This polarizing development sidelined Laurel’s incarnation of Black Canary to a secondary position from which she never fully recovered, which ultimately made her death at the hands of Damien Darhk in Season 4 feel decidedly unearned.
That was an exciting development moving into Season 3, but that’s not how it panned out.
By the time Arrow finally committed to handing the leather jacket off to the older Lance sister, it had also reframed the show’s central love story to center on Oliver and Felicity Smoak.
One of the biggest reasons why Laurel’s Black Canary failed to gain the traction she deserved is the fact that the Olicity relationship drama eventually took up far too much of the show’s time and attention during a critical transition period for Laurel’s character.