With Season 6 of Arrow set to debut this fall, Star City is about to change in a major way. Oliver Queen and Team Arrow 2.0 are poised to kick some serious ass, but they'll need to band together like never before with the questionable motivations of Katie Cassidy's Black Siren sticking around for the foreseeable future. The former Laurel spoke with CinemaBlend and other outlets at San Diego Comic-Con about her transition into the Earth-2 baddie, and she explained that portraying this dark version of her former self has caused a headache in scenes with longtime co-stars. Cassidy explained:
It's interesting because when I have scenes with my father, now as Black Siren, as an actor I get really confused because I'm so used to looking at Paul [Blackthorne] as my father and being very close to him, and now my character is obviously a lot darker. When we have those things, I just get a little... it's a little confusing for Paul and I. We get through it, but we're like, 'What? We're used to thinking this, and now we're thinking something totally different.' It's an interesting dynamic.
The old Laurel is gone for good; we know that for certain. Black Siren's presence in Star City has caused (and will continue causing) a major heartache for every single one of the city's good guys, but the transition into this more villainous persona has not been an easy one for Katie Cassidy, either. After spending all those years playing the daughter of Quentin Lance, making the jump to a more antagonistic persona has not come without confusion on the set. Once you turn something on as a performer, especially when it's a specific connection with another actor, it's hard to turn it off.
That's not to say that Katie Cassidy hasn't performed admirably as Black Siren since her introduction on The Flash. The Earth-2 twist has put a delightful spin on the traditional Laurel dynamic, and Cassidy has delivered some of her best work on the series by taking a more menacing approach. That said, if things continue to get confusing, maybe she can turn to Tom Cavanagh for advice; after all, that guy has more versions of Harrison Wells than he knows what to do with.
One thing that's particularly interesting about Black Siren's involvement on the upcoming season of Arrow is the fact that her morality appears to be in serious question. Arrow has established that there's at least SOME goodness in her that feels reminiscent of the old Laurel, while at the same time making sure to prove that she's not going to take on the mantle of Black Canary -- as we already have Dinah Drake in that role. That leaves Siren in an unusual situation in which her allegiance could become an issue over the course of the next season. She's mostly a villain, but that always seems to be on the verge of changing, and being embraced by Team Arrow could soften her for good.
Black Siren, Oliver Queen, and the rest of the Arrow ensemble will return to The CW when The Emerald Archer's solo series debuts for its sixth season on Thursday, October 12 at 9 p.m. ET. Before the fall TV schedule rolls around, make sure to take a look at our summer TV premiere guide for more info on the rest of this season's major television debuts!
