‘Arrow’: David Ramsey On How Diggle Is Handling Laurel’s Death (Updated)

Laurel Lance’s death has left Team “Arrow” devastated. 

David Ramsey’s character, John Diggle, will be going through a variety of emotions on next week’s “Arrow.” His returned-from-the-dead brother, Andy, betrayed them and paved the way for Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) to get his magical, mystical powers back, and quickly turn an arrow on Laurel (Katie Cassidy), the injuries of which caused her death hours later.

As “Arrow” resumes (on April 27), Diggle is in a dark place, and could be pushed to his breaking point.

Arrow-David-Ramsey-On-How-Diggle-Is-Handling-Laurels-Death-Updated
(The CW)

“Post-traumatic stress syndrome has happened to the whole team after Laurel’s death. He’s no exception, and so we’re seeing a Diggle that we’ve never seen before,” David told Access Hollywood. “What has happened to his brother – the betrayal, the not-death, the H.I.V.E., the not quite H.I.V.E. – he is on an emotional tailspin, his wife now a part of this organization, ARGUS, which clearly has its own agenda that he’s never really fully agreed with, so I think we’re looking at a Diggle who… this is a nuts and bolts kind of guy. And there was a great line that Lyla had during the Suicide Squad episode of Season 2. … She [said] very clearly, ‘You see the world in black and white, and the world is much more complicated,’ and I think that’s always been his Achilles heel … The same thing that makes Diggle strong in that he sees it black and white and therefore he’s honorable and super loyal and he will take the grenade, is the same thing that is his Achilles heel. He can’t really wrap his head around the gray areas. … You’re going to see a Diggle who has to deal with the gray and because of that, he is fractured and he is willing to do things that you never would have thought him to do.” 

Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) warned Diggle not to trust his brother, Andy (Eugene Byrd), and there has definitely been some damage done to the Oliver-Diggle relationship.

Katrina Law as Nyssa al Ghul, David Ramsey as John Diggle, Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak, Willa Holland as Thea Queen and Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen in ‘Arrow’ Season 4, Episode 19 — ‘Canary Cry’
Katrina Law as Nyssa al Ghul, David Ramsey as John Diggle, Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak, Willa Holland as Thea Queen and Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen in ‘Arrow’ Season 4, Episode 19 — ‘Canary Cry’ (The CW)

READ: ‘Arrow’: Character In The Grave Revealed; Katie Cassidy Talks Exit

“There has been some damage done, but not like last season, I don’t think. I think this one is much more – this is Diggle’s brother, the brother he thought was dead and Diggle has aligned himself with a new brother – with Oliver – and the reemergence of his blood brother, so to speak. I think that just took him for a spin that he didn’t really quite anticipate,” David said.

The CW’s episode description for “Canary Cry” hints that Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne) will turn to Nyssa al Ghul (Katrina Law) to try and help bring his daughter back (his first daughter, Sara, came back to life when Laurel took her to the Lazarus Pit, which seemingly has now been destroyed). Despite his own grief, Diggle won’t attempt to join that quest.

“I think what he would do is what most soldiers would do, which would be honor her in his actions,” David said. “Sara – he named his child in homage to the Canary, and I think maybe we might see some of that soon, in terms of how he would honor her. Maybe he has a piece of her weaponry with him, I really don’t know yet, but I think that would be Diggle’s position more so than, ‘Let’s cheat death and find a way to bring the soldier back. ‘I think the most honorable thing for him would be to accept her in death and honor her in death.” 

Next Wednesday’s episode of “Arrow” will feature a funeral scene, as the characters, including Alex Kingston as Dinah Lance, grieve the loss of Laurel.

“It was really personal, really,” David said of shooting the scene. “As castmates, none of us wanted to see Katie go. It was really a sad moment.” 

But, the “Arrow” Season 4 death secret, which was introduced at the beginning of the season, meant there was additional attention as they filmed the funeral.

“We would hear, ‘He’s over there in the trees,’ or ‘Tell him to move.’ We would hear that from [assistant directors] so that would certainly jolt us out of our moment because paparazzi [were] all around, just trying to get a glimpse of what was happening. So, the realism of the industry was prevalent in that moment,” he added. “So, though it was sad, we had enough bolts of reality to just kind of take us out of that scene. So I really think just in terms of genuine emotion throughout the night, throughout every moment of every frame that you see, was really the death scene.”

Katie recently revealed that the very last scene she shot in her character’s death episode, was a reshoot of Laurel getting stabbed with an arrow after Damien Dahrk got his magic back. David was there for that moment when they called a series wrap on the actress, which turned into a hug-fest. 

“It’s exactly what you might think of any co-worker in any job and you love the co-worker and the co-worker had to leave for whatever reason. So, sure, there were a lot hugs, lots of ‘Let’s go out,’ lots of ‘Call you later,’ lot of ‘You’ll be coming back, we’ll be seeing you soon.’ All that stuff was happening,” he said making a reference to Katie’s work in the Arrowverse, which includes an upcoming appearance in “The Flash” as Earth 2’s Laurel Lance, and flashback scenes in next week’s episode. 

“In this universe, you never know. I know the producers have put whatever stamp they put on it, but if the show is blessed is to run a fraction as long as let’s say another CW show like ‘Supernatural,’ then you never know what can happen in this universe, particularly in our universe where people can run faster than light, there’s time travel and things like that. So, that was some of the conversation, but it was mostly ‘Hate to see you go,’ ‘Sorry to see you go,’ ‘Love you,'” he added. 

“Arrow” continues next Wednesday at 8/7c on The CW.

Jolie Lash

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