Mr. Robot Recap: eps2.12init1.asec

Mr. Robot / Episode 4USA

Fuck what you heard! If you’re not watching Mr. Robot you a GOT DAM FOOL. This show is absolutely crushing every aspect of great television. Cinematic shots that make you say, “Damn that looks amazing.” Dialogue that actually pulls you in, instead of rocking you to sleep. 90 minute episodes every other week? Can I get a Stone Cold, “HELL YEAH!!”

The episode opens up with a scene that blasts through the front door like the Kool-Aid Man on steroids. And the best part about it? It’s another finely crafted flashback scene where Elliot and Darlene have their first interaction in months, light up the Willie Nelson special, throw on their favorite old movie The Careful Massacre of the Bourgeois and shoot the shit.

“So when did pretending everything’s okay suddenly become the almighty norm?”

As soon as Darlene says that true true, Shit. Hits. The. FAN! Elliot puts on his Mr. Robot suit and mask and for the first time, and they actually begin to discuss executing a hack on Evil Corp. Well, it’s actually Elliot going OFFFFF on this ill opportunity epiphany rant as Darlene gawks in surprise and simultaneously revels in awe. Flash-forward to present day and Darlene is pressing Elliot, doing the most evil, and asking for “him” to come out because Mr. Robot is what she needs right now.

Agent DiPierro and her team begin to investigate and tear apart the Arcade Fire Headquarters that she stumbled upon last episode. They find some IG pics and get mad at themselves that the hackers so disrespectfully and conspicuously hide in plain sight. There’s plenty more shade thrown at the direction of the NYPD and FBI’s ability to handle this case and actually bring these “criminals” to justice. I dig it.

The Beautiful Monsters

Seems like Joanna’s having trouble keeping some young dude quiet and is running out of cash to keep him from squealing. But this is Joanna we’re talkin’ ’bout, she always got a plan. On the flip side, she’s being kept happy by her concubine who seems to continuously have delusions about them being together for the long run and taking vacations to tropical places. Joanna goes classic Joanna on him and tells him, “That’s cute that you think you’ll ever be able to afford to spirit me away on your $15 an hour bartender salary. It’s good to have dreams, boo boo.”

Joanna knows this money problem won’t be going away any time soon, so she decides to let the monster out when she shows up at Scott Knowles’ home. She offers up her testimony against her husband if he gets E Corp to release Tyrell Wellick’s severance package so she can eat.

I’m not gonna lie, I thought the ill prostitution solicitation response was about to go down after she proposed this, but Scott isn’t the same beast as his formerly flirtatious wife. He wants to see Joanna and Tyrell Wellick’s baby suffer worse than he’s suffering. Until he finds Tyrell, who everyone believes killed his wife (and did), she aint getting a dime of that severance!

Turns out Angela went through with the snitching protocol as we see those two slimy Colby co-conspirators be led out in handcuffs, midday to show us that their is still a shred of decency and justice in the world.

After meeting with Antara Nayar, Angela does some research and notices a few connections. She decides to put all these self-confidence recordings and videos to good use and run up on Price like a boss ass chick, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick. As soon as Philip ‘Gargamel’ Price takes a step outside of his billion dollar building, Angela drops a quick punchline, “I want an office on the 20th floor. I want Melissa’s job.” Then explains her demands are non-negotiable because she’s been researching the Washington Township Plant suit and the pattern that his team wouldn’t agree on one point. A third party company must perform inspections. She knows he needs her to convince them to drop that one contingency and if he wants her to do that, she better get what she wants. Price doesn’t bite, instead he hit her with something like, “That was cute. That was courageous. It’s good to have dreams, boo boo.”

The Return of White Rose

B.D. Wong is back in the building y’all! This time he’s back on his gender bending, world changing, and backroom dealing game. He’s on the line with Philip Price and can’t come to terms with the patience needed for some Ecoin strategy they’re working on. After getting off the phone with the head corporate scum, White Rose needs help deciding which earrings to wear. We also get another look at a list that contains Dominique Dipierro’s name. Interesting return for Mr. Wong.

