About Darlene, Angela, Dom, and their perceived lack of "leadership," "value," and "life" -- I see a parallel, and maybe this sets them up as candidates for revolutionary growth in later seasons. We're watching them transform, with Darlene's murders, Angela's team swap etc. Dom is particularly interesting because she has instincts that are actually right on the money most of the season, but she can't seem to get through (to her boss etc.) to do much about anything (yet). The commentary on larger, feminist themes is no doubt there. But in the end I hope these female characters are here to do more than expose sexism -- that they may overturn it in a huge and awesome way.
Mr. Robot season 2: Great storytelling, just not much story. We really do need more than a beginning and a middle.
As interesting as this season was, several characters haven't been fleshed out enough. Tyrell and Joanna are examples - their personalities are contradictory and we've no real idea what brought them to this point which makes them less believable to me. I'd also appreciate more insight into Whiterose.
Absolutely fantastic! The last episodes where an expertly crafted joy ride. And the musical score. Davy Crockett of all things. Who woulda thunk. This is a show that delivers unending surprise and delight. My hat is off to Mr Malek and his associates.
2
It has been difficult for me to comment on Season 2 because it has been so interior in nature. There was little outward action on the part of the characters. They seemed to be in reaction mode as they were acted upon rather than being the initiators of the action. Perhaps it is a comment that for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction A.K.A karma.
Remember that in the very first episode Romero was relating the history of the arcade to Mobley and said that it had bad vibes and killed anyone who had anything to do with the place. Perhaps he was right after all.
I knew that Wellick was alive. I believed he was the one sending the messages to his wife Joanna. It was a surprise to find out that it was actually Scott. I'm glad that at least Romero's death was resolved - even if nothing else was.
We do not know what White Rose said to Angela that led her to change her mind about pursuing Ecorp. Perhaps that will be revealed next season.
This season was like fun house hall of mirrors distorted images were being reflected back to the viewers at all times. We could not trust that what we saw was real. It reflects the setting of an amusement park where f-scociety was headquartered.
This wasn't a particularly satisfying season but I am willing to continue to watch Season 3 next year.
Remember that in the very first episode Romero was relating the history of the arcade to Mobley and said that it had bad vibes and killed anyone who had anything to do with the place. Perhaps he was right after all.
I knew that Wellick was alive. I believed he was the one sending the messages to his wife Joanna. It was a surprise to find out that it was actually Scott. I'm glad that at least Romero's death was resolved - even if nothing else was.
We do not know what White Rose said to Angela that led her to change her mind about pursuing Ecorp. Perhaps that will be revealed next season.
This season was like fun house hall of mirrors distorted images were being reflected back to the viewers at all times. We could not trust that what we saw was real. It reflects the setting of an amusement park where f-scociety was headquartered.
This wasn't a particularly satisfying season but I am willing to continue to watch Season 3 next year.
1
The penultimate scene in front of Fry's was priceless. I thought I had seen every tasteless exterior of this chain store, but the one they chose or recreated was bleak beyond any Beckett's Waiting for Godot stage set.
It was a brilliant stroke by Mr Email, who has undoubtedly shopped there and has experience the altered reality that occurs within in those stores. A metaphor for the series, perhaps?
It was a brilliant stroke by Mr Email, who has undoubtedly shopped there and has experience the altered reality that occurs within in those stores. A metaphor for the series, perhaps?
OSS Architect
The Fry's storefront is a faux Aztec pyramid and it is located in San Jose, CA. I've actually shopped at that store as it was near where I worked. I was totally surprised to see it in Mr. Robot.
The Fry's storefront is a faux Aztec pyramid and it is located in San Jose, CA. I've actually shopped at that store as it was near where I worked. I was totally surprised to see it in Mr. Robot.
1
Nooooo ... that is Frye's in Burbank, Southern California. FOR SURE. Maybe there's a similar one in San Jose, I don't know, but I do know that store, the parking lot, the surrounding area, having been there many times. In fact, typing right now on a laptop purchased there. Why this is important I have no idea, but I dunno, just setting the record straight I guess!
It's a fool's errand to try to figure out what's going on with Mr. Robot. The series is deliberately plotted to keep the view in the dark, and knowing only what is fed to you drop by drop is definitely a big part of the addictive pleasure of the show.
What bothers me about season two though is the extent to which the details of the many alternate realities don't mesh, leaving the viewer feeling toyed with rather than intrigued.
What bothers me about season two though is the extent to which the details of the many alternate realities don't mesh, leaving the viewer feeling toyed with rather than intrigued.
