Arrow‘s 17th episode of season three titled “Suicidal Tendencies” found Diggle smack dab in the middle of the action. It also found Arrow’s reputation smeared and people murdered by a fake Arrow. Read on for a recap of all the action of the March 25, 2015 episode.
The episode opens on a beautiful wedding. Oliver (Stephen Amell) arrives late, and Diggle (David Ramsey) gives him grief about it. Then Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) walk in, arm-in-arm and smiling. Diggle pulls Ray into an embrace and whispers that Ray had better never hurt Felicity, or no one would ever find his body.
Suddenly, Diggle gets a text from Lyla. It seems their minister is unable to make the ceremony. Ray surprises everyone by saying that he is a minister and will officiate. He and Diggle walk off to make arrangements, leaving Felicity to tell Oliver that she hopes it’s okay that she came with Ray. He said, of course, it is, and he only ever wanted her to be happy.
The ceremony is short and sweet. Afterward, Felicity receives a text with news that the Arrow has killed several people. Everyone they know gets the same text.
At the lair under Verdant, everyone is discussing what to do. Oliver tells Diggle and Lyla (Audrey Marie Anderson) to go on their honeymoon. Felicity sees another crime in progress, and Oliver says the imposter will probably turn up. Roy (Colton Haynes) offers to suit up, but Oliver tells him he can handle it alone. Then they see Ray at a press conference with Captain Lance (Paul Blackthorne), Laurel (Katie Cassidy), and the Mayor (Christina Cox), assuring the people of Starling City that justice will be served.
At a warehouse, several criminals are working with drugs. The fake Arrow shows up and starts killing them. The real Arrow arrives, only to discover the culprit is not Ra’s al Ghul (Matt Nable), as he had suspected. He has no idea who it is. But suddenly, there are more green hooded figures. Oliver starts fighting them all until Maseo (Karl Yune) arrives.
Oliver tells him that killing all these people is pointless because he doesn’t want to be Ra’s al Ghul. But Maseo tells him he had better take the role, or more people will continue dying. Then he and the fake Arrows disappear in a cloud of smoke. Before Oliver can escape, Ray flies in, hovering just outside the warehouse. Using a facial recognition software, he figures out that the Arrow is Oliver Queen.
Meanwhile, Lyla gets called in by Amanda Waller (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) for a mission to extract a Senator from a hostage situation in another country. Lyla isn’t the only one called in. Carrie Cutter, a.k.a. Cupid (Amy Gumenick), and Floyd Lawton, a.k.a. Deadshot (Michael Rowe), are on board as well.
Felicity comes to see Ray in his office. He confronts her with the fact that the Arrow is Oliver and that she has been lying to him all along. She tries to talk to him, to convince him that Oliver hasn’t been killing these people, but he doesn’t believe her. He doesn’t trust her anymore. Ray tells her that he will get justice, one way or another.
The Suicide Squad drops into their location. Floyd talks about how being in love is just a distraction from the task at hand, but Lyla and Diggle say it gives them more to fight for. They break into the hospital where the hostages and the Senator are being held. The mission is going well until Senator Cray (Steven Culp) pulls a gun. He tells them that no one was supposed to come for him. It appears they’ve been set up.
Felicity visits Oliver in the lair and tells him that Ray knows his identity.
At the police station, Ray is giving his statement to Laurel that Oliver Queen is responsible for the recent killings. Laurel puts him off, so Ray says that if the courts don’t help him, he’ll get justice himself.
Back with the Suicide Squad, the team regroups only to discover that the Senator has rigged the building to explode. Diggle and Lyla regret taking the mission, worried about their daughter when Floyd assures them that they will live to be a family. (Through flashbacks, we learn that Floyd had a family, but the war destroyed him, making him turn on his family.)
In the lair, Team Arrow gets a call that another crime is in progress. Oliver and Roy suit up and leave, hoping to meet the imposter. However, it’s a trap and Ray shows up as the Atom. He blasts Arsenal with some kind of electricity and knocks him out. Just when he thinks he’s taking Oliver down, Oliver throws a well-aimed dagger and shuts down Ray’s entire suit. (Duh! No training!) He shows Ray that, even though he could kill him, he won’t. That he’s not the killer he’s looking for.
Back with the Suicide Squad, Lyla, Diggle and Carrie enter the room where the hostages are being held. While the Senator talks about looking like a hero and becoming President, he realizes that only three of them are there. Deadshot starts taking out guards and he shoots the bomb’s ignition button out of the Senator’s hand.
Diggle, Lyla and Carrie get the hostages out, but the bombs are already set to go off. Diggle radios to Floyd, telling him to get off the building and get away. But Floyd says he’ll stay put to make sure they get away safely. The bomb counts down, Floyd looks at a picture of his family, and the building explodes.
Back in Starling City, the Mayor is holding another press conference but this time Ray Palmer is trying to convince everyone that the Arrow is not responsible for the recent deaths. Just as the Mayor is arguing with him, she’s killed by an arrow.
Diggle and Lyla are back at their apartment, discussing how scary it was that they could have left their daughter an orphan. Diggle tells Lyla that he’ll quit Team Arrow, but Lyla tells him he doesn’t have to, because she quit her job. (I wonder what they’ll do for money? Does Oliver just keep everyone afloat?)
Felicity visits Ray again. He tells her that, essentially, he got his behind handed to him. But he also tells her he believes Oliver is innocent. She tells him that she would like to be with him, and they kiss.
– – A look back: Arrow season 3 episode 16 recap
