Most importantly, Arrow’s leading ladies have always supported one another. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for many Arrow fans, who quite harshly compare and rank the show’s female characters on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Tumblr.
On the show, there’s friction between the women at times, but it’s always portrayed in a very real and very mature way (i.e. not with catfights). When Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), returns to Starling City six years after her presumed death at sea while on a romantic tryst with her older sister Laurel’s (Katie Cassidy) boyfriend (Oliver), the sisterly reunion is tense to say the least.
Laurel is suddenly forced to confront the anger and jealousy she never dealt with after the shipwreck. After all, how could she resent a little sister who’d paid for her betrayal with her life? Oliver and Sara resuming their relationship pushes Laurel to the breaking point. Sara is heartbroken and doesn’t know how to save a relationship that Laurel seems to have already given up on.
Eventually, Laurel tearfully admits to her sister that she hasn’t been okay since the wreck, and that seeing Sara return “so beautiful and so alive” reminded her how much she isn’t “those things... anymore.” Laurel begs her for forgiveness, and Sara immediately hugs her.
Apparently, this scene was unsatisfactory for many fans, though. Some maintain that Sara is a heartless you-know-what who Laurel never should have reconciled with, and others call Laurel a whiny drama queen. These criticisms are particularly ironic given that arguably the two biggest themes in Arrow are empathy and forgiveness.
The female characters most often pitted against each other are Laurel and Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), because they are Oliver’s primary love interests. However, Laurel and Felicity never actually let Oliver come between them out of their love and respect for one another.
Felicity encourages Laurel on her journey to becoming Black Canary in season three. She reminds Laurel to accept herself and her abilities instead of comparing herself to her sister who was The Canary in season two. She also doesn’t feel threatened when Laurel later joins Team Arrow.
Laurel in turn provides emotional support to Felicity when she becomes paralyzed and must endure a series of surgeries in season four. Later that year, Laurel tells Oliver that he has always been the “love of [her] life.” But she always knew that Felicity was Oliver’s, and she was “really glad” that he had found her.
However, in 2017, many fans are apparently still frustrated by the lack of a cliched love triangle. Laurel seems to get the brunt of the hate for being seen as weak and annoying and consequently not good enough for Oliver.
On the other hand, many fans seem to think that a condition of being pro-Laurel is hating Felicity. They say she’s not as a strong as Laurel because she’s just tech support instead of a street fighter or she’s too mean to Oliver or she’s selfish.
Fans, of course, can dislike characters. But it’s nonsensical to hate a character because they’re not the same as another character or to hate them because you don’t think they’re a good match for another character.
Laurel and Felicity are also frequently compared in terms of their relationships with the other Queen sibling, Thea (Willa Holland). Many fans see a need to determine which woman cares more about Thea and to villainize the other.
Laurel has known Thea since she was born and is a loving, devoted big sister to her. When Thea’s life spirals out of control after Oliver’s return, Laurel sets her on a better path, and from then on, the pair only get closer.
Laurel is Thea’s rock and the only constant in her life. In season four, she takes Thea in after Oliver leaves town.
Felicity meets Thea through Oliver but forms her own relationship with her over the seasons and always looks out for her. When Thea gets kidnapped in season two, Felicity hacks into the cellphones of people who were at Verdant, the nightclub where Thea was last seen.
Felicity “eyeballs” every photo on every phone for any sign of Thea. John Diggle (David Ramsey) says in awe that “there must have been thousands.” Felicity replies simply, “It’s Thea.”
Felicity supports Thea at the end of season three when her brother joins the League of Assassins and is seemingly lost to them forever. She also doesn’t cut Thea off after her engagement to Oliver ends in season four. She continues to be a loving, supportive presence in Thea’s life.
So do Laurel and Felicity have the same relationship with Thea? Of course not. They’re all different people. But how about instead of trying to turn their relationships into a competition, we celebrate the fact that Thea has two women in her life who love and support her?
We finally are getting more strong, complex, vulnerable and independent women represented on television. They don’t tear each other down on-screen. We should follow their example off-screen.
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