Arrow: “Suicidal Tendencies” Review

Arrow Season 3 Episode 17

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Michael Spring in Drama, Reviews, Superheroes // 1 Comment

Diggle and Lyla’s honeymoon turns into a mission for ARGUS, while Ollie finds himself facing an unexpected new foe.

The CW

HARD TARGET

Note: The following review goes into detail about the episode. SPOILER ALERT!

The latest appearance of Arrow’s Suicide Squad wasn’t exactly the return I was hoping for. Floyd Lawton has been one of the best recurring characters to show up on the show, and here we got to see into his past and find out how he became one of the most feared assassins in the world. These flashbacks were a little scatter-brained, with a different Lawton showing up in each of them, but I did like the contrast of his family life with how he is today. It set us up for his moment of ultimate redemption at the end, as he sacrificed his life so Diggle, Lyla and Cupid could escape. But come on, who are they kidding? I fully expect Deadshot to return at some stage, as we never seen any actual proof that he died in that explosion.

We were treated to Suicide Squad lite this week, with only Deadshot and Cupid joining Diggle and Lyla on their mission. The twist with the congressman turning out to be the bad guy was interesting, but the best part of this story was the interactions between the characters. With Diggle and Lyla getting married at the start of the episode, this mission effectively acted as their honeymoon. Their brush with death made them realize that they couldn’t risk their lives like this anymore with baby Sara at home. Lyla seems to have quit ARGUS for good now, but it seems like Diggle will be sticking with Team Arrow for the time being. Dig’s conversations with Deadshot were a real highlight, and you could see just how far the two of them have come since their initial interactions on the show. Cupid was the wildcard here, and her absolute insanity provided the episode’s funniest moments. Her fawning over Lawton was brilliant, and it seems like she’ll fall for any guy in a suit who saves her life.

Speaking of guys in suits, Ollie found himself facing down a handful of the League’s fake Arrows. With Ra’s showing up in Star City last week, it seems like the League is going all out to discredit Ollie in every way. It started with murdering criminals, but by the end of the episode, the mayor was lying on the ground with an arrow through her heart. Lance is going to be going all out to catch the Arrow now, and I wonder will Ollie end up having to accept Ra’s’s offer if the death toll continues to rise. The highlight of the action back in Star City was definitely Ray learning who the Arrow really is. As is customary with superheroes, this lead to a bit of a smackdown between the Arrow and the Atom. While it didn’t rival the special effects you’ll see in the Avengers, I was quite impressed by the shots of Ray’s suit in action. The fight between Ollie and Ray was brief but entertaining, and it was great to see Ollie quickly figure out a way to beat his more powerful foe.

The CW

There were a couple of moments throughout the episode that weren’t very impressive though, and they stuck out as glaring mistakes. The first one was Diggle patching up Lawton’s shoulder, only for him to grab a hold of it later in a bonding moment. There was no reaction from Lawton, so it seems it was forgotten that his shoulder was supposedly injured. That kind of mistake is common enough on a show, and it’s easy to forgive, but this next one was a lot worse. Roy was sent flying by one of the Atoms electric blasts and was knocked unconscious. Straight after the fight, Ollie just walked off into the night and Roy wasn’t shown again. I actually found it quite amusing at the time, and it was such a glaring error that showrunner Mark Guggenheim had to directly address it on his Tumblr. I don’t like to pick holes in a show for slight mistakes, but it just felt like there were a few more than usual this week.

THE BREAKDOWN

Overall, “Suicidal Tendencies” was a decent episode that let Floyd Lawton once again shine. This was a fine diversion from the main story in some ways, and it brought the Atom in the mix in a big way, but now it’s time to really pick things up a notch. Arrow hasn’t been quite as focused as it was last year, and with six episodes left we’re still lacking a bit of urgency. The mayor getting murdered should prove to be exactly the catalyst we need though, and I’m hoping to see the whole city out for the Arrow’s hood. I still believe Ollie is going to have to take Ra’s’s offer in the end, and perhaps next week’s episode will lead us towards that decision.