Arrow 'Burned': Out Of The Dark

In a way, I'm glad Arrow didn't brush Oliver's defeat at the hands of the Dark Archer off to the side. Instead, Arrow choose to put their main character in a situation where he faced death, but had more to lose than he did before. This made Oliver afraid, and out some serious doubts in his mind. Oliver wasn't the only one to be in the dumps in Burned, as Moira had to deal with the fact that Walter was taken by the people she is up tangled up in. Throughout Burned, I kept thinking of the hit movie The Dark Knight Rises, and as like Bruce Wayne, Oliver Queen rose from the darkness and back into the light (well in a theoretical sense).

So 6 weeks has passed since Year's End and Oliver is back on his feet and doing his episodic shirtless workout. Diggle comes in and informs Oliver there is no word on Walter's disappearance. Diggle also inquires what Oliver plans to do now, but Oliver doesn't seam to want to do any work in his vigilante persona. Oliver heads home where Moira is moping over the disappearance (kidnap) of Walter. On the other side of the city, Laurel's friend, Joanna, lost her brother in a fire, but she doesn't think it was an accident, but a murder instead. Seeing the evidence, Laurel takes it to her father, and when she discovers the phone, calls upon the vigilante for help. Seeing the logical, Oliver too begins to investigate and considers once again to don the hood. After confronting the man responsible, Oliver notices that the man has a firefly tattoo and major burns on him. For you DC comic fans, you might know him as Firefly. Oliver is faced with the choice to continue to let the police to let them the work, or don the hood again and help the innocent.

I really felt that Burned was one of Arrow's better episodes, and it was great to watch. Arrow proved that once again Oliver was very much human despite all he had been through, in addition to how much he distanced himself from everyone. Oliver had something to lose now, and it terrified him. It is nice to see though that Oliver cares about how his family is affected by his actions, considering how much he was lying to them. It also gives Oliver something to protect and get strength from. Oliver's rise back to the being the hood through was very much like The Dark Knight Rises, as Oliver rose from his own despair back into the hero he was meant to be. Although I don't think Batman had Diggle, who continued to help Oliver and give witty one liners. It was also great to see Laurel reach out to the Hood for help, and believing in him. Despite her father being against it and eventually using her due to it. Finally, it was nice to see Thea finally stand up to her mother about moping around the house and pointing out that Moira let go on Thea with parenting. You tell her Thea.

Now there wasn't much about this episode I didn't like. Although I was annoyed about how Quentin basically just used his daughter to solve a case. He is so going to pay for that later. Oh and, how many work out sessions does Oliver really need? Although, since it's the new year, I'll forgive him.

Burned starts Arrow in the new year on a high note as once again we are reminded of Arrow's strengths (as well as Stephen Amell's body) in it's story lines. So I think we're going to see Oliver becoming more of a hero than a man hunting down names on a list. I also hope that Quentin is foiled in his attempts in tracking the hood down, or becomes an ally for Oliver.

Did you like Burned? You think Quentin is going to get whats coming to him?