Are Oliver and Laurel in the best place they’ve ever been?
Now that Laurel knows of Oliver’s masked identity, the two have become a force to be reckoned with at the start of the season: The Arrow catches the bad guys, Laurel indicts them. Guggenheim referenced a moment in episode six where the history and backstory between the two is fully felt. “They were best friends; they were lovers; they were in love with each other and now they’re post-relationship — but there’s this history there that’s always going to follow them, and there’s always going to be a bond between the two of them,” he explained. “There’s a scene in episode six where there’s a really good example of that.”Now that Oliver is pursuing a relationship with Felicity, are things really over between him and Laurel?
Guggenheim: I think ever since the beginning of Season 2 when Oliver and Laurel had their conversation about Tommy’s death and Oliver being away for those five months after Tommy’s death. I think Oliver and Laurel are sort of in a really good post-relationship place. That’s not to say they’ll never get back together again. We never say never on Arrow. But I think Season 3 shows that their relationship sort of evolves. I think some of the scenes we’ve had in Season 3 between Stephen and Katie Cassidy are actually among the closest Oliver and Laurel have had since Season 1.How does the fact that she knows his secret change things?
Guggenheim: That’s really the fun thing for us. We now get to have scenes between Oliver and Laurel that we never got to have on the show now that she’s in the circle of trust. And I think what it’s done is it’s really deepened their relationship because now they can really be truthful with each other about what’s going on in their lives. That said, Laurel is going to keep a secret from Oliver because that’s our show. Our characters keep secrets from each other.Will we see Laurel take more steps to becoming the Black Canary?
Guggenheim: I certainly don’t want to spoil anything, but suffice it to say we definitely intended Laurel to be set on a path when Sara gave her that jacket. And you have not seen the last of that jacket. This so borders on spoiler, but I think people who love Laurel’s character and love the idea of her being more active in fighting crime than just being a district attorney will be really happy this year.
Credit: TV Guide & Hollywood Reporter