Summary: Krista meets with Michael who has been tracking Elliot and wants to turn him in for hacking. Elliot wakes up and discovers that he and Tyrell executed the hack and the revolution has begun but he has no memory of what happened. He hunts for Tyrell but doesn't find him. Elliot gets Mr. Robot to appear and tries to figure out what happened but he has no luck and has intense visions when trying to undo what he has done. He goes back home after accepting what has happened and gets a knock at his door. Angela has her new job at E Corp and witnesses an executive, Plouffe, kill himself on air announcing that it is a disaster. Angela is traumatized and speaks with Price who is the CEO and is surprisingly confident. Price has full faith that E Corp will recover. Later, he goes to a meeting and speaks with Whiterose.
The Good: I expected this episode to be a typical tension-based finale showing Tyrell and Elliot working together on the hack with some twists and turns in there. But surprisingly, this episode completely took me off guard by skipping all of that and dropping us jarringly alongside Elliot in a world after the hack happened with no idea of what happened. This was a bold decision and one that I loved. This proved to me that this show is motivated to do something completely unlike any other show, utilizing mystery, unreliable narrators, and internal conflict within a character in creative and meaningful ways. Elliot's scenes are fantastic, especially his inner conflict that is examined on-screen by his conversations with Mr. Robot. The early parts of the episode have Elliot on his own desperately trying to recollect his emotions and figure out everything that happened. We are deeply connected with his desire for answers, so we feel his plight, and as ever, Rami Malek elevates Elliot's dilemma with some stellar acting. The mystery and intrigue creates an engaging atmosphere, with the best example of this being Elliot's fantastic scene with Joanna. Joanna is terrifying because she speaks to Elliot with a terrifying, almost mischievous sparkle in her eyes that suggests that she knows things that we don't. This creates a terrifying sense of paranoia throughout the scene, as Elliot gradually realizes that Joanna is a threat. The scene doesn't go anywhere (yet), but it is a masterclass in suspense and mystery. And then the episode gets to Mr. Robot's re-introduction. With this, things elevate to a new level. The acting, directing, dialogue, and thematic value is all superb in the scenes between Elliot and Mr. Robot and it becomes clear what exactly Elliot's battle with himself is about. Mr. Robot represents the more radicalized side of Elliot that wants to see the world changed because it is the world that put him in such pain. Mr. Robot is vengeful, angry, and out for blood. Elliot, however, is passive, scared, and just wants to be free of the pain that he carries with him despite understanding deep down that he can't escape. It's his inability to escape that allows Mr. Robot to creep back into his mind and continue to imprison it, which is made clear by the final exchanges between Elliot and Mr. Robot in the episode. There is plenty more to dissect here, and I would likely be here all day talking about the layers within Elliot's mind and what they all mean. I was hugely impressed by the depth of exploration done on this character, and I found this to be an immensely satisfying season finale from a character standpoint. Angela has a significant story in this episode, and it seems to primarily be about setting up Philip Price as a key new character. Angela herself has a strange storyline (see: The Bad), but Price emerges as a stand-out villain. He is unnerving in how calm and composed he is, and the tension builds and builds until we finally see Price's corrupted capitalist mind reveal itself in a chilling moment when he tells Angela that he is glad that Plouffe killed himself. I appreciate that the revolution is shown to not be as good as it was said to be. With the world in such a case of chaos, it doesn't feel like a victory to anyone in fsociety. Elliot is breaking down and wants to undo everything, and while Darlene tells everyone that they should celebrate, deep down she feels that same emptiness. The show hasn't taken a stance on capitalism in the world and is instead looks to be setting up to explore pros and cons of it, which is the best way to explore capitalism. Michael and Krista's story to start the episode was a welcome surprise. I didn't expect them to return in the show, but the writing is strong enough to make good use of them. Krista looks like she still has more value to offer the show, while Michael looks like he may play a key role in the next season. I love that the small detail of Elliot taking Flipper has backfired on him. Elliot has hacked Michael but he doesn't know every little detail about him, and that is backfiring now. The Bad: I'm still not invested in fsociety as a group. These characters are still a bunch of nobodies to me. All of their scenes were the dullest parts of the episode, and it does not help that we missed out on the moment when these characters executed their plan and tasted success. Seeing the aftermath is good, but it would have meant more if we got to see their immediate reactions to the plan. Angela's arc in this episode is strange. I did not expect her to already be working at E Corp this soon. It feels like we skipped her decision entirely. Now it looks like the show is trying to convince us that Angela is turning to the dark side but that is so unbelievably stupid. Wasn't she only doing this job to take down E Corp from the inside? Yet we are given this woeful scene where Angela is accosted for working there by the rudest person ever at the shoe store. I mean seriously, who the hell acts so unsympathetic and judgmental when a customer reveals that they witnessed a suicide hours earlier. This guy is the total worst and Angela is completely justified for shutting him up because he completely crossed the line. But the intention of the scene is clearly that Angela seems to be using her new power for bad, which is unearned, ridiculous, and heavy-handed in its execution. I'm not happy with this sudden change at the end of the season. While I praised the format of this episode, I am a bit concerned about it. Scrambling the narrative like this can certainly work, but it also sets the stage to fill future episodes with twists and turns instead of telling a genuinely compelling narrative. This first season did well to mostly avoid this problem, but there is a chance that season 2 gets lost in making needless shocks and surprises to the point that the story gets lost in the shuffle. Add this potential issue with the pre-existing flaw of how poor this show has been with emotional engagement, and there are certainly some credible reasons to be a bit nervous about the future of the show. The Unknown: How is the world going to change after the revolution? What is Michael going to do now? Will he continue going after Elliot? Will Krista protect him? Why didn't Krista inform Michael that Elliot has been hacking? What happened before Elliot woke up in Tyrell's car? Why doesn't he remember? Where is Tyrell? What did he do? Why was he acting strange? Why did Joanna grill Elliot so much? What is she hiding? What is Price's relevance to the story? Why is he so optimistic about E Corp despite the tragedy? Where did the boardwalk fail video come from? Why was it in Tyrell's car? Did Tyrell film it? Where did it come from? Who is at the door? Is it Tyrell? Krista? Michael? Someone else? Has Price discovered Elliot already? He says that he's going to turn somebody in. Why is he meeting with Whiterose? Is Whiterose playing both sides? Whiterose also seems to be gender fluid, which is interesting. I'm not sure what to make of it yet. Best Moment: Elliot's crazy hallucination scene in the streets as he tries to come to terms with all that's happened. It looks like he is ultimately embracing Mr. Robot and will allow himself to be rules by his alter ego's tendencies. Character of the Episode: Elliot. Conclusion: Again, this was a very solid episode. Unique storytelling, terrific directing, and a compelling mystery permeated the episode and season 2 was set up in an enjoyable way. I still think that the problems with engagement persisted, but overall this was another great episode. The first season of "Mr. Robot" was a definite success. I enjoyed this show's approach to television, as it was not afraid to take risks, show off its style, and innovate with its storytelling. There isn't much that is outright great about this season outside of the splendid pilot episode, but this is a consistently good time that lays the foundation for future seasons to build on this story and expand it. The superb technical aspect of the show makes this easy television to analyze and appreciate. The only issue right now is that the show is struggling to suck me in on an emotional level. The show intrigues me and captivates my imagination, but I'm not feeling a close personal connection to the show and its characters just yet. If season 2 can accomplish that, I suspect that this show can easily go from good to being excellent. Score: 68
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Summary: A flashbacks shows Elliot's father's relationship with Elliot in the store he owned, "Mr. Robot". In the present, Elliot talks with his father, furious that he's been alive all this time. Mr. Robot takes him on a journey for answers, taking Elliot to his old house where he reveals that Elliot threw himself out of the window out of guilt. Elliot throws Mr. Robot out of the window and then they go to Elliot's father's grave. Darlene gets in touch with Angela and lets her know that Elliot has forgotten again and they track him to his father's grave where Elliot realizes that Mr. Robot is somebody inside his head - an alter ego. Tyrell is rejected by Joanna and he returns to work only to be fired. He finds Elliot and threatens him to tell him about fsociety. Tyrell intends to join Elliot. Gideon tries to put the honeypot back online but finds no success. He goes to meet Tyrell, who has given the order to keep it offline, but finds that he's fired. Angela goes back home where Colby is waiting for her. He offers her a job at Evil Corp.
