The CW’s Arrow let loose with a long-awaited reveal when Laurel not only became privy to Oliver’s secret identity, but then found herself in the Arrowcave, encouraging her emotionally defeated ex to keep fighting the good fight. As the hit comic-book drama serves up Season 2’s penultimate hour (airing Wednesday at 8/7c), TVLine invited Katie Cassidy to assess enlightened Laurel’s new role, ponder one day picking up the Canary baton and tease the bejesus out of the May 14 finale.

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TVLINE | Did you know ahead of time that Laurel would be finding out Oliver’s secret, or is that something you read for the first time in the script?

It’s something that I read in the script; I definitely had no idea. And I was absolutely excited when I found out, though it was like, “Great, now that I’ve found out who the Arrow is, something drastic is going to happen to my character! And I have no idea what it’s going to be — something bad, or something good.” But it ended up being something good.

TVLINE | Plus, now you get to “play with the cool, masked crime-fighting kids.” I imagine the past season-and-a-half has been a bit of an exercise in patience in that regard.

I still don’t know what’s going to happen [as far as Laurel’s role on Team Arrow], but yes, I definitely have been looking forward to getting more involved in the action. But you never know. We’ll see what happens!

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TVLINE | What has learning the truth done for Laurel’s impression of Oliver? Do you think it was 100-percent surprising for her?

It was definitely a shock for her, but it makes the way she looks at him… She loves him that much more. Like Tommy says [to Oliver] in Season 1, “You’re supposed to be with Laurel because you are who she thinks you are.” She loves him so much for [being Arrow], because he is doing good, and she’s a good-doer.

TVLINE | How would you describe the current state of the Laurel/Sara relationship? Are you glad they steered away from the catty aspect of it?

Yes, I am, because I give 100 percent of myself when I work. [Laughs] I love that this season they wrote some really great scenes and great episodes for me and my character; I was really fortunate enough to have been able to do that. But I’m also glad that I’m not crying on set every single day now! Laurel loves her sister, and I think Sara feels the same way. Laurel’s smitten by her. She thinks she’s pretty incredible.

TVLINE | I understand the two of them have a very important scene coming up….

We’ll see…. There’s a lot of good stuff happening, that’s for sure.

TVLINE | All told, what is Laurel’s role with Team Arrow moving forward, in these last two episodes?

You’ve seen Laurel grow throughout this season; this definitely was her season of evolving. And so you get to see her get stronger. You get to see her and the Arrow interact with one another, even more so now that she knows [who he is]. There’s just a lot of big, changing things that happen for her. You get to see her stand up to disaster, or tragedy, or trauma, instead of hiding. Instead of being the “damsel in distress,” you get to see her fight back a bit and be a survivor and help protect other people. It’s a really nice layer for her.

TVLINE | And in one of the photos that’s out there, we’ll even get to see her hold Arrow’s bow.

Yeah! She has the bow. Whether she knows how to shoot it or not…. You’ll find out. [Laughs]

TVLINE | I was recently remarking to Caity Lotz how well she has been received by the viewers, which as we know is no easy feat with comic book enthusiasts. Does that make it all the more intimidating for you to take the baton as Black Canary, at some point down the road?

It’s definitely intimidating, because I want to make the fans happy. And because of the way that I am and the way that I study my craft, I will do a ton of research. I’ll read as many of the comics as I can, bone up on Black Canary…. Everybody has asked me if I have done that already, but I’m not Black Canary at this point, so no, I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I need to be true to the moment and what my character’s state of the mind is. So as soon as, and if, and when that happens, yes, I definitely will try to portray her in the best way possible.

TVLINE | Without revealing what it is, have the producers confided in you the longterm plan for Laurel? And is it something that has you excited?

Yes, yes, yes — they have. And no, I’m not telling!

TVLINE | Lastly, chose any series of adjectives to tease the Season 2 finale.

Action-packed… jaw-dropping… shocking… fantastic… beyond entertaining. I mean, “entertaining” isn’t even the word to describe it. It’s a whirlwind of events that are huge plot points, and pivotal twists in our story. It’s really good.

TVLINE | Will the very final scene serve up one last little stinger before we go into summer?

I think the fans will be very happy!

Want more scoop on Arrow, or for any other show? Email insideline@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.