But where Arrow (and a whole bunch of other TV shows and movies in similar situations, as there’s plenty of guilt to go round here) gets frustrating is in making it appear as though it’s impossible for Team Arrow to ever really get the upper hand on Adrian, even temporarily. The show has decided to depict him as nigh omniscient, as he appears capable of anticipating and countering every possible move the team can make. He always has a ludicrously complex trap waiting for them, as with the room of concrete tonight, and he always sees any gambit coming a mile off, as when he uses his father’s old lawyer to pass psychologically damaging information to Oliver and Thea.
This gripe aside, ”Honor Thy Fathers” is a very good episode of Arrow, and a worthy part of the larger endgame. The conclusion of the episode is symptomatic of Arrow’s far from unique reliance on backloading the heroes’ victory, with the premise being that every defeat along the way will make the eventual victory all the sweeter. And yes, it’s possible to build successfully to such a pay-off, and I won’t rule out that Arrow will get there in the final two weeks. Right now, though, it feels like Chase has been made too overpowered for any eventual defeat to be believable, and Team Arrow has been so consistently outflanked that they risk damaging their credibility; the mere fact they celebrate the win instead of reflecting on how easy it was is a little suspect. For what it’s worth, these struggles in building up a powerful villain while also keeping the underdog hero credible enough to eventually win would probably sound all too familiar to a professional wrestler like tonight’s returning guest star Cody Rhodes. Again, this is a storytelling problem that transcends this one particular episode.
Thea parents are sociopathic killers
Cement blockade FATALITY
T-Spheres come thru
Dig-L aim got better
Dinah stick work
Felicity got Oli
to suit back up
Pops ETHER
made Prometheus bow out
DT Lance did that
, so hopefully Young Pup wouldn't go thru that
Drago's on Death Stroke Island
Grinnning Chase in Flabbrow Cave, tho