3
I watched all of Mr. Robot's Season 2 waiting for it to start. Unfortunately, it didn't. Instead, Season 2 was unformed, its narrative flaccidity so often chunked with amateurish dialogue or exposition, with viewers left to find such pleasure as they could in the gloriously done odd scene or bits, some directorial flourishes delightful in their originality and brio, and some beautifully acted individual scenes. But Sam Esmail has got to be aware that viewers, having by this point devoted a full day of their lives to watching Seasons 1 & 2, should be able, at minimum, to have at least a tentative sense of what is the primary story, or intertwined stories, of the show. I, at least, after 22 episodes, have absolutely no idea.
If Esmail wants to devote the bulk of Season 2 to characters who were at the margins, or not even a feature, of Season 1, that's great. But, please, shouldn't that result in viewers at season's end having a much fuller and layered sense of those characters as people, and how they intersect back to the core story, whatever it might be, after all of the time spent on them?
Esmail needs to decide before Season 3 if he is content to have his show devolve to being nothing more than the source of ongoing Reddit fanboy theorizing or whether he does, indeed, have something to say about contemporary society. Season 1 indicated clearly the latter; Season 2 leaves me doubting whether Esmail, himself, knows. Visionaries need to impart their vision, if it exists.
If Esmail wants to devote the bulk of Season 2 to characters who were at the margins, or not even a feature, of Season 1, that's great. But, please, shouldn't that result in viewers at season's end having a much fuller and layered sense of those characters as people, and how they intersect back to the core story, whatever it might be, after all of the time spent on them?
Esmail needs to decide before Season 3 if he is content to have his show devolve to being nothing more than the source of ongoing Reddit fanboy theorizing or whether he does, indeed, have something to say about contemporary society. Season 1 indicated clearly the latter; Season 2 leaves me doubting whether Esmail, himself, knows. Visionaries need to impart their vision, if it exists.
9
Right now, I'm not sure what the Endgame is. For awhile, I assumed it was a cyber take over by China to rule the US thus rule the world. The Whiterose persona was its Finance Minister's cloak and dagger head of its government sanctioned "Dark Army". But is Phillip Price going to rule along side China? Why would the Dark Army want to take down E-Corp if it's still under Price's control? And if E-coin is the future (and the means to rule the world) why would Price/E-Corp want to reinstate it's original files anyway? And what about the mysterious facility in New Jersey that seems to be the focal point of everything going on. There have been Internet whispers that the plant houses something very sci fi, which would probably make sense as the plot would need something so extreme to make all the show's protagonists work so hard to plot/destroy/save.
3
First of all, I now feel far less sympathetic towards Elliot and more sorry for him. He is Mr. Robot and lets face it, his alter ego is ready to kill 100s if not thousands of people. Just because he wants to "undo" blowing up the building now does not excuse him for plotting to do it with Tyrell before. Elliot is a murderous psychopath who see's no problem in killing innocent people. I don't understand why everyone loves him so much when he is capable of such evil. This episode made me really dislike Elliot and I'm not sure if I can ever "untangle" Mr. Robot and Elliot's actions again. My new favorite character is DOM! She figured out everything well before but now the mystery and my personal "AWE" of how smart TYRELL down to the Fsociety folks is gone forever. A big theme here was how smart the hackers were and now...the FBI, the main enemy, is obviously smarter than them. Kind of blows the entire premise of the show for me. Your thoughts?
1
I don't know how smart the FBI is besides Dom. And I would bet her boss works for the Dark Army.
3
Because Elliot is not Mr. Robot. Not any more than the promiscuous woman who lives within the body of the committed wife is that person. They are 2 distinct personalities, two people, sharing the same body
3
Whatever complaints I may have about this show, I have to say that I admire the intelligence and the willingness to take chances with the storytelling. As I flip past the big four networks and see gameshow retreads, tired singing competitions, and unfunny sitcoms, I am grateful that there are shows like Mr. Robot that challenge the viewers, even at the risk of alienating some of them.
27
I don't understand why everyone is so upset that all their questions haven't been answered. This is a single story, told over several seasons (4 or 5 according to Esmail). When you watch a movie, do you get upset that there are still things you don't understand and that it's still going on after 45 minutes? Because that's about how far we are into this story, assuming a 2-hour movie and 5 seasons split into 3 acts. I'm loving this show.
