Summary: Elliot starts the process to hack the FBI and when asked by Lone Star, he requests to speak with the previous technician for help, RT. RT arrives and he secretly communicates to Elliot and Elliot finds out that Ray runs a black market website. He is torn about what to do about this information as he goes to sleep, but he's suddenly woken up and abducted. Ray's men have picked up Elliot and they beat him up. Darlene asks Angela to help them with the hack by going to the FBI floor in E Corp. She initially refuses but after realizing Ollie has told the FBI about the CD she returns tot he plan. She meets with Elliot, they catch up and Angela agrees to help. Angela is introduced to fsociety by Darlene. Kareem backs out of the deal with Joanna so she has him killed. Joanna gets a phone call from outside her house but nobody is there. The FBI head to China to investigate everything there. They are greeted by Minister Zhang who is actually Whiterose. Dom speaks her intentions to investigate the Dark Army and Whiterose later pulls her aside for a conversation. Later at the FBI hotel, a bunch of shooters attack and kill many people, but Dom manages to stay alive.
The Good: The entire hacking storyline is great, a breath of fresh air after a slow start to the season. The opening scene does a fantastic job of showing us Elliot in his element, and I love the use of darkness to illustrate how cut off from the outside world Elliot is when he is hacking. It also serves for a terrific reveal to remind us that Lone Star is watching this entire time; something that comes into play later when it turns out that RT and Elliot weren't as slick communicating with each other as they thought. The rest of the story is tense and dramatic. The episode is so fixated on the FBI hack that Ray's business becomes a side-thought, so it is a real shock when we learn exactly how depraved Ray's business venture is, and how dangerous it is. The black market website reveal is significant enough to completely upend Elliot's mission, forcing him to sidetrack and ponder what to do about Ray. It completely changes the complexion of the entire episode in a way that immediately ratchets up the tension. Angela gets some good scenes which naturally build to her agreeing to help Elliot and Darlene with the hack. Her initial refusal makes sense, but when investigating Ollie she learns a harsh truth about his motives and that he has revealed what he knows to the FBI, significantly endangering her. That scene develops perfectly as Ollie's constant flattery and nostalgia feels off from the first moment, and followed by his immediate mention of the CD and his slightly nervous demeanor gives away his plot very organically in a way that is scary for both us and Angela. Once again, "Mr. Robot" does a fantastic job of putting us in a character's shoes by connecting us with Angela's slow discovery of Ollie's intentions during the meeting. Having Angela abruptly leave after getting all she needs makes perfect sense as well; why should she respect the man who cheated on her and screwed her over? Following this, Angela returns to Elliot and their reunion is a lovely moment. The acting here is great, making it clearly that they still do deeply care about each other. Elliot wanting to be rid of Mr. Robot before seeing her feels earnest, and it leads into a fittingly sad moment when he admits that Mr. Robot is still there behind her and that he failed to be rid of him. Angela ultimately agrees to help and it looks like this is going to lead to her being actively involved with fsociety which is a big development and an important one, finally linking her story directly with Elliot's. Joanna's scenes haven't done a whole lot for me as a story, but they are quite impressive to watch at times. Take this episode where Mr. Sutherland goes to kill Kareem. That scene is executed perfectly (pun intended), overlaying Joanna's questioning and Sutherland's descriptions over top of the scene where Sutherland murders Kareem. It's an artful sequence that tells us more about Joanna as she explains why she wanted to drug Kareem before he died. Plus the chance is also taken to explain how Sutherland will deflect suspicion away from Joanna, ensuring that Kareem's death feels natural. While this sequence still suffered from the same problems I've had with Joanna's scenes all season, I was impressed with how much was accomplished and with the filmmaking skill that was on display. The lengthy dialogue between Whiterose (who I will address as a woman until we get a gender confirmation) and Dom was fascinating. Both characetrs seem to have ulterior motives, and I was fascinated to see them slightly test each other as they discussed their lives, slowly learning more about each other. Dom's backstory is told to us naturally through Whiterose's curiosity, and we can understand that she's here at the FBI after running away from commitment. Meanwhile Whiterose has strangely opted to show off her feminine side to Dom and I'm not sure why. Dom was clever enough to figure out that "Minister Zhang" doesn't have a sister and that something is up, and I'm left wondering if this was a slip-up on Whiterose's part or if it was intentional. I can also point out the possibility of it being intentional because Whiterose had organized a plan to kill Dom by attacking the FBI hotel, which happens later in startling fashion as gunshots start firing completely out of nowhere. The gunfight was brief, but it was tense and exciting. The Bad: This was solid plot progression, but it did not have the high level of character work that we saw in the last four episodes. I enjoyed seeing the plot finally develop with characters making big decisions, storylines connecting, and some twists and turns finally happening. But to accommodate all of this stuff, the ambition and emotion that was so prevalent in the first four episodes has severely diminished. While that's definitely fine - not every episode needs to be a cathartic masterpiece - it does mean that this episode isn't as big as it is trying to be. It kicks the story into motion but it does not do enough to be a great episode, merely ending up as good. The Unknown: What will come from the discovery of the raspberry pi? What else will the FBI find from it? Why did Whiterose take such interest in Dom? Why did she show Dom her closet? What was the point of that? Did Whiterose send the men to attack the FBI in the hotel? If not, then who did? Why did they kill themselves? Will Dom make it out alive? How many will survive the attack? What was the point of those two masked individuals that Dom saw? Were they part of fsociety? The Dark Army? Something else? Joanna is apparently protecting Elliot. Why? How? Was the toy for the baby a gift from Tyrell? Who was on the phone? Was it Tyrell? The call seemed to be taking place right outside her house. Is Tyrell much closer than everyone thinks? What was the purpose of that call? What will Elliot attempt to do about Ray's website? Lone Star is beating Elliot up now. How far will he go? What will Ray's follow-up be? Is Darlene telling Angela about fsociety and what they did? Will their plan to hack the FBI work? Best Moment: The opening sequence did well to make us feel how good it is for Elliot to be back in the zone of hacking. I'm starting to look forward to the creative ways that "Mr. Robot" starts off its episodes. Character of the Episode: Whiterose. Conclusion: This was better stuff. While it lost some of the fascinating dynamic between Elliot and Mr. Robot, this was a more plot-heavy, tense episode that had a comparatively easy-to-follow plot with a few exciting twists and turns. Score: 67
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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