An "Arrow" Fan's Love/Hate Relationship With Sara Lance

An attempt to decipher the feels for the CW series' most polarizing character.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

The title of last night's Arrow, "Heir to the Demon," referred to a few things: One, that Nyssa al Ghul (Katrina Law), daughter of criminal mastermind Ra's al Ghul (word to Talia and The Dark Knight Rises), would stir shit up in Starling City. Two, that Oliver/Arrow (Stephen Amell) would find out about his younger sister Thea (Willa Holland) being the daughter of evil archer Malcom Merlyn (John Barrowman). Three, that Sara Lance, a.k.a. Black Canary (Caity Lotz), would pull the floorboards off the Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) ship that fans have worked so hard to build, and send her sister Laurel (Katie Cassidy) to the looney bin.

So that last one was a stretch. But damn it—Sara Lance is the most frustrating character on the series. She's a crime-fighting former assassin AND a homewrecker with a heart of gold. It's impossible not to love and loathe her, and her scenes in last night's episode encapsulated that perfectly. 

Super cool fact: Sara's a self-made superhero who doesn't believe in physics.

Another kind of cool fact: She's big on following her heart, even if it leads her into the arms of one of the most dangerous women in the world, Nyssa Al Ghul.

 

But then again, a not-so-cool fact: That was the same quality that led her into stealing her sister's boyfriend...

 

...and getting stranded on a deserted island, allowing her family to think she was dead for six years.

Only to come back to Starling City as a trained vigilante fighting to protect said family...

 

...whom she put in danger in the first place, thanks to her association with the League of Assassins...

...which her sister Laurel, now an alcoholic who needs rehab after losing her boyfriend and her job, is pissed as hell about.

And, like, not even two minutes later, she's back to boning said boyfriend, not only burying her sibling relationship six feet under, but also destroying the chances of #Olicity.

 

So, like...

Latest in Pop Culture