Arrow - Recap: Do You Cuties Need Some Counseling?
Arrow continued tonight with an episode that brought back some of our favorite Starling City/ DC Comics villains. The Suicide Squad found Diggle leading a team of dangerous criminals against, well, a dangerous criminal. Meanwhile, HARLEY QUINN!?
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To kick off the recap, let’s handle Oliver’s side-plot during Episode 16. That’s right, folks. Arrow made up for the utter lack of Diggle-ness during Season 2 with an episode that set the spotlight on Ollie’s trusted bodyguard and best buddy (Sorry, Tommy! RIP?). Oliver, in the meantime, kept the obsession over Slade’s return to Starling City going. First, he frantically awoke in a cold sweat following yet another nightmare of Shado (Celina Jade) creeping things up in the bed beside him. As it turned out, Oliver hadn’t really been sleeping much since Slade paid Moira (Susanna Thompson) a house call. Sara, for what it’s worth, did her best to attempt to comfort her previously-ex-boyfriend but to no avail. Oliver is mostly worried about Slade slaughtering his loved ones one after the other. Luckily for Diggle, Felicity makes decent hot cocoa, so staking out her place wasn’t too tough. Oliver’s main priority, of course, was Sara. Though, we’ve all sort of been left under the impression that Sara can handle herself what with all of the assassin shenanigans she brought along with her to Starling City.
The thing is, the return of Slade and the looming sense of doom sort of worked a number on Oliver’s head. First, he turned to threatening his brotherhood of Russian mobsters into helping him track down “… this guy with one eye, but not the one with the guns. Well, I mean… this one-eyed guy with a patch and guns has an Australian accent and isn’t a member of a secret Suicide Squad… Lived on an island? Anybody?”
Speaking of that one-eyed treasure, Deadshot did indeed make his grand return to our screens tonight. First, Diggle and his previously-ex-wife continued their routine of a quick romp in the sack following the successful completion of missions. Lyla and Diggle had reignited their chemistry, but their future was still yet to be determined. Amanda Waller than showed up to disrupt their fancy hotel sex session with a request of their services. A.R.G.U.S. had initiated its latest trial team of expert warriors. This time, however, it was comprised of the likes of Deadshot, Shrapnel, and Bronze Tiger, and it was to be led by none other than Diggle and Lyla with Amanda, duh, controlling every move from the safety of headquarters.
What was the mission that required such a dangerous group of soldiers to complete? A trip back in time took us to the days when Lyla and Diggle first got acquainted while maneuvering their way across the deserts of Afghanistan. After helping an injured young Afghan woman on their trek, Lyla received a tip on a dangerous man in their midst. This is where we were introduced to Golem Qadir, a big time drug trafficker with a habit of screwing over his people to rake in big bucks. In a strange turn of events, Diggle’s captured prisoner was nearly blown to smithereens by an assailant from afar. Diggle, acting according to code, took down their attacker, who ended up being a mere boy with a weapon. This, of course, is something that would come to plague Diggle forever. Essentially, he killed what he saw as a child, not a soldier, in order to save a pretty terrible person. Funny enough, today this man walked free in Starling City, harboring a stolen chemical weapon, and he recalled John Diggle as nothing more than the man who saved his life that day way back when. Thus, Amanda Waller had her reason to wrangle in Diggle and Lyla for the mission.
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The group was dubbed the “Suicide Squad” by Deadshot, who recognized right away what it meant to be invited to participate. If you recall, Waller once sold the team to Bronze Tiger as though it were some opportunity to merely fight for less jail time; however, I guess the concept of having absolutely expendable murderers for soldiers made dangerous missions a lot easier to orchestrate, huh? Lyla seemed to be okay with the concept, even comparing them to Oliver and Sara in the process of trying to convince Diggle to hop on-board. Diggle, on the other hand, seemed to side with Deadshot in his assessment. Most importantly, we received our first ever voice cameo from the clownish therapist one can only assume is Harley Quinn here! She’s coming, everybody. I can feel it! Green Arrow and Harley Quinn are comedic gold together, and Arrow’s Oliver Queen, no offense, could totally use an injection of humor at this point. We love Ollie, but a joke or two would do him a whole world of good.
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The first step of Diggle’s mission was a reintroduction to Qadir. Qadir, as it turned out, had developed quite the name for himself in the world of legal dealings as well. Masquerading as a big time collector himself, Diggle “bumped into” Qadir at an event. From a distance, Deadshot began the perfect “repetition of history,” firing a purposely missed shot in order to plant a fake target on Qadir’s head and set up Diggle as the conquering hero, yet again. This is where things started to get more interesting. Shrapnel was not about to comply with Amanda Waller’s rules whatsoever. He was intended to act as Deadshot’s getaway vehicle but flew the coop before the assassin could hitch a ride. From headquarters, Waller initiated the failsafe… an explosive tracking device implanted in Shrapnel’s head. Well, he got into this mess from blowing things up, so I guess it’s only fair that he went out this way. In any case, the mission was accomplished. Before we knew it, Diggle was courteously invited as a guest to another nighttime event at Qadir’s mansion.