The Good: I appreciated the flashback to open the episode. Elliot's relationship with his father is a critical aspect of this episode, so it is important that we get to see it and conclude things about it ourselves. This opening sequence tells us everything we need to know about Elliot's father, and we learn about his morals, his righteousness, and his parenting style, and we can see why Elliot formed a connection with him. Furthermore, this flashback helps explain why Elliot is so willing to play the hero and punish people doing bad things in previous episodes, like with the child pornography supplier back in "eps1.0_hellofriend.mov". The flashback pays dividends in the present because we now understand what exactly Elliot's father meant to him. So we can understand why he feels so betrayed when he finds out that his father seemingly faked his death. Rami Malek portrays Elliot's rage superbly, and it is incredibly jarring in a good way since we have always seen Elliot maintain his calm in practically every situation. Hearing him shout and feeling his rage emanate from him is a completely new feeling, and it adds that extra level of engagement in his scenes. The rest of the episode takes Elliot on an interesting journey as he accepts his guilt over his father's death by revisiting the pier, his old home, and ultimately his father's grave. This is all fascinating to watch, and while we can clue in pretty quickly that Mr. Robot is only a vision of his father that is in Elliot's head, it is engaging to see Elliot make this realization and see how it affects him mentally. This captured the questionable reality of a schizophrenic perfectly, and I'm curious to see how Elliot's loose grip on reality affects his future. Tyrell's story is pretty strong. Logically, he faces major consequences for what he has done. Joanna, while she saved him from imprisonment, is unwilling to put up with him any longer. Funnily enough it seems to not have anything to do with Tyrell being a murderer, but more that she is tired of putting up with someone who is so impatient, reckless, and unhinged. Following this, Tyrell gets fired from his job and he is properly set adrift. The firing scene is fascinating, capitalizing on Tyrell's unhinged personality perfectly with his initial rage at Philip's revelation, which eventually devolves into pathetic begging. The scene is acted brilliantly and it is easy to empathize with Tyrell's loss. It's impressive that the show can make us feel something for a man who murdered somebody in cold blood two episodes ago. Tyrell's losses take him straight to Elliot where he threatens (or maybe trusts? See: The Unknown) him into revealing everything about fsociety. The other characters had decent progression. Gideon appears to be built up for something in the next episode. Angela has been hit with a big choice in this episode and I'm intrigued by the prospect of her working for Evil Corp. Angela and Darlene got some nice moments to bond more and expand on their relationship with Elliot as they hunted for him in this episode. The Bad: I'm not quite feeling this show as much as I should be just yet. This is all very good stuff, but "Mr. Robot" seems to have plateaued at very good. This is because the show has several flaws in how it tells its story. For one, it bounces around a lot. You get the sense that we needed an episode centered specifically around Elliot as he goes through this intense emotional experience, but the episode spends lots of time away from him with other characters. And that sucks the emotion and momentum out of his story because we are getting his story in pieces. It takes something that can potentially be great and turns it into something that is only good. It doesn't help that the other characters are nowhere near as interesting as Elliot. Every second we spend away from him is time that I'm itching to get back to Elliot. The others stories and characters are fine, but that's just the problem. They are only fine, and never threaten to be anything better. Tyrell is fascinating but I'm not emotionally engaged in his plight. Gideon is a good man but he's not fleshed out enough for me to care. Angela has been given a lot of time all season but she never felt relevant. Darlene has taken time to grow on me, but I still don't quite care about her. These characters need screentime to develop further, absolutely, but don't focus on building up their stories when the main character is going through an intense emotional experience. Just imagine if "eps1.5_br4ve-trave1er.asf" was bogged down by other characters' storylines. The tension would dissipate and the emotional stakes would not have been there. Unfortunately this episode is bogged down by those problems, and its suspense and drama suffers as a result. This episode has some centerpiece scenes but they don't land emotionally in the way that the final five minutes of the previous episode do. Elliot discovering that Mr. Robot is fake is actually hurt by predictability because we know what's going to happen pretty early in the scene, and the emotional impact isn't as strong as it should have been. And of course, the episode is quick to cut away to someone else. The final scene between Elliot and Tyrell had all the right pieces to be fantastic. Engaging dialogue, great acting, a fantastic soundtrack. But it just doesn't have emotional impact. On paper, this scene is a huge winner but it ends up feeling more like spectacle than something emotional. We don't have a clear enough picture of how Elliot and Tyrell feel about each other, so I'm not sure how to feel about them working together. It's an exciting plot development, but nothing more. All spectacle, but no substance. The Unknown: So are all the scenes with Mr. Robot meant to be Elliot instead? Is it just an alternate ego of him? When Elliot is Mr. Robot, is this when he remembers everything? Does he only forget when he is Elliot? Did Darlene only return because of fsociety? Or did her return spur Elliot on to create fsociety? Why did Elliot forget all about her and his own creation of fsociety? How did nobody else notice that Elliot forgot about their entire plan? I have a lot of questions about the timeline of events. Is there more to learn about Joanna's past? How was she affected by giving up her baby? What's Gideon's plan to attempt to save Allsafe? Will he be successful? Will he get in the way of Elliot's plan in the finale? How will Tyrell bounce back from being fired? What is his plan? Why has he joined Elliot? Does he actually intend on working with him, or is this a ploy to turn Elliot in and win back the trust of E Corp? Also, did Tyrell threaten Elliot into revealing everything about fsociety by threatening to kill him? Or did he perhaps intend to reveal his darkest secret in the hopes that Elliot would take this as a sign of trust and reveal his own secret to him? I can make a case for both interpretations. Will Angela accept Colby's offer? I suspect that she will because her storyline would be aimless if she doesn't. Best Moment: Elliot throwing Mr. Robot out of the window was the highlight for me. A nice moment of realization for Elliot while continuing to give Rami Malek the chance to shine as he portrays Elliot's unyielding rage. Character of the Episode: Elliot. Conclusion: I have some reservations about this, but for the most part I was impressed. "Mr. Robot" is doing something very unique with its story, and while this first season hasn't been perfect, its been consistently good due to its innovation, style, directing, and unique storytelling. It's difficult to find something so inventive and consistently well written. The show still has problems with engagement and hopefully that's something that is corrected with time. There's still 1 more episode left and I'm interested to see how this season comes to a close. Score: 66 Summary: Elliot prepares to meet with Whiterose. He goes back to work but Ollie gives him instructions to go to an appointment, and Elliot understands that this is the Whiterose meeting. He goes to the meet and Whiterose informs him that Gideon is using the CS30 server as a trapped honeypot. She gives Elliot 50 hours to rectify the issue and prepare his new plan. Elliot agrees to take care of the issue, and with Darlene's help, he distracts Allsafe with an fsociety video and hacks Gideon's phone. However, Gideon notices that Elliot was absent and intends to have a big talk with him. Elliot meets with Darlene and is elated by his success. He kisses her, and Darlene, horrified that he has forgotten, reminds Elliot that they are sisters. Elliot mentally breaks down, and upon going home he realizes that Mr. Robot is his father. Mr. Robot arrives and says that they need to talk. Tyrell hides what he's done from his wife and avoids the police at work. The police arrives at his home and Joanna learns what he's done, and she induces labour by breaking her own water to protect Tyrell.
