Team GATV Roundtable: Talking Arrow Season 6 So Far

Should the Black Siren find redemption?

MATT: I’d rather see it remain grey rather than black and white. Have her play whichever side works best to her advantage and keep the idea of redemption as something she struggles to consider and potentially pursue. I think that will work to Katie Cassidy strengths while still allowing her to play the darker, badder aspects of this Laurel, which still seems like more fun for her.

CRAIG: Unpopular opinion time: I have to say… no. While I have really enjoyed the Black Siren’s more vulnerable moments in scenes with Paul Blackthorne as Quentin, I feel like Katie Cassidy plays this evil character so well. The show has a Black Canary now, so there wouldn’t be much point in rehabilitating Laurel so we have two active Black Canaries, so why not just let her keep being so good at being so bad.

STEPHANIE: I’m going to have to switch my original position and agree with Craig on this one. Katie Cassidy exhibits such a natural ease while playing villainous Black Siren that it’s too much of a joy to watch to risk losing it. And there’s always the opportunity to have Black Siren impersonate Earth One Laurel so we still receive snippets of a righteous version of the character. Although I don’t hope for redemption, I would like to see Black Siren build a trust and mutual respect with Quentin that at least shows she has a capacity for good, whether or not she ultimately chooses it. It would allow her to co-exist in a world of heroes in a Captain Cold or Heat Wave sort of way, where they’re still criminals, but their useful outweighs their negatives.

MELISSA: I have a hard time rooting for redemption when Black Siren hasn’t given me a reason to think she wants redemption. This is a character that enjoys killing people even when it’s not “necessary” for the job, a fact that keeps getting pointed out to her by the OTHER bad guys.

As for any hints that maybe she has a softer side, even if I believed she wasn’t just trying to scam Quentin (and letting him go was just a ruse to gain his trust and part of Cayden James’ plan), being nice to those you see as family doesn’t balance out being a stone cold killer the rest of the time.

So why again should I want to see Black Siren redeemed?