Summary: A flashback shows Romero introducing the arcade to Mobley, who gives Romero Elliot's offer. Elliot overdoses on Adderall to keep Mr. Robot away and hide from guilt over Gideon's death. It works at first but panic sets in and Elliot has an outburst at his church group. Ray finds Elliot's journal that he left behind and offers Elliot a chance to talk and resolve his problem with Mr. Robot. Price takes Angela out to dinner and introduces her to two charming workers. After they leave, Price reveals that they were in the room with Colby when the decision to cover up the leak was made. He gives Angela the evidence to bring them down. Mobley finds that Romero has been shot and goes to Darlene who is calm about the situation. Mobley tells Trent that he thinks that Darlene and Elliot are trying to take them out. Dom investigates the Romero case and tracks down the arcade, realizing that she has found fsociety.
The Good: I continue to enjoy the style of this show. It's extremely cinematic, well acted, and cleverly directed with a unique feel that is completely distinguished from anything else on TV. The opening few minutes embodies this perfectly. The episode started magnificently with a daring flashback sequence that saw Romero give a lengthy monologue on the history of the arcade. I really liked this sequence as it explained how fsociety came by this arcade location and why they have not been discovered. Furthermore, it also humanized Romero a bit more by telling us how he provides for his mother, which I appreciated because he's been quite underdeveloped so far. Following this ambitious opening sequence, we were treated to a wonderfully dynamic and cinematic opening sequence which was a joy to watch. While there wasn't really anything of substance here, the technical mastery of film that this show is displaying makes every scene much more enjoyable. This show is hugely elevated by its style. As is the usual with "Mr. Robot" thus far, Elliot's story was easily the standout. This episode tackles Elliot attempting to run away from his guilt which he describes as "panic", turnign back to drugs and taking them to the extreme to get rid of Mr. Robot, who is a manifestation of everything Elliot does not want in his life. The Adderall sequences were fantastic. Elliot's initial glee is wonderfully communicated, and I have to draw specific praise to how uncomfortable, disgusting, and unexpected the moment was when Elliot overdosed and went digging through his own vomit to get the Adderall back in his system. It was a perfect indicator of how messed up Elliot is right now, and it does a tremendous job of ensuring that we are horrified by his actions, and not at all on board with his plan to do drugs to run away from his problem. Eventually Elliot realizes what we already know, and the result is an out-of-control anti-religion rant at his church group, a fantastic moment that highlights Elliot's disconnect with life and his own (presumable) rehabilitation program. It also seemed to take inspiration from the "problem dog" scene from "Breaking Bad", and while it doesn't quite capture the magic and significance of that moment, this was en effective and beautifully acted scene. The end result is Elliot accepting that he can't run away from his problems and that he may just need to open up to Ray as his next step forward. Price and Angela had quite an interesting story in the end. It was flat and boring for so long and I struggled to engage in it because I was uncertain by what both characters were looking to accomplish, and I was emotionally disconnected from the narrative. However, it evolved superbly in that final scene into a terrific ethical dilemma for Angela as the good people she was meeting with turned out to be some of the people responsible for the Washington leak, putting Angela in the precarious position of choosing whether or not to ruin their lives. This added some much needed emotional weight to Angela's story and I'm curious to see how her character evolves from this decision. The Bad: Working at an arcade with "f society" written on top is both blatant and stupid. This should have been discovered ages ago, and I'm baffled at Elliot taking such a big risk by openly leaving the title of fsociety on the location that they operate at. This show still has a problem with underdeveloped characters. Angela's current state is too murky for me to really connect with the character. She no longer feels like the same person we knew in season 1 and that is not a good thing. Angela should have been the relatable lens through which we got to understand the inner workings of E Corp. But now she feels just as alien as everyone else, making it tougher to engage in the E Corp storyline. The murder mystery storyline was also quite flat. Mobley and Trenton have not been developed well enough for me to be interested in their plight. It's obvious that Darlene and Elliot aren't trying to kill them off so the tension does not do much for me. Romero's death was a big disappointment as it came right after I started to invest in the character in the opening sequence. Killing characters right after they get developed, is this "The Walking Dead"? We also spent far too much time with Dom, the new FBI character. She was introduced previously, but we aren't given enough of a chance to get to know her and care about her. I'm not sure what scenes of her masturbating are supposed to accomplish in terms of making us care about this character. All of her scenes fell flat. This show has a problem with how it tells its narrative. This episode was essentially a constant barrage of vague statements and intriguing monologues that raised questions repeatedly. Mystery is good, and it certainly has its place in all stories. But when every single scene is based around building up mystery and keeping key plot details in the dark, it becomes frustrating quickly. As someone who likes to emotionally invest in the television I watch, I find it deeply unsatisfying that this show gets its drama from convoluted storytelling instead of character-based drama. I enjoy Elliot's story, but it is frustrating that I still do not know his exact situation or even what happened in between the events of season 1 and 2. Because of this, the plot details of his story fall flat. I have no idea what to make of Ray for example because the plot is so unclear that I'm not sure who he is and what his significance is. Likewise, I struggle to enjoy Price's scenes as much as I should. Michael Cristofer is giving one hell of a charismatic performance, but I can't enjoy it as much as I want to because the show is not clear enough on what his motives are and what it is that he is trying to get out of Angela. I also take issue with the quantity of monologues in this show. Individually, these scenes are superb. They are well written, well acted, and often reveal important things about the characters. But the problem is that we get so many of them in every episode. Monologues can be good, but having so many hurts my immersion in the show because it feels unrealistic. People don't go on these long almost Shakespearean monologues all the time, certainly much less than what "Mr. Robot" shows us. Furthermore, when we have so many of these grand monologues, they don't feel as special anymore. In other shows, these monologues have a huge impact because the monologue trope is used infrequently, and it feels special when it eventually pops up. But with every other scene containing a monologue in this episode, it no longer feels special and the scenes lose a lot of their impact. The Unknown: Where is Tyrell supposed to be going? Is this an allusion for Elliot having killed him? The show is doing a good job of being unclear if Tyrell is actually on the call or if it is in Elliot's mind. Elliot is asked if he is having second thoughts about what he did. What is this referring to if it's not Elliot killing Tyrell? Who killed Romero? Why? Was it the Dark Army? Was it another drug dealer? Who did this? What is Dom's purpose in the story? She has now discovered fsociety. What will she do with this information? Will she reveal it to the public or to anyone else? Will she track down Mobley, Trenton, and Darlene? What is Ray up to? Who was the other hacker that he was working with? What secret business is he running? Is this what he needed Elliot's help for in the previous episode? Why did the chaplain give Elliot's journal to Ray? How does Ray know her? Why did Price encourage Angela to end the careers of Jim and Saul? What is his goal with her? Why did he tell her to go with Fox only to change his mind afterwards? Was he testing her? Best Moment: Elliot's Adderall sequence. It was unnerving and funny to see Elliot so unlike his normal self and feeling "happy". The sequence was unsettling and concluded magnificently as Elliot admits that even he is not believing the story that he's trying to tell us. The sequence was perfectly executed and it nailed all of the storytelling beats it set out to hit. Conclusion: I liked a lot of this, especially the stylistic aspects of the show, but there are too many flaws to ignore. The slow pace and convoluted storytelling is creating a lot of problems in my emotional investment in the show. These flaws must be resolved if "Mr. Robot" is to have a successful second season. Score: 55
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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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