The Good: Before I talk about this episode I'll talk about the ending of the previous one. It turns out I was wrong about Elliot, and he still ignored Gideon's advice and only talked to Krista to help her, not to help himself. This is distressing news because it means that Elliot still isn't facing any of his own problems and continues to run away from grief and embracing his human emotions, just like Tyrell. It's a sad twist on last episode's ending. As for this episode, it's heavily built around tension. The build up to the meeting with Whiterose is very suspenseful as it becomes apparent that Whiterose wants to meet with Elliot himself. I enjoyed Ollie's role in the story, tying up the loose end of Cisco's connection to him, and I like that Elliot was intelligent enough to figure out that Ollie was compromised and was being used to set up the meeting. The meeting itself was tense and exciting, and Whiterose was very interesting. I hope we see more of her because she has potential to be a very fascinating character. Her interactions with Elliot were cleverly written to be tense, funny, and creative. I'm certain that Elliot will be meeting her again. The best thing that the Whiterose meeting did was add a time limit. Elliot's inner monologue worked tremendously here because it highlighted Elliot's anxiety in an interesting way, which ramped up the suspense. The attempt to hack Gideon was excellent, and the plan was good while still having clear flaws which raised the risk of Elliot being caught. Gideon finally confronting and lecturing him was extremely suspenseful and a perfect climax for the main plot of this episode. But the real twist is that the episode kept going from there and it completely upended everything about this first season with a brilliant final five minutes. The Darlene twist caught me entirely off guard, just as it did Elliot. I was about to roll my eyes at how forced this romance felt when the clear tension was building, but I was not expecting the twist that Darlene was Elliot's sister. And yet it made perfect sense. There were little inaccuracies throughout the season that I'm suddenly realizing were intentional instead of moments of slight awkwardness. Plus this perfectly explained the perplexing opening scene where Angela and Darlene confusingly seemed to know each other, a scene that made me question if I had maybe skipped an episode at some point. Looking back, that opening scene is a terrific bit of foreshadowing that sets up this twist. And when I say this changes everything, I mean it changes everything. We cannot take anything we see in this show at face value because Elliot cannot be trusted as a protagonist. Evidently, he's mentally ill and crazy, so we have no idea if what we're seeing is even real or not. The show toyed with this idea early on but ignored it for much of the season, which I was displeased about. But it turns out that much of what we saw throughout the season wasn't an accurate rendition of events at all. This is a massive twist, and it gives much more value to the scenes we are watching when get the added tension of being uncertain about what is reality and what is not. And perhaps more fascinatingly, we can't even be sure that we are just viewers of this show. Perhaps our role is more important than we thought. The ideas that this show is throwing around are so fascinating, and they are explored expertly. Tyrell's murder progresses well and he is suitably unhinged. Even though I do not relate much with Tyrell, he is so enigmatic that I am immediately hooked by his unpredictability when he's on screen. He is entirely unstable throughout the episode as he avoids facing up to his crime. The police arrival at the end was intriguing and I was expecting another tense sequence. Instead, Joanna surprised me by taking Tyrell's side and coming up with a clever way out of the situation by inducing her own labour. That was a gruesome moment, but was very revealing about this character and the pragmatic way that she thinks. The Bad: Nothing outright bad. I suppose I am a little disappointed that the lengthy Ollie storyline with Cisco only served to set up Elliot's meeting with Whiterose, which is a lame pay-off. The Unknown: Who was that man that Darlene slept with? How well does Darlene know Angela? I was confused by their meeting at first, thinking that I had missed or forgotten the scene where they met. But with the ending reveal it makes perfect sense that they know each other. Why is Whiterose working with fsociety? What are her goals? Will she go through with the plan this time? This episode hams up on Elliot's interactions with us, and that interests me. What are we exactly in the context of the show? Is the fact that we are watching the events of Elliot's life going to be a significant aspect of the show and Elliot's mental state? I thought that Elliot talking to us was just a gimmick but the show is promising that it is something more. What is Mr. Robot's dirty secret? How does Tyrell know him? What is their relationship? What is Tyrell's agreement with him? Now the big one. How did Elliot forget about Darlene? Clearly he's known her his whole life, so how does he simply forget? Didn't he meet her for the first time in the first episode? Or perhaps that scene was written differently and I just don't remember. How are Elliot's memories locked away? Who did this? Why? Is Mr. Robot Elliot's father? I thought he died. Is he still alive? Did he fake his own death? Or is he still in Elliot's head? Best Moment: Elliot's complete mental breakdown after the shock reveal by Darlene. The sequence was so effective and horrifying. I could feel Elliot's panic, paranoia, confusion, and fear conveyed perfectly by both the acting and directing. This is one of the most stylish TV shows that I have seen, and it puts that style to good use in this sequence. Character of the Episode: Elliot. Conclusion: This was a huge episode that upended everything, yet looking back, it explains a lot of the oddities that we had seen in this first season. The big ending twist was earned, and it comes at the end of another beautifully tense episode. This is great stuff. Score: 70 Summary: Flashbacks show when Shayla first met Elliot. Elliot goes back to work and hides from grieving over Shayla. He finishes his therapy, but ends up returning and opens up to Krista about his hacking and even tells her that he hacks her regularly. Angela arranges a meeting with Colby and proposes that he testify for her case against E Corp and in return she will make a testimony that helps him out. Colby agrees to the deal, but when Angela returns to Allsafe she realizes that her testimony would likely kill the company. Mr. Robot works on getting fsociety back together for the rest of his plan. Darlene is able to arrange a meeting with Whiterose, who leads the Dark Army. Tyrell continues to scheme against Scott and Sharon, and after inviting Sharon to the roof in secret, they start making out and Tyrell ultimately ends up strangling her to death.
