[rating=8.00] “eps2.7_init_5.fve”
After a week of filler and an agonizing wait for the truth, Mr. Robot managed to wrap up a whole season’s worth of climatic twists in a ten-minute opening credit sequence. While most things Robot are fairly straight forward in nature, this season’s storyline has been up in the air in terms of what could go wrong next. Elliot’s mental and physical release has left him (and in turn us, as his imaginary friend) in a fucked up limbo leading directly to the demise of things that make up their gray washed world. It’s glorious.
So we know Elliot was in jail now. He’s been toiling in an imaginary universe he’s weaved to get through the day. Turns out it was his therapist Krista’s shithead boyfriend who had Elliot arrested for hacking his information and stealing his dog. During a well-executed montage depicting his absolute complacency, we see Elliot spiral, barely conscious as he gets through the to the next step. Roy is the warden, because of course he is, and Leon is Elliot’s only friend. It’s still unclear as to what his involvement with the Dark Army is, but considering how quickly we’re burning both ends at this point it’s likely irrelevant for the time being.
What’s important no is with Elliot out in the real world, he’s literally coming apart at the seams. He’s seeing himself outside of Robot and having a hell of a time trying to figure out what’s real and what’s in his head. Before, he would simply black out and Robot was able to take charge. Yes, Elliot wouldn’t remember what had happened while he was away, but Robot was able to take care of things. This is vastly important to their cause. Without Robot leading the way, there would be no hack.
While Elliot flickers in and out of reality, Angela is doing her best to look shifty and fuck with things she should be staying away from. In an effort to continue fighting injustices while also throwing in with the enemy, Angela dabbles into finding the truth behind the Flint Water Crises, becoming exceedingly dull in her predictability. “But wait,” you say “Isn’t that a good thing? Shouldn’t we be happy she’s trying to uncover the truth?” Whose side are you on anyway? Angela is making things more difficult for all parties involved. She already has the FBI sniffing at her door and yet here she is, dipping her toe in nefarious dealings in order to fuck with an organization that already has her in their pocket. Makes sense Angela.
To make matters worse, Dom shows up at her apartment to make a slight threat/give her an out. Oli has already given up his piece of information, and Angela’s response is a wide eyed “nu-uh”. I want her to go down for all of this so badly I can taste it. But can Robot handle that? I’d like to say yes, but as artfully as they’ve handled this series they’ve also played it fairly safe. In a first viewing of an episode one mostly stares with their mouth agape at what’s transpiring, but a second viewing usually reveals the lose threads that dangle so close to greatness a single tug would deliciously fuck the whole thing right up.
With Elliot back in the fold, Darlene can finally take a breath. She knows her brother is a hot mess, and yet she still trusts him without a question? During her first moment thinking clearly since the hack, Darlene realizes she’s left a tape with her clearly in the Moneybags costume at the smart house hide out. If ever there were a fuck up to end all fuck ups this would be it. In his continued effort to kiss her ass after she found out he lied to her, Cisco offers to go back to retrieve the tape leading to a tense scene in which he discovers something that must be shocking enough for him to not leave the incriminating property immediately.
In conjunction with his discovery, we get a loud knock on Darlene’s (Cisco’s) door mirroring the season one finale. There’s obviously more than one person there, so we can safely assume it’s either Mobley and Trenton, the FBI, or the Dark Army. No matter what it’s going to be bad news for all involved. It’s a real shame the bat Cisco took to the head didn’t kill him, at least he would have had an interesting death. Now he’ll probably just get shot by one of White Rose’s comrades. While these two stare into the abyss, Elliot attempts to return home only to discover Wellick’s vampire bride waiting for him. She knows him as Oli still, so obviously she doesn’t know too much. Perhaps this is where we finally find out what happened to Wellick? Maybe?
Through everything there’s one constant that has remained, Mr. Robot is still withholding truths from Elliot. Their flickering between speaking on one another’s behalf seems to be Elliot slowly coming to terms with his illness and perhaps even overcoming the split persona. The problem there lies in the fact that he created Robot because he needed him to achieve these goals. What happens when there’s only Elliot left in his head? Hopefully we won’t need to find out; our existence as an audience is merely another form of coping on his part. Without Elliot’s need to break apart his reality, there is no need for us to watch silently from the galley.