Dark Army Pressure

Darlene’s ex-boyfriend, Cisco gets her to meet with him and tells her that she needs to bring Elliot into the loop. She breaks down and yells at Cisco for not letting her cry in peace. They have sex in the bathroom and before separation even occurs he lays a few more bombs on her. The Dark Army found out that Romero was looking into the FBI before he got wacked, which is making them nervous and think someone is snitching on the operation. Darlene knows it wasn’t anyone in her camp but it turns out Romero’s list was something called Operation Berenstain. This may mean heavy surveillance for everyone involved in the hack. No bueno for our anti-heroes.

They comin for ya man Darlene

Darlene calls Elliot and explains to him the pressure that they’re feeling from The Dark Army. The only thing he wants to know is if she really meant that she wanted “him”.

The Elliot and Ray Connection

Ray does an excellent job of always seeing through Elliot’s mask and offers his help. He wants Elliot to talk through his mental problems but Elliot knows the ramifications of that, despite wanting to let it allllll the way out. Just when he is about to pull the trigger, Mr. Robot comes through to shut that ish down. I wonder if Elliot was having that conversation with his other half out loud or in his head? From Ray’s response I think Elliot might be speaking out loud and not caring how crazy he actually looks… in front of Ray at least.

Turn out this convo leads to quite a crossroad for Elliot and Mr. Robot. Faux pops lays down a challenge in the form of a chess match. If Elliot wins, Mr. Robot goes away. If Elliot loses, Mr. Robot takes over for good and Elliot goes into that long gap nap of not remembering sleep. He thinks about this deal while in Krista’s therapy office. Although he doesn’t agree to the deal, he does come to terms with many disturbances and problems in his life, but doesn’t care that he’s going through all this. He wants help. For some reason, I don’t think Krista is going to help with such an intelligent psychopath as Elliot Alderson.

Elliot has an amazing conversation with Leon on The Age of Enlightenment, existence and fighting for your future. If you’re not ready to fight for your future, then just fade the fuck out. It is absolutely phenomenal and I am once again raving about Joey Bada$$ and his acting abilities that are flooring me each and every scene he is blessed to be given in this show.




Elliot lays in bed and thinks about that future that he wants. That future where he and Angela get to go out on dates at fancy restaurants. That future that sees Darlene and Cisco get married and live happily. That future in which he gets to right wrongs like when he absolutely destroyed the life and spirit of the man who worked at Evil Corp’s heavily guarded data storage facility, Stone Mountain last season. That future that sees Evil Corp get taken down. He thinks about this world he always wanted and thinks about how much he would like to fight for it. Beautifully shot scene. Phenomenal dinner table in the NYC streets setup. Just superb filmmaking.

After deciding he wants to and will fight for that future, he sits down with Mr. Robot and has the most disappointing game of chess in his life. Stalemate. Each and every time. There was never any getting rid of Mr. Robot; they are in this together no matter what either of them wants and or thinks.

Elliot finally decides to scratch that part of his brain that sometimes gets him into trouble. He walks back into Ray’s office and offers to help him with that little computer problem he has been having. Ray gives him access to his computer, the directions for the simple site merge, tells him his online business is very important to him, and to only look where he should be looking. Ray’s enforcer walks him, wishes him good luck, and lets the young hack GAWD do what he does best. He goes online and gets the real deal rundown from Darlene. The feds found the arcade. They are running an illegal surveillance program called Berenstain and that Romero’s body was found done-in like he crossed Tony Soprano.

He responds with a simple, “Wait for my instructions.” as he begins to hack the FBI. HACK THE FUCKIN FBI, SON.


[quote_simple]Mr. Robot Reboot[/quote_simple]

So that list of government agents including DiPierro’s name is all about operation Berenstain. Let’s see if the hack reveals any surveillance on our squad.

Keep the flashbacks coming!

Keep the 90 minute episodes coming!

If you’ve been looking for a copy of The Careful Massacre of the Bourgeois, you can check out about 9 minutes of the film here: https://www.whoismrrobot.com/massacre/.

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  • Ja-Quan is a NYC teacher and artist holding a B.A. in Sociology and History from SUNY New Paltz. On his journey to become Hokage, the Lord of The Speed Force and Protector of the Recaps can be found North of The Wall, chopping it up on Twitter @OGquankinobi

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  • Mooj

    Thank you!!!

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