Oliver lies on his bunk holding a photo of Felicity and William. A guard, Magee, comes in and orders him up, and Oliver gets up. Magee says that he's Oliver's new best friend and has him hold out his hand. When Oliver does so, the guard puts a tracking bracelet on him. Magee says that Parker told him that he's ready for phase 2, and is taking Oliver "down the rabbit hole".
The guard escorts Oliver and they watch two orderlies take a prisoner away. The reaper stares at Oliver from his cell, and Oliver asks Magee when visitation is. Magee says that there is no visitation and everyone who knows Oliver will eventually forget him.
Bell meets with Diggle and Curtis and asks about the abnormalities in their intel report to Switzerland. Diggle claims that they got chocolate, but Bell says that the information they pulled from the bank tipped them off to an ongoing transaction between Malcolm Byrd, a chemical arms dealer, and biochemist Dr. Nyambi Somto. Somto disappeared two weeks ago, and ARGUS since captured Somto. Byrd still believes the buy is going on, so they want Curtis going in undercover as Somto to carry out the buy. The arms dealer has never met Somto, and Curtis has the necessary knowledge to pass as a biochemist. Curtis points out that he's more of a surveillance person, but Diggle says that he and his team will handle the takedown. Bell makes it clear that it's an order and leaves.
Oliver approaches the reaper and says that he needs to talk to him. The reaper walks off, telling Oliver to leave him alone. When Oliver grabs his arm, the reaper knocks him away and then tells Magee that it was an accident. Magee triggers a remote and the reaper's bracelet shocks him. The guard has the orderlies take the reaper into a sealed-off high-security section with a blue door as Oliver looks on.
Felicity meets with Laurel and says that she's tracking Silencer via the CCTVs and the tracker they planted on her. She admits that she's anxious to get Diaz, and Laurel tells her to relax. Silencer's signal dims, and Laurel sends Felicity onto the streets to track it.
A man attacks Oliver and Oliver takes him down. The woman prisoner, Talia, stands up and says that she understands that he's been looking for the Demon. He wonders how she survived the explosion on Lian Yu, but Talia merely says that she's hard to kill. Oliver figures that she's been manipulating him all along to get him to Level 2. Talia admits that she doesn't know where Diaz is, and says that she survived Lian Yu with the aid of a drug provided by Diaz. Oliver points out that there was a time when allying herself with Diaz would have been beneath her, and Talia says that she does what she needs to survive. She points out that Oliver exposed himself as a monster, and says that she needs his help to escape from Slabside. Oliver refuses, and Talia says that they destroy criminals. Oliver notes that Talia allied herself with Adrian and William's mother ended up dead, and insists that he's only Inmate 4587, not Oliver anymore. He tells her to get out of his cell.
The next day, Felicity arrives to meet with Oliver. A guard tells him that he's had his visitation privileges revoked and isn't at liberty to explain. Stanley gets done with his visitor and motions Felicity over. when she picks up the phone, Stanley says that he can't give Oliver a message because he was sent to Level two, where they send the worst of the worst. He tells Felicity that he has to go and quickly leaves.
Curtis meets with Byrd's representative while Diggle runs surveillance from a nearby van. The man checks the sample, and Curtis asks to see Byrd. The representative tells him to bring the entire supply the next night to a gallery. Curtis starts to objects and then agrees. When he gets back to the van, Curtis complains to Diggle about how the plan was for him to only meet once. Curtis insists that he's out of field work.
Felicity returns to Laurel, who calls the prison and tells them to straighten out Oliver's visitation privileges. Once she hangs up, Laurel says that the prison authorities are claiming that Oliver maxed out his visitation privileges. Felicity figures that something is wrong and accesses Slabside's records. There's no information on Level Two.
The orderlies bring the dead reaper out of the blue-door section as Oliver looks on. Oliver goes over to where Talia is eating and asks what happened to the reaper. Talia says that the blue-door section is where people get "reformed", and the ones who walk out suffer much worse. She tells Oliver that he fell for Parker's lies, and Oliver insist that they need to stop it. Talia wonders why he wants to help criminals, and Oliver reminds her that she was the one who pushed him toward helping others. Oliver still refuses to help her and Talia walks off. He asks Magee to see Parker, saying that he's having a relapse.
Laurel and Felicity approach Dinah and explain that they're working together and need Dinah's help. Felicity explains about Level Two and found out about Parker, and need Dinah to check the SCPD records and see if there were any complains made about the doctor when he was in private practices. There are no electronic records, and Slabside doesn't have a psychiatric program.
Curtis returns to ARGUS and Diggle asks why he's so concerned about dying when he worked in the field as part of Team Arrow. After a moment, Curtis says that he doesn’t have it in him anymore and his life has cost him his marriage and gotten people he loves hurt, and he's not Mr. Terrific anymore. Diggle says that he's seen the face of men in war that were done, and Curtis doesn't have that face. He tells Curtis that Mr. Terrific is part of him and advises him to make sure his decision to stay out of the mission is the right one.
