Level Two Arrow 704 Review

 The Arrow showrunner, Beth  Schwarz, has  given us Olicity, but not in the way we imagined.  We have Oliver and Felicity  together  in mind fighting Diaz to protect and save their family,  yet they are apart.  This worked in the first two episodes, especially  seeing the the separate fight scenes they each had.  Oliver fighting the prisoners  who  had a message from Diaz that Felicity was dead, while  Felicity  fought with Diaz himself.  The visceral battle hit the viewer  on  many levels.  We  felt Oliver's  pain as he  paced the cell thinking his wife and son had  died.  We felt the blows that Diaz gave  Felicity and we understood her determination to fight back. That being said, Oliver and Felicity work best and  most effectively when they are together on screen. This reviewer and some  of her readers wait for Oliver's release, but with  what happened on Level  Two, how will they ever be the same? 

                 Oliver:  Is Dr. Parker the Demon?  In many  respects he scares more than  Adrian  Chase  did.  Dr. Parker has  a calmness about him that intimidates and scares as  much or more  than Adrian Chase, who had been a  most formidable villain.  He had  Oliver chained in  a room  with flashing lights.  I could barely watch that scene, for flashing lights trigger headaches  in me, so I felt the pressure of that.  Of course this  did not faze Oliver. He had  been  trained to overcome this type of  assault and brainwashing  technique.  When this didn't work he gives Oliver a shot that created such intense pain that not even Oliver could withstand it.  That's saying  a lot!  Parker then grills Oliver and brings back the memory of his father, Robert, on the raft.  We learn the name of Robert Queen's bodyguard, Hackett, whom Robert murdered.  Parker tells Oliver that a father passes his sins onto his children.  Parker lays more guilt on Oliver, and we already know that Oliver has dealt with a lot of guilt his whole life.  Oliver doesn't want to remember this.  Oliver wants to be a better father than his father.  Yet the next  day when Parker enters the  room and asks him who are you, Oliver says, "I'm Oliver Queen."  The viewer has watched Oliver  deal  with his identity for 6 six  seasons.  Oliver didn't think he could  be Oliver Queen while being the Green  Arrow and he  had to choose  which persona he  wanted to be.  By season 6 and with Felicity by his side, he thought he could be both.  The writers  brought us  here again, but rather than be trite, they pose an interesting question. Can you let the events in your past shape you into something better, or do they mold you into who you are?  Dr. Parker wants to erase the Green Arrow from Oliver believing that the Green Arrow is violent killer, but in doing  so will  he also  erase Oliver Queen? (This is a rhetorical  no, people!!)

When Dr. Parker uses the machine on Oliver's  brain, he now gets Oliver to picture himself as his father in the boat and William with him.  Oliver tells  something  different to William than  what  Robert did.  He tells William to Live. He says, "You, William, are going to be great.  You are destined for an amazing life.  Forget about me, go live your life."  Did you cry?  This reviewer did.It's the most gut-wrenching scene between Oliver and William.   Can a child forget a parent?  Did  Oliver wish this father  had said this to him?  Perhaps he did, but if  Robert had never said to Oliver go right my wrongs.  There never would have been a Green Arrow, a John Diggle, or a Felicity Smoak  in his life.  He may never have known about William.  Oliver didn't give in to the darkness  within him, he overcame that darkness to become something better. Do you catch what Oliver said  about William, "He's the most important person in my life?"  Did he forget about Felicity?  Could he forget  her?  Is this  what the writers  mean when they say that Oliver and Felicity won't have it easy?  How would not remembering Felicity change Oliver's life?  Those are some questions that came to mind.  Then again, as  a parent of  seven we can say that our children are  the  most important  people in our lives without demeaning our  spouses.  It's a figure of  speech. It did seem strange to not hear  him  mention Felicity, but then  I remembered that they put their relationship on hold for the sake of William.  Just something to  ponder. Felicity will always be important  to Oliver.  The next morning when Parker returns, he asks Oliver who he is and says, "Inmate 4587."  He is no longer Oliver Queen  or the Green  Arrow, or is he?   Everything  that's happening to Oliver in prison will have an effect on him when he gets out of prison.  Honestly, it made  me think  of It's a Wonderful Life.  There are things that happen  to us that are difficult and hard to bear, yet these same things also help to make us into the people we become. Oliver knows that his father's sins  are  not his own.  He learned that from Adrian Chase.

        Felicity:  While Oliver has to face  Dr.  Parker on Level Two, Felicity has her  own version of Level Two, and that's dealing with person  she  is becoming.  She and Rene  worked together to capture Silencer, and Felicity wants to torture her to get information on Diaz.  This is not the Felicity we know.  She  has a rusty screwdriver and wants to use it on Silencer.  Rene shares  his experience with doing something for sheer revenge.  Rene warns her  that it could cost her her humanity, and shares what he  did in the Navy that caused him to get a dishonorable discharge.  Felicity is in all kinds of  pain.  She has loved  Oliver from  the first time  he walked into her office, and she's waited and watched while Oliver waited to discover that he couldn't be who he was without her. Felicity is  Oliver's light, and Oliver is Felicity's strength.  In season Four at the hospital bed Oliver says to her, "How did  you get to be so strong?" Felicity says, "I take my cue  from you."  Oliver, in season 2 says that wants to keep Felicity safe, but she says, "I don't want to be safe, I want to be with you."I'm  wondering that when Oliver gets out of prison, he will  need  to become Felicity's light, and she will need to become his strength?