The Good: Elliot has a good story here as his life transitions following Shayla's death. The opening flashback is quite sad and it emphasizes Shayla' importance to Elliot; they clearly had a connection from the moment they met. Elliot spends the rest of the episode failing to process his grief or even accept it. He's back to work and he refuses to take time off. For times like these, Elliot's inner monologue works really well because it allows us a glimpse into his inner psyche when he has emotionally shut himself off from the world. The "view source" theme in the episode is relevant to Elliot's story, exploring how Elliot has to understand his true self and reveal it to those around him. And by episode's end he finally does that when he opens up to Krista. What he says to her is quite horrifying, but it is honest. It will be interesting to see how Krista responds to him and if she is willing to open up to him too (see: The Unknown). The other storylines in the episode also adhere to the "view source" theme as literally every character has to accept truths about themselves. This works really well because it gives all of these side characters more depth than what they had going into the episode. I've been critical of how this show has handled its side plots because these side characters aren't anywhere near as interesting to follow as Elliot. But after this episode, I am much more invested in the side stories that are happening. Romero and Trenton were flat characters who we knew nothing about, so they were never characters that I wanted to explore. But now I know more about what makes them tick and I can start to sympathize with them. I'm sure that I will grow to care about them soon if this keeps up. We learn that Romero is a smart and gifted guy, but that he is hesitant to support fsociety. But Mr. Robot essentially threatens him into coming back, which could be an important point of conflict for the future. We also get more insight on Trenton and I found it to be really interesting. Her motives for making a revolution are sensible, and I appreciate that she does secretly look down on everyone else for having "lesser" motives. It's a nice human detail that makes her easier to understand and empathize with. Angela gets the most screentime in this episode and her story is pretty strong. It's engaging to watch her negotiate with Colby and we get to see the character's strengths emerge with how she handles herself. She is never afraid of backing down and says and does what she needs to without ever being deceitful or manipulative. It's a good story to follow and Angela's actions make it very easy to root for her. Her deconstruction to Colby of how painful it is to be in the lower class is a great moment that lines up nicely with the themes of the show. Tyrell's story is very interesting. I do not like Tyrell at all, but I find him so fascinating to follow. He is not a character that we are supposed to like. He's a true villain, manipulative, deceitful, egotistical, and an outright sadist. His scenes in this episode were filled with intrigue. Unlike Elliot and Angela who don't back down from the truths about themselves, Tyrell fires his employees out of rage when the subject of their discussion unintentionally forces Tyrell to face the reality of his own patheticness. It's a brilliant scene with rich thematic value. Then of course we get to the episode's huge moment as Tyrell murders Sharon in cold blood. I'm uncertain if this was planned or not (see: The Unknown), but the horror of the moment is conveyed superbly through the directing, and Martin Wallstrom is superb as he breaks down in the aftermath of what he's done. The Bad: Angela's story has some flaws within it. There was a month-long timeskip in this episode, and in all that time Angela was planning her deal with Colby. Did she really never think about the consequences of Allsafe being shut down by her testimony in this time? She shouldn't have needed Gideon to tell her that. I'm not a huge fan of Colby's characterization. I was hoping that he would be a somewhat decent guy outside of business as it would give him some depth and make him feel like a more unique character. Instead he tells Angela to suck his balls and beg to him, and admits to making his fateful decision in 1993 while drunk and not taking things seriously at all. The actor plays the role well and the scene of his reveal is good, but the "smug, creepy asshole in power" character offers very little originality and it doesn't explore any ideas that I haven't already seen from other TV shows. The Unknown: What's wrong with Flipper? What did he eat? What was the point of showing that scene with the vet? Will Angela be able to go through with her testimony? If not, what will be the consequences of her choice? Now that she has a deal with Colby, I imagine that it won't be good for her if she backs out. The meeting with Whiterose has been arranged. Who is Whiterose? Where are they meeting? What will happen at this meeting? Why did Tyrell murder Sharon? Was it just purely out of rage? If it was planned, then why? Will Tyrell really be able to get away with this? How is Krista going to respond to Elliot? Will she condemn his actions or accept them? Likewise, will she attempt to strengthen their relationship by relating to his struggles with loneliness? Best Moment: Elliot's final scene with Krista. His revelation is a big moment that is suitably terrifying, and I'm genuinely excited to see how Krista responds to it. Character of the Episode: Angela. Conclusion: This is a transition episode, but it is packed with a lot of rich character work and plot development. I am finally starting to get invested in every aspect of the show, and though it has taken a while to get there, I am glad that I reached this point before the season reached its big climax. I'm excited to see what's in store for the final three episodes, so this episode certainly did its job as a transition episode. Score: 67 Summary: Elliot meets briefly with Shayla who is held captive and he's put on the phone with Vera who tells him to get him out by the end of the day or Shayla dies. Elliot goes to his house under the supervision of Isaac and begins to work. He hacks into Isaac's phone immediately and enlists Darlene for help in secret, but with no time Darlene isn't successful and she is found and used as a hostage by Isaac. Elliot comes to terms with the likelihood of Shayla dying abut comes up with a final plan. He meets with Vera in jail and reveals that he plans to open all prison cells after accessing the prison's wifi. He threatens Vera, telling him hot to kill him or Shayla or he will leak the gang's operation, having accessed it all by hacking Isaac's phone. The set-up for Elliot's plan works but Isaac takes Elliot away and prepares to kill him. Elliot realizes Isaac wants Vera dead because Vera is going to kill him and talks Isaac out of murdering him. The prison escape happens and Elliot and Isaac wait for Vera. Vera has his henchman kill Isaac and lets Elliot go. He gives Elliot the keys to Isaac's car and Elliot finds Shayla dead in the trunk.
The Good: This was good stuff. It was essential that Vera was a legitimate threat throughout this episode for there to be tension and it was managed perfectly. We learn that he is still in prison, but that his gang is fully operational and highly capable. The opening scene with Elliot and Shayla talking is superb. It's clear that something is wrong through some great acting, and then we get the big reveal as Shayla is once again abducted in broad daylight, with everyone in the restaurant pretending to be oblivious - obviously they have learned to turn a blind eye to the gang's dealings out of fear, which is a masterful way to establish a threat without any exposition or needless dialogue. Vera himself is really entertaining as a villain. I like the connection he has developed with Elliot. Vera is obviously not intelligent, but he excels in street-smarts after running a gang for so long. That makes him both a loose cannon, and incredibly dangerous, but it also makes his strange fascination with Elliot more plausible. Vera seems to be fascinated by Elliot more than he is frightened or interested in revenge. It feels like he is taking revenge simply because that's the way the world works, but deep down he respects Elliot's intelligence and his guts. It's an interesting dynamic, especially with how one-sided it is. Elliot couldn't care less for Vera, but Vera can't help but admire Elliot's drive. We spend a lot of time with Elliot in this episode and his experience feels highly personal. There is loads of suspense as Elliot works to find a way out of this scenario he's got himself trapped into. This leads to some great tension-based drama, but also a lovely moment of introspection as Elliot talks with "Mr. Robot" (see: The Unknown) about the situation with Shayla, and he comes to terms with the fact that he might not be able to save her, and that she was dead the moment that she did business with Vera. And unfortunately that is true, because looking back, there is no outcome no matter what Elliot does where Shayla comes out alive. It's a depressing reality that Elliot desperately tries to avoid, but he ends up facing it at the episode's end in an outstanding scene (see: Best Moment). The plot itself is pretty good. There are some small quibbles in the writing (see: The Bad), but overall this plot is suspenseful, effective and well-written. Darlene's involvement further increased the stakes, and I appreciate that Isaac was smart enough to understand that Elliot was working with her. I also liked the twist with Isaac where it's revealed that he has to kill Vera in order to survive. On the surface it sounds like a meaningless surprise, but when you consider that the entire operation was organized by Isaac, it is sensible that Isaac will be blamed, and a loose cannon like Vera absolutely would kill Isaac. So it is sensible for Isaac to desperately look for a way out where he lives, but he ultimately dies anyways. I liked the developments in Tyrell's story. That Tyrell's power move in the previous episode failed was a big surprise to me. This