Arrow is setting itself up for a hell of a second-season finale. Oliver’s storyline tonight is more or less a placeholder, but that’s okay because Diggle’s storyline kicks so much ass. Arrow is firmly in comic-book territory, and it’s a place the show clearly feels very comfortable.
Diggle and Lyla Michaels get accosted by Amanda Waller (played to steely perfection by Cynthia Addai-Robinson) after a hotel room tryst, and they’re taken back to ARGUS headquarters, where they meet Task Force X: Floyd Lawton, aka Deadshot, Ben Turner, aka Bronze Tiger, and Mark Sheffer, aka Shrapnel. Why entrust convicted felons and murderers to carry out government orders? Simple: they’re expendable, hence their rechristening as the Suicide Squad.
I really like the moral ambiguity of ARGUS. They’re not afraid of collateral damage, and operate strictly in a big-picture sense. This is a good way to keep them from being seen as a S.H.I.E.L.D. ripoff headed by a clone of Nick Fury. When Shrapnel tries to bail on the Squad’s very first mission, Waller activates a bomb implanted in his head, and he goes out doing what he loved: exploding. Which is a shame, because I think we could all use some more Sean Maher in our lives. But Waller’s actions show the Squad exactly who they’re working for.
My big question about the Suicide Squad, when the roster was first announced, was “How are you gonna deal with Diggle and Deadshot on the same team?” Well, Arrow nails it, due in no small part to the way David Ramsey and Michael Rowe inhabit their characters. The two form an uneasy alliance, and their back-and-forth is a pleasure to watch. Rowe gets to stretch a little more, adding dimension to Deadshot and in the process making him less of an unkillable boogeyman (which is pretty much what Slade Wilson is, but we’ll get to that). Arrow knows how unlikely this alliance is – I’m not yet ready to call it a friendship – and points it out when Diggle quips, “I gotta go save Deadshot. I can’t believe I just said that.”
Not a lot happens with Oliver tonight. There are some good character beats from Katie Cassidy and Caity Lotz, though. The character of Laurel has been nicely salvaged from her alcoholic plotline, which I felt was a little shoehorned in. Laurel as an alcoholic didn’t work for me, but Laurel as a recovering alcoholic works just fine. Except, who on Earth orders a virgin martini? What the hell is wrong with you, Laurel?
Oliver basically spends “Suicide Squad” trying to track down Slade, only to find that he’s a step behind at every turn (see above: boogeyman, unkillable). He finally admits that he’s out of his depth, and keeping Sara at arm’s length isn’t the way to protect her. As Sara says, “I’m not the girl he knew on the island. I’m a lot harder to kill.” So Oliver accepts her help, but then also turns to Amanda Waller. How do these two know each other? Did I miss something? It doesn’t matter. Oliver’s scene with Amanda is kind of a weak way to end a superb episode. He describes Slade, and Amanda basically says “Well, we have a working theory that he’s Deathstroke, which he obviously is, and we know he’s in Starling but honestly he’s not a huge priority.”
But that’s a minor quibble. “Suicide Squad” is notable for being the first time in a while that Diggle has had something to really do, and Arrow did not let us down.
A Few Thoughts
– People in Arrow are really trusting of men with eye patches. Slade Wilson is taking meetings with a mayoral candidate, and Deadshot just puts on a tux and gets let into a fundraising gala
– That was Harley Quinn in ARGUS’s holding cells! Wonder if we’ll see more of her
– Diggle and Lyla met at the Ostrander suite. Nice reference to John Ostrander, who writes Suicide Squad
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