Recap / Arrow S 2 E 16 Suicide Squad

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Tropes Applying to This Episode

• All There in the Manual: It's not explained where Slade got the video of Shado, but the tie-in novel Arrow: Vengeance has Slade finding it in the file that ASIS had compiled on her father, Yao Fei.
• The Anticipator: Oliver uses his Bratva contact to track down where Slade Wilson is hiding. He finds Leonov dead in a chair with an arrow in his eye, and a video of Shado playing on the wall. Knowing Slade has had years to plan his revenge threatens to put Oliver across the Despair Event Horizon until Sara gives some moral support.
• Boxed Crook: The whole idea of "Task Force X", currently consisting of three criminals caught by Team Arrow—Deadshot, Bronze Tiger and Shrapnel.
• Borrowed Biometric Bypass: Downplayed; Deadshot scans Diggle's thumbprint and 3D prints it on a latex overlay, so he can get into the party that Diggle was invited to.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Played with; Qadir doesn't recognise Diggle's attractive female bodyguard for the female American soldier who captured him in Afghanistan, until after Diggle shows his true colors.
• Call-Back:
  • We find out that Qadir was the man who wanted the prototype earthquake device back in "Tremors".
  • Both Oliver's Bratva contact and Amanda Waller make reference to the events of "Keep Your Enemies Closer".
• Crash-Into Hello: Diggle engineers one for his meeting with Qadir, followed up by a fake assassination attempt so Diggle can push Qadir to safety, reminding him of how Diggle saved his life in Afghanistan.
• Catapult Nightmare: Ollie has one in the opening, where he sees blood on his hand when he turns in bed to see Sara next to him, and, upon turning the body, sees Shado instead, who calls him "murderer".
• Chekhov's Gun: Oliver refusing at gunpoint to do Alexi Leonov a favor (not to mention getting him killed) will have consequences for his relationship with the Bratva in Season 5.
• Child Soldiers: Diggle unveils the sniper who tried to kill Qadir, only to find he's Just a Kid.
• Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: Averted
  • We get the first on-screen use of Deathstroke as an ARGUS codename for Slade Wilson, though Waller doesn't know they're the same man until Oliver informs her.
  • The members of Task Force X use their comic book names as codenames, including Lyla as "Harbinger".
• Cutting the Knot: When Lyla and Diggle need to evacuate the building before a drone strike hits it, she proposes finding an alarm. Diggle simply calls the party to attention and informs the occupants that there's a Weapon of Mass Destruction underneath their feet.
• A Day in the Limelight: This episode is all about Diggle; even the flashbacks are to his time in Afghanistan, rather than to Oliver's on Lian Yu.
• Deadly Gas: The MacGuffin is a sarin nerve agent. "The Apocalypse in the form of a chemical weapon."
• Death Seeker: Deadshot doesn't want to be rescued from the impending drone strike at first. As a member of the Suicide Squad he figures he's a dead man anyway so he might as well go out doing something meaningful, but Diggle manages to talk him out of it by mentioning his daughter.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Diggle says, "Well damn!" in response to Lyla saying she just completed a mission in North Korea, but as she slipped off her nightgown at that point he may have been responding to that instead.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: It turns out that Deadshot is a mercenary for the sake of providing money for his daughter. Everything he gets from the missions goes into a trust fund.
• Explosive Leash/Restraining Bolt: As Shrapnel soon finds out once he decides to abandon the plan, as per the comics A.R.G.U.S. outfitted all Suicide Squad members with explosive implants in case they go rogue, which also serve as tracking devices and a convenient way to make a drone strike find its target. After Lyla saves the gang from getting blown up by said drone strike by getting Deadshot's implant out just in time, Waller decides to upgrade to spinal implants instead.
• Eye Scream: Alexi Leonov dies this way, courtesy of Slade putting an arrow in his eye and leaving his body for Oliver to find.
• Faux Affably Evil: Qadir is pretending to have done a Heel–Face Turn after being used as an information source by the American government, and now raises money for humanitarian causes while secretly dealing in weapons of mass destruction.
• Foreshadowing
  • Diggle scoffs at the idea that Deadshot would make a Heroic Sacrifice, right when we get a camera view of all the pictures of Zoe stuck to the wall of his cell.
  • Waller doesn't just know that Oliver is the Arrow—turns out they've met before and their relationship is not friendly. The full story isn't revealed until Season 3.
• Graying Morality: Diggle finally becomes aware of this.
  Diggle: Last night, the man who killed my brother showed more character than the woman in charge of protecting the world. Good and bad's not so clear to me.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Deadshot invokes this, saying he'd rather go down doing something decent for once in his life. Diggle's having none of that.
• I Can't Believe I'm Saying This: Diggle about going to save Deadshot, who had killed his brother.
  Diggle: I have to go help him. And I can't believe I just said that.
• If I Wanted You Dead...: Implied when Deadshot puts a bullethole through Diggle's suit.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Deadshot as usual, though special mention needs to be made to him shooting Diggle in the jacket without hitting him, from a block away.
• Infrared Xray Camera: Downplayed; Deadshot's eyepiece is used to detect the hidden door to the chemical plant, but can't see through it.
• It's Not You, It's My Enemies: Oliver tries to distance himself from Sara because Slade intends to destroy everything he cares about. She points out that this is stupid as Slade knows he cares about her, has a grudge against her too, and isn't going to leave her alone just because they broke up. She also points out how she Took a Level in Badass since those days on Lian Yu, and has proven rather difficult to kill.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Laurel encourages Sara and Oliver to get back together again. When Oliver mentions how that could not have been easy, Laurel just replies that helping two people she loves find happiness could not be easier for her.
