Paul Blackthorne Set To Leave Arrow At Season’s End
by Erik Amaya
And then there were only three original members of Arrow left.
TVLine reports Paul Blackthorne will leave the series at the conclusion of the sixth and current season of long-running CW series starring Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen; the Star City vigilante Green Arrow. Blackthorne is an original cast member of the show; along with Amell, David Ramsey and Katie Cassidy — who left the series for season five, but returned full time this year. The first season cast also included Colin Donnell, Susanna Thompson, Colin Salmon and Willa Holland as Oliver’s younger sister Thea. Holland recently left the series after taking several absences from the show.
Longtime cast member Emily Bett Rickards joined later in season one when her character, Felicity Smoak, proved surprisingly popular with the production and viewers.
Blackthorne’s Quentin Lance was at first an adversary on the trail of Oliver’s hooded vigilante before becoming a confidant and, finally, a full-fledged member of Oliver’s team in season four. When Oliver became mayor of Star City, Quentin joined him at city hall as his second and now currently serves as mayor following Oliver’s impeachment. The character has also been involved in a long running plot concern Black Siren (Cassidy), the villainous Earth-2 version of his deceased daughter Laurel. Seemingly getting through to her, he recently learned she was working with crime lord Ricardo Diaz (Kirk Acevedo). But learning of her fear of the criminal mastermind, he vowed to help her. It is possible that help will see Lance finally see his end.
Meanwhile, Donnell is set to make a special appearance in this week’s episode.
Arrow airs Thursdays on The CW.
