Quentin’s grave and Sara shares a moment with her not-really-sister. Laurel realizes in that moment that she needs them and Felicity, Sara, and Dinah team up with to help a reformed villain complete her journey to being a hero.

Laurel and company find Shadow Thief and Laurel uses her sonic cry to blast Shadow Thief; Sara and Dinah kick more thug ass while Felicity works to disable the bomb. In the end, Laurel is saved from herself and Shadow Thief is defeated.

All this causes Laurel to realize she needs to return to Earth-2 and correct her mistakes. Before she leaves, Felicity gives her Earth-1 Laurel’s old Black Canary suit. And guess what? We see an older-but-still-hot Laurel saving Mia as Black Canary in this week’s flashforward. So badass.

Episode Notes:

• The guys got a small part in this episode as Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Diggle (David Ramsey) find out that Dante (Adrian Paul) hired Longbow Hunter Kodiak (Michael Jonsson) to kill Emiko’s mother. Talk about manipulation in the cruelest form.

What did you make of the episode? Let me know in the comments!

Arrow airs Mondays at 9/8c on The CW.