• Karmic Death: Mad Bomber Shrapnel gets blown up.
• Last-Name Basis: The first flashback to Afghanistan has Diggle referring to his future wife as "Michaels" instead of "Lyla", letting the audience know it takes place before their relationship started. The final flashback shows them changing to First-Name Basis after becoming Fire-Forged Friends.
• Meaningful Echo: Deadshot talks about having Freelancer (Diggle) in his sights, Diggle asks "What's stopping you from shooting me?" and Deadshot answers "Honor." This is the same exchange they had in "Keep Your Enemies Closer", just with the speaking roles reversed.
• Meatgrinder Surgery: Deadshot thinks getting blown up might be preferable to having the Tracking Chip carved out of his head by one of Bronze Tiger's claws while in the back of a speeding van.
• Moment Killer: Amanda Waller comes in just as things are heating up between Diggle and Lyla.
  Waller: Don't worry, Agent Michaels. We've all availed ourselves of the Ostrander Suite at some point in our careers.
• Mugging the Monster: Alexi Leonov insists that Oliver do another favor before helping him locate Slade's lair, but Oliver is not in the mood for games and disarms the two Bratva mooks when they try to muscle him.
• Mundane Utility: Lyla uses one of Bronze Tiger's claws as an improvised surgical instrument.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Who's that "Deranged Squad Female" voiced by Tara Strong who claims to be a trained therapist? She's never named, not even in the credits, but of course she's Harley Quinn, who's been a member of the Squad ever since the New 52 reboot.
  • After two earlier mentions the country of Markovia is finally seen, and Kahndaq (home of Shazam! nemesis Black Adam) and Qurac are both mentioned.
  • The Ostrander Suite references Suicide Squad creator John Ostrander.
  • Amanda Waller uses her comics codename of Mockingbird while Deadshot uses her nickname "The Wall".
  • Deadshot's daughter Zoe (Torres) is also an import from the comics, having first appeared in her father's solo series in 2005.
  • Markovia's flag has the same colors as Brion Markov's outfit in the comics.
• Noodle Incident: Lyla tells Diggle she's just come back from Pyongyang. Diggle says in a surprised voice, "Well damn, that was you?" but doesn't elaborate.
• "Not So Different" Remark: When Diggle objects to working with Task Force X because they are murderers, Lyla asks how many people Oliver and Sara have killed.
• Not So Stoic: Waller subtly cracks upon learning Slade is alive.
• Not so Dire: Diggle gets an anonymous text telling him to investigate a hotel room. He knocks on the door with his gun ready...and finds his ex-wife Ready for Lovemaking.
• Scannable Man: A more realistic version with barcodes on the Institutional Apparel of the ARGUS prisoners.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Diggle's idealism is contrasted with Waller, Lyla and Deadshot's cynicism.
• Staged Shooting: Bronze Tiger (posing as Diggle's bodyguard) is shot (presumably he's wearing a Bulletproof Vest) and Deadshot puts a bullethole through Diggle's suit to make Qadir think he's being targeted as a mercenary arms dealer.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: While the Arrow is foiling a bank robbery, Deathstroke appears on a nearby rooftop, then disappears. When Oliver goes to investigate he finds the Deathstroke mask with an arrow through its eye socket from Lian Yu.
• Tastes Like Friendship: Diggle has been staking out Felicity's place in case Slade attacks her, so she comes out to his car dressed in her jammies with a cup of coca for him.
• Time for Plan B: After the plan for Deadshot to steal the nerve agent proves unworkable, Waller calls in a drone strike homing in on the Tracking Device in Deadshot's implant.
• Tempting Fate:
  • Leonov isn't happy about how Oliver has been treating him and while handing over the information on Slade says it's the last time they'll be working together. He turns up dead in Slade's hotel room.
  • Deadshot says, "I'll have the nerve agent in my pocket in thirty seconds." He enters Qadir's secret basement to find a chemical weapons plant too big to walk away with.
• Title Drop
  Waller: They're designated "Task Force X."
  Lawton: Give me a break. This ain't no task force. Let's call it like it is. Welcome to the Suicide Squad.
• This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Thinking he's tracked down Slade, Oliver goes to confront him alone despite Felicity pointing out he needs to bring Sara in.
• Tracking Device: Task Force X are escaping in the Van in Black when the Predator drone changes from Qadir's home to follow the van. Turns out it's homing in on Deadshot's implant. Lyla manages to cut it out and toss it onto the road Just in Time.
• Trespassing to Talk: Oliver breaks into Waller's office and tranq darts her guards so he can have a chat.
• Vetinari Job Security: Despite failing to destroy the chemical weapon making facility (forcing a SEAL team to go in an clean it up) and the fact that Waller knows full well it had to be Lyla who removed Deadshot's tracking device, Lyla keeps her job because getting a replacement with the right security clearance is not easy.
• Villainous Valour:
  • Deadshot, who mentions honor and sticking to the mission.
  • Even though he's been ordered to pull out, Bronze Tiger returns for a Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind when Qadir is about to slit Lyla's throat.
• You Owe Me: Diggle cashes in on saving Qadir's life in Afghanistan to get an invitation to Qadir's house where he's throwing a humanitarian benefit.