Parker meets with Oliver, and Oliver says that the reaper was among the people who attacked him on Level One and it caused him to feel violent. Oliver tells Parker that the reaper was dead , and Parker says that setbacks are inevitable when they're breaking scientific ground. The doctor insists that they've eliminated the part of Oliver that was trapped in a cycle of violence, and asks him to imagine it on a grander scale. Oliver asks about the people dying, and Parker points out that sounds like the old Oliver. When Oliver says that he's not that person, Parker tells him to continue focusing on the person he needs to be for the sake of his family, or they'll pursue other treatment options.
Dinah, Felicity, and Laurel go through the hard files but find nothing. Laurel says that she's asked the U.S. attorney to file a motion to have Slabside release all of their records. Felicity warns that Oliver may not have days and the other two women assure her that it isn't her fault. Dinah tells Felicity stop blaming herself, but Felicity worries that she could lose Oliver permanently.
Oliver approaches Talia and says that they can go tonight. However, first he wants to break into the blue-door section and get the evidence to put Parker away. Talia wonders why he cares about criminals and Oliver insists that no lives are disposable. She reminds him that he killed her father, and Oliver apologizes for not considering what Ra's' death would do to his family. Oliver asks her to remember that he was once her student and that they need to trust each other if they're going to escape.
Diggle briefs his team on the meeting, and gives Curtis a case with a targeting system to locate the hostile. Curtis goes into the gallery and meets Byrd in a back room. Byrd takes the chemical, puts it into a binary bomb he's bought with him, and arms it with a tablet. He says that he needed a fall guy, and Curtis asks for a countdown before he dies... from Diggle, not Byrd. The case opens and an autogun pops out, taking out Byrd and his guards. Curtis shuts down the bomb using the tablet as Diggle and his agents come in.
Oliver waits for Talia, and when she doesn't show up he picks a fight with an orderly. Magee arrives and draws his gun, and Talia knocks him out from behind. she then attacks Oliver with a knife and they fight. More guards arrive and Magee triggers their bracelets, apparently knocking them out. He tells his men to take them to the room.
Felicity finally locates a file on Parker. He was a defendant in three malpractice cases settled out of court. One man, Robert Goodman, experienced violent outbursts and was referred to Parker. Goodman suffered bouts of amnesia, and there were eight similar cases. The patient lost more sense of identity, and Felicity realizes that they're going to erase Oliver's personality.
The orderlies take Oliver and Talia into the room and strap them to chairs. Parker says that he's disappointed in Oliver. Oliver says that Parker is a monster, insisting that he's not helping people. He admits that Robert kept secrets and he made the same mistakes, but if he breaks the cycle he'll do it his way. Oliver grabs Parker by the throat, revealing that he's escaped the straps. He knocks out the guards while Talia frees herself. Oliver accesses Parker's computer while Talia uses a drill to cut off her bracelet. Oliver does the same and Talia gets Parker's key card while Oliver gets Parker's computer file.
Oliver and Talia leave the section and find the prisoners rioting. Magee comes over and tells them that they're on lockdown, and orders them to their cells. The remote doesn't work, and Oliver punches Magee unconscious. They walk out and find several armed guards waiting. The escapees attack and take them out, then find the exit and barricade the door behind them. The only way out is through a chute where they dump the bodies, and Oliver asks Talia to give the file Felicity. Oliver explains that if he leaves he'll be a fugitive, and tells Talia that giving another face to the monster wasn't the answer. Talia promises that she'll get the file to Felicity, and Oliver holds off the guards while Talia escapes. They soon overwhelm and beat him.
Later, the guards come to Oliver's cell and tell him that Level Two is being shut down and he's going back to Level One.
Felicity, Laurel, and Dinah and Magee watch a newscast about Parker's involvement in Level Two. Laurel suggests that they can use the file to appeal Oliver's conviction as well as put Parker away.
Parker goes to his car with his things after being fired. Talia slaps a bracelet on him and shocks him, and draws her sword.
Curtis finishes his mission report and tells Diggle that he found an abnormality. He explains that there's a deeper connection that AGUS doesn't want them to know, and shows Diggle an image of a 16th century painting. Curtis admits that he doesn't know what it means but will find out.
The guards return Oliver to his cell, and Stanley tells him that Felicity was there. He gives Oliver Felicity's message that she's close to getting Diaz.
Laurel hesitantly invites Felicity to come with her for some pizza, but insists that it isn't a friend date. The power boost is complete and Felicity gets a signal from Silencer's tracker showing that she's in Moscow.
In Moscow, Silencer walks through a rooftop of dead bodies. Diaz is waiting and says that he's making good on an old promise as he chokes Anatoly.
Written by Gadfly on Nov 13, 2018