Welcome back, Arrow-heads! What you need to know is Ollie knows Slade Wilson is alive and coming for him and probably his family. And, what about that group Amanda Waller is forming that happens to have Bronze Tiger in it? Also, Diggle’s overdue for a adventure of his own, right? Well strap in, sports fans, because its Diggle time this week!
When Google Can’t Find Slade Wilson… Slade’s visit to the Queen mansion hasn’t left Ollie feeling well. He can barely sleep, and when he does, has nightmares regarding Shado. So, he gets a bit rough with those Russian mafia connections in town to get an address on Slade. And its not like Slade isn’t bunkering down to wait, as he leaves a few dead bodies at a robbery and that old Deathstroke mask to rattle Ollie. It seems to be working.
“Oh man, I had the worst dream! I dreamed I was exercising with my shirt on! ON!”
Diggle Gets Recruited. Everyone on Team Arrow has someone to shadow now that Slade is running around. Diggle gets to shadow Felicity, who is nice enough to tell him how little help he’ll be in fighting Slade if he comes for her. He gets a ring from lyla to meet up with her, and after a little “downtime”, Amanda Waller from ARGUS drops by. She needs the two of them to help recover a deadly toxin that has fallen into the hands of a terrorist both Diggle and Lyla brought in years ago. Oh, and said terrorist, Gholem Qadir, got released not too long afterwards for giving up intel on his buddies. Since Qadir’s lived was saved by Diggle, Waller wants Diggle to get close to Qadir. And while he’s doing that, get a specialized team in to grab the toxin and avoid an international incident in Markovia, where Qadir is. What team, Diggle asks?
The Suicide Squad. Diggle and Lyla get taken down to a cell block with their team: Shrapnel, Bronze Tiger, and Deadshot. They are called the Suicide Squad, because well, we’ll get to that, but Diggle’s not keen on working with this trio. But they all jet off to a museum exhibition in Markovia that Qadir’s attending, and Diggle comes in to play nice and chatty. Then, as part of the plan, Deadshot fires off a few rounds to get Diggle into a place to “protect” Qadir. Unfortunately, Shrapnel decides to go off mission and make a run for it. Waller tries to talk him back, and when that doesn’t work, sets off that bomb implanted in his head. The kind of bomb Deadshot and Tiger have in their heads too. Oh, so that’s why they’re called the Suicide Squad.
The Suicide Squad: The One Direction of Brutal Killers
One In, One Out. Diggle’s upset about discovering not only his teammates have bombs in their heads, but that Lyla knew that going into the mission. But he managed to get an invite to Qadir’s mansion, so he’s at least still in to destroy the toxin they think is stashed there. While waiting, Diggle learns Deadshot has a daughter, one he’s kept clear of, but is providing money for her in a trust paid for by his contract killings. Nice piece of info to get as Deadshot will be accompanying Diggle and Lyla into Qadir’s mansion to destroy the toxin. The trio get there and Deadshot wanders off to find the vial of toxin only to find out, that vial is being mass produced into a whole room full of the stuff. Waller hears the news and advises Deadshot to stay in the room while the team leaves. Lyla figures out why that’s being ordered: because a drone strike has been authorized on the mansion, with everyone in it.
Breaking Up A Party. Diggle doesn’t want any innocent deaths to worry about, so he pulls an impromptu speech to the party guests where he talks about the host’s accomplishments…and the toxin underneath them right now. In the confusion of guests vacating out like rats, Qadir threatens Lyla but gets knifed by Tiger, and Diggle goes to get Deadshot out. Only, Deadshot doesn’t want to go, because he knows that’s the only way out of this Squad. Diggle mentions staying alive for his daughter, and he agrees to leave. But Waller told him to stay there for a reason…because the drone is targeted on Deadshot specifically! In the evac van, Lyla cuts out the tracker from Deadshot and it gets blown up by the drone.
Wow, Diggle. You are a lucky man.
“Finally something we both can agree on.” During all of this, we flashback to the mission where Diggle and Lyla meet years ago, which is also the mission where Qadir was captured. Meanwhile in the here and now, Waller’s not happy the mission didn’t go as planned, and thanks to Lyla’s saving of Deadshot, now has a better plan of attaching the bombs to the Squad’s spines. So, lose-win, I guess? Anyway, Diggle talks to Deadshot about being possibly let out on parole in a few years, which is met with “suuuuuure”. This whole mission in the present has left them at odds, but Diggle and Lyla agree they didn’t like being used by Waller and don’t want to lose each other again. Hey, what about that H.I.V.E. lead from a few episodes back? Hey, Deadshot asked, too.
Visiting Old Friends. Ollie finally gets that intel from his Russian contact and a polite “don’t come back here again for help” for the trouble. While there, Sara has trailed him and tells him not to shut everyone out because of Slade’s threat, especially her. This also the same advice Laurel gives, who is in AA and being really helpful. Good for her. Felicity finds out where Slade is, and Ollie decides to go there on his own. When he gets to Slade’s office, he finds that Russian contact dead with an arrow through his eye, and some old home movies of Shado being played. He admits to Sara that he doesn’t know how to stop him, and agrees to fight Slade with the help of Team Arrow. He’d stay to tag along with Sara and Laurel’s dinner trip, but he has to meet with someone else…namely Amanda Waller, at her office. She thinks he’s there to hurt her (and from what can be guessed from their conversation, probably for something in the past we don’t know about yet), but he wants help in finding Slade. She’s surprised to hear he’s still alive, but offers up her info and a picture on a mercenary whose made his way to Starling City by the name of Deathstroke. So, Ollie knows his Slade’s alias and what else from this visit? We’ll see.
“Hey Oliver, ‘eyes’ to see you! No? That pun doesn’t work? Well, I tried. Sincerely, Slade.”
–Comic book connections: Waller’s Suicide Squad has been a staple of the DCU since their introduction in the 80’s, with our trio here being members as well. Also a member of late that pops up here (maybe): that woman in the cell who’s a therapist and sounds like Harley Quinn. Yeah, that Harley Quinn.
–Love the tie-in back to “Tremors” with Qadir being the mystery buyer of the Malcolm Merlyn earthquake device.
–Umm, I’m sure this will be explained later, but where did Slade get that seemingly Terrence Malick shot footage of Shado from?
–Hey, Ted Gaynor’s back in flashback form! Always nice to see Ben Browder as Gaynor back, even with the fact present-day Gaynor is six feet under.
–Moira’s pushing for an after school swim program as part of her mayoral platform because her kids liked swimming. Or, according to Ollie, she thinks they liked it.
–Ollie’s response to Laurel’s astute and AA-powered analysis of his weird relationship with Sara: “I think I preferred it when we all were lying to each other.”
–“Please stop giving him books.” Good news for Tiger that Shrapnel won’t be able to read anything anymore now he’s blown up.
–“Might want to warm up the popcorn for this.”
–“By the way, nice jammies.”
So, what did you think? Leave your thoughts and theories below as we come next week for “Birds of Prey”…
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What do you think?