Summary: Elliot tries a new strategy of lucid dreaming which allows him to be present when Mr. Robot starts acting. He follows Mr. Robot to a cab and regains control. In the cab he meets Tyrell. Dom tries to keep working on the case but Santiago sends her home. Dom feels lonely and interacts with Alexa. Price negotiates with Jack to make Ecoin a major new form of currency. Angela is taken to a mysterious house where she is met by Whiterose who asks for her belief.
The Good: I like that Elliot came up with a way to be present when Mr. Robot took over. We needed a way for Elliot to finally see and understand what his alter ego was doing, and this was an effective way of accomplishing that. Elliot used a lucid dreaming strategy to finally make himself present, and it worked! It was engaging to watch because Mr. Robot's nocturnal activities are hugely important to the plot, making this whole sequence feel like a big deal. And naturally, it led to Tyrell finally making his return. Dom has some good scenes here. Her debate with Santiago made a lot of sense. Of course we know that Dom is right about everything, but Santiago gives some valid and understandable reasons as to why he can't simply let her do what she knows is right. It's sad, but it's the way of the world and I suspect that Santiago's decisions will have major consequences. Dom's moment at home talking with Alexa was very sad, and illuminated how dependent she is on her job. I have grown to care about her through the season and I genuinely hope that she finds satisfaction in her personal life. Price's scene with Jack was very good. Finally we get to see exactly what his Ecoin plan was: Price wants to be the man in control of currency in America. That's a big move, and Price details perfectly to Jack why it is necessary, and even gives Jack the illusion of power by offering him complete access to regulate it, which I'm sure is either empty words or not the complete truth. Price is so great to watch, and it's satisfying to finally see what his mysterious Ecoin plan was all about. The Bad: A lot was problematic about this episode. The biggest disappointment for me was Angela's storyline. She had the most screentime this episode and it all felt so wasteful. She spends a really long time being questioned by a kid at an ancient-looking terminal in preparation for her meeting with Whiterose. This scene is weird, creepy, and raises a lot of questions. Ordinarily, I would find this fascinating and it would captivate my imagination. But with how cheap this season has been with a lot of its storytelling, I find myself wondering if there even is an explanation for this stuff. Is this stuff just being done for the sake of being "cool" and "innovative"? Is it just being done to mimic David Fincher? I don't talk much about the "Fight Club" parallels in this show (they don't particularly bother or captivate me), but I can't help but wonder if Sam Esmail thinks that these filmmaking tricks are more important than the story. When it was clear that there wouldn't be a deeper explanation of what happened here, I wondered what the point of it all was. I think that these scenes were only weird for the sake of being weird. Once you realize that things are meaningless, something that may seem fascinating on the surface immediately becomes frustrating, an emotion that I'm feeling all too much with this second season. Angela's conversation with Whiterose fell flat too. For a character who is so obsessed with being time-efficient, Whiterose sure does spend a whole lot of time saying nothing of note. This conversation was an exercise of patience for me. After the vague waste of time that was Angela's time with the kid, I was hoping that this conversation would get a move on and give us some substance. Perhaps some character development? Information on the plot? Introduce an interesting new relationship? But alas, that did not happen. Instead, we just got a lot of vague philosophical statements from Whiterose who hinted at some potentially major reveals, but then immediately changed subjects. Sure this stuff could be interesting to theorize about, but when we have had 11 episodes of this stuff, I am exhausted and craving some actual story. Then we skipped the end of the conversation and caught up with Angela later, only to find out that the interesting character development I was hoping for had happened off screen. To that I have to simply say "ugh". I am baffled that this show continues to have Angela go through such major changes off screen. I've been complaining all season about how much this disconnects me from her, and it happened again! This is the epitome of not learning from your mistakes. And why did we miss this important character development? So that Sam Esmail can continue to withhold important information about the plot to manufacture "drama" in a completely ineffective way. Good drama requires a compelling story and characters, and so this approach hasn't worked and after 11 episodes of being jerked around this season, I am absolutely sick of it. Whiterose is so concerned about time and yet she's a smoker? She is aware that smoking will actively decrease her lifespan right? What may have seemed like a cool character quirk is actually completely against the very nature of the character. Elliot's lucid dream strategy is smart, but it raises one huge question: why on Earth didn't he try this before? Especially when he was in prison and he knew that Mr. Robot was still controlling him? It came right out of nowhere, which doesn't quite make sense. The Tyrell reveal at the end was a long time coming, but it honestly fell a bit flat. There wasn't much emotion or shock to his return. The only thing I could think was "well it's about time". I suppose that's a consequence of how much the show has slowed down this season. Regardless of that, I'm still frustrated that he showed up and didn't do or say anything. Instead he's used as a cliffhanger for the next episode. With how recent episodes have annoyed me with cliffhangers, I'm not as patient about this choice as I would ordinarily be. Please "Mr. Robot", can I have some story in place of this constant teasing? Speaking of cliffhangers, I can't believe that we weren't even told who died at the shoot-out from the previous episode. In a season that has withheld answers for way too long, this is hitting a new low. After such a monumental event happened, surely we would see some follow-up right? Apparently not. We still don't know if Darlene or Cisco are alive or dead, and I can't fathom any reason for keeping this secret other than to purposefully annoy the audience under the name of "suspense". Its the same old stupid decison-making that I've been vocal about throughout this review. And this isn't even the only example of a cliffhanger not being followed up on. We get a scene with Joanna and Mr. Sutherland in this episode, and it tells us absolutely nothing. It's just another tease of what this address is. Why was this scene even necessary? And as a final nail in the coffin, I'll serve up a reminder that we still do not know what happened to Trenton and Mobley after we were left on a cliffhanger 3 episodes ago. The frustration has been endless this season. Dom's scenes were pretty good, but I have to question having such a lengthy character-building scene so late in the season. Surely this scene would have been better off in one of the earlier episodes. The Unknown: Who are the FBI interviewing? Is it Darlene? Joanna says that the address is Tyrell's biggest gift to her. Why? Who was the little girl? Was she beaten or not? How did Whiterose recruit her? Why did Whiterose put Angela through this confusingly tedious test? Did Whiterose reveal that the Washington Township Plant leak was intentional? Why would she intentionally do this? How did Angela's conversation with Whiterose conclude? Why did Angela visit her lawyer after? She seems much more sinister now. Is she working with Whiterose now? Why? Where was the cab supposed to take Elliot and Tyrell? Is Tyrell actually there? He voice sounds strangely different. Where has Tyrell been this whole time? Why reveal himself now? Has he been regularly speaking with Mr. Robot all this time? Best Moment: Price negotiating with Jack. No matter what the scenario, Michael Cristofer always steals the show playing Price. Character of the Episode: Price. Conclusion: There were some good aspects here, but this first part of the season finale offered more of the same cheap tricks that have ruined much of this season so far. It has been a frustrating ride so far and the pressure is on the next episode to offer enough of a pay off to make this journey worth it. At this point my patient is running out. Score: 45
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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