Arrow season 3, episode 17, “Suicidal Tendencies,” aired tonight. Read our recap and discuss the episode with fellow fans.
Season 3, time for a wedding
We open with Diggle and Lyla’s wedding. Oliver showed up 15 minutes before the ceremony — and 45 minutes after photos. Oops. Felicity and Ray arrive then. They chat until Diggle is informed their officiant can’t make it. Ray volunteers to do the ceremony because he’s a minister. Plot twist. On with the show.
During the reception, Oliver comments on Laurel wearing a cast, and Laurel replies that her new trainer is tough. Felicity approaches then, having caught the bouquet. Oliver tells Felicity that he wants her to be happy. Their discussion is cut short, though, when everyone gets alerts that the Arrow is back to killing.
The Suicide Squad rides again
In the foundry, Team Arrow watches Ray vow to bring the Arrow to justice at a press conference. Felicity is upset but gets to work, trying to figure out the next target. Oliver, though, wants Lyla and Diggle to go on their honeymoon. They agree and get into a limo, where Deadshot is waiting for them.
At A.R.G.U.S. HQ, Amanda Waller lays out the next Suicide Squad mission: A senator is being held hostage in Kasnia; they are to extract him alongside Deadshot and Cupid.
In Kasnia, the group talks about having loved ones in their line of work before reaching the hospital where the hostage situation is taking place. They enter, ready to rescue the senator, but he pulls a gun and shoots. Deadshot tackles Cupid, saving her but taking a bullet to the shoulder. This earns Cupid’s affections, previously focused on the Arrow.
Meanwhile, the senator reveals that the “terrorists” are mercenaries; the entire scenario was staged to make him look like a hero and create a foundation for a presidential run. He was going to free the hostages, but the Suicide Squad screwed that up. Now the hostages are witnesses so will have to die.
Diggle and Lyla realize the hospital has been rigged to explode. Lyla begins breaking down, thinking about their daughter being orphaned, but Deadshot promises they’ll get back home to her. He has a plan.
Diggle, Lyla, and Cupid storm the room again, but the senator forces them to disarm because he has a detonator. He realizes too late, though, that there are only three of them. Deadshot takes out mercenaries and the detonator from the senator’s hand, and the team evacuates the hostages.
However, Deadshot plans to cover their escape from the rooftop — putting him in range of the explosions. He’s unable to escape before the bombs go off, so he looks at a picture of his family as the hospital explodes.
Arrow vs. Atom
In Starling City, the Arrow interrupts a fake Arrow taking out drug dealers. They fight, only for other League members dressed as the Arrow to join the fray. Maseo then enters and once more encourages Oliver to accept Ra’s’ offer. All of the assassins then disappear in a dramatic smoke bomb.
Meanwhile, X-rays and facial recognition software identify Oliver Queen as the Arrow. The owner of that technology? Ray Palmer.
Felicity comes into Ray’s office the next morning, and Ray tells her what he knows. He realizes Felicity is also involved. He feels betrayed so doesn’t listen when Felicity tries to tell him Oliver is being framed. Instead, he’s going to bring the Arrow to justice as promised. Felicity returns to the foundry and warns Oliver and Roy about Ray and his super suit.
Ray tries to go to the authorities with his information, but Laurel stonewalls him. He realizes she’s Black Canary, but Laurel tells him that if he goes public, Oliver will be able sue him for defamation. This convinces Ray to get justice himself. The next day, Oliver visits Ray, reiterating his innocence. Ray doesn’t believe him.
Back in the foundry, Oliver and Felicity argue about Ray and her relationship with him. Oliver is stuck on the idea that one cannot be a vigilante and have loved ones, so Ray won’t be able to do it. Their fight is interrupted by news of a 911 call about a drug shipment.
Arrow and Arsenal arrive on scene, only to find it empty — except for Ray in his Iron Man Atom suit. Cue a fight. The Atom fells the Arrow, but the Arrow shoots an arrow into Atom’s suit, shutting it down. He draws an arrow on Ray, but doesn’t shoot. When Ray tells him to show Felicity who he really is, Oliver says he has nothing to prove to her, but Ray does.
The next day, Felicity finds Ray working on his suit. He’s bruised — both in body and ego. He apologizes for not trusting her, and the two reconcile.
Meanwhile, Lyla returns home as the news says Deadshot was responsible for the hostage situation in Kasnia. Diggle plans to leave Team Arrow, but Lyla believes he’s doing good work. Instead, she’s resigned from A.R.G.U.S. because she wants their daughter to be able to look up to her.
In the foundry, Oliver and Felicity reconcile before Diggle and Oliver share a shot of vodka in honor of Deadshot.
Later, Ray tells a gathered group, including the mayor, Captain Lance, and Laurel, that he now believes the Arrow is innocent. Before the conversation can devolve, though, an arrow comes through the window and kills the mayor. The shooter is Maseo in an Arrow costume. He takes aim again.
Flashbacks
Floyd Lawton was once a soldier who came home to his wife and young daughter, traumatized by his time as a sniper. Clearly suffering from PTSD, Laughton snaps one night and attacks his wife with a gun when she begged him to get help. This lands him in jail, where he’s recruited by H.I.V.E. to kill Andrew Diggle.
Watch a promo for next week’s episode