12
The multi-episode, multi-season approach to story telling that we see here is quite different from a two hour movie. It more resembles a long graphic novel that rolls out one 24 page comic book at at time, every month, sometimes for years. The all-time champion of this format is Neal Gaiman's Sandman, which took the better part of the 90's to unfold. Turns out it was one huge coherent tale, with lots of diversions, utilizing many different artistic styles along the way, but, boy, was it worth it! It's a standard that Mr. Robot can only hope to match. I for one am very much enjoying the ride.
Something Elliot says as he walks to Tyrell's computer setup (I think) is that sight and sound are just extensions of our perception of the world. I thought the fan theory that Tyrell was also Elliot was bad and unfounded, so my hypothesis was Tyrell is dead and Elliot is imagining him as a ghost. Seems we were both wrong: Elliot's faulty perception misled us, the audience, into believing Tyrell was also incorporeal. The lack of acknowledgement from the taxi driver and Chinese guy in white lab coat was Elliot's flawed understanding of reality. Opposite his self-delusions of the prison, a reinterpretation of his environment, ("All of this was real, it's just how I cope.") Tyrell had him seeing things in the environment that weren't there.
1
The whole debate about Tyrell being another personality within Elliot's mind is perhaps a sign of failure in storytelling.
You know how when some people are offensive, and they insist "no, I was joking, you guys just don't get it"? Perhaps they really are joking, but if half or more people have the unintended reaction to the joke, then the fault lies in the teller.
The first half of this season completely undermined our trust with Elliot, to the point now anytime he's on the screen, we have to discredit everything we're seeing and hearing. And now, that distrust has spread to all other characters who has interactions with characters Elliot interacts with.
Where does this end? How long before everyone is a personality within Elliot's head? How long before we distrust every character, every thing we see on the show? Is all this what the storytellers intended?
It's like a dysfunctional relationship were we're all so invested in the show, wanting to trust it, wanting to understand everything about it, but the frustration just mounts from week to week as they undermine what we're seeing, forcing us to come up with all manner of contorted theories to make sense of it all, and months would pass without providing definitive answers to basic questions, and even when they do, lots of people still doubt it.
If we don't put up some kind of defense mechanisms, it will make us hate (at least very frustrated with) the show.
You know how when some people are offensive, and they insist "no, I was joking, you guys just don't get it"? Perhaps they really are joking, but if half or more people have the unintended reaction to the joke, then the fault lies in the teller.
The first half of this season completely undermined our trust with Elliot, to the point now anytime he's on the screen, we have to discredit everything we're seeing and hearing. And now, that distrust has spread to all other characters who has interactions with characters Elliot interacts with.
Where does this end? How long before everyone is a personality within Elliot's head? How long before we distrust every character, every thing we see on the show? Is all this what the storytellers intended?
It's like a dysfunctional relationship were we're all so invested in the show, wanting to trust it, wanting to understand everything about it, but the frustration just mounts from week to week as they undermine what we're seeing, forcing us to come up with all manner of contorted theories to make sense of it all, and months would pass without providing definitive answers to basic questions, and even when they do, lots of people still doubt it.
If we don't put up some kind of defense mechanisms, it will make us hate (at least very frustrated with) the show.
3
True. Carried out to its logical conclusion, we might learn in the series finale that none of this is real and that Elliot imagined everything we've seen in the past four or five seasons. I think the viewers deserve better than that, though.
2
I'm sure it won't get to that :)
Like you mentioned in another comment, this show is trying to break new ground. No one has taken advantage of TV's long-form storytelling format to really go down the rabbit hole of a person's mind like that before.
Where I get frustrated is that I felt the balance between character (the smaller world inside Elliot's mind) and story (what is happening in the larger world that is now in extreme turmoil) is off. In a story people always want to know "then what happened". If we spend several episodes going around in circles, that can get frustrating.
The other part I miss is how amazingly predictive the show is about how technology is affecting our lives (ex. within weeks of Season 1 finale, the same hack happened to a hospital here in LA.) The show feels so real I feel like we live in it.
Couple of weeks ago when the whole Pokemon craze happened, I thought "I really want to see Mr. Robot's take on this. Augmented Reality, the convergence of the digital world with our own - this is perfect for Mr. Robot!"
So larger themes like that I would love to see explored more.
This show is like sc-fi in that the story (good vs evil) is a vehicle to reveal basic human nature (which never changes) and how it behaves in a world that had never existed in other stories before. It's a new story, a new medium, a new approach. I'm sure the writers will perfect the balance of all these elements in the upcoming seasons.
Like you mentioned in another comment, this show is trying to break new ground. No one has taken advantage of TV's long-form storytelling format to really go down the rabbit hole of a person's mind like that before.