When  Rene has to go, Felicity turns to Laurel so that Felicity can use her to get what she wants out of Honor (The Silencer).  Can we say that Laurel  and Felicity are Frenemies?  The dialogue  between the two worked.  Felicity questions how can Laurel  be an attorney and a DA, as we all ask ourselves that same question.  Laurel says that she finds this new Felicity more interesting.  However, Laurel does tell Felicity that what they will do will affect Felicity in the future.  Laurel even shares how  revenge cost  her everything.   Laurel then tells Felicity that on Earth 2 she ran her own empire and that she was ruthless. Foreshadowing?  Is this how she builds  Smoak Technologies?  She tells Felicity to use her asset which is her brain.  Oliver tells her in season 4 that her superpower is her brain. Laurel says that it is, "hard to get back to  who you were before." But Felicity's answer is "There is little chance I'll ever be who I was before, so I have nothing to lose."  Does Felicity doubt that Oliver will one day  be released from prison?  Does she doubt that she'll ever see  William again?  Is Felicity going through the stages of grief over having lost everything she's ever  wanted?  This poor woman  never even had a honeymoon with her husband.  Her life's been in turmoil. I'm  hoping that at some point in this season, they give these two people a moment of happiness.

Both Rene and Laurel pose good questions to Felicity.  They both know her true nature and they both know what happens when you give in to hate and vengeance.  Are the writers foreshadowing trouble ahead for Felicity? The kind of trouble she may not bounce back from so easily?  Or are they posing questions for us to ponder?  Felicity can kick a$$.  We know this, we've seen her do it before in past seasons, but do the viewers really  want to see Felicity go  down  this dark path?  Would Oliver want her to go down this path?  How much more can she stand?  Judging just from the clip of the next episode, she may  reach her limit of what she can tolerate.

       Rene,  Dinah, and John:  I have always liked Rene.  Yes, he is the one responsible for Oliver being where he is, but even Oliver understood the choice Rene had to make was the right one.  Oliver understands the importance of family.  Rene has given Felicity a place to stay.  Where were John and Lyla? Rene captured Silencer for Felicity and is trying to help her, while at the same time keep her from doing something  that she may regret or have long-lasting repercussions.  He's willing to work with the new Green Arrow.  Dinah as Captain now wants to honor Quentin Lance.  I find myself annoyed with her. Oliver wanted them to carry on, and she has done that by "being a different kind of hero? So, Dinah, are you saying that Oliver's kind wasn't as effective?  She arrested Rene knowing it could have cost him  his daughter.  John's starting to feel that he's not as effective at  ARGUS either. John gives Dinah evidence to show that the new Green Arrow had reliable intel, and Rene may be right about the Green Arrow.  I think the whole point of the scenes with Dinah was to give Zoe the canary pin.  So in the future, Zoe will be a  black canary.

         Flash-forward:  We learn a little more, and in this episode they  connect a little bit of what is currently happening with the the future events.  Currently we see trouble in the Glades. Someone is burning the Glades and then buying the land back up.   In the future Star City is walled off in the Glades, and the rise of the Glades led to the destruction  we visually see in the future.  We learn that Felicity influenced  William to go  into the tech field. Roy and William believe that Felicity has guided them where they are. Then future Dinah drops the bombshell that sends the episode, "Felicity is dead." 
Do we believe this?  Not for a second.  First, it happened to early in the season, and secondly, since Felicity gave William the hosen and  it has a  tracking device  in it, and since it currently gave them new coordinates, she must be alive to guide them. So  that's still a mystery.   Also a take-away from the flash-forward scenes is that at  some point at least Felicity gets William because she told taught him about her work.  So, she at least they bring him back from school.  So, it would  seem that they didn't abandon him for the whole twenty years.  (yes, I know and you know she would  never abandon him, and neither would Oliver.)  Did you notice Dinah put her hand  to her throat, and did you see the scar? Her canary cry is gone.  If I recall she didn't use it when she fought the police that tried to get William and Roy. When Roy says to William as they walk into town, "You're more forgiving than I am," what do you think has happened to Roy?  More mystery to solve.

Final  Thoughts:

• Is  Curtis necessary?  
• The Green Arrow has a man's voice when he speaks, yet I am not convinced that it is man, are you?
• Laurel as a DA and lawyer is a bit of a stretch. Surely the mayor should see through this, right? This season is about redemption, so Beth has said. Is Laurel's redemption going to be lasting?
• Although the prison story is  compelling, I am not sure how much longer this viewer than take Olicity being separated.  It's gone on long enough, please, and thank you
• Is Dr.  Parker the Demon or is  just a legitimate psychologist,  who truly wants to help, as warped as help seems? He  is certainly  scary as hell, but  I'm not convinced he is the Demon.  I've still got a  hunch that it might still be Stanley.
• Will Felicity cross  a line she can't come back from? I hope not.
• How do you feel about the Flash-forwards?  I read one reviewer who thinks it is possible that it's a part of Earth 2. I'm not convinced of that at all. I  am thinking that the new character that will join the cast will be in the flash-forward and  not in the present time.  I believe she  will  be Felicity's daughter.  It's already been stated that she  will be anti-vigilante.  What if she and William clash?  I  personally am  for that story-line because that means that Oliver and Felicity can have their baby in season 8. 
• Prison wears thin on me.
• How many more times will Oliver have to face an identity crisis?  Am I being unfair?
• If you  watch the preview of the next episode, you'll see Felicity  with the  phone, she is literally shaking.  I'm  wondering if she's been told or if she sees  Oliver, and finds out that Oliver does't know who  he is or who she is.  That would be something shocking she discovers. If that's the case, then she will fight  even harder to help Oliver.
• Post your thoughts in the comments below and thank you for reading.