is the kind of storyline that would always work in TV shows, but impressively "Mr. Robot" shows off a bit of extra realism by having Tyrell fail as Sharon shares everything he did with Scott. Tyrell's intentions and weaknesses are immediately found out and exposed as Scott utterly demolishes him in the power game. It's a surprise twist that I really enjoy. I find it difficult to relate to characters when they are unrealistically intelligent, and seeing Tyrell's move in the last episode get thrown back in his face is superb writing. It leads into a lovely bit of film-making as Tyrell rages uncontrollably in the background while his wife calmly snacks in the foreground. The Bad: I have some reservations about this episode. I question the need to have a gang-related storyline in this show. For a show about hackers and psychological drama, do we really need a drug dealer subplot? It feels like a plot too many, especially considering that Angela and Tyrell have had their own stories going on in the background. Vera is a cool character, but I never expected him to be more than a flashy side character. Yet now he has killed Shayla, so he has to be a major player now or else this episode will feel inconsequential. I just question the need to include this storyline, not every show after "Breaking Bad", "The Wire", and "The Sopranos" needs to have gangs included in some way. Shayla's death fell a bit flat because I never cared about her as a character. The death was telegraphed early on in this episode so I had a feeling it was coming. And while it was tragic when we learned her fate, I felt bad for Elliot instead of feeling bad for her. That tells me that Shayla was poorly realized as a character and never emerged past being a plot device for Elliot's character development. I wish that the show had found a way to connect us more with Shayla so that her death could have more meaning. There is some suspension of disbelief that has to be done in this episode. A lot of the hacking feats feel a bit far-fetched. Darlene's USB scam is so risky because there is a very low chance that the guard who picks up the USB will be dumb enough to fall for the trap. Any sane person would ignore the obvious bait. Thank god that it did not work. Even worse is the prison security. Elliot being able to open all prison cells without ringing all alarms is a step too far in my opinion. Furthermore, the prisoners' escape is far too easy. Surely the guards roaming the building would be able to stop, or at least try to stop, the hoard of prisoners escaping through the courtyard. Jailbreaks are not this easy. The Unknown: How did Vera learn about Elliot's hacking ability? Was that just speculation or did somebody tell him? Why did Vera leave Elliot alive? Does he intend on using his talents later? When will we see him again? I'm certain that he's not gone for good. What is Tyrell's plan to handle Scott? It seems like he does not intend on completely pulling back. Is Tyrell married to his wife because of her intelligence? She comes off as more patient and intelligent than he is. I wonder if they are pragmatic enough to marry due to a mutual desire for power rather than any form of love. Mr. Robot's random appearance in this episode suggests further evidence that he is in Elliot's head. But we have seen him interact with others, so I wonder if only some of his scenes are in Elliot's head. Something very strange is going on with him and I'm not sure what. Why did Angela visit Colby? What is she planning to do with him? How does this connect to her attempted lawsuit on E Corp? Best Moment: In the final minutes of the episode, Vera gives Elliot the keys to the car he has been in this entire time, telling him that Shayla has been "with him the entire time". Elliot opens the trunk, and for a long time the camera doesn't pan to what he sees. We are just fixated on Elliot's reaction, which Rami Malek conveys superbly. We suspect that we know what he found in the trunk, and the slow escalation of Elliot's reaction followed by the horrifying concluding shot of Shayla's dead body is a perfect explosion of emotion to conclude the episode. This show's biggest strength remains its directing. The decisions made when shooting these scenes make the show so much better. With just a shot of Shayla's body, this scene wouldn't be anything special, but by fixing us on Elliot's reaction for such a long time, the scene goes from being just good to being terrific. Character of the Episode: Vera. Conclusion: This was another brutally tense episode, this time with a painful and emotional ending. The overall experience of this episode is excellent, and it more than delivers. I did have some reservations and concerns about this episode, but regardless, I still think that this is great television. Score: 69 Summary: Fsociety reaches Steel Mountain and Elliot is sent in. He gets access to a tour by using a fake identity verified on wikipedia. Elliot emotionally attacks the tour guide Bill to get into contact with a supervisor to be let into the restricted second level. However, the plan fails when a different supervisor arrives - the other's wife had a baby. Mobley manages to draw the new supervisor away with a text and Elliott tries to get tot he stairs to level two. However, he is found by Tyrell who takes him out to lunch on the second level. Elliot is unnerved by Tyrell but sneaks into the bathroom and installs the raspberry pi. Tyrell tells him that he knows he framed Colby and then leaves. Fsociety return to the amusement park where they learn that the Dark Army in China backed out. Darlene wants to go through with the plan anyways, but Mr. Robot and Elliot stop her. Elliot goes back home and discovers that Vera has abducted Shayla. Tyrell goes to dinner with Scott and enchants his wife. Angela breaks up with Ollie and moves in with her father.
The Good: The heist is a lot of fun to watch, and it is tense because it is uncertain if fsociety will succeed or not. I enjoyed the execution of the plan, and fittingly there were some unforeseen problems throughout the episode. I liked the Sam Sepiol plan, and while the wikipedia page certainly isn't airtight, it's easy to believe that the tour guide would be fooled after a quick google (people trust anything they find online), especially with Elliot saying over and over to "look me up". Following this, the plan is a blast to watch as Elliot is forced to tear down poor Bill (see: Best Moment), and then face a major problem when things fall apart as Wendy doesn't show up and they have to take care of Trudy instead. The tension is raised immediately, and the show comes up with an organic solution, though it isn't entirely satisfying (see: The Bad). What makes it easier to suspend our disbelief is how good Elliot is in these scenes. He is wonderfully awkward, and Rami Malek does a terrific job of raising the stakes and the suspense. But then the episode hits a whole new level of tension and unpredictability with Tyrell's arrival. By reconnecting with Tyrell, "Mr. Robot" played its wild card and went in a totally different direction from what I was expecting. Before now, fsociety had been exposing weaknesses of characters we had never met before, but now Elliot had to do that same thing with a key antagonist that we are familiar with. It was a fascinating dynamic, and seeing Elliot attempt to squirm away fearfully was superb. The bathroom scene is excellent. There is a lot of tension as Elliot tries to install the raspberry pi, and things ratchet up when once again, Tyrell comes into the room and grills Elliot, revealing that he knows that Colby was framed. It's a fascinating sequence that reveals a lot to us about Tyrell, and he proves that to systematically analyze the weaknesses of other people, you have to disregard your own humanity. This is a bleak message for Elliot who was doing the same thing minutes earlier with Bill. Hopefully Elliot won't lose his human side as Tyrell seems to have. Elsewhere we get to see more of Tyrell's personal life and his apparent lack of humanity. When having dinner with Scott and Sharon, he isn't there to have a good time. He's probing for weaknesses and is not afraid to show his hand a little bit to Scott. This leads to a terrific scene as Joanna distracts Scott, allowing for Tyrell to establish dominance over Sharon, after identifying a potential weakness in her. The moment in the bathroom is terrific and intense as Tyrell seems to have infiltrated Sharon's defenses. He's bold and certainly reckless, but the plan looks to have worked. I'm intrigued to see more. This is a decent start for a story that has been shot and written in a very engaging way. Now we need to see the story expanded upon in an interesting and creative way. The end of the episode saw some big changes. The reveal that the Steel Mountain mission would be a failure because of the Dark Army backing out was a real surprise that lead into some genuine tension at the episode's end. Darlene's fight with Mr. Robot is intense, and Darlene herself is given a really good moment as she is forced to accept her failure and that she's let everyone else down. I still don't particularly like Darlene, but this is improvement. We get a big cliffhanger at the very end as Vera has returned to the story and abducted Shayla. Exactly how he has done so is unclear, but this was a very surprising turn for a character who I did not expect to have such a key role in the story. I won't complain about it, as the actor playing Vera was terrific in his scenes a few episodes ago. It was nice to see him exhibit some intelligence and immediately understand that Elliot got him sent away. I'm intrigued by this storyline. Angela's story gets decent progression. I'm happy to see her break up with Ollie officially, which is what the show seemed to be building up to. Having her break up with him while also endangering his career is a very logical explanation for her actions in the previous episode and answers some of the logistical concerns I had raised. I enjoyed meeting her dad. He seems like a very sweet man. The Bad: This biggest problem with Tyrell's appearance in Steel Mountain is that we already pulled back the