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My favorite scene during Season 2 Episode 16 had to be the one-on-one, heart-to-heart(?) between Diggle and Deadshot. While scanning Diggle’s fingerprints in order to create false one’s for Deadshot, the two ended up conversing about Deadshot’s daughter, Zoe, from whom he keeps his distance while slowly building a massive trust fund through his illegal work. Diggle urged the man to consider being in his daughter’s life, though Deadshot knew his absence was for the best. Man, imagine Deadshot showing up to parent-teacher night at his daughter’s school? For most kids, it’s, “Dad, please don’t wear that,” or, “Dad, not the minivan.” For Zoe, it would be, “Dad, not the laser eye. Please, just the patch!”
Oliver’s angry Russian mobster buddy came through with a bank account number that led the Arrow to impulsively search Slade’s office at night. In a turned chair behind Slade’s desk, Ollie found his mob connection murdered, complete with an arrow through his eye and a projection of home videos of Shado on the wall. Seriously, where did Slade get that? Slade Wilson is Freddy Krueger with a lot of ammo at this point. He’s everywhere. He’s in the house, but he is the house. He’s in the walls. He’s in the paintings. He’s in Ollie’s nightmares. He’s always a step ahead, and it seems Oliver Queen cannot win… alone.
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Sara refused to let Oliver suffer through the omniscient threat of Slade any longer. Oliver spent most of Episode 16 pushing the woman known as Black Canary (Well, to us, anyway.) away for her own protection, but this girl is kick-ass. Even Laurel attempted to work her sober magic over the two, pressuring Oliver to quit whining and to allow himself to be happy for once. If Slade wants them dead, he’ll find ways to kill them. Diggle sitting outside of Felicity’s house isn’t going to protect her if Slade has eyes and ears everywhere. Who ate all the hot cocoa marshmallows? Slade, that’s who. PS – I’m terrified for Sara. The folks behind Arrow keep teasing about how this is going to be important to Laurel’s storyline. If Laurel Lance will ever become the vigilante, doesn’t this original Black Canary have to *gulp* sing her swan song?
Qadir’s soiree was a cake walk to sneak their way into. Diggle passed by the credential check because his “bodyguard,” Lyla, wasn’t on the list. Meanwhile, Deadshot used Diggle’s prints to get inside in order to begin searching for the tiny chemical weapon in the basement below using his super-eye. Here’s the catch; upon finding the liquid, we learned along with Deadshot that this was not a mere vial of fluid as we’d been led to believe by Amanda Waller. Instead, it was an entire room full of it. Diggle realized right away from the dance floor above that Deadshot had been set up. He was instructed to wait below while Diggle and Lyla cleared the house and called out Qadir, who was eventually killed by Bronze Tiger in the subsequent riot. By the way, Bronze Tiger was so well behaved during Episode 16! Diggle wasn’t sure why Deadshot was expected to stay and die while A.R.G.U.S. drones flew in to decimate the mansion and the chemical weapons, but he intended on getting his longtime rival to safety. Funny enough, Deadshot wanted to die. He wanted to go out doing something decent for once. Diggle, refusing to let the man die an unnecessary death, reminded him of his daughter, and that seemed to be enough to convince him to budge.
From within the seemingly safe getaway vehicle, Bronze Tiger sped the group away, only for everybody to then notice the incoming military droid zooming towards them. It didn’t take long to deduce that Deadshot’s tracker was the target for this giant explosive, forcing Lyla to use Bronze Tiger’s claw to scoop it out of his neck and toss it from the window. In the end, Amanda Waller was not pleased with this deviation, and she broke off all ties with Diggle after having to clean up his public mess. Digg seemed to have made some sort of peace with Deadshot, once again, and his relationship with the man who showed true courage during their mission was enough to inspire him that we live in a world of gray, rather than in black and white. Thus, he was able to accept Lyla’s differences in order for them to stay together. Good for Diggle! Where’s Harley? And thanks, Arrow, for keeping Deadshot around to shoot another day.
Arrow wasn’t done with Amanda Waller just yet, however. If Oliver Queen is forced to turn to A.R.G.U.S., you know he’s desperate. He barely lets Roy help with anything. As it turned out, Amanda was busy tracking a new deadly assassin all the way to Starling City, a villain who fit Slade’s description… Deathstroke!
What did you think of Arrow Season 2 Episode 16, “Suicide Squad”? Did you enjoy seeing Diggle and Deadshot together again? Are we going to lose Sara? Do we think Harley Quinn will be coming back around?
Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Arrow Season 2 Episode 16, “Suicide Squad”!