Arrow – Honor Thy Fathers

By: Stacy Miller

Mayor Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) has to deal with the release of the prisoners convicted under D.A. Adrian Chase (Josh Segarra) because the District Attorney was revealed to be a serial killer. He is told that he will have to vacate the building as the bomb squad was notified regarding the suspicious looking huge crate that was delivered to his office. But as Oliver is the Green Arrow (which is only known to Diana, Rene and Quentin), he has no problem with going into his office without the bomb squad’s okay.  When Oliver opens the crate, he finds a mummified body encased in concrete inside. The body is identified as Henry Goodwin, a reporter who was reported missing back in 2002. Upon further investigation, it is revealed that neither Oliver nor Chase had any connection to Goodwin.  So, Team Arrow wonder whether the connection was between Goodwin and Justin Claybourne, Adrian Chase’s father.

One silver lining for Oliver is the return of little sister Thea (Willa Holland). She came back because Oliver was worried whether she was safe after it was discovered that Adrian Chase was Prometheus.  Their reunion is interrupted by Dinah (Juliana Harkavy), who announced that the DNA of Robert Queen (Oliver’s father) was found under Goodwin’s fingernails.  But that’s not the only thing. Apparently, the concrete encasing the body came from a Queen Consolidated subsidiary. It’s obvious that someone is going through great lengths to make Robert Queen look like a murderer. Three guesses – here’s a clue, their initials are “AC.”  As Mayor, Oliver thinks he should hold an immediate press conference as all the public labs know the results up the tests.  Oliver thinks it would be better if they step out front in order for it not to look like a cover-up.  But Thea disagrees; she thinks that is actually what Adrian Chase is hoping that they do.

Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) tells Oliver that from the tests it was discovered that the concrete contained high levels of copper.  She was able to obtain an address for where the copper came from. Oliver and John (David Ramsey) go to investigate and immediately find themselves trapped in a room that quickly fills up with concrete.  It is a trap that they should have seen coming! Curtis (Echo Kellum) and Dinah were following Derek Sampson (Cody Runnels), but have to stop in order to help save their friends. All of this turns out to be a distraction for Sampson and company to break into a lab in order to steal some chemicals.  When combined with a third, the chemicals help to make the tuberculosis chemical weapon that Justin Claybourne was working on, which makes the Adrian Chase connection obvious now.

Team Arrow locate an attorney named Darren Coffman (Eric Pollins), who Adrian Chase got in touch with prior.  Thea urges Coffman to tell everything he knows about Claybourne.  But Coffman says that due to attorney client privilege, he can’t.  Felicia contacts Oliver and tells him that she has found where the third deadly chemical can be located. Team Arrow arrives at the chemical building location just as Sampson and his group are stealing the third chemical. But Team Arrow is able to get some of the chemical for a sample.

Thea shows Oliver a video on the jump drive that shows Robert Queen arguing with Goodwin at Queen Construction.  There is a struggle and Goodwin ends up falling in a vat of concrete. Although it was an accident, Robert Queen covered it up.

In flashbacks, we see Anatoly (David Nykl) and Oliver on a small plane. Anatoly is looking at a video of Robert as he is interested in knowing why Oliver wants to go home and begin saving his city. When they land on an island, Oliver finds Deathstroke’s mask as well as a surprise run-in with Kovar (Dolph Lundgren).

Back in the present, Team Arrow learn that the third chemical definitely poses a danger as it is highly potent and could make weapons that are extremely powerful.  But there is a ray of hope as this chemical has properties that cause it to degrade so it can be tracked.

Oliver looks at the video of his father telling him that he needed to save Starling City.  But Oliver is experiencing doubts about the kind of man his father was, especially after seeing how Goodwin died. Felicity tells Oliver that Adrian is trying to throw him off his game by causing him to doubt his father. And in extension, this would cause him to doubt himself (as he has been doing for a while) and the purpose of his mission.  Felicity urges Oliver not to let Chase win; reminding that Oliver is a good man. He saved the city and many people. “Maybe it’s time to stop living for your father and start living for yourself,” Felicity says.  The computer tells them where they can find the chemical.  It is at the Robert Queen Sciences Center.  Team Arrow suit up to go and get the drug and surprise, Oliver is back in his suit as Green Arrow. “Felicity has a way with words,” Oliver tells John and Curtis. They go to the roof to stop the drug from being distributed to the public. And who should they see on the roof?  No, not Santa Claus but someone who thinks Oliver Queen is very naughty.  Yep, it’s Adrian Chase.  Prometheus is also there for the weapon and he has no intention of letting Team Arrow get it first.  Oliver tells his team to go and stop the distribution; he’ll deal with Chase.  Dinah has to use her canary cry to save Rene (Rick Gonzalez) from Sampson.  And John is able to stop the distribution.  But as exciting as all this is, it is not the fight that we want to see.  That is happening between Oliver and Chase. Adrian takes off his mask and tells Oliver that who they are is because of their fathers. Oliver tells Adrian something he didn’t know: Chase’s father Claybourne had planned to disown his son because of Chase being crazy.  Oliver got this information from the lawyer Coffman, who I guess decided to not to worry about the attorney client privilege. So, all Adrian has been doing for Claybourne’s memory and to be a son his father could have been proud of was for nothing. Claybourne was ashamed of Chase and that he was his son. “My father wasn’t perfect, but at least I know he never would’ve given up on me,” Oliver taunts.  Adrian is very upset by this news and sinks to his knees, throwing down his sword.  He urges Oliver to kill him.  But Oliver refuses to do so as he doesn’t want to allow his dark side to be in control.  He will bring Chase in and let the law deal with him. I get the feeling that this decision will come back to bite Oliver in his Green Arrow suited ass.

Later at the Arrow Cave, Oliver gives Thea a video that Robert Queen made for her.  In the video Robert tells Thea how proud he is of her and that she needs to remember that she is stronger than Oliver. He told her that her brother would need her strength. “I miss him,” Thea tells Oliver.

The episode concludes with Mayor Queen giving a press conference confirming Robert Queen’s responsibility in Goodwin’s death.  But Oliver also adds that due to his father sacrificing his own life ten years ago, he is alive today to serve the city as its mayor. Adrian Chase is wearing a yellow jumpsuit and in a glass encased cell watching Oliver’s news conference. He has a weird smile on his face. I have the feeling that Prometheus’ reign of terror is far from over!