TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Arrow Season 05 Episode 21: Honor Thy Fathers

Half of the point of Arrow Season 05 is that Oliver is dealing with a crisis of legacy. A legacy of what he’ll leave in Star City should he ever fall. That’s why he expanded the team, that’s why he became the mayor and kept the office for the season, he wants to truly change the city. And in “Honor Thy Fathers”, the very basis for his whole crusade was put into question when the honor of his father, Robert Queen, was truly brought into question.

This was actually a really cool twist, as you had to wonder how much farther Chase could twist the knife, turns out, quite a bit! The really fun part was that this was another callback to Season 01, where we actually heard about this murder from Robert Queen himself. To think that they pulled that thread seasons later proves that they respect everything that’s happened from then to now.

Which brings us to the ironic return of Thea, who was summoned because of Chase’s rampage, and walked back into Ollie’s life right when they found out what was going on with Chase’s latest “gift”. You have to feel bad for Thea, because she’s gone through so much that this could’ve totally broken her. You could even argue that she’s gone through just as much as Ollie in some ways. Her ending though with that video you could tell was exactly what she needed)

But what really made “Honor Thy Fathers” shine was that it was about how Oliver finally started to let go of the past, as hard as it is, and move forward. Which is why him donning the Green Arrow suit for the first time in several episodes was great, and believable. And though we know it’s not over, you feel that Oliver’s takedown of Chase with just his words was real.

There were some faults in the episode, sadly, the return of Cody Rhodes (wrestler who faced Stephen Amell at Summer Slam a while back) as Sampson was nothing more than window dressing. I wish they’d let him show off his skills on the mic, but oh well.

Also, while I’m happy the Renee storyline got more spotlight, I didn’t like that ending. Although…based on the preview for next episode, there’s a reason he didn’t show up.

And in a surprise, the flashbacks returned! And in good time too, I was find with the gap that they took because at this point, there can’t be much left to tell from Oliver’s time in the past. And as we would find out, that was very true. Arrow pulled things full circle by showing Oliver go back to Lian Yu, setting up the post with Deathstroke’s mask (who we will see again!) and even setting up the boat ride that will bring Oliver back home. OH! And they even explained the beard! BRILLIANT!!!! Oh, and Kovar is back…so that’s good too.

So, in the end, “Honor Thy Fathers” was a very good episode that showed that the personal stories of these characters can be just as detailed as the fight scenes they get put in. Two episodes left, and things are about to get dark once again.