‘Arrow’ 3.16 Episode Recap and Review: Suicidal Tendencies

It’s finally time for the Michaels/Diggle wedding v2.0! Oliver’s late, because evidently there’s no wedding planner or mother of the bride or rehearsal dinner to let him know that wedding party pictures are a thing. (My suspension of disbelief only goes SO FAR, people!!) Digg and Lyla’s officiant gets suddenly deployed, so Ray Palmer steps in to marry the happy couple. Yeah, Oliver’s thrilled with that.

During the reception, news breaks about the Arrow’s new killing spree, much to the shock of Team Arrow. Shortly thereafter, the SCPD holds a press conference at which Laurel tries desperately to keep the Arrow from being tried in the media while Ray promises to devote copious resources to bringing the vigilante down. Digg and Lyla are ready to swing in and lend a hand, but Oliver sends them on their honeymoon. It’s a short-lived trip, but we’ll get to that later.

Felicity narrows down where the Evil!Arrow’s next attack is likely to occur. As it turns out, the League of Assassins has drastically changed its uniform. Now ALL of the scary ninjas are dressing like the Arrow, including Maseo. He warns Oliver that the attacks won’t stop until he agrees to take on the mantle of Ra’s al Ghul.

Maseo isn’t the only familiar face at the bust. Ray uses his crazy x-ray facial recognition software (I know. Just let it go.) to ID Oliver. Being a genius, he’s able to put two and two together to figure out that his VP/girlfriend is part of Team Arrow. They have a confrontation at Palmer Technologies in which she admits that she had feelings for Oliver. Ray says that he’s still going to bring Oliver down. He gathers all the evidence he has and takes it to the authorities.

Fortunately, the “authorities” happen to be Laurel Lance. Ray figures out that she’s in on it, too, and decides to use the ATOM suit to do a little vigilante-ing of his own. If the law won’t help him take down Oliver Queen, he’ll just do it himself.

Oliver goes to see Ray in his office, telling him to trust Felicity’s judgment if he doesn’t trust the vigilante himself. It doesn’t go well. Nor does the conversation between Oliver and Felicity a little later. Oliver believes that Ray is too much like him to have a stable relationship. He just doesn’t know it yet.

Ray fakes a 911 call to draw the Arrow out. They fight, but it doesn’t take Oliver too long to gain the upper hand. Ray still believes that Oliver is a murderer, and tells him to go ahead and prove to Felicity that he is the man Ray thinks he is. Oliver lets him go, saying that he isn’t the one with something to prove to Felicity. After the confrontation, Ray tells Felicity that he trusts her. They kiss and make up.

Ray goes to talk to Quentin, Laurel, and the mayor, saying that he’s changed his mind about chasing down the Arrow. Quentin is still pissed, but the mayor seems to be coming around, at least until someone puts an arrow through her chest. We see that Maseo is the one holding the bow, and he has Felicity in his sights now.

Over on the B plot, Deadshot interrupts Digg and Lyla’s honeymoon. Waller has a Suicide Squad mission for them: rescue a US Senator who’s being held hostage in a hospital in Kasnia. It’s the first time Lyla and Digg get to work with the Squad’s newest member, Cupid. She’s still hung up on the Arrow, at least for a little while.

The team breaks into the hospital and starts taking out the rebels, though as it turns out, the bad guys weren’t so much rebels as mercenaries. They were hired by Senator Cray in order to make him look like a hero just in time for him to announce his bid for the presidency. Deadshot saves Cupid during the firefight, giving her a new love interest.

Senator Cray has the hospital rigged to blow, and the Suicide Squad has just turned the hostages into witnesses. The Squad goes in again with a new plan. Deadshot shoots the bomb trigger out of Cray’s hand while the others get the hostages to safety. The only problem is that now he’s stuck on the roof of a building that’s still going to blow up in about 30 seconds. He sacrifices himself to make sure that the hostages get away and that Digg and Lyla don’t orphan baby Sara.

Back home, ARGUS is sweeping the entire incident under the rug and allowing the media to place the blame on Deadshot instead of Senator Cray. Digg says he wants to leave Team Arrow, but Lyla beats him to the punch. She says that at least Team Arrow is doing good. Besides, she quit ARGUS earlier that day when they refused to let her clear Deadshot’s name. Later, in the lair, Oliver and Digg toast to Floyd Lawton.

This week’s flashback wasn’t actually Team Arrow related, per se. Instead, we get Lawton’s backstory. Floyd comes home from the war suffering from severe PTSD. He spirals quickly until one night he pulls a gun on his wife and little girl. She calls 911 and has him locked away. Shortly thereafter, someone comes to his cell with a job offer. The woman is with H.I.V.E, and Lawton’s first target is to be Andrew Diggle.

So for all of the important things that happened this episode, I can’t help but think that the last few seconds of the flashback are what’s going to have the biggest impact overall. Don’t get me wrong, Ray being in the know is big. Lyla leaving ARGUS is big. But I’m willing to bet that Floyd Lawton just introduced the Big Bad for either season 4 or for the new spinoff.

Speaking of which, God bless Oliver for trying to be the bigger man here, but I’m just about done with Ray Palmer’s whole storyline (or lack thereof). Maybe in the new show, they’ll give him some characterization other than “not-Oliver.” Thus far, I’m not seeing that happen on Arrow. There are still a few episodes left in the season though, so there’s hope.

Best Quote:

Roy: “Wait, Ray built a super suit? That’s kind of awesome! <looks at Oliver> …and reckless.”

Things to Ponder:

• No seriously, how does Ray keep getting invited to all of these government events? Press conferences, war councils about the Glades, private meetings with the mayor. He’s the CEO of a private company!