Where I get frustrated is that I felt the balance between character (the smaller world inside Elliot's mind) and story (what is happening in the larger world that is now in extreme turmoil) is off. In a story people always want to know "then what happened". If we spend several episodes going around in circles, that can get frustrating.
The other part I miss is how amazingly predictive the show is about how technology is affecting our lives (ex. within weeks of Season 1 finale, the same hack happened to a hospital here in LA.) The show feels so real I feel like we live in it.
Couple of weeks ago when the whole Pokemon craze happened, I thought "I really want to see Mr. Robot's take on this. Augmented Reality, the convergence of the digital world with our own - this is perfect for Mr. Robot!"
So larger themes like that I would love to see explored more.
This show is like sc-fi in that the story (good vs evil) is a vehicle to reveal basic human nature (which never changes) and how it behaves in a world that had never existed in other stories before. It's a new story, a new medium, a new approach. I'm sure the writers will perfect the balance of all these elements in the upcoming seasons.
3
I've come to love the show for the lack of resolution and confused state it leaves me in. The recaps and comments - along with re-watching the episode - often helps. I have to say that I am not yet convinced that Tyrell Wellick is real, and think, as another has pointed out, that it may just be another manifestation of Elliot. The show was pushing us to that conclusion until Tyrell shot Elliot, but (1) I'm not sure that happened - don't forget Mr. Robot has shot Elliot and (2) we have yet to see Elliot and Tyrell interact with others. The more I think about it the less I think Tyrell is real. But still need to reconcile who Angela was talking to. Not sure what to make of the Dom-Darlene scenes. Hints all over the place - Dom saying she and Darlene are alike, does that mean she will somehow be in league with Fsociety? Dom laughing at Darlene - people who Darlene thinks laugh inappropriately don't get treated well by her. Not sure where that will go, but I lean in former direction. I enjoyed but understand the frustration of others from lack of resolution, but I like the mind-bending nature of things and felt they were playing fair. I mean, we know with an unreliable narrator that we are going to be messed with!
2
Yeah, I'll stay, I'll stay away, all the way through next season when I'll binge watch it when it's over. No more of these silly cliffhangers that I have to wait a week, a month, or never to find out what happened. We still don't know where Elliot was for those three days. The problem is I don't even care anymore. The best, though insignificant, thing that happened in this episode was Scott killed Joanna, but, wait, we're back from commercial, and there she is talking away as if she wasn't just punched and strangled into oblivion.
Nevertheless, I'll absolutely binge watch Mr. Robot for the style if not the substance. I'm glad Rami won the Emmy. Now it's time to say goodbye to live tv viewing. Being manipulated and punked by Sam Esmail is no longer a thing for me. This isn't Lost. We can binge watch going forward, and I'm guessing that USA will have lost a lot of Wednesday night viewers. Nice fail, Sam. I hope USA has more patience with your self-absorbed showing off than I do.
Nevertheless, I'll absolutely binge watch Mr. Robot for the style if not the substance. I'm glad Rami won the Emmy. Now it's time to say goodbye to live tv viewing. Being manipulated and punked by Sam Esmail is no longer a thing for me. This isn't Lost. We can binge watch going forward, and I'm guessing that USA will have lost a lot of Wednesday night viewers. Nice fail, Sam. I hope USA has more patience with your self-absorbed showing off than I do.
5
I won't go into the lack of resolution, as you've done an admirable job (even if I don't fully buy into it myself) of why that misses the point. Some things I think deserve further thought/discussion, however:
1. I still think there's a definite possibility Tyrell is Elliott. He threw himself off of a bridge as Mr. Robot. Why couldn't he shoot himself in the stomach? It would make narrative sense, Elliott confronting his darkest side and losing to whatever part of himself that thought 5/9 was worth enacting in the first place.
2. I'm telling you, Dom will be a "bad guy," however that ends up being defined. i'm guessing Dark Army operative. The FBI obviously is in bed with them; why not her?
3. Knowles' whole attack felt unnecessarily out of left field. I get the grieving husband angle, but why punish the wife?
4. While admittedly being computer Neanderthal (i'm beyond computer illiterate; I light candles and sacrifice goats when my computer breaks down), if Trenton could find a way to reverse the hack, wouldn't one of the thousands of computer forensic experts working on the case likely have discovered something similar themselves?
