Arrow Review: “Burned”

Arrow has returned, and our man Jethro has a review.

For the new year, we get a bunch of character development, and the vigilante gains some acceptance.

Title: “Burned”

Cast and Crew

Director: Eagle Egilsson
Writers: Moira Kirland Dekker and Ben Sokolowski

Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green arrow
Katie Cassidy as Dinah “Laurel” Lance
David Ramsay as John “Dig” Diggle
Willa Holland as Thea “Speedy” Queen
Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance
Colin Salmon as Walter Steele
Susanna Thompson as Moira Queen

Full cast and crew can be found here.

Premise

Six weeks after the events of the previous episode, The Vigilante’s absence is noticed by the population (or at least the media) of Star City. Oliver has recovered physically from having several arrows shot in his back and having the @#$%^ kicked out of him by John Barrowman, but is still mentally unprepared to return to vigilante work. Luckily, a string of mysterious murders takes place which conveniently involve Laurel.

High Points

  • More character development, including more Island Mysteries.
  • I liked Oliver’s reaction to… oh… something. I noticed it while watching but I just don’t remember now. Oh well.

Low Points

  • Oliver had several arrows IN HIS BACK, and then got kicked around and dropped out a window. And he’s recovered in six weeks. He must be part Wolverine.

The Scores:

Originality: I think this might’ve been the least original episode of this show so far. It was absolutely obvious who (or rather, what) the antagonist would turn out to be, and it was obvious that Oliver would leap back in as soon as Laurel was… well, not even in danger. She was just involved. 3/6.

Effects: Lots of fire and decent make-up, and nothing screamed out as being fake or horrible. 5/6

Story: This episode failed to draw my attention enough to overcome my usual needs to multitask. Again, it wasn’t a bad story, it was just a bit obvious. The Island Memories were interesting and we are learning more about how Oliver turned from mild-mannered (ok, ill-mannered) rich brat to Hardened Killer, and we did get a glimpse into the fact that these qualities were within him all along, but the rest of the episode did not draw me in at all. 3/6

Acting: As usual, Arrow delivers quality acting. 5/6.

Emotional Response: Not a whole lot this week. Which is sad considering the Walter subplot. 3/6

Production: Good as always. 5/6

Overall: Not a terrible episode, but one that just didn’t draw me in at all. But again, since it wasn’t actually bad, I’ll give it a 4/6.

In total, Arrow: Burning receives 28/42 points.

What did everyone else think? I have a sneaky suspicion that maybe this was a decent episode but I just had a bad day or something.

3 replies on “Arrow Review: “Burned””

  1. It was, as you said, predictable, however I believe it was necessary.

    Something had to draw him back in at a slow-ish pace, and there was a decent amount of character development.

    Am I the only one who felt like they were hinting that speedy knows that Oliver is Green Arrow, and she’s trying to get him to slip up and admit something?

    • They’re certainly playing her as suspicious, a few of her looks were curious, plus she expressed very little surprise or protest when Oliver started questioning the fireman or when he stuck around while everyone else ran away.

      Plus, there’s the fact that she’s been close to him a few times and his disguise REALLY SUCKS (no one has every wondered who I am when I wore a hoodie).

      Still I’d be surprised if she’s completely certain, I suspect it’s more of a subconscious thing at this point.

  2. This felt like the obligatory “recovery” episode however done really poorly. The only useful thing that happened to propel the plot was Det Lance giving Laurel the phone and revealing to the viewer that he was monitoring it. How come he can modify it yet cant add anything to track the call back through the network?

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