Arrow Season 3, Episode 17 Recap: Suicidal Tendencies

Dearly beloved, we are gathered around our flatscreens to watch Arrow and bear witness to the union (v. 2.0) between John Diggle and Lyla Michaels. Also, to see some cool stuff with the Suicide Squad and possibly a showdown between the Arrow and the Atom.

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I also believe that Ra’s al Ghul gentleman might be continuing his newfound passion for smearing the Arrow’s good name. That’s a lot to keep us entertained, so let’s get into “Suicidal Tendencies,” shall we?

On-the-Mark Recap: It’s wedding time, and Oliver Queen is late. As Diggle fills him in on his best man duties, Felicity Smoak arrives with her date, Ray Palmer. Ray and John meet for the first time, with the latter warning the former that if he hurts Felicity, “they’ll never find your body.” Problem: the minister is nowhere to be found. But Ray is a minister too, because of course he is. Looks like Palmer is officiating this wedding.

John and Lyla’s vows are short and sweet, and we soon get to the reception. Laurel Lance is looking good in her dress, but she’s also sporting a cast due to her “enthusiastic” new trainer. Before Oliver can ask about that in more detail, Felicity joins them, having caught the bouquet. Oliver claims to not be upset that she’s there with Ray, telling her she deserves “a good guy and a normal life.” Suddenly, everyone on Team Arrow gets a phone alert about the Arrow getting back to killing.

At the Arrow Cave, the whole gang (even Lyla) watches a police press conference led by Captain Lance. No charges against the Arrow yet, but one man promises to use all his resources to bringing the Arrow to justice: Ray Palmer. Since Lance and the Arrow aren’t on speaking terms right now, Oliver tells Roy Harper to hit the streets to try to ferret out the fake Arrow, though the consensus is that Ra’s al Ghul is behind all of this. Not you, Diggle, you have a honeymoon to go on. Sadly, John and Lyla find Deadshot waiting in their limo …

And that’s because Amanda Waller needs Lyla to lead Task Force X on a mission to extract a kidnapped senator from a hostage situation in a foreign country. Diggle says he’s going too, and along with Floyd Lawton, learns that Cupid is going to be on the team too. Fun!

Felicity isn’t having any luck finding the fake Arrow, but Roy has some dirt on a narcotics shipment that seems like a probable place he’d show. Oliver suits up but wants his partner to shit this one out since it involves the League of Assassins.

Did Cupid get any more normal while she was locked up? Apparently not, as she grills Lyla about the wedding and plans her own with the Arrow. Also, making strong, wonderful babies. Deadshot scoffs at spouses and kids, saying they are weaknesses. John and Lyla don’t help their side of the argument, disagreeing about whether they should just save Senator Cray or free the other hostages too. Diggle says he’s not Lawton, to which Floyd says he wasn’t always him either.

Just as expected, Arrow finds the fake Arrow at the narcotics scene. Actually, it’s more like three fake Arrows, and even after defeating them in hand-to-hand combat, there’s the small matter of their leader. It’s Maseo, and he implores Oliver not to keep refusing the offer to take over for Ra’s al Ghul. One smoke bomb later, all the League members are gone. Outside, the Atom is flying around on patrol, and his cool helmet has x-ray vision and facial recognition. Yep, he sees that the Arrow is Oliver Queen.

He uses that information right away, revealing what he knows to Felicity. She says Oliver hasn’t been doing the killing, but Ray now has some trust issues with her. After all, he opened up to her and told her everything, but she’s been working with the Arrow this whole time. She wants to know what he plans to do, and Ray says he’s going to honor his promise to the city.

Oliver and Roy compare their own arrows to the arrows used by the fakes and find that they are identical. An obviously upset Felicity comes in and spills the beans about Ray, to which Oliver lashes out in anger. Meanwhile, Ray is signing a statement to Laurel that he knows Oliver is the Arrow, but she stonewalls him by saying the digital images could be faked. He implies he knows she’s Black Canary, but resigns himself to the idea that the system can’t help him. He’ll just have to seek justice on his own.

Senator Cray tells the other hostages everything is going to be alright. The Suicide Squad arrives, but Cray pulls a gun on them and says no one was supposed to be sent in. Confused? A big fight breaks out with a bunch of armed men, and Deadshot takes a bullet while saving Cupid’s life. Diggle goes to patch Lawton up, but pauses when he sees the name of his victims tattooed on his body: including his brother. Also, Cupid now has a crush on him, making Floyd remark that he’s changed his mind about living.

It isn’t long until Cray reveals his plan. He has presidential ambitions, so he hired the mercenaries to stage the whole thing so he’d get credit for defusing a tense situation. Now the hostages have become witnesses, so, you know.

