"The Return" episode of "Arrow," airing Wednesday night on The CW, has a host of double meanings.
For Oliver Queen, it equates to going back to Lian Yu, the deserted island he spent (almost?) five years on, and facing off with Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett). For other characters though, like Paul Blackthorne's Captain Quentin Lance, it's stepping back in time for a flashback sequence, back when Lance was doing a poor job of coping with the (first) death of Sara.
"It was interesting because it was back to 'angry Lance,' as I call him, sort of that Season 1 kind of Lance even though this was a few years before," Paul told Access Hollywood about revisiting an earlier version of his character for the episode. "This was broken, angry Lance that we return to in this flashback and it's interesting because it's paralleling the first time they thought Sara was dead with obviously the present day situation of her being dead now, and how they're reacting to it now, and how they reacted to it then.
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"It was great writing sort of to play around with, and Lance is just in that -- oh, it's so tragic, playing those kind of scenes where -- when somebody's drunk and just mired up to their teeth in self-pity and tragedy, and just in their very foggy perception of the world, thinking that they're doing the right thing and the only way that they can approach life is through this bottle because of pain and grief, and that disillusionment," Paul continued. "It's very a dark place for a character to be in, especially because they think they're doing what needs to be done, but it's just so the opposite to what needs to be done. But that character, in their mind, can justify why they have to do it: 'You don't understand! It's the only way I can deal. I'm fine. Don't worry. I'm okay! You're the one with the problem.' It's all that kind of stuff."
AccessHollywood.com has an exclusive sneak peek of the flashback scene where Paul's character, Detective Lance, lashes out at Tommy Merlyn (returning guest star Colin Donnell), a young Thea Queen (Willa Holland) and his daughter, Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy).
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Speaking about Colin's return, Paul said while they love having the actor (who recently completed a stint on Showtime's "The Affair") on "Arrow," his character doesn't give Tommy the nicest on-screen greeting.
"It's always great to have Colin back, but I'm afraid I think I just give him and a bunch of other partygoers a right old mouthful," Paul laughed. "Lance just spews some vitriol at them all. So, yeah, he doesn't exactly give Tommy a cuddle, I have to say."
In present day Starling City, Lance is devastated after last week's heartbreaking scene where Laurel told her dad that Sara was gone for good. The emotional scene left many fans (and reviewers) in tears, something Access asked Paul about.
"I just felt really bad because I seem to make everybody cry. I'm really sorry. I've made lots of people cry last [episode]. I do apologize," Paul said, when Access asked how he felt about the audience's reaction. "But it was obviously gratifying. I mean, to be honest, we shot the episode months ago and haven't been sitting around thinking about the scenes since then because we've been working on other episodes, and to suddenly see all that feedback was obviously very gratifying and very -- it's good to hear all the feedback. We get great stories written on these pages by these 'Arrow' writers, and us, as the actors, can only hope to do them some justice, and get 'em on to the screen. So hopefully, we're all doing our job and if it's having a great effect with the audience, then that's wonderful."
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Paul said the Laurel confession scene was originally just one take, but as emotional as it was, he asked to do a few more on the day it was filmed.
"I do remember we did one take at first and then the director said, 'That's great! That's a wrap,' and I said, 'No! We need another.' And I wanted to have another crack at it and the director was fortunately very happy to do that and we had another couple more cracks at it. And then, you know, we got it in the end," he said. "They're very heavy, those kinds of scenes, obviously, but, from an acting point of view, a lot of fun to be a part of, if that could be described in such a way."
And the moment will have bigger consequences for Quentin Lance and his daughter Laurel.
"I think the biggest thing for Lance was not just the receipt of the awful, tragic news, but knowing what an effect it had on him when he heard that news before, the first time they thought Sara was dead, and the effect that that had on Lance's life," Paul explained. "He's fully aware that obviously -- well, it destroyed his life, his marriage, his relationships around him, his relationship with himself. He fell into the bottle and just thinking, 'Oh my. To hear this news, and also to know how it affected me in the past? This is not a good moment in life.' And then also, on top of that, that his daughter has taken so long to tell him about his other daughter's death – it wasn't a good day at the office, was it?"
"Arrow" continues Wednesday at 8/7c on The CW.
-- Jolie Lash
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