5. Was I the only one who thought Stage 2 was extremely underwhelming in light of Stage 1 essentially reducing the world's financial markets to ruin? Blowing up a building seems rather small potatoes in comparison to me. If one assumes suicides were common following the loss of fortunes, this "can't kill mentality" seems disingenuous.
1. I still think there's a definite possibility Tyrell is Elliott. He threw himself off of a bridge as Mr. Robot. Why couldn't he shoot himself in the stomach? It would make narrative sense, Elliott confronting his darkest side and losing to whatever part of himself that thought 5/9 was worth enacting in the first place.
2. I'm telling you, Dom will be a "bad guy," however that ends up being defined. i'm guessing Dark Army operative. The FBI obviously is in bed with them; why not her?
3. Knowles' whole attack felt unnecessarily out of left field. I get the grieving husband angle, but why punish the wife?
4. While admittedly being computer Neanderthal (i'm beyond computer illiterate; I light candles and sacrifice goats when my computer breaks down), if Trenton could find a way to reverse the hack, wouldn't one of the thousands of computer forensic experts working on the case likely have discovered something similar themselves?
5. Was I the only one who thought Stage 2 was extremely underwhelming in light of Stage 1 essentially reducing the world's financial markets to ruin? Blowing up a building seems rather small potatoes in comparison to me. If one assumes suicides were common following the loss of fortunes, this "can't kill mentality" seems disingenuous.
4
2. It is possible someone at FBI is working with Dark Army. That became irrelevant when Angela installed the femtocell. Since then the Dark Army has full access to FBI's systems.
4. Members of FSociety wrote a script (a small program) that 1) use an algorithm to randomly generate a large key, 2) used that key to encrypt E Corp's financial records, rendering them unintelligent to the programs that opens those files, 3) delete the key.
The key is so large it's impossible to try all combinations. That's why E Corp is resorting to using the paper copies to rebuild those computer records. But having worked on the attack script, members of FSociety may be able to a) duplicate the not truly 'random' conditions that would generate the same key used in attack, or b) undelete it from a harddrive/server where it was stored before being deleted.
5. As Mr. Robot predicted, Phase 1 did not finish off Evil Corp. It exists because public has confidence eventually the records will be restored. Phase 2 will eliminate that possibility.
E Corp then will go to Chapter 11. As its largest creditor China will own the seemingly worthless E Corp. Then Dark Army, with help of Trenton and Mobley, will regnerate the encryption key and undo 5/9. Now E-Corp will be back to normal, world economy will not collapse, and U.S. govt can only look on helplessly as China controls world's largest company as well as world's new standard digital currency.
That would be pretty breathtaking no?
4. Members of FSociety wrote a script (a small program) that 1) use an algorithm to randomly generate a large key, 2) used that key to encrypt E Corp's financial records, rendering them unintelligent to the programs that opens those files, 3) delete the key.
The key is so large it's impossible to try all combinations. That's why E Corp is resorting to using the paper copies to rebuild those computer records. But having worked on the attack script, members of FSociety may be able to a) duplicate the not truly 'random' conditions that would generate the same key used in attack, or b) undelete it from a harddrive/server where it was stored before being deleted.
5. As Mr. Robot predicted, Phase 1 did not finish off Evil Corp. It exists because public has confidence eventually the records will be restored. Phase 2 will eliminate that possibility.
E Corp then will go to Chapter 11. As its largest creditor China will own the seemingly worthless E Corp. Then Dark Army, with help of Trenton and Mobley, will regnerate the encryption key and undo 5/9. Now E-Corp will be back to normal, world economy will not collapse, and U.S. govt can only look on helplessly as China controls world's largest company as well as world's new standard digital currency.
That would be pretty breathtaking no?
11
I am totally with you that there's a possibility that Tyrell is Elliott. I don't know how Mr. Esmail would explain Joanna not realizing it while she had Elliott in her clutches, but I swear all through last night's episode I was convinced Tyrell was a third Elliott persona.
As far as Stage 2 goes, I think the blowing up of the building and killing the folks within is secondary to destroying the "bloodline" (as Elliott called it) that is the paper trail behind all those Evil Corp mortgages, etc. I also thought that whole "can't kill" thing was a tad disingenuous...also a bit too little too late, right? I mean, how many deaths can we attribute to Elliott (either directly or indirectly)?
As far as Stage 2 goes, I think the blowing up of the building and killing the folks within is secondary to destroying the "bloodline" (as Elliott called it) that is the paper trail behind all those Evil Corp mortgages, etc. I also thought that whole "can't kill" thing was a tad disingenuous...also a bit too little too late, right? I mean, how many deaths can we attribute to Elliott (either directly or indirectly)?
