Arrow: Suicidal Tendencies

Is it just me or did Arrow flat line a bit last night? And that’s coming from a fan who has been watching the show since the beginning. Overall, last night’s episode of Arrow was disappointing and confusing, but it wasn’t all low lights; there were a couple high ones as well. The high lights just had nothing to do with the star of the show, ironically. If you haven’t already seen it, you’re in for a real mind bender on Arrow: Suicidal Tendencies. Spoiler alert!

Diggle’s Honeymoon Gets Interrupted by Deadshot

DiggleWeddingOne of the highlights on last night’s Arrow was Diggle’s wedding to his baby mama/ex-wife Lyla. And though there were a few tense and awkward moments at the wedding, thanks to Felicity bringing along her new beau Ray Palmer, for the most part, it was a rather joyous occasion. Unfortunately for the newly married couple, there was no time for a traditional honeymoon as Diggle’s nemesis/past collaborator and anti-hero Deadshot showed up just before their departure with an assignment for Lyla and the Suicide Squad. By the way, Cupid’s is now in the Suicide Squad—remember her annoying line from her first episode, “I’m Cupid, stupid!” Hold on, I haven’t even touched the weirdest parts of the episode yet.

After being whisked away to their joint mission, which to be honest with you I barely paid attention to because I was so busy being perplexed about why there were flashbacks at all during this episode, let alone flashbacks about Deadshot. Sure, it was nice to finally get to see some seriously late back story on one of the most interesting recurring characters on Arrow, but why now? For me, it just felt like yet another indication that the entire episode was supposed to be filler in preparation for the upcoming showdown between the Starling City Police Department and the Arrow.

The Arrow vs. The Atom

ArrowandAtom

Now, for perhaps the biggest let down of the entire episode: the incredibly disappointing fight scene—if you want to call it that, it was more like a posturing of sorts over the affection of Felicity—between the Arrow and the Atom. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t necessarily expect an epic showdown like the two part showdown at the end of season 2 with Deathstroke’s mirakuru army, but I didn’t expect what I saw either.

Basically, what we saw last night was the Arrow and Arsenal—until he was zapped unconscious a minute into the fight—jumping around while trying to shoot arrows at Iron Man, I mean the Atom. Honestly, I think it would have been more entertaining if the Atom actually had the same abilities that he does in the comics. Then that would be a fight worth seeing, yes? I don’t know folks, we’ll see what happens next week.

Arrow airs Wednesday nights on CW at 8:00pm EST/7:00pm CST.