curtain on his personal life a few episodes ago which ends up deflating the tension of why he's there and if he is after Elliot. We learned two episodes ago that Tyrell's primary goals are involving Scott so he definitely is not only at Steel Mountain for Elliot. This does hurt the drama of their ensuing scenes because had Tyrell still been shrouded in mystery, the suspense in these scenes could have been on a whole other level. Darlene continues to bother me. It is shocking to me that she is still trusted as part of this careful hacking team when she is so careless and frustrating. I was flabbergasted when she openly talked about the attack on Steel Mountain in a silent library, which is quite condemning. Shayla is still quite flat as a character. Frankie Shaw gives a good performance and I buy into her getting involved with Elliot, but they seem to be much closer than they should be based off of what we have seen. I also feel that Shayla hasn't quite grown into her own as a character just yet. Now she's been abducted, and while I'm interested, I'm not worried for her life the way that I would be if I cared about the character. There are some things about the heist plot that don't entirely work. Like with the last episode, I'll say it again: shouldn't a high security place like Steel Mountain have everything under watch with cameras? It's hard to believe that Elliot would ever be able to pick locks without being seen on camera. Furthermore, the supervisor should have quickly been able to realize she was scammed (1 phone call to her husband solves that) and been immediately suspicious of Elliot. The lack of continuity from there is disappointing. The Unknown: What did Tyrell sign off on with those guards? Was it just for his helicopter? What will Tyrell do with his newfound knowledge of Elliot? Is he suspicious of Elliot's presence at Steel Mountain? What is Tyrell's plan for Scott and his wife? Will he try to depose him somehow? Will the installed raspberry pi come into play in a future episode? Who is Whiterose? Why did the Dark Amy back out? What are their goals? How did Fernando manage to get out of imprisonment? Did he escape or was he somehow exonerated? What does he plan on doing with Shayla? What was so significant about the paperwork that Angela found in her dad's place? How will this affect the story? It seems that her dad is in debt, but who is this debt to? Evil Corp? Best Moment: Elliot destroying Bill was a fantastic and depressing scene. We know that Elliot does not want to lose his humanity by viewing Bill as simply an obstacle instead of as a human being. Which is why it's so brutally sad that he ultimately does this, drawing from his past experiences with his mother to tear down the insecurities of this sweet, lonely tour guide. The scene is powerful, and at times darkly funny, and it's easily the worst thing that Elliot has done so far. To make things even more uncomfortable, we see that Elliot is content with what he did later in the episode, further realizing the horror of this scene. Character of the Episode: I'll give it to Tyrell this time. He was imposing the entire episode. Conclusion: A much stronger effort from "Mr. Robot". The show is still developing, but a high degree of tension, some intense emotional scenes, fascinating dialogue exchanges between Elliot and Tyrell, and a surprise cliffhanger resulted in the best episode since the pilot. Score: 68 Summary: Elliot makes a plan to use the climate control system within Steel Mountain to destroy all of the data. However, the data is going to be spread out across multiple facilities within 3 days, so the group leaves immediately. However, Elliot faces withdrawal symptoms and the group is halted to take care of him while he has visions. Darlene and Trenton go to meet with Darlene's hacker contact. After searching the whole night, they finally meet Cisco, who is the same hacker threatening Angela and Ollie. Angela looks for freedom in her life and does drugs with Shayla. Following this, she immediately acts and uploads the virus onto Allsafe's network.
The Good: I enjoy detail-oriented heist storylines so I am excited to see where this Steel Mountain story goes. The planning scenes early in the episode were well done, and I am excited to see this plan put into action. But of course the plan gets derailed by Elliot's withdrawal. This story is built up nicely as we open with a close-up on Elliot's final line, and the turning point in the episode comes when he finally takes it, leading to withdrawal symptoms when he leaves with fsociety. The rest of the episode took an interesting turn as we get a terrific drug trip sequence as Elliot contends with withdrawal. This sequence is directed beautifully and is wonderfully mysterious. I was at the edge of my seat trying to figure out these mysteries and understand what exactly is going on in Elliot's head (see: The Unknown). The rest of the episode has a bit of a drug theme going on as well. Angela also ends up doing drugs with Shayla which was a surprising development for her. We get to understand Angela's deep-rooted fears and her desire to break free from them. Ultimately her experience with Shayla leads to her doubling down on infecting the Allsafe servers without even asking Ollie about it. She's done with worrying, and is acting purely in her own self-interest. Finally some of these disparate storylines started to combine as we learn that the hacker who is blackmailing Ollie is actually Cisco, Darlene's ex-boyfriend. While this doesn't have any impact on the story yet, it is good to see the story threads starting to connect. The Bad: The two side stories did very little for me. The writing is okay but the big problem is that I am not emotionally invested in these characters and their stories yet. The only character I am invested in right now is Elliot, so every story in this show should be connected to him somehow. But they aren't. Angela and Ollie have their own thing going on, and with Angela going off on her own, her weaknesses as an individual character reared their head. I don't understand much about her, and she doesn't have enough of interest going on to make me care about her story. Her kiss with Shayla also reeks of fanservice. Similarly, I find Darlene to be really annoying, and her scenes with Trenton did nothing for me. Again, I do not care about these characters at all. Their story seemingly has plot relevance, but it's hard to invest in it since we know that the plot has been stalled to accommodate Elliot's withdrawal. Which brings me to my next point. This episode feels like it is 50% stalling. The first part of the episode gets the Steel Mountain plot underway and builds excitement to see it. But then the second half of the episode sees no plot progression at all. Elliot's visions are interesting, but the plot stopped entirely to accommodate them, and the pacing of the show suffers. Furthermore, Darlene and Trenton's story is substantially less interesting and tense because we know that there is no time crunch, and it doesn't really matter if they succeed because none of the others have even made it to Steel Mountain. The scene of Angela installing the infected code did not work for me. I am confused as to why she did it in secret the way that she did. Did she really have to go to Allsafe before it opened to install it in secret? This is a security building, surely they have cameras and security protocols in place that would quickly reveal what she has done. Installing it during work hours would have been far less suspicious. Hell, Ollie almost did it himself in the previous episode! So Angela's covert trip to Allsafe felt entirely unnecessary and either makes her look stupid, or makes the company look incompetent. Furthermore, why did Angela show up at a time when someone else was about to enter the company? Surely she could have come a little earlier to decrease the risk of getting caught. The logistics here were very poorly thought out. Elliot's voice-over is not working for me anymore. It attempts to connect the themes of the episode to computer terms, but rather than make me view the episode in a different way, it feels forced, unsubtle, and cheesy. The daemon theme was ofttimes confusing, and it did not add to my experience of the episode. I'm concerned that hacking will be used as a plot device now. We saw some of the fsociety members steal a car by hacking it. There was no attention to detail or exploring the preparation that needed to be put into place to steal this car. We are just expected to go along with it because they are hackers so that means they can do anything. That's very poor storytelling, we need to understand how this stuff works and the effort required to make it work, or else the show will be increasingly susceptible to using hacking as an unsatisfying plot convenience to solve problems. The Unknown: Will Elliot's plan work? Will they be able to execute it before the backups are created? What will be the consequences of Angela uploading the CD? Did she do it on Ollie's computer? Will they be punished for it? Will Darlene get involved in Cisco's blackmail attempt of Angela? How will these stories connect? What the hell was Elliot's drug trip? What was the symbolism of the key supposed to mean? What does it open? What is Elliot's monster? Why is he afraid of it? What does it mean? Is his identity not what he thinks it is? What happened to the house in his flashback? Why is it missing? Is this meant to symbolize that a part of his own memory has been removed? How did this happen? Who did this? Is it post-traumatic amnesia? Who was the little girl? Why was Qwerty talking? What was the significance of Elliot proposing to Angela and her telling him not to go through with it? Does this suggest that Elliot wants to pursue Angela but is afraid of doing so? What other purpose is there to this sequence? It should be noted that Mr. Robot didn't have any significant interactions with anyone throughout the episode outside of during Elliot's dream sequence. Does he really exist? The show is being delightfully ambiguous when dealing with this question. Best Moment: Elliot's trippy sequence was really well executed. The