We’re five episodes into Arrow Season 7, and Oliver is still in prison, but how long can that last? It may be over sooner than you think, considering the information Felicity, Laurel and Dinah dug up on the psychiatrist, Dr. Parker, treating him at Slabside and files they received.
Spoilers for Arrow Season 7 Episode 5 below.
“The Demon” sees Oliver and Felicity continue to work towards the same goal, in and out of Slabside Maximum Security Prison. Though in previous episodes, that goal has been to take down Diaz, they have a different target in mind here: Level Two, specifically Dr. Parker.
On Level Two, Talia al Ghul, Oliver’s former mentor and recent enemy, recruits him to help her escape. She doesn’t want to become a subject in Dr. Parker’s “experimental treatment,” which have killed some inmates.
Felicity tries to visit her husband, only to find out his visitation privileges have been revoked. She also learns about Level Two from his self-proclaimed sidekick, Stan. When Felicity can’t find any records of Level Two, she and Laurel turn to Dinah for access to the SCPD’s files on the psychiatrist supposedly working out of Slabside, even though the prison doesn’t officially have a psychiatric program.
Laurel Lance/Black Siren (Katie Cassidy), Felicity Smoak/Overwatch (Emily Bett Rickards) and Dinah Drake/Black Canary (Juliana Harkavy) in 'Arrow' Season 7 Episode 5 "The Demon"
When he had a private practice, Dr. Parker was the defendant in three malpractice cases settled out of court. In one case, he promised to make a 22-year-old who experienced violent outbursts “docile,” but his patient suffered bouts of amnesia before losing all sense of identity. Dr. Parker is “erasing” inmates.
But Oliver refuses to be “docile” and stops Dr. Parker from erasing him. He copies files off his computer and gives the USB drive to Talia to get to Felicity. She can escape, but he can’t. He doesn’t want to be a fugitive.
Those files are enough to get Level Two shut down and Dr. Parker fired. Laurel also thinks that the files on the USB and the ones they found in the record room should be enough to land him in prison. But they can use Slabside’s “PR nightmare” to do more. Laurel wants to use what they have to appeal to Oliver’s conviction and make him a free man.
It’s a nice thought, and that looks to be the plan in episode 6, “Due Process.” As the trailer (above) shows, Laurel pleads her case in court. However, when she visits him in prison, his comment that “it must be difficult to win a case when you’re not a real lawyer” suggests it won’t be that easy. (Laurel is from Earth-2, pretending to be her Earth-1 doppelganger, who does have a law degree.)
Also suggesting Oliver won’t be a free man by the end of episode 6 is the title of episode 7: “The Slabside Redemption,” a clear homage to the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption about a man who escapes prison.
Appealing Oliver’s conviction won’t help either since he went to prison as part of a deal with the FBI. So any information Laurel gets on Dr. Parker or Slabside’s operations won’t be enough to free Oliver, but it could get him transferred to another facility.
Perhaps this will be used to show Laurel stumbling in her Earth-1 counterpart’s shoes. She lucked out last season when she read the right part of a law book and helped Diaz figure out a way to have Oliver impeached as mayor. She’s even studying up on the law this season as she works as the DA. But she still has a lot to learn.
Arrow airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on The CW.
