In the latest ‘Mr. Robot’ recap, Elliot is forced to face reality to help someone he loves and Angela’s end game hits a massive roadblock….
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
Hello friend.
It’s been a week since the last episode of ‘Mr. Robot’ showed off an Adderall fueled Elliot attempting to exorcise his split personality in the form of his father so that he could get back to some kind of normalcy. Of course in that drug induced haze, normalcy was waxing poetic about “Seinfeld” and jumping around like an over energized bunny hopped up on Red Bull.
In the end, Elliot’s latest master plan failed but he may have finally found an ally (at least in theory) after speaking to his new friend Ray, who comforted the world’s greatest hacker by informing him that he’s not alone when it comes to talking to people who aren’t actually there. Of course, Ray’s true intentions towards Elliot — some of which were hinted to this week — might be much more nefarious, for right now he appears to be the only calming influence in his life that’s stopping him from going completely insane while listening to the voice of his father rattling around in his head.
Meanwhile, Angela is still trying to get a grip on her new life at Evil Corp while attempting to figure out what exactly her megalomaniacal boss Phillip Price has in store for her. He continuously hands her the things she wants most in the world, but at what cost? Is she selling her soul to the devil or is Angela just the perfect plant to bring down Evil Corp from the inside out?
And of course there is Darlene — who has been left twisting in the wind ever since her brother when on a sabbatical after enacting the biggest hack in U.S. history when he toppled Evil Corp and then left her holding the bag in his absence. Darlene’s leadership skills aren’t bad, but she also learns this week that she can’t do it alone and sometimes paranoia is real because occasionally somebody really is watching.
With that said, let’s recap the latest episode of Mr. Robot titled ‘eps2.2init1.asec’…
The Careful Massacre of the Bourgeoisie
The episode starts this week with a flashback to a time when Elliot still hadn’t discovered his split personality and he actually remembered Darlene was his sister. It was just before he started working for All-Safe and after he began visiting his shrink to discuss some issues he was having.
It was a pivotal moment to watch Darlene interact with her brother to truly see the bond between these two siblings as they shared memories about their father and mother as we learned the origin of the infamous FSociety mask as spawned from a cheesy 80’s horror film that the two of them watched that particular Halloween.
That night also ended up as the genesis for Elliot’s idea behind the mega-hack that eventually took down Evil Corp after he dawned his father’s Mr. Robot work jacket and put on the Monopoly man mask that now symbolizes FSociety as he dreamed up a way to take down the biggest and greediest corporation in the world.
Those opening moments showing the closeness between Elliot and Darlene end up as the crux of the entire episode after she visits her brother in real time as he toils away in his mother’s home, far away from the internet and even further away from the catastrophic events that he helped put into motion. Darlene needs his help but Elliot is hesitant to commit to the cause because getting back in front of a computer is like inviting his shadowy second personality to re-emerge and take over again.
Still, Darlene’s desperate plea for help puts Elliot into a tough position because for all the ways he’s been spending weeks away from the world, trying to fill his head with routine in an attempt to eliminate his other personality, he still loves his sister and would do anything to protect her — even if he doesn’t approve of her plans to launch another FSociety attack aimed at a bailout taking place in Washington D.C. in the near future.
Of course, Darlene’s cries in asking Elliot why he would do this to himself lends even more potential evidence that he’s actually living in some kind of mental institution right now rather than his mother’s house, but wherever he’s at, he’s starting to believe that it’s time to step back into the real world because that’s where he’s needed most right now.
Paranoia is Real
Darlene already needed her brother’s help, but recent events are pushing her more towards him saving her rather than re-joining the cause. Ever since the Five-Nine Hack was executed, the world has gone into upheaval and while that was always the plan, the reaction from the rest of the world has been seismic. Not only has Evil Corp continued to exist — even in a damaged state — but now the FBI and other agencies are looking into the hack and trying to find the root cause behind it all.
Darlene’s paranoia — which includes moments where she swears she’s being followed — ends up being realized after she runs into her old hook up friend Cisco, who also just so happened to be her go between with the infamous Dark Army.
A quick tryst in a bar bathroom ends with some not so conventional pillow talk that has Cisco informing Darlene about the FBI digging into Romero’s death and the recent discovery of the Fun Society arcade where FSociety plotted and then executed the hack to end all hacks. The FBI closing in on details surrounding FSociety put the Dark Army in a precarious position because they had a hand in the hack and authorities getting close to their co-conspirators put them directly in the line of fire as well.
Needless to say, the Dark Army would rather execute potential witnesses rather than leave them standing to turn and testify against them.
Of course the true nature of the Dark Army’s plans continue to live in the shadows after we witness a conversation between Evil Corp CEO Philip Price and the mysterious White Rose (welcome back BD Wong!) where they discuss the current status of their relationship and plans for the future.
White Rose seems to reference Price’s recent fascination with Angela and her fast rise up the corporate structure while also seemingly discussing the plant at the heart of the decades long lawsuit from a town trying to take down Evil Corp after knowingly poisoning them all. What White Rose and Price are really up to remains a mystery but it’s clear that the Dark Army’s involvement in the Five-Nine Hack not to mention the continued existence of Evil Corp goes much deeper than anything we’ve seen yet.
