Arrow Review: Level Two (Season 7 Episode 4)

Things get darker in the present and future for everyone on Arrow Season 7 Episode 4, “Level Two,” as we see what danger is in store for Oliver, how Felicity gets answers from The Silencer, and how bleak the future is looking with a surprising discovery.

The psychological manipulation and torture that Oliver goes through is heartbreaking and is borderline uncomfortable to watch. From depriving him of food and water to that sensory deprivation/overload to the electroshock machine, it’s all painful to see Oliver subjected to it all.

Granted, he’s been through a lot over the last eleven years, but there’s something about this that feels worse than those things in the past, including his conditioning for the League and his week of torture with Adrian Chase.

It almost feels like a mix of those two events in one.

Stephen Amell does a wonderful job conveying that pain, determination, and devastation throughout the hour, especially during that parallel life raft scene where it’s Oliver and William.

By the end of “Level Two,” we see that Oliver accepts the designation of Inmate 4587. But does he really or is it out of a need of convincing the psychiatrist that it worked?

Either way, the question that continues to pop up at the end of every episode of Arrow so far this season is what will the man that we’ll see come out of this Slabside arc look like and how many more psychological scars will he carry with him?

Rene’s really turning things around this season and while we got hints of that on Arrow Season 7 Episode 2, “The Longbow Hunters,” it gets a lot clearer as he picks a side (arguably, the right side) of the fight as he faces off against Dinah.

While I continue to have issues with Dinah and Diggle’s outlook on the whole situation as it continues to play out. They continue to disappoint and at times, their comments feel hypocritical. I get that there’s a different kind of internal struggle they are going through right now.

But, considering what they’ve been doing for years with Team Arrow, it doesn’t make them look all that great.

Meanwhile, the future isn’t looking so great (for the most part). Vigilantes continue to be painted the enemy and Star City is in ruins.

On the upside, getting visual confirmation of Smoak Tech’s existence is nice and seeing William really taking after both his father and stepmother is adorable, from the bad lying to the interest in tech.

Of course, there’s no preparing for that final bomb to drop in the form of Dinah telling William and Roy that Felicity is dead. It’s hard to believe that would be the case which leads to questions like where is Oliver in all of this and is he with Felicity?

While the angst and misery and despair is engaging throughout the hour and continues to pique my interest in both the present and future storyline (for the most part), I only have one request for Arrow: don’t move into misery porn territory.

There’s a line to be drawn between good, reliable, and enthralling angst and misery porn.

Random Thoughts

• Beebo! But with the appearance of the breakout Legends Of Tomorrow favorite, comes questions about what else has made it to this part of the Arrowverse.
• The residents of Star City really didn’t know what they got until it’s gone if that town hall is any indication.
• Zoe’s the new Canary and Dinah’s scar is definitely a story that is waiting to be told in the future.
• Felicity’s desperation to get answers leads her Earth-2 Laurel. That’s how far she’s gone.

So, if we’re meant to believe that Felicity is actually dead then where is Oliver? How did the flash forwards play out without a single mention of his name? What if the psychiatrist is The Demon? Any new guesses as to who the new Green Arrow is?

Share thoughts in the comments below!

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Arrow airs Mondays at 8/7c on The CW.

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