Before and during this episode, did Angela realize Darlene and Elliot were involved with F Society and the 5/9 hack? I didn't think so (or at least couldn't remember any reason why Angela would link them) but I could be forgetting something from season 1. In this episode, it seemed like she agreed to assist in their hack of the FBI largely to help cover their tracks/protect them. I thought she just could connect the rapper who gave Ollie the CD to the hack but had no reason to think Darlene and Elliot were involved...
Though the show is packaged as a high flying exploration of the futuristic cyber zeitgeist in all its cutting-edge glory, in truth, Mr. Robot's intensely fractured and, yes, at times, convoluted story line, with its mosaic of multiple subplots that defy diagram, is starting to take on the atavistic qualities of a narrative style from a far and distant past, namely: baroque opera. In short, Mr. Robot bids us welcome to the paranoid age of the techno-baroque. As for the show, at best one can say "I'm amused, confused, sometimes a bit bored, but I'll probably stick with it."
2
Whiterose is a role tailor made for BD Wong and keeps on sending me back to the first time I saw the actor on Broadway, playing another trans in M. Butterfly.
How about the Cinderella ending to the Whiterose evening? At midnight all the clocks chime and the minister needs to turn back into a minister. Awesome.
5
So the key question is why the hit: White Rose can easily give FBI as little information or misinformation about the Dark Army as he wants. My theory is he revealed a little too much to Dom the night before. I was reading another recap where the author pointed out when Dom was talking about the person who proposed to her, she used the pronoun 'they'. That historically it's a very common code word of sorts in the LGBT community.
That's what led White Rose to show Dom the wardrobe. White Rose really got carried away when talking about how the contemplation about 5/9's effect on their lives, on who they are becoming deeply moves him. I think the chimes of clocks at midnight snapped him out of it.
WR's lie about his sister is easily proven to be false. Someone of his rank would be a permanent member of Politburo, the 9 person committee that runs the whole country. We can only imagine the panicked state: just the secret about his gender identity would ruin him, on top of that the prospect of being leveraged by U.S. government, the threat to his grand plan...
If his encounter with Dom did not occur, there'd be no reason to assassinate the FBI team. Right now it's a huge international incident, and things will only escalate. But most likely he thinks he has no choice.
That's what led White Rose to show Dom the wardrobe. White Rose really got carried away when talking about how the contemplation about 5/9's effect on their lives, on who they are becoming deeply moves him. I think the chimes of clocks at midnight snapped him out of it.
WR's lie about his sister is easily proven to be false. Someone of his rank would be a permanent member of Politburo, the 9 person committee that runs the whole country. We can only imagine the panicked state: just the secret about his gender identity would ruin him, on top of that the prospect of being leveraged by U.S. government, the threat to his grand plan...
If his encounter with Dom did not occur, there'd be no reason to assassinate the FBI team. Right now it's a huge international incident, and things will only escalate. But most likely he thinks he has no choice.
2
I'm confused as to why he left DiPierro alive when she's the one to whom he gave clues. It can't be simply because he feels some (possibly) LGBT community affinity with her.
Perhaps he sees her as a source of information or useful in another unrevealed way.
Perhaps he sees her as a source of information or useful in another unrevealed way.
Maybe this is the new world, fused with technology and the digital realm. One that allows all of us to live life sporting multiple identities, each with their own outcomes. WhiteRose has about 4 identities that I count--two as women, 2 as men. Elliott has racked up 3--himself, Mr. Robot, Sam Sepiol. Someone living online can have as many as there are avatars to depict them and use technology to create for him or herself alternate realities. Perhaps Elliott's mental status is actually the norm in this new world. Is he more or less unstable than WhiteRose? I don't think so. Both function just fine as they move in and out of their characters, though WhiteRose appears more sure-footed, more experienced in the ways of multiple lives.
2
Another question about the massacre of the FBI agents in China. If this actually happened in real life (thank God it has not) would this be a declaration of war between the USA and China? I guess the US would have to ignore it as we owe them so much money. Or perhaps say the account is now paid.
Brilliant ending to the episode. We are lulled by ticking clocks and then startled by the alarm no matter how much it is expected. Ollie and his Bud Light: laughing and appalled at the same time by this character. Love the detail to this show.
2
There's much to admire about season 2, including the great visual look of the show and the wonderful actors.
But the plot is so dense it's very hard to keep up and weirdly, simultaneously, the plot is also pretty boring compared to season
Would Eliot really be such a world class hacker and yet not know anything about the muck that was The Deep Web during the reign of Dread Pirate Roberts until Ray shows up?
