There’s really not much tension in the dilemma (Corporate Executive isn’t quite as catchy a title), but laying out a choice between which duty to his family Oliver would honor was a nice encapsulation of the kind of conflict Arrow sets out to create for its main character.
The show gets to have its cake and eat it too by letting Oliver playfully (read: drunkenly) shirk his responsibility as heir to the Queen company in one scene, only to reveal him as a wounded son, weighted down by his father’s true legacy, the next. Sexy and sensitive is the golden dichotomy that the show is trading on, and while you can just look at Amell and tell he’s mastered the former, he’s proving he can also handle the latter when given the opportunity. Focussing the episode on Oliver’s internal adjustment to his new life was a strong backbone to build upon, one that will likely continue as such in the future.
Where Arrow continues to struggle is in finding the likability in everyone except Oliver, though that’s not surprising considering how much more interesting he is as a character. The second-stringers are still in the moulding phase, with only Digg becoming more realized, both as a fellow ass-kicker, and as someone who understands what it means to come back home after spending years fighting for your life somewhere else.
Tommy, meanwhile, needs depth, and fast. If the episode has nothing for him to do except crash the Queen household and spout a bad joke like some douchey latchkey kid, don’t bother bringing him in. Laurel’s father meanwhile is busy continuing his pattern of inept policing and irrational parenting. He seethes at Oliver for putting Laurel in danger only moments after Diggs saves her from attack by a Triad heavy and goons, whose MP5s sounds suspiciously like laser guns.
Maybe Oliver should have listened to that advice, as Laurel continues to stick out as problem character #1. When she’s not busy looking wistfully in Oliver’s direction, her dialogue comes off as either laughably self-righteous, or painfully expository.
The contrast is particularly in each characters first moments this week. Oliver’s opening narration is a fine enough way to lay out the specifics of the show, especially when the only thing they intrude on are a prep scene and its subsequent fight sequence. Laurel’s introduction this week, however, consisted of her flatly laying out her relationship status with Oliver, as her client stands by with an appropriately dazed look that screams “how is this relevant to my dead father who you’re supposed to be avenging in court?”
“Honor Thy Father” does what it can to tie in Oliver reconciling his life after the boat accident with Laurel and her father grieving over the daughter that died because of it, but neither character yet has the credibility to give such scenes any weight (the capper easily being Detective Lance telling his daughter that calling him on his hypocrisy has no place in their household).
The love interest and the hard-ass are near-universally crappy roles in the early goings of any show, seeing as they exist mainly as functions of the plot, with individual details developing over time, so it’s by no fault of the actors, or even so much the writers, that the Lance’s are as insufferably bland as their name would suggest. We can only pray their personalities grow more tolerable soon, or they’ll just continue to flounder on Oliver’s coattails.
And the show will live or die based on its lead, which is why “Honor Thy Father” leaves me more hopeful for Arrow‘s future than last week did. It’d be incredibly easy for the show to coast by on its mix of corny dialogue, abundant action, and unintentional hilarity, but as an optimistic viewer, I can only hope that Oliver’s ironic summation of himself as “shallow” proves true for the show as well, and that there’s a satisfying character study beneath all the overwrought drama and pyrotechnics.
- Stray Thoughts
-Conspiracy update: Mom’s in league with the Triads! Their symbol is insanely nondescript and incredibly detailed!
-Island update: Well, we know how Oliver got one of his scars. The mysterious archer could be who trains Oliver (the mask from episode one suggests it’s DC villain Deathstroke), OR, we can assume it was a radioactive arrow, and now that Oliver’s been bitten by it, he can do whatever an arrow does, a la Spider-Man. I’ll go with the latter.
-Speaking of unlikely predictions, I’m still saying Daddy Queen is alive, wrapped up corpse or no wrapped corpse. Give it a season or seven.
-The island scenes are clearly where the budget is being reined in, as it looks like Oliver crashed on Victoria Island. I’m expecting plenty of caves and nondescript forests for future sequences.
-The platinum blond Triad lady who escapes to fight another day is comic villain China White. A stable of recurring baddies would be to the show’s benefit. The previews hint at a monocled sniper for next week; perhaps a lady Deadshot?
-Hilariously Specific Arrow of the Week: Only one “special” arrow this week, though it does save Oliver from being shot by Detective Lance and record a confession from Somers.
-Ab-tastic Workout of the Week: Oliver gets his swell on climbing a rope and working on his audition for Stomp
–I have a theory that Arrow is secretly trying to be the CW’s version of The Wire. Case in point: emphasis on urban decay, business getting into bed with drug crime, the presence of stevedores, people named Wallace, etc.