directing was exceptional and there was a sense of wild fantasy, mystery, and unease the entire time. There's plenty to analyze and speculate on, and I am a sucker for such interesting out-of-body experiences like these. I'm sure once we get to the end of the show we will be able to look back and see some amazing foreshadowing and set-up in this sequence. Character of the Episode: Elliot. None of the other characters have stood out enough yet. Conclusion: The first weak episode of the show. The side characters still haven't made a mark on me, and the storytelling in this episode was slow-paced and uninteresting. The visual presentation of the show remains excellent, but now the story is starting to lag behind. Score: 55 Summary: Elliott is offered a position at Evil Corp by Tyrell who reveals his intent to leave Allsafe. Elliott declines the position. After, Elliott hacks into Tyrell's account, but perturbed by how easy it was, he stops and destroys his computer in case he was allowed in. Elliott returns to work where he learns that fsociety has gone public. Later, he is met by Darlene who takes him back to the amusement park. Mr. Robot tells Elliott that their next move is to blow up a gas pipeline to destroy essential Evil Corp data. Uncomfortable with killing people, Elliott refuses and walks away, but realizes that he can't turn them in without being culpable. He goes to get more morphine from Shayla and finds that she has been raped by her supplier, Fernando. Elliott agonizes but ultimately chooses to turn in Fernando, knowing that it will cut off his own supply. He talks with Krista, who connects Elliott's current inner conflict with that of his father who refused to do anything after getting cancer. Ultimately, Elliott returns to Mr. Robot who lets him rejoin fsociety after Elliott tells him about his father's death.
The Good: This episode is all about choices. I mentioned in the first episode that I was impressed with how this show deals with Elliott's inner conflict, presenting him with key decisions and exploring his character through the choices he makes. This episode doubles down on this idea and the whole episode is centralized on Elliott's choices and what these choices mean to him. The first minutes of the episode give Elliott a major choice as Tyrell presents him with the option of joining Evil Corp. Of course Elliott declines, opting to instead focus on his newfound dream of bringing down the corporation while also being unwilling to abandon Angela and Gideon to the dissolution of their company. But this opening sequence ends up being a very small-scale choice compared to what comes later. When presented with the decision to stay with fsociety as they do terrible things, Elliott walks away and ends up muddled when his current decision is traced back to his own past with his father, who similarly did not act at a time when he should have. This inner turmoil is explored in a fascinating way throughout the episode, culminating in a superb final scene between Elliott and Mr. Robot where Elliott is forced to contend with his own contempt for his father in a really unique way (see: Best Moment). I enjoyed this storyline a lot, and I thought that Elliott's inner conflict was explored in a meaningful way that resonates with you when you watch the episode. The show's style, pacing, and ability to connect you with Elliott compliment this story really nicely. The story with Fernando was also pretty well done. I appreciate the attempts made to expand on Fernando's character. He is a thug, but he's given a thorough monologue to expand more on who he is, and why he behaves the way he does. Rather than being just some two-dimensional villain, Fernando's role is expanded on a little bit to make him feel more real. It works pretty well, and by making Fernando feel human, it creates more stakes when Elliott views him as a threat to Shayla and ultimately decides to turn him in. This was a good conflict to watch, as it was not only suspenseful, but it also developed Elliott's relationship with Shayla, his morality, and it expanded on the episode's theme of choice. I enjoyed the time spent on this brief storyline. There were lots of little things that I enjoyed. The sequence where Elliott hacked into Tyrell's account was done really well. It was interesting to learn more about Tyrell at first, but then the editing and directing kicked it up a notch to really make us feel Elliott's fear when he realizes that Tyrell may have let him into his account. The realization is scary and intense, and the montage of Elliott destroying everything is masterfully done. I also really appreciate that this show portrays junkies realistically. Whether he believes it or not, Elliott is a junkie, and I like that even though Elliott has his own set rules, the need for more morphine allows him to give up said rules on a whim. Another little detail I appreciated is the presence of Flipper. Obviously Elliott can't just have a dog without needing to worry about taking care of it, so it's nice to see Elliott struggle with Flipper and try to find a solution to take care of him. Finally, I have really enjoyed how much this show makes us question reality. By constantly reminding us on Elliott's schizophrenia through the presence of suited men chasing him, we are being trained to question what we see in this show. It adds a whole new level of tension to the show when we constantly wondering if a scene is real or if it's just in Elliott's head. This is an interesting dynamic. The Bad: It is obvious from the moment that Elliott walks away that he is going to return to fsociety eventually, and this raises some problems. For one, there is less suspense throughout the episode because we know that his return is a given to push the plot forwards. But it also actually makes fsociety look incompetent. It's obvious to us that Elliott will return because this is a TV show, but the characters involved in fsociety should not be as certain. In fact, there's a good chance that Elliott will attempt to turn them in. Frustratingly, fsociety do not seem to have put any plan in place to respond to this. They seemingly just let Elliott go, which is alarming because they have already entrusted him with significant information on their plans despite him not being a trusted member yet. It's hard to buy into the credibility of this highly intelligent secret organization when they are sloppily taking risks like this. The Unknown: How does Tyrell feel about Elliott declining his offer? He seemed visibly upset, but was he upset to the point of taking action against him? Did Tyrell actually expect Elliott to hack his account? Why did he expect this? Why did he let Elliott in? Is Gideon also suspicious of Elliott now? It is certainly strange that Elliott would not have known what was on the disc he gave over, and it is realistic of Gideon to question this. Who is Darlene? How did she know where Elliott lived? Is she also schizophrenic? How did she have the same exact visions as Elliott? Or was that just a coincidence where Darlene suddenly jumped into the train? What is Elliott's idea to attack Steel Mountain? How will he do so without hurting anyone? What is Elliott's relationship with Shayla? In the first episode he seemed to not care much for her, but he is much more involved here. Why? Who is the man who sold the "album" to Ollie? He has now hacked Angela's webcam. What is his goal? What is he after? Who is he exactly? Best Moment: Elliott returns to see Mr. Robot, having decided to join them with a modified plan. But Mr. Robot isn't quite so quick to forgive. He demands that Elliott tell him about his father's death in order for them to move forwards. Elliott does so, and in a fascinating monologue we get to learn a ton about Elliott. He was once really close with his father, but when he contracts leukemia, Elliott is ordered to keep it secret. Naturally, Elliott does not because he wants something to be done so his father can live. And Elliott's father pushes him out a window and never speaks to him again for the rest of his life. It's a brutally tragic story that helps us understand Elliott's difficult social development and his inability to open himself up to the world. But Mr. Robot reads into it in a completely different way that surprised me thoroughly. Rather than empathize with Elliott, Mr. Robot brings up that he betrayed his father's trust and that on some level, his father was just in what he did. Mr. Robot then pushes Elliott off of the pier in a fascinating little moment. It seems that Mr. Robot took this trip into Elliott's past as an opportunity to teach him about loyalty and commitment, which is a direction I did not expect and I was fascinated by. I'm excited to learn more about both of these characters, and their scenes together have been gripping so far. Character of the Episode: Elliott. Conclusion: A good episode of story development as "Mr. Robot" continues to win me over. Score: 66 Summary: Elliott is an introverted hacker and he skips his friend Angela's party to turn in a child pornography supplier, Ron. Elliott works at Allsafe as a cybersecurity engineer but during his therapy sessions it is revealed that he is disillusioned with society, specifically E Corp (dubbed Evil Corp by him), the main company that Allsafe protects. Elliott spends his time doing morphine and ends up having sex with his drug dealer. He also spends time hacking accounts and follows his psychiatrist Krista's current boyfriend who he doesn't trust. He's suddenly called in to work at 3AM to resolve an intense DDoS attack which he barely manages, but finds that some of the code left by the hackers was addressed to him. The next day, Elliott is picked up to join a secret hacker group called fsociety, who give him the data to frame one of the higher-up of Evil Corp, Terry Colby, for the hack. Elliott is skeptical, but when Colby mistreats Angela, he goes through with it, and Tyrell, another man at Evil Corp, takes notice. Elliott discovers that Krista's boyfriend is no good and gets him to break up with Krista. A few weeks later, Colby is arrested and Elliott is happy but he is suddenly picked up and taken to meet Tyrell.
