‘Arrow’ season 3, episode 17 podcast: On Deadshot shocker, Cupid’s return, Oliver – Ray drama with Jessa

To say that Wednesday night’s “Arrow” episode “Suicidal Tendencies” is controversial would be an understatement, but what perhaps makes this one even more interesting is that it is not entirely controversial because of anything the writers and producers did.

Instead, one of the real reasons that we feel like so many people are going to be upset after this is that the implication here feels like someone higher up said that Deadshot needed to be killed off here so that there was no brand confusion in the upcoming “Suicide Squad” movie. As a matter of fact, we almost feel that way about the entire squad as a whole. Shrapnel is dead and Bronze Tiger is MIA; can you have a squad with Cupid as its only member and with Lyla no longer a part of ARGUS? It seems to be pretty darn unlikely.

We (being Matt Carter and Jessa) really liked this episode almost in spite of its issues, which of course included the Deadshot drama above all else. The one silver lining here is that we never actually saw the character die. There was also a much-needed confrontation from Oliver and Ray Palmer that may change the way that these two characters operate in the future.

As for the negatives, did anyone else feel like Cupid’s character was hurt in this episode? We discuss whether the show should have waited to bring her back for an episode where she could have had more time with Oliver, mostly because a romance with Deadshot was completely out of the blue.

If you missed it, you can read our text review for this episode over here, or take a look at the iTunes button above to be navigated to our official page. Also, sign up now to target some further TV news via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: The CW.)