Summary: Vera brings Elliot into Krista's apartment and tells him why he came back and his proposition, but Elliot forces him to prove to her that Krista is alive. Vera takes him to Krista and tells him that he wants to talk with Mr. Robot. Vera threatens to rape Krista and Mr. Robot comes out. Mr. Robot negotiates with Vera and breaks down his business plan, forcing Vera to prove why Mr. Robot should help him. Mr. Robot agrees that if Vera lets Krista go, he will do a hack that results in Vera getting a lot of money. Elliot shows Vera the plan and tries to kill Vera with the gun in his bag, but the gun was emptied by Vera. Vera brings in Krista and threatens to kill her, but Elliot tells him he needs her. Vera realizes Krista helps Elliot and so he sits them down and forces a therapy session to happen. During this session, Krista helps Elliot remember the truth about the day he jumped out the window, with Elliot realizing that he created Mr. Robot to process that his dad molested him when he was a kid. Vera exploits Elliot's fragile mental state and tries to convince him that he's there to help him. It almost works but then Krista comes up behind Vera and stabs him, killing him.
The Good: This episode feels like a movie. More than that, it feels like an exceptionally well produced stage play set to film. Everything surrounding the production and presentation of this episode was superb, making this feel like a unique and special experience. The five act structure makes this feel like an old school play, and it's creative how the lighting, main ideas, and character dynamics shift significantly in every act. The five act structure isn't the only unique bit of direction that makes this feel like a play. The only time we switch scenes is in between acts, with no jump cuts to different rooms throughout the episode. Furthermore, this episode never shows us the fourth wall in the room. We only ever see three walls, making this feel like it was a stage production. For a show like Mr. Robot which is so often flamboyant with its camera movement, this is a major change in filmmaking style which is immediately noticeable. The technical aspects of this episode are truly astounding. On top of this, the episode utilizes music tremendously well to elevate its scenes, and the thunder sound effects create a really intense atmosphere. It's a bit cheesy, but somehow it works and fits perfectly with this episode. Lastly, I greatly enjoyed the extended credits sequence to start the episode, making things feel even more cinematic. Each of the five acts are impactful and enjoyable in different ways. The first act is much more brightly lit, and lighter in intensity compared to the rest of the episode. The colours pop, and the lighting doesn't yet create a sense of unease. This feels like a typical situation that Elliot has to work his way out of, and while the episode sets up the story, we get to enjoy his interactions with Vera. Vera is a blast in these scenes. Elliot Villar plays him to perfection, injecting humour, suspense, and unpredictability into every scene. I thoroughly enjoyed his story about why he came back to New York and his connection with his shaman. The story is both engrossing and funny due to Vera's eccentricity. The whole thing is somewhat ridiculous, but it fits in nicely with Vera's pretentious nature, and it works as a believable transformative experience for him. Elliot's cold reactions to Vera are in-line with how he should be reacting. Vera killed Shayla, and Elliot has not forgotten that. He's not trusting at all, and he makes it explicitly clear that he is concerned about Krista. These interactions are fun to watch, and they introduce the main concept of the episode nicely; Elliot's priority is to save Krista and get out of there, while Vera wants to recruit Elliot as his partner at any cost. The second act escalates things as Krista comes into the picture, and so does Mr. Robot. The highlight of this act is Mr. Robot negotiating with Vera, and systematically tearing down the absurdity of his "plan" which is just another pretentious and unrealistic vision. Mr. Robot identifies this, and you can tell that he relishes in using his logic and confidence to steal control of the conversation from Vera. Every line of dialogue adds to the scene, making it so fun to watch these two verbally spar with each other. Mr. Robot's obvious disdain for Vera, who he views as beneath him, is superb as he personally trashes Vera at every opportunity. His line about getting Vera into real estate is especially dismissive and funny. But while Mr. Robot is accurate about Vera being pretentious and short-sighted, he still has common sense, and that is enough for him to prevent Mr. Robot from walking all over him. Mr. Robot paints a picture for Vera, showcasing a reality where he has all the money in the world. This is Mr. Robot manipulating Vera based on his love for visionary storytelling. But Vera sees what Mr. Robot is doing, and he is not willing to let Krista go, recognizing that this means that Mr. Robot would have no reason to cooperate after that. Despite Mr. Robot's best efforts, it won't be this easy to defeat Vera. This leads into the brief third act, which sees Elliot actively try to kill Vera to get out of the situation. This sequence is tense and it ratchets up the tension continuously to build up to the enormous fourth act. The lighting has progressively gotten darker up until this point, and this feels like the breaking point in the story. Elliot draws his gun after a tense wait, and you get the sense that he might turn things around here. But the reveal that the bullets have been taken out was fantastic. Better yet, this proves that Vera is smarter than you would expect, because he predicted that Elliot would still try to kill him. This still ends up being a turning point, but not for the reasons we expected. Elliot's actions ramp up the risk of Vera losing faith in him, and Vera becomes capable of manipulating Elliot into cooperating with him and doing the climactic therapy with Krista that dominates act four. The way this act amps up the suspense and shifts the focus of the episode to its most important act was perfect. Act four was phenomenal television. This act sees the show at its darkest and most