With Arrow, the Black Canary legacy was a lot bigger than what most Green Arrow fans were expecting. From Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) starting as The Canary to her sister Laurel (Katie Cassidy) rebirthing her mantle as the Black Canary, the series eventually introduced another person to wear the mask: Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy.) While Dinah is Laurel’s mother in the comics, the Stephen Amell-led drama took a different direction as she kept Laurel’s legacy alive after the Earth-1 version of the former attorney-turned-superhero was killed in season 4. In this interpretation, Dinah was a former Central City police officer who was affected by the particle accelerator explosion, which granted her a sonic scream.
After being on the road for some years, Dinah would eventually begin her journey back towards a healthier life that would include working with Green Arrow and his team. As Arrow has come to an end, there are a lot of big moments for Dinah during her time in the series from season 5 all the way into the final season.
Meeting The Green Arrow For The First Time
Following the Earth-2 Laurel stirring things up in the mid-season premiere in season 5, Oliver resumed his task of fulfilling Laurel’s final wish in life: find the next Canary. As he and the team kept looking for candidates, Oliver wasn’t budging until they all discovered Dinah. They tracked her down to Hub City where they attempted to recruit her. But that was easier said than done.
Dinah’s reaction to Oliver and the team was both hilarious and something that made it very clear that she was not someone to mess with. While things would get better, later on, their first interaction was an amusing disaster.
Joining Team Arrow 2.0
Later on, in the same episode, Oliver managed to convince Dinah to come onboard, but it would take all the way until the end of the hour for that to happen. Once back in Star City, Oliver is surprised when Dinah shows up at his mayor's office where they connect at last. But this is where viewers learned who she really was as the episode has initially established Dinah as “Tina Boland” in the initial casting announcement. But once she could trust Oliver, Dinah revealed her true name which, for understandable reasons, got to him as Laurel’s first name was also Dinah.
Joining SCPD
With Dinah now a permanent resident in Star City, it took some time for her to get properly settled in as it was a challenge to go back to regular life. Even though she had the duties of being a vigilante during nights, Dinah also got herself busy in her daytime life.
Even though it came as a surprise, Dinah ends up joining the Star City Police Department. Since she was a cop before getting her powers, it made sense to see her go back into being an officer while also operating with Team Arrow.
Becoming Police Captain
Season 7 began with a couple of surprises following the dramatic events in the season 6 finale, including for Dinah. With Quentin (Paul Blackthorne) having died in the finale, another connection to SCPD was now gone. But with Dinah still there, the season opener revealed that she was now the new police captain which was a worthy promotion for the hard-working officer/vigilante.
Accepting The Black Canary Mantle
While Dinah came a long way when starting on Team Arrow, it wasn’t easy for her to instantly accept the mantle of Black Canary. Knowing the importance of Laurel and how much she meant to the team, it understandably put a lot of pressure on her shoulders.
Even though she may have worn the mask in season 5, a Black Canary isn’t Black Canary until she is officially suited up. In the season 6 premiere, during a clash with Black Siren, Dinah sports her official Canary costume which was an incredible reveal.
Saving Quentin Together With Laurel
Season 6 had a constant rivalry going on between Dinah and Earth-2’s Laurel as the two Canaries were on opposite sides at the start. But as Laurel began finding her way out of the darkness, she was truly put to the test once she had fully turned on Ricardo Diaz (Kirk Acevedo.) In the season 6 finale, Quentin ends up taking a bullet for her and despite what she had done towards Dinah’s former flame, the two Canaries ended up putting their conflict to the side in order to save Quentin together.
Her Origin Story
While Arrow was now, at this point, existing in the Arrowverse that was filled with metahumans and aliens, the series still tried to keep it as grounded as possible. But with two Black Canaries running around, both having the sonic scream, it still allowed the series to have some super-powered presence.
Viewers got to see the flashback of when Dinah first got her powers. Tying it into the events of The Flash’s particle accelerator explosion, Dinah is shown getting her powers. While the circumstances weren’t ideal, it was still a powerful moment to see another Canary be born.
Help Save Black Siren Once And For All
“Lost Canary” became a pivotal episode for the series going forward as it became the ultimate story to get Black Siren over to the heroic side once and for all. Together with Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) and Sara, they are determined to save this Laurel’s soul when she temporarily went back to the dark side. But together, they managed to help Laurel redeem herself for good.
Beginning A New Chapter With Laurel & Mia
While Arrow may be over, Dinah’s time in the Arrowverse may not be over should Green Arrow and the Canaries go to series. In the penultimate episode, which set up the backdoor pilot, Dinah is now in 2040 for mysterious reasons. Despite not having her Black Canary mantle anymore, Laurel helps her become the hero again as they together with Mia form a new team as they go to save Bianca Bertinelli.
Singing At Fishnets
As much butt as she kicked, Dinah’s finest moment was when viewers got to see one of Harkavy’s other talents: singing. The backdoor pilot reveals that in the 2040 timeline, following Crisis on Infinite Earths, Dinah was now the owner of a piano sky bar, cleverly titled “Fishnets” and her first scene features Dinah as an amazing singer. Hopefully, fans will see more of Dinah singing in the spinoff.