The Good: This episode did a superb job introducing us to Elliott and we learn everything about him through a deeply personalized experience. Having narration is a cliche, but this show does really well to immediately establish that this narration is a stylistic choice unique to this show, one of the things that makes it stand out. We quickly learn that Elliott is mentally unstable, and with him being so introverted, it becomes a necessity to have this narration or we would always be disconnected with Elliott's thoughts and emotions. Rather than having this narration be a plot convenience, it's a compelling method of exploring this character, which is what is done for the rest of the episode. Through Elliott's inner monologue and Rami Malek's wonderful performance, we learn more and more about him as the episode goes on. We can't condone everything that he does, yet he is human enough that we still connect with him in spite of all of the creepy, morally questionable actions he takes throughout this first episode. I really appreciate the way that this character is presented. The show understands that we need to like Elliott, and so our first scene with him shows his more noble side as he is responsible for the arrest of a man deeply involved in child pornography, something that everyone can condemn. With this, we are already sympathizing with Elliott whether we like it or not, and the so the episode has free reign to take more risks with the character, showing us his flaws. I loved the accurate portrayal of the mind of an introvert, highlighting the awkwardness of social situations while making it clear that while Elliott is a highly intelligent man, he is woefully behind everyone around him in terms of social cues and gestures, being unable to present himself properly in social settings. This is very accurate to how I've experienced introverts (like myself) interacting in unfamiliar situations, and I appreciate the attention to detail. Furthermore, I found the editing of the show to be terrific, portraying Elliott's internal thoughts, lies, and paranoia in a way that really grabbed me and made me feel it alongside him. This episode was wildly successful at being the highly personalized experience that it wanted to be. I am immediately interested in the concept of hacking being central to this story. I am not particularly experienced with this stuff so I likely won't be able to critique it as well as other aspects of the show, but I'm excited to see how "Mr. Robot" is able to communicate this complex world to its audience. So far, it has done a very good job. The big DDoS sequence in the middle of the episode was executed very well, utilizing metaphors and problem-solving to neatly communicate these advanced concepts to the audience in layman's terms without it feeling forced. Additionally, I find hacking on a smaller scale to be a very interesting way to explore Elliott. We see him go through the process of hacking Michael's information in this episode, and I appreciate how detail-oriented this was. Elliott didn't just magically get access to his information - he had to earn it every step of the way, and it was really gripping to watch (with the exception of one moment, see: The Bad). This show does a nice job of presenting Elliott with dilemmas and exploring why he makes the choices that he does. We have several terrific moments throughout this episode that center around Elliott making a key choice. Does he delete the code he found after the DDoS? Does he follow the mysterious homeless man who has been following him? Does he go through with fsociety's plan and frame Colby? Does he turn them in? We get to see Elliott grapple with these questions, leading up to him making satisfying choices that feel both earned and in-line with what we have learned about the character so far. These moments are great, feeling so human, and so nail-bitingly intense. The episode had me at the edge of my seat several times. I liked a lot of smaller things here, which is a sign that this show will be right up my alley. I appreciated that Elliott sleeping with Shayla came back to bite him when Angela found her sprawled on his bed. There's nothing I like more than seeing a character's actions have consequences. I had a few laughs at Elliott's awkward behaviour and one-word replies in awkward situations (Gideon tells him he's gay and Elliot's response? "Thanks."). The presentation of this episode was really impressive. This was not done on a massive budget like so many TV shows in modern times. Instead, it used the best of its limited budget to create a stylistic atmosphere that suggested mastery of the art of film. Great shows like "Breaking Bad" even took several seasons to fully find their stylistic flair, but "Mr. Robot" has it figured out in just one episode. The cold colour scheme, creative editing, and fantastic score all add to the experience of this episode. The Bad: While I praised the writing of this show a lot, there was one small oversight that I was disappointed by. We saw Elliott discover that Michael's name was likely an alias, yet we never got to see how he managed to find Michael's real identity. It's a real shame because every other step of this process was so thoroughly explored, and I would have loved to see how Elliott executed this final step. Unfortunately, it was glossed over. One small concern I have is that we don't get many scenes in this hour+ experience that emotionally connect us with the characters. The plot and story is interesting and engaging, but not quite emotionally impactful. It's a minor quibble though, and I'm sure that if the story continues to be this compelling, the emotional investment will come. The Unknown: Who are all of these men that Elliott is seeing from his schizophrenia? How does this tie into his past? What's the story of his father and mother? Evidently, he has some trauma there. Who is Tyrell? Why did he talk with Elliott immediately? What does he know about Elliott's role in bringing down Colby? What will he do about it? Who is Mr. Robot? Why did he recruit Elliott? Who are the members of fsociety? What is their goal? What is the project they work on? Where did they go after Elliott gave the forged data of Colby's IP address? What are Elliott's feelings for Angela? The show has suggested that he loves her, but I wonder if that is really the case. Elliott is such a blank slate at times that it is hard to get a read on who he is and what his desires are. Best Moment: Elliott's brief inner breakdown after his meeting with Mr. Robot. It was compelling and fascinating to see him contend with the reality of his situation, wondering if his experiences were all delusions or if they were actually genuine. Character of the Episode: Elliott. Conclusion: I really enjoyed this. A highly personalized pilot episode with tons of style, uniqueness, creativity, and unpredictability. What else can you ask for from a first episode? I'm really excited to watch this show as it promises to be unlike anything else I've ever seen. I'm all in after just this episode, so it is clear to me that this pilot episode has done its job. Score: 74 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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