Oliver makes an appointment to see Ray at his office, but despite his best efforts, Palmer isn’t buying the idea that there’s an Arrow impersonator. They argue about Felicity, with Ray suggesting that her emotional attachment to Ollie is clouding her judgment.

The Suicide Squad is in real trouble now as reinforcements arrive for the mercs. Even worse, Cray has rigged the entire place (a hospital, apparently) to blow. Lyla breaks down a bit, wondering if they’re about to leave their daughter an orphan. Surprisingly, it’s Deadshot who gives the pep talk, saying they’re both going to make it out and back to their little girl.

Back in the Arrow Cave, Oliver tells Felicity it didn’t go well with Ray, and that her “new boyfriend” is both stubborn and unstable. He offers that Felicity deserves better, but she counters that what she deserves is someone who isn’t afraid to be happy. Oliver’s glum response is that Ray can’t save the city and have a relationship, he’s just too new at it to know.

A 911 call from a power plant comes in, and Arrow and Arsenal respond. Ah, but it’s a fake out: the Atom made the call, and he’s ready to fight them. An electrical blast takes out Arsenal, and arrows just bounce off the suit. Atom flies by and knocks the Arrow down, but Oliver is able to use a handheld arrow to find a weak spot in the suit’s power system, and Ray goes from cocky to powerless just like that. Arrow draws his bow, but says if he was really the man Ray thinks he is, he’d just kill Palmer now. He doesn’t, of course, offering his hand and telling Ray that he has nothing to prove to Felicity, but Ray does.

The Suicide Squad makes its move, but Cray threatens to detonate the building, apparently willing to die a hero. Did you really think the three of you could just … wait, there were four of you! Deadshot starts dropping some bodies and shoots the detonator out of Cray’s hand. The hostages are freed, but Lawton won’t leave the roof of the hospital, saying he needs to cover their escape. He holds a picture of his family as the others watch the building explode. Don’t worry. Deadshot never manages to die that easily.

Felicity checks on Ray, who says both his ego and body are bruised. He should have trusted Felicity, and he’s pretty darn lucky that Felicity still wants to accept his offer to be a true partner. Kissing ensues, and cue the #Olicity shippers’ riot right … about … now!

Lawton’s name gets smeared in the media, where reports have Cray the hero and make it seem like Floyd was the terrorist. Lyla tells her husband that she tried to set the record straight but was stopped by Waller. John wants to leave Team Arrow out of fairness to their daughter, but Lyla says the work he’s doing with the Arrow is good. Unlike her own, which is why she’s resigned from her job.

At the Arrow Cave, Felicity tells Ollie she’s off to help Ray with his meeting with the mayor, as he’s had a sudden change of heart about the Arrow. She also give him a kiss on the cheek for proving her right. Diggle comes in as she’s leaving, and he has a drink with Oliver as they compare notes. Dig says they need to stop the fake Arrow before they kill more people, and Oliver suggests they might soon be innocent people. That sounds like foreshadowing!

Sure enough, Ray and Laurel try to convince the Arrow is being framed over Lance’s objections. Their case takes a decided turn for the worse when a green arrow hits the mayor in the chest. It’s Maseo in the fake outfit this time, and he’s got Felicity in his sights next.

Meanwhile, in Floyd Lawton’s past: A woman gets a surprise visitor in a military uniform. What so you know, it’s Lawton, returning from his tour of duty unexpectedly. As he reunites with his wife, a little girl walks in. It’s Lawton’s daughter, though she doesn’t recognize her dad.

Later, we see Floyd drinking and yelling at his daughter for her unwillingness to accept him. His wife begs him to get help for his PTSD, but he responds by pulling a gun on her, and she calls the cops.

We next see Lawton in jail, getting a visitor with an offer to put his skills to use. The woman calls love “like a bullet in the brain” for people like Lawton, who warms up to her proposition. He asks for his target and finds out that it’s Andrew Diggle. Full circle, I’d say.

Favorite Moment: This wasn’t a great Arsenal episode, but Roy did have the line of the night: “Ray built a super suit? That’s kind of awesome.” Then after Oliver shoots him a dirty look, he quickly backpedals, “And reckless.” Nice save buddy.

Final Thought: It’s tough to juggle two main plots, but this episode did it about as well as can be expected. Several times I laughed out loud, and the backstory for Deadshot was a pleasant surprise, and brought him to the place where he has a death wish in the comics. I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of him. As for the Atom, here’s hoping he can become a real hero in time to help against the League in the inevitable season-ending showdown.

Next: Previously, on Arrow: our recap of The Offer

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