Arrow: 'Honor Thy Father' review

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he second episode of The CW's Arrow aired this evening in the U.S. After the pilot, there was one question to be answered, but this episode pushed things even further with a few plot twists, the largest of which was at the very end. I want to maintain a spoiler-free set of reviews for this particular show, so I won't be publishing any consequential details on the plot or main characters.

CGI is still not an element the director wants to integrate into Arrow, it seems. After two hours of the series, it's clear that the fight scenes are going to be realistic, but special effects and other improvements, save for the appearance of an island, are going to remain true. This is a good path for the show as it would not benefit from the use of any computer generated imagery. In fact, such an element would fracture the viewing experience; Arrow is not The Dark Knight or Iron Man.

Acting in "Honor Thy Father" was slightly weaker than in the pilot. There wasn't anything significantly wrong with the acting in the first episode, but it wasn't special in any way. As for the dialogue in the second, it improved. Character development is going to be much slower than people would hope and that might hurt the show. Right now, however, the story is progressing at a steady rate and the characters are improving gradually. More ameliorations in these areas should be applied in the next episode, though it's unclear where the story is headed.

Humor is an element that Arrow could benefit from. There's not one comical moment in this episode, nor in the pilot. Even for a superhero of sorts, wry or even ironic moments are enjoyable.

Score: 7/10

As with the pilot, this new series' second episode is worth watching, ergo deserving the same score. You shouldn't expect it to be "amazing", per se, but there are a few of things to appreciate, like the well-written story (so far), constant character development (even if it's stagnant at times), predictable action scenes (they still entertain), and the usual hour of vigilante with some twists.