Arrow New Episode Review: 'Suicidal Tendencies' Features Arrow vs. Atom Showdown

Season 3 of the CW's Arrow returned with a brand new episode tonight entitled "Suicidal Tendencies" that featured Diggle and Lyla's wedding, the return of the Suicide Squad, and a showdown between the Arrow and the Atom. The episode hit the mark in some spots but missed in others.

Let's start with the good. Ra's al Ghul continued to put pressure on Oliver Queen to accept his offer to take over the League of Assassins by sending some of his soldiers to impersonate the Arrow and murder people in order to turn the city against him. It was clear that Oliver's decision to reject the offer would have dire consequences, and Ra's is taking a methodical and calculated route to position Oliver where he wants him. If the Arrow won't join of his own free will, then Ra's will give him no choice.

At the same time, Ray Palmer is out there in his shiny new super suit on his crusade to save the city in his own way. So when he heard the Arrow was dropping bodies and then discovered that Oliver Queen is the man under the hood, it obviously presented some significant problems for everybody involved. Felicity's relationship with Ray all but fell apart, her already fragile relationship with Oliver strained even further, and Oliver and Ray battled over their ideals and over Felicity. Both men eventually suited up, but experience won out over technology as Ollie disabled the suit and stopped Ray, at which point he told him to trust Felicity and give her what she wants.

It truly felt like the walls were closing in around Oliver in this episode, so it was almost jarring that Ray aligned himself with the Arrow so quickly. Then again, Ray was kind of being a colossally stubborn ass who refused to listen to reason, so let's call it a victory.

It seemed like things had turned around for the Arrow at the end of the episode, but then Maseo fired an arrow into the mayor's heart to throw Oliver right back into the crosshairs again. Next week should make the situation even worse for Ollie. How far can he bend until he breaks?

The Suicide Squad portion of the episode was okay, if only because Deadshot and Cupid are such lively characters who bring plenty of energy to the episodes in which they appear. But the negatives here outweighed the positives. For starters, two members does not a Suicide Squad make. Diggle and Lyla don't count. Second, the senator's plot was pretty moronic in that he wanted to be a hero in order to become president, but he was also willing to die so he could have a legacy. It didn't make a whole lot of sense.

It also didn't make sense that Diggle wants to leave Team Arrow now. Even if he agrees with Deadshot that you can't have a family and a mission, he's still far too loyal to Oliver to just abandon him at a time like this.

The flashbacks in this episode were also particularly weak. Did we really need an entire episode's worth of flashbacks to show us that Floyd Lawton had PTSD, couldn't adjust to home life, and then joined H.I.V.E. with Diggle's brother as his first target? Wouldn't this time have been better served showing us Oliver's time in Hong Kong? I get that the point was to give Deadshot's death some weight, but it didn't really resonate. Plus, the old "if we don't see his body" rule makes me think he's still alive.

Notes

- So Ray is on a crusade because the Arrow is killing people and then he straight up tries to vaporize Ollie. AND he electrocuted Roy!

- Speaking of which, Oliver gave his little speech to Ray and then seemingly left Roy in that puddle. A downed ally is no excuse to stop a badass walk away.

- So Palmer has all this advanced tech in his suit, and an electric thingamajig from Oliver shuts it down?

- Cupid's fighting moves were awesome!

- "If you hurt her, they'll never find your body." All hail Diggle.

What did you think of "Suicidal Tendencies"? Let us know in the comments section.