Arrow season 5 not endorsing a John Diggle – Dinah Drake ‘ship

Mrs. Carter: While there’s been buzz about a John Diggle – Dinah Drake relationship blossoming on Arrow, it’s not happening.

Through most of the month of October we at CarterMatt have been fully immersed in our ‘Shiptober article series looking at some of the top pairings in television. In theory, the idea of these characters together isn’t something beyond comprehension. Yet, there’s just no reason for it, either. Diggle is already happily married with a child, and we don’t exactly get the sense that putting David Ramsey’s character in a position where he has an affair is something that the Arrow writers want to sign off on. A big part of the appeal of John Diggle is that he is a family man and, at times, the moral and emotional compass of the team. He’s not perfect, but he’s also lived a tremendous amount of life and the other characters can look towards that for some degree of guidance and understanding.

So what is going on with the John Diggle – Dinah Drake relationship? It’s most just intensity and passion, but passion is not necessary hand-in-hand with some sort of romantic feelings. This is something that Juliana Harkavy touches on more in an interview with TVLine as she discusses some of the speculation that is out there:

“I’ve been hearing a lot of rumors about that, seeing people have a lot of theories…. Yeah, Dinah and Diggle are friends. Dinah and Diggle are almost best friends. Or at least for Dinah, Diggle is her best friend, she’s her family. She’s an intense person and she’s pissed [about what he’s hiding], so her intensity shines through even more. Any time you have two actors in an intense space, it could seem like something else, but no, I can assure everyone that Dinah’s intentions toward Diggle are pure — and vice versa.”

What Dinah brings to the show more so than feelings for Diggle is simply another dynamic and something new and interesting to explore that hasn’t been there to navigate previously. You want there to be some of these layers to any relationship given that without them, you get stuck somewhat in sameness. Dinah is a new foil who, even as friends, challenges him in a way that other characters do not. She has a similar history to him in that they’re both fighters and scrappers — they’ve both been through a lot and weren’t gifted with a ton of money or a supreme amount of intellect earlier in life. They’ve had at times a harder road than many of the other characters on the show and feel the pressure of still having to earn their keep. Watching their friendship develop is one of the merits to this season — and one of the reasons we are thrilled here at CarterMatt to see that they are both still alive.

What do you think about the John Diggle – Dinah Drake relationship?

Do you understand why there are ‘shippers out there for the two? Sound off in the comments below! Meanwhile, visit the link here to see some additional news on Thursday’s episode.

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