Arrow Season 8 Review: 6 Ups & 1 Down From 'Prochnost'

3. To Be A Father

Most fathers bond with their children through conversations, long walks along the beach or maybe even over a family dinner. Oliver Queen, however, he bonds with his daughter through archery. Yes, 'Prochnost' opened with Oliver training Mia with her bow (Throwback Claxon: by using the old tennis ball technique he employed in Season 1) and, as things were going well for the pair, it set the stage for a story about each of them learning to accept each other for who they are: Not who they were or who they will become.

That's a struggle that Oliver faces many times throughout the episode, because he isn't just concerned about his children finding out about his dark past in Russia, he's also concerned for their safety because his promise to Felicity before leaving with The Monitor was to ensure that. Thus, he was so committed to protecting the children he was forced to leave that he was unable to see them for the heroes they had become in his absence.

Similarly, Mia also struggled with living up to the legacy that Green Arrow, Black Canary and the rest of the heroes had left behind that she didn't see the flaws in those icons. And thus, with a little help from both Oliver and Laurel, she began to understand the importance of being her own hero - something she could ironically only do with the guidance of others.

The Oliver/Mia relationship has become a focal point of the season, and it's undoubtedly going to continually develop and evolve going forward, but if teaming up to take on six deadly cage fighters (inside a cage) didn't give you an idea, it's clear that things are moving in the right direction.