1
Okay, if Tyrell isn't real (he had to have been real at one time, but I'm guessing you mean his after-death persona) then who was Angela speaking to? Now, Whiterose (and now Angela) might recognize the alternate personalities that exist within Elliott and converse with them (as Doctor Wilbur did with Sybil's personalities) but if he hadn't "woken up" yet, how could anyone inside the body have called Angela?
2
Good morning, Sean. Hard to believe that it's over, but with all the untied ends it lives on. What a season! Sam Esmail grabbed the opportunity and took the show, and TV, to a new level of narrative edginess. I read an interview with Mr. E after the episode, and it confirms what I've felt all along: that Elliot is the ultimate reliable narrator; his struggle to determine the real from the unreal is played out in the "real time" of his psychotic mind. But even his psychosis is wonderful! His torn parts have dignity, and his torment commands our respect. We're rooting for Elliot, and the notion of him blowing up E Corp just can't be tolerated. He's our man.
I suppose I can't expect to have all my favorite characters (Philip Price, Whiterose) trotted out for final bows. They will have to wait. But we got a great big dose of Grace Gummer, whose presence has anchored the B storyline all season. Favorite moment: when Dom laughs at Darlene, who's pulling her tough girl number; that moment turns the interrogation and from then on Darlene starts to weaken. She does her best to put on a hard exterior, but Dom has got to her.
The one "predictable" event, at least for me, was Tyrell's shooting of Elliot. To see their faces fade to black, as pals of a sort, was eerie. Elliot has been drawn into bad relationships before, so this note was true. Satisfying moment: that Angela has got the point, about her will as the engine of destiny, after all. See you next summer.
I suppose I can't expect to have all my favorite characters (Philip Price, Whiterose) trotted out for final bows. They will have to wait. But we got a great big dose of Grace Gummer, whose presence has anchored the B storyline all season. Favorite moment: when Dom laughs at Darlene, who's pulling her tough girl number; that moment turns the interrogation and from then on Darlene starts to weaken. She does her best to put on a hard exterior, but Dom has got to her.
The one "predictable" event, at least for me, was Tyrell's shooting of Elliot. To see their faces fade to black, as pals of a sort, was eerie. Elliot has been drawn into bad relationships before, so this note was true. Satisfying moment: that Angela has got the point, about her will as the engine of destiny, after all. See you next summer.
1
I think Darlene was predictably taken aback at the extend to which the FBI knows about the members of her group. But I think after a bit she will recover because:
1) Dom still has not given her any evidence that she knew what Darlene's exact involvements are, otherwise she would've laid it out during all those hours of intimidation.
2) Darlene is not going to betray her brother.
3) Darlene is a true believer who murdered for the cause. It's obvious FBI does not know that, so why would she fess up to all of that?
1) Dom still has not given her any evidence that she knew what Darlene's exact involvements are, otherwise she would've laid it out during all those hours of intimidation.
2) Darlene is not going to betray her brother.
3) Darlene is a true believer who murdered for the cause. It's obvious FBI does not know that, so why would she fess up to all of that?
12
True. The lack of an X over Susan Jacobs' face was rather telling.
I predict fsociety and Dom will need to team up to defeat Whiterose and the Dark Army next season. Dom cares as much or more about her curiosity than her sense of justice. Santiago will hold her back, Dom will break free, and she, Elliot, and fsociety will work to take down Whiterose together.
I predict fsociety and Dom will need to team up to defeat Whiterose and the Dark Army next season. Dom cares as much or more about her curiosity than her sense of justice. Santiago will hold her back, Dom will break free, and she, Elliot, and fsociety will work to take down Whiterose together.
4
Agree. And she'll have to go rouge what with Santiago (and his bosses) wanting nothing to interfere with getting that $2T interest-free loan.
Maybe Angela will fight alongside them as triple agent against Evil Corp and Dark Army?
Maybe Angela will fight alongside them as triple agent against Evil Corp and Dark Army?
Definitely crueler. Annoyed.
3
"Would any of this be materially improved if the E Corp building were blown to bits, or if anything similarly definitive and prosaic happened?"
Yes, it would :) There are art-house movies where nothing much happens, just a collection of beautifully shot perfect moments that resonate with viewers on some level, and making them forget the lack of resolution of plot. Mr. Robot is not that type of show.
This show deals with some of the biggest issues facing the world we live in today, real issues, and speculate how things can play out. That require resolutions. Right now it feels like the season ