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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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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