This week, Arrow brought us “Honor Thy Fathers” which I’m pretty sure is a nod to the very second episode of the show: “Honor Thy Father”. As the title indicates, Robert Queen is back on the story as Oliver finds out some new information about him.
Oliver’s day starts off with bad news as Quentin tells him that all thirty-six criminals Adrian Chase had prosecuted were released on bail. Not only that, but a suspicious large package was received at the Mayor’s office from a “Simon Morrison” which Ollie recognizes as Adrian’s real name. Against everyone’s advice, Oliver opens the package and everyone is shocked because it is, basically, a skeleton surrounded by concrete.
Dinah brings forensic news as the skeleton belongs to one Henry Goodwin, a councilman at the Glades in 2002 with apparent no connections to Chase or Queen, but Oliver insists they try to find something that ties the narrative together even if it has something to do with Chase’s father, Justin Claybourne.
With the SCPD on the lookout for the dangerous criminals released, Team Arrow takes charge of checking up on the extremely dangerous ones like Derek Sampson, that one guy who didn’t feel pain from earlier in the season who was only cast because the actor was a WWE fighter who got beef with Stephen Amell.
Oliver checks up with Felicity, who apparently had been trying to locate William, but she is not managing to find him either as they assume his mother did a great job at hiding the boy — wah wah for them, because we already know Chase has gotten in touch with him.
Back in the long-overstaying-their-welcome flashbacks, Oliver is flying a plane to Lian Yu accompanied by his pal, Anatoly. Their go-to-movie for their time up above is a video of Robert Queen directed at Oliver, telling him to save this city. For the life of me, I have no idea where this video came from.
Dinah also has some bad news as she tells Quentin; there was DNA under Goodwin’s fingernails. They go down to the city hall to tell Oliver who is having a reunion with Thea who has just returned to town after some time away to figure things out. Turns out the person whose DNA was under the deceased’s nails was Robert Queen, leaving the siblings in shock, facing the possibility that their father is not who they thought he was. To add up to the evidence, the concrete is a match with the one used by Queen Consolidated. Furthermore, this information will have to go public.
Back at Lian Yu, Oliver says it will be better for his story if no one finds out he didn’t quite spend all five years at the island. He also sticks an arrow through that Deathstroke mask at the beach that has become a benchmark of the place.
Felicity informs Diggle that the concrete showed a high concentration of copper, which may tell them where Goodwin was killed. John and Oliver go to the location, a Queen Consolidated building named after Oliver, that got emptied a month prior. As they walk in, the floor beneath the duo cracks open and they fall into a closed room with concrete being poured inside.
Dinah and Curtis leave their stakeout of Derek to successfully save them from being buried alive. René, by the way, is once again missing from the action because he scored a date to get his daughter back, which somehow influences his nighttime vigilantism. And lest we lose track of all the threads, Derek ended up scoring two of the three chemicals that Justin Claybourne used to weaponize tuberculosis back in the day. Quentin interrupts the conversation with a clue: Darren Coffman; not only the last person Mr. Goodwin saw before he went cold, but also Claybourne’s lawyer.
Oliver and Thea meet up with Coffman who gives them a flash drive that was given to him by Adrian Chase, who had already predicted the Queens would turn to him. The first suggestion Ollie gives is to destroy the flash drive, but before he can do it anything, Felicity calls him with news that Derek was tracked to a contrabander who deals with the third chemical necessary for the weapon. He leaves Thea as she stares meaningfully at the flash drive.
Team Arrow interrupts Sampson’s trade, but he ends up leaving with some barrels of the chemical anyway. Thea, who ended up watching the video from the flash drive, tells Oliver that the content really does incriminate their father in the killing of Mr. Goodwin (side criticism: good gracious, that was one of the worst fake fights I have ever seen, like who even starts confrontations close to the edge of a rail-less area right next to a boiler full of concrete???).
Oliver and Thea are taken aback by the evidence in their own way: Thea is internalized that she is a monster by both nature and nurture while Ollie is possibly forcing himself to believe it was an accident. At the Island, Oliver and Anatoly have concocted a plan where the Russian will get a fishing boat to come get the Queen in two days time.
Curtis spreads a bit more of bad news as he analyzed the sample he got from the third chemical and it seems like Chase’s/Sampson’s current plans involve a weapon way stronger that Justin Claybourne’s and possibly without a cure. However, the resident scientist figure out a way to track where the biological weapon will be released.
Oliver finally asks where René is and we cut to him complaining to Quentin that what he thought would be a piece of cake court date to get his daughter back will actually be a hearing and he really doesn’t want to do that. His arguments are about not traumatizing his kid with yet another time where he has to talk about her mother’s addiction and death, but Quentin tries to change his mind, appealing to his emotions.
At the Arrow Cave, Oliver is rewatching that tape he was showing Anatoly in the flashbacks when Felicity interrupts. He says that there one for Thea too, but he never showed it to her. Plus, he is not doing very well with the recent discovery that his dad is a murderer. Nicely, Felicity whips out one of her pep talks and it works because Oliver finally puts the Green Arrow suit back on.
They finally get the location of the bomb — Robert Queen Applied Sciences’ rooftop — and, as they start their ascent, Oliver and Adrian square off. The rest of the team make their move on Derek’s crew and Curtis successfully defuses the weapon. Prometheus pulls out a sword in an arrow/fisticuffs fight, but Oliver reveals that, in the whole father debacle, Adrian’s was going to disown him, an information Darren Coffman told the Queens. Taken by the news, Chase puts the sword down and lets himself be knocked out by Oliver who refuses to kill him.
Team Arrow regroups to celebrate their victory over Prometheus, but, before the Queen siblings officially go out for drinks, Oliver gives Thea the tape their father left for her. Back in the island and for my utter distaste ever since I saw Dolph Lundgreen’s name in the credits, Oliver is darted into unconsciousness by Konstantin Kovar. At Zoey’s hearing, no matter how much Quentin asked and to the girl’s sadness, René doesn’t show up and has his parental rights restoring motion is denied.
Finally, Thea presses play on the flash drive and her tape is cute as Robert says words of encouragement as he tells her that she needs to be there for Oliver. The siblings talk about how their parents are allowed to be complex and have committed some not-so-great acts, but that doesn’t change their love. Oliver finally holds up the press conference as he states his father’s guilt of murder, but he also tells the story of how Robert killed himself so Ollie could live. In prison, Adrian watches the broadcast with a coy smile on his face.
