The last time the Suicide Squad made an appearance, I was bored out of my mind. Thankfully, "Suicidal Tendencies" was an entertaining adventure with the gang of misfits. In fact, even Cupid, (whom I loathed in "Draw Back Your Bow") was tolerable. Her obsessiveness with Deadshot was actually sort of amusing, and provided some levity in the midst of all the darkness.

That bleakness came in the form of flashbacks to Floyd's past. While the traumatized-soldier theme was conveyed, those scenes were far too heavy-handed for my taste. Did we really need to see Floyd wave that beer bottle around and hear his wife explicitly state his trauma? It all felt terribly forced. On the bright side, Floyd's sacrifice was a poignant end to his story, and I bought that he really wanted to get Diggle and Lyla safely back to their baby girl. Let's see if its revealed that he survived the explosion (I highly doubt they killed him off for good).



Surprisingly, "Suicidal Tendencies" was a pretty good hour for Ray Palmer. I haven't been too fond of Brandon Routh's character this season, but the CGI used to bring The Atom to life during his face-off with the Arrow was almost at blockbuster standards. His crusade provided a stark contrast to Ollie, and further illuminated our hero's isolation as the entire city began to turn against him (thanks to Ra's Al Ghul's efforts). 

In addition, the ending effectively escalated the stakes in a thrilling manner with Maseo of all people assassinating the mayor and targeting Felicity. The sound of the arrow releasing at the end was a perfect note to bookend the episode. Here's hoping the rest of the season keeps up this urgent momentum; last season managed to craft an exciting narrative, so I do pray that can be replicated as we head into the final stretch.