‘Arrow’: Paul Blackthorne On Sara’s Resurrection; Cast Talk Oliver’s Run For Mayor

The Lance family has been through quite a bit on
“Arrow,” but on Wednesday night, Quentin will face another situation
that will tear his heart apart.

Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) is back from the dead, revived in
the Lazarus Pit in last week’s episode.

“The resurrection, of course — interesting tonal sort
of shift,” Paul Blackthorne, who plays the veteran cop on the show, told
reporters on a set visit in Vancouver last Thursday night.

WATCH: ‘Arrow’: Stephen Amell On Oliver’s Run For Mayor

“[It’s] not very nice having to stare at your daughter and think she’s not really your daughter anymore even though she appears to be alive,” Paul hinted of Lance’s encounter with Sara.

A preview has revealed Lance will pull a gun on his returned daughter, who isn’t anything like how viewers last saw her before her untimely death at the hands of a drugged Thea Queen.

WATCH: Neal McDonough: Damien Darhk ‘Really Loves Messing With Everybody’ On ‘Arrow’

“It’s a dreadful moment, actually,” Paul said of the scene between Lance and Sara.

“[It’s] obviously a bit of a crappy moment for a father to go through,” he said.

There was one lighthearted moment on set, though, when Paul was asked about the possibility that his character will tell his ex, Dinah, about her daughter being back.

“She’s living with Jeffrey now,” Paul said, smiling. “You don’t remember — there was one little moment in that dinner table scene where she goes, ‘Well, no, I’m living with Jeffrey.’ Jeffrey? Who’s Jeffrey!?! So I don’t think about her anymore. Lance has banished these thoughts. He’s finally over that estranged relationship.”

PHOTOS: ‘Arrow’ Season 4, Episode 5 — ‘Beyond Redemption’

“It’d be lovely to see her back of course, because it’s Alex Kingston and she’s fabulous, but no, I think Quentin has finally expunged all thoughts of Dinah and any potential future with [her] for his own sake, really,” Paul added.

Beyond Lance’s interactions with Sara, “Arrow’s” new episode appears to also be looking at Oliver Queen’s (Stephen Amell) recent decision to run for mayor.

“It has been something that I’ve very much enjoyed,” Stephen told reporters on the same set visit of his character’s political move. “There are two aspects of Oliver’s character this year, well, actually probably three. He’s a different type of person out in the field, he’s a different type of person in the political arena and then there’s a third story line that we’re going to explore in the first third of the year that’s also different, so being almost 80 episodes into a show, it’s exciting to play different things. And I like Oliver the politician and I also like any time we can do something that weaves naturally into the canon of the Green Arrow character.”

Stephen said Oliver’s loved ones take the news about his candidacy in different ways.

“They’re slightly incredulous. … Everyone has their various reactions and one of the things — once the team figures this out, Oliver actually says… ‘I gotta talk to Lance,’ to which Laurel responds, ‘Maybe don’t bring that up with him,’ and I’m just like, ‘Well, we need the SCPD so it’s an Oliver Queen that has to work with people, and… it’s exciting.”

Don’t expect Oliver’s candidacy to cause a rift in the Olicity relationship. Emily Bett Rickards said Felicity Smoak is on board with Oliver’s plans.

“I think the first moment was like, ‘OK, honey, we should talk about that,’ and then there’s this unbound support that they have for each other,” she said. “It’s this idea of like, ‘We can do anything even though it’s dangerous, but this is what we signed up for and this is going to be our life and therefore we will try this new idea you have and I’m there to support you unconditionally.”

Neal McDonough, who plays Season 4 villain Damien Darhk, is actually delighted by Oliver’s run (despite forcing another candidate out previously).

“He loves it at first because he thinks he can use Oliver as his pawn. We find out rather quickly that that pawn is not for sale and it certainly sets me off and makes me do some really horribly dark things, which is a lot of fun to play,” Neal said. “I’m having so much fun playing this character. I’ve played a bunch of villains but this one is the looniest of all of them and he so enjoys messing with everybody because you really can’t kill him, and he can do anything to you and stop bullets from killing him, penetrating him or arrows or anything else, so he really has fun in the first portion of the season, first third of the season, just kind of messing with everyone and knowing that he is kind of that Gene Hackman/Lex Luthor-type character, where it’s just like, ‘Gosh, it’s just great to kill people today! Ooh, that was fun!'”

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

Production assistance provided by Warner Bros.

— Jolie Lash