Summary: Price tells Elliot how Whiterose rose to power. Elliot makes a deal with Price and asks him to arrange a meeting between the Deus group members. Price tells Elliot he had a contact named Susan Jacobs. Price leaves but Mr. Robot is confident that he will work with them. Price meets with Whiterose and announces he is going to resign. The Deus group will meet to assign a successor. Elliot looks into Susan Jacobs but is interrupted when Darlene calls him to say their mother died. Elliot wants to move on quickly but Darlene wants to process her guilt. Darlene and Elliot argue but eventually they make peace with each other and also process Angela's death together. Darlene tells Elliot that she killed Susan Jacobs and forces herself into Elliot's plan to take down the Dark Army. Darlene tells Elliot about Vera, and he realizes that since both he and Mr. Robot didn't know, that he must have a third personality somewhere. Dom tells the FBI that Santiago was a cartel double agent. She tells Janice that she's 99.9% sure that the agent interviewing her bought the story, but Janice kills him to be safe anyways.
The Good: It's great to see Price and Elliot team up against Whiterose. Price seemed like he was going to be a major villain for much of the series, but in the end he's become something of a good guy simply by comparison to Whiterose. Sure, he's despicable and corrupt, but he's the lesser evil when compared to Whiterose. We get a great expositional speech that was artfully directed, which revealed Whiterose's rise to power. This was a good way to start the episode, emphasizing the importance of taking down Whiterose and how difficult that would be. The following scenes between Elliot/Price and Price/Whiterose were well written and well acted, setting up Elliot's plan to take down Whiterose. Much of the meat of the episode came from Elliot and Darlene's relationship. As Mr. Robot has said, Elliot's been very detached in his hunt for vengeance and nobody notices that more than Darlene. When their mother dies, neither of them really care, but Darlene is upset because Elliot no longer seems to be there for her. We know he's trying to protect her, but shutting himself off from her is not good for either of them and I'm glad that the episode slowly built towards Darlene getting Elliot to open up to her again. These two have a great relationship and I want to see them on good terms with each other. Unfortunately for Elliot, by opening up to Darlene he has endangered her once again, but putting Darlene in danger was never his call. Elliot is forced to accept that he can't fight this battle alone, and that he needs to let go of his instinct to protect Darlene. Furthermore, there is a lovely message about grief in this episode. The death of Elliot and Darlene's mother is used to parallel Angela's death, giving them the chance to grieve and be there to help each other through such a difficult time. The episode's biggest surprise came towards the end when we learn that Elliot has a third personality that is completely unaccounted for. This reveal came out of nowhere and was absolutely effective. It changes the story and adds a new exciting mystery and sense of uncertainty in Elliot. I wonder how much we have seen this third personality in the past (see: The Unknown). This twist is exciting and I'm curious to see where it goes. Dom's story continues to advance in an interesting way. Her interview with Agent Horton was engaging. For a little bit I was concerned that she was about to turn on the Dark Army and face the consequences, but the show faked me out by revealing that Dom was following the plan all along. The drama worked here, and I completely fell for it, only to be delighted at how good Dom's acting was with her family's lives on the line. But despite all of her hard work, she ends up facing a bitter realization when Janice murders Horton anyways all because Dom was only 99.9% sure, a sad moment. The Dark Army are proving to be extremely despicable, and things like this make it much easier to root for their downfall. The Bad: Elliot hunting for Susan Jacobs isn't as interesting as the show thinks it is because we know she is dead. It's hard to care too much about the drama of Elliot finding out that Darlene killed her because Elliot has already done far worse things than what Darlene did here. This episode feels like set-up and there isn't a whole lot going on here. Even the big twist doesn't really have much impact on the characters, and it feels like it is setting up for an exciting reveal down the line. Elliot and Mr. Robot discerning a third personality is surprising, but it doesn't impact the story too much. I have no problem with slow set-up episodes like this one, but set-up episodes aren't going to score as highly due to their nature. The Unknown: What was in Elliot's mother's safe deposit box? Will that be important? Will Whiterose realize that Price is working with Elliot? Why is it such a big deal that Price is resigning? Wasn't his career supposed to be finished by the E Corp bombings? Or did he have a bit more time before being sacked? I can't quite remember the details. Very interesting ending scene. That's the same room where Tyrell extended his offer to Elliot. Is this meant to be a visualization of Elliot's mind? Is that a younger Elliot and his mother? Why are they there? What does this mean? This was a trippy, confusing ending to the episode. I'm intrigued to learn more about what exactly is going on here. Who is Elliot's third personality? Have we seen them before? I imagine we must have, or this will feel like too convenient of a plot twist. I'm sure that Sam Esmail has laid hints in previous episodes about this. Best Moment: Elliot and Darlene listening to the walkman tape together. Such a sad moment of bonding between these two. Elliot and Darlene have the best relationship in the show by far. Character of the Episode: Elliot. Conclusion: This was a much better effort. This episode nicely examined both Elliot and Darlene, and gave us an effective twist to conclude the episode on top of that. This is solid set-up for the rest of the season. Score: 66
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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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