Speaking of Angela — she also attempted to play a hand against Price after last week’s events saw two Evil Corp executives sacrificed for the cause of convicting the people behind that awful chemical plant leak in the hometown where both she and Elliot grew up. Certainly, Price knows a lot more than he’s letting on but he’s more than willing to toss a couple of loyal executives on top of the grenade if it keeps Evil Corp safe as a whole.
Angela believes she’s found the common thread in all of the lawsuits and motions filed over the years and that will finally give her the inside track to get over on Price. Unfortunately when she tells Price that she’s discovered his clever rouse — which involved a third party inspection of the chemical plant that Evil Corp has never and will never allow — Angela demands that he put her into a better position of power within the company, complete with nicer digs and a much better office.
Rather than cower and crumble in the face of blackmail, Price simply chuckles and laughs in her face before quickly declining Angela’s request. She’s left standing there with mud on her face and Price just gets into his car and rides away. Perhaps she’s found the common thread that exists in all of the lawsuits, but it’s clear Angela didn’t pull at it enough to even get Price to take her seriously, much less cater to her petty demands.
Severance
Joanna Wellick is also existing on the edges of “Mr. Robot” as she continues to plot some kind of scheme in the wake of the disappearance of her husband Tyrell Wellick. She’s been secretly paying off the parking lot attendant who kept a watchful eye over Elliot in the days after the Five-Nine Hack as he slept in Tyrell’s SUV.
The parking lot attendant is staring to get anxious about whatever secret he’s keeping but as long as the funds keep coming, he’ll stay quiet.
Unfortunately as Joanna’s driver astutely warns her — the money is drying up quickly and without Tyrell’s severance package, she’s going to be broke in a matter of days. Joanna has never been the kind of person to show weakness but she does manage to show a bit of vulnerability when she visits Evil Corp executive Scott Knowles and asks him to push through her husband’s severance so she can provide for their child.
Of course, Scott is still fuming over the death of his wife and the lack of any conviction behind her murderer. Joanna opts to offer testimony against her husband that might prove he was the culprit behind her murder (and yes, he really did kill her), in exchange for the severance package being released.
Knowles scoffs at the offer and more or less tells Joanna he looks forward to her living on welfare with Tyrell’s monstrous child suckling away at her finances from now until forever. Later in the episode, Joanna sits with her new bartender boyfriend who makes unrealistic promises about whisking her away to Madrid and taking her on extravagant trips around the world once he becomes a successful DJ.
Joanna quickly shuts him down and tells him to stop dreaming beyond his means because she’s not with him because he’ll one day become a rich and successful musician. She’s with him because his $15 an hour job provides her with a kind of comfort and simplicity that Tyrell’s occupation and pre-occupation with success never could.
Stalemate
Elliot’s internal strife and battle with Mr. Robot continues to plague him, especially after his new pal Ray instructs him to play a game of chess against himself to hone his skills before they square off against each other again. The first game saw Ray quickly checkmate Elliot so he tells his new friend to get a little practice in against himself before they rematch.
Before the game of one-on-one chess with himself commences, Elliot even has a heart-to-heart with his therapist about the other voice inside his head and explains how badly he wants it out. Instead of telling him that the voice will eventually go away, she suggests that killing Mr. Robot would really be destroying a part of himself.
All Elliot really wants is to find peace — a world where he can reconnect with the people he loves (Darlene, Angela, etc) and even make amends with the people he’s wronged (Tyrell, that poor bastard at Stone Mountain who he duped last season). In his perfect world, Elliot would be sitting down to dinner as they ate and watched the world fall down around them.
Elliot’s confusion over his other personality finally comes to a head when Mr. Robot suggests that they finally play a game of chess against each other — winner take all. If Elliot wins, Mr. Robot will fade into the ether but if Mr. Robot wins, he takes over complete control of Elliot’s psyche.
So they sit down and play — and with each move one thing is abundantly clear — no one is going to win. Stalemate after stalemate results in Elliot finally coming to the realization that deep down he wants Mr. Robot to exist the same way Mr. Robot wants Elliot around no matter how much he proclaims to want to take over.
Elliot has seemingly come to grips with Mr. Robot as his other half rather than a part of himself trying to take over. After the chess game finishes, Elliot makes a bold decision to talk to his friend Ray and help him with the computer problem he was experiencing in last week’s episode. Ray was having some kind of issue with site migration and Bitcoin operation and Elliot is more than qualified to fix whatever problems he’s having.
One piece of wisdom that Ray imparts on Elliot before allowing him to get to work is that prophets of all kinds — from Moses to Jesus — heard voices in their head. Maybe it’s time for Elliot to listen to the voices in his head as well?
Elliot agrees to help — although Ray issues a rather ominous warning not to dig too deep into his business, which only leads me to believe he’s got something much darker happening than what we’ve seen thus far — but rather than working on site migration, he quickly opens up a portal and starts to chat with his sister.
Darlene lays it all out for her brother — the FBI found the arcade, Romero is dead, the Dark Army is pissed.
So Elliot decides it’s time to fight back. It’s time to watch the watchers. It’s time to hack the FBI database.
MUSIC
“Into the Black” by Chromatics
“Basket Case” by Twinkle Twinkle Little Rock Star (Green Day cover)
“Mars, the Bringer of War” by Gustav Holst