emotionally focused. The use of wide shots and frequent cutting early in the act reminds us of Vera's presence at every turn. Krista and Elliot try to engage in a session, but there is always the reminder of the situation which makes things feel fake. It is intentionally difficult to get into. But once Vera brings up what he read about Krista's suspicions, things take a darker turn. Suddenly, the situation does not matter, and all that matters is to find out what secret Krista and Mr. Robot are hiding about Elliot's upbringing. After four seasons, learning that there is still such a major secret that is being kept from Elliot feels like a betrayal, and the emotional significance of that overpowers the significance of Vera's threat. The episode knows this too. Once Elliot starts demanding answers, the shooting of the episode changes. This is as dark as the episode gets, and the camera starts to fixate on the faces of the characters, pulling away from the usual bombastic filming style. This style helps make things feel entirely personal. Vera is hardly focused on now, because we are a stand-in for him in this scene, mere bystanders to watch as Elliot realizes the horrifying truth about his father. The slow-burn nature of this sequence is astonishing and perfect. We realize the truth well before Elliot does, and we needed to. That Elliot is the last one to accept what happened to him is really important in making this realization so gutwrenching and heartbreaking. It took him a long time to accept this enormous change in how he viewed his father, and why wouldn't it? All this time Elliot, much like us, viewed his father as a rare shining light in his childhood. Revealing that to be a lie is devastating, and it hits hard. Rami Malek does an unbelievable job here, and his shock, horror, and despair is conveyed to perfection, allowing the horror of this reveal to land to full effect. Furthermore, this twist is so effective because it makes perfect sense. Previous scenes involving Elliot's father align perfectly with this reveal, as does Elliot's discomfort with physical touch. Not only is this a shocking twist as you go through the story, but the way that this twist recontextualizes past scenes improves the rewatchability of "Mr. Robot". The fifth act concludes this story, and it is completely unique from the rest. After a dark and chilling fourth act, the light starts to return for the fifth act. Elliot is suitably horrified and I'm impressed at how realistically this episode portrayed a character learning a truth that shatters their world. Nothing is important to Elliot anymore, and all he can think about is what just happened. Krista does not matter. Vera does not matter. The Dark Army does not matter. The only thing that matters is the intense struggle to handle this trauma that he just uncovered. And who is there to connect with Elliot and exploit his fragile mental state to further his own goals? Vera. Vera's speech to Elliot is both sweet and beautiful, yet terrifying and disgusting. He connects with Elliot perfectly, and it feels like he genuinely wants Elliot to process this trauma and get past it. Elliot Villar is fantastic here as he empathizes with Elliot and genuinely attempts to get Elliot through this. But then you remember that Vera is exploiting Elliot, and while he may be genuine, he's using Elliot's deeply buried pain for his own gain. It's pure emotional manipulation and it is uncomfortable to watch once you remember this. Vera's manipulations provide a wash of emotions, and the episode succeeds in making you think that he is about to succeed. But in a surprising and thankful twist, this is the end for Vera. Vera has finally connected with Elliot and gotten everything he wanted, but now he's dead. In a terrific twist, Krista takes her chance and chooses to stab Vera, poetically killing him with the same knife that killed Shayla. The moment is sudden and shocking, and it feels like a Pyrrhic victory as Krista has killed Vera, but at tremendous cost to Elliot's mental health. There is also a nice bit of irony in this moment. Vera has proven to be so street-smart at every turn. But his biggest flaw has been his obsession with spirituality and it costs him here. Vera gets so lost in his connection with Elliot that he forgets the basics. He is so quick to speak with Elliot that he forgets that he untied Krista, and he forgets that he sent his goons out of the apartment. Krista is allowed to roam free, and it's completely sensible that she murders Vera, being unable to stomach any more from this psychopath as he manipulates one of her clients. It's a brutal and effective ending to the show's most perfect episode. The Bad: Nothing. The Unknown: What will be the consequences of Elliot learning about his past trauma? How will this affect him going forward? Mr. Robot told him that he can't protect him anymore. Is this just temporary or is he going to be gone for good? Best Moment: Elliot finally realizing the truth about his past was fantastic. Rami Malek gave an astonishing performance that felt so real and made this moment hit incredibly hard. Character of the Episode: Elliot. Conclusion: This was incredible. A highly focused and personal experience that featured nail-biting suspense, top-notch acting, heavy emotional weight, and a stunning reveal that completely changes how we perceive Elliot, Mr. Robot, and this show as a whole. Simply outstanding television, and one of the greatest TV episodes that I have ever seen. Score: 89
1 Comment
Joe Y
5/29/2022 11:31:21 am
I didn't want to hype this one up for you too much, since I think it's always best to go in with 0 expectations. But yes--I think this episode deserves the acclaim it gets, for its brilliant structure, suspense, acting, and final twist. This twist works better than the twists the show has pulled in the past, because it's not only sensible, it forces us to reconsider the entire show in a new fascinating fashion. It also has huge emotional impact, which I think is something that needs to underpin the best twists ("We have to go back!" ). Truly the best hour of Mr. Robot by a wide margin, and one of the best episodes of tv...in general.
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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