But the plot is so dense it's very hard to keep up and weirdly, simultaneously, the plot is also pretty boring compared to season
Would Eliot really be such a world class hacker and yet not know anything about the muck that was The Deep Web during the reign of Dread Pirate Roberts until Ray shows up?
3
I don't know where to even begin with this episode. My forbidding about Ray was confirmed and he is much worse than I imagined. How will Elliot/Mr. Robot extricate himself from this fine mess? My goodness BD Wong showing up in China as the head of Chinese site security - who knew? But then how does he have time to appear in a shop (season 1) as the White Rose? Wouldn't the Chinese government wonder where their state security minister is? In the last episode it appeared that he has a residence in the U.S. Why would he need one? The massacre of the FBI agents was shocking.
Perhaps Joanna Wellick is the REAL psychopath of the family.
Perhaps Joanna Wellick is the REAL psychopath of the family.
1
Fabulous recaps. Kudos to Mr. Collins. for illuminating a wonderful show
3
Sean: Thank you for your thoughtful review of a strong episode. I appreciated your description of the filming of the massacre, from Dom's perspective, which gives the scene a much deeper emotional impact. Most violence on TV has less impact than it should; it's usually filmed in a third-person way, thus removing the viewer from the experience of a narrator. That's the beauty of this show, the insistent narrative voice.
So much happened here, so much depth revealed. That Whiterose is both trans and a minister of technology is "aha" and "duh" at the same time. Of course a high-ranking official would have access in a state-controlled system. Of course Whiterose would have many disguises, contemplate many lives.
I too am impressed with Grace Gummer. She lightens things up, her Jersey girl pretty pitch-perfect. But what's with the fascination with New Jersey? Elliot and Angela come from Washington Township, and Dom from Teaneck, all Bergen County burgs. From NJ to E Corp and the Dark Army . . . anyone can be an FBI agent or hack the FBI in a free country!
Of course Dread Pirate Roberts has emerged from Craig Robinson. Comic actors do evil so naturally. Comic actors and mysterious women, like the lovely and deadly Mme. Welleck/Stephanie Corneliusson.
Does anyone else love the way the show is shot? It reminds me of an indie film. But an episode without Joey Badass is like a morning without orange juice.
So much happened here, so much depth revealed. That Whiterose is both trans and a minister of technology is "aha" and "duh" at the same time. Of course a high-ranking official would have access in a state-controlled system. Of course Whiterose would have many disguises, contemplate many lives.
I too am impressed with Grace Gummer. She lightens things up, her Jersey girl pretty pitch-perfect. But what's with the fascination with New Jersey? Elliot and Angela come from Washington Township, and Dom from Teaneck, all Bergen County burgs. From NJ to E Corp and the Dark Army . . . anyone can be an FBI agent or hack the FBI in a free country!
Of course Dread Pirate Roberts has emerged from Craig Robinson. Comic actors do evil so naturally. Comic actors and mysterious women, like the lovely and deadly Mme. Welleck/Stephanie Corneliusson.
Does anyone else love the way the show is shot? It reminds me of an indie film. But an episode without Joey Badass is like a morning without orange juice.
6
Leon's a treat.
2
This series is amazing in the way it heightens the tension of each episode. Just when it has you expecting what will happen next, something unexpected and thoroughly shocking happens instead. Will Mr. Robot pick up a slew of Emmy noms next year, Magic 8 Ball? "Signs point to yes."
4
Love this show I even paid for season 2. It makes one wonder about techies out there working for a corporation and not agreeing with the work they're doing.
2
White Rose's obsession with time is starting to make sense: That scene in the hallway with all the clocks, the constant, awkward tension in White Rose's face, it all reminded me of people I know who spent their early adulthood in 60's, 70's China.
These are generations of people who grew up thinking they will build a new, modern, prosperous China based on utopian dreams, but woke up decades later from the nightmare feeling they have wasted, lost so much time. They are forever tense because they are in their middle age, yet so behind of where they thought their lives should be, so they race ahead as fast as they could, not a moment to waste...
These are generations of people who grew up thinking they will build a new, modern, prosperous China based on utopian dreams, but woke up decades later from the nightmare feeling they have wasted, lost so much time. They are forever tense because they are in their middle age, yet so behind of where they thought their lives should be, so they race ahead as fast as they could, not a moment to waste...
10
All of the scenes with Elliot and Mr. Robot this season have had a claustrophobic feel to them. Mr. Robot and Elliot used go outside, have actual conversations with shifts in tone. Now it's all Mr. Robot yelling at him in a dark room.
Season 2--meh.
2
Tack, not tact, no?
9