Juliana Harkavy previews the Birds of Prey-inspired episode: 'We were just having a blast and playing off of each other in a new way'

Arrow type TV Show network The CW genre Superhero

Team Arrow is divided over how to handle Laurel’s apparent return to the dark side on Arrow.

Inspired by Birds of Prey, Monday’s female-centric episode picks up in the aftermath of Laurel’s (Katie Cassidy Rodgers) criminal past being made public, which was only the beginning of her problems. As the above exclusive clip from the episode, titled “Lost Canary” reveals, the former Black Siren is now wanted for murder. While Laurel’s new bestie Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) wants to give her the benefit of the doubt, Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) isn’t feeling quite as generous and launches a city-wide manhunt for her because she’s lost faith in Laurel’s ability to change.

“Laurel is a criminal and we are going to bring her to justice, something we should’ve done a long time ago,” declares Dinah in the above sneak peek.

In the wake of the manhunt, Laurel goes full Black Siren and team up with an old criminal acquaintance named Shadow Thief for a crime spree, which drives an even bigger wedge between her and Dinah.

“Laurel definitely toys with the dark side. It’s hard for Dinah because she’s given her a lot of faith and a lot of chances, and I think Laurel has really done a good job of getting better and redeeming that side of her,” star Juliana Harkavy tells EW. “It’s a bit tumultuous between them, and for Dinah emotionally, it’s tough.”

Image zoom Dean Buscher/The CW

Felicity, however, still has faith in Laurel and recruits Sara Lance (Legends of Tomorrow’s Caity Lotz), a.k.a. White Canary/the former Black Canary, to help get through to her.

“We couldn’t do a Birds of Prey episode without Sara Lance, without Caity Lotz. I’m so glad that she was able to be part of it because it felt really complete. The group that we had was just perfectly rounded. Everybody fit into the group. Our characters had their own strengths and their own thing that they bring to the table,” says Harkavy.

While Harkavy was excited about having Lotz in the mix, her on-screen counterpart, on the other-hand, is initially a bit wary of the White Canary. “I think Dinah is a little skeptical at first just because there’s still an anti-vigilante law in place and certain vigilantes are deputized but not all. I think she’s a little nervous, but also I think she’s excited because she is part of her team, but just [someone] she doesn’t get to work with often. She’s fighting a little bit with herself over that as well, but ultimately Dinah’s a fan of Sara,” says Harkavy.

Having an entire hour devoted to exploring the dynamic between the show’s women was really rewarding to Harkavy. “We just kept saying, ‘We need to do this all the time. This needs to be a show,’ because we were just having a blast and playing off of each other in a new way. For me, it felt very new and I just wanted to do more of it,” she says.

“It’s so much fun when I get to work with a bunch of other women,” says Lotz. “We had a blast filming it. It was so much fun to be able to work together. It’s going to be a really cool episode.”

At the end of the day, “Lost Canary” is very much about the idea of women having each other’s backs. In addition to the Laurel of it all, the other women also help Dinah, who is dealing the trauma of losing her Canary Cry and learning how to be a hero without it.

“In the Birds of Prey episode, the women in Dinah’s life really continue to help her find herself and help her understand her own strength,” says Harkavy. “I’d say that’s definitely a general theme for the episode — women coming together and learning to overcome differences and work together. I won’t say that Laurel necessarily lands on the other side of the fence with us, but we all learn something from each other in this episode.”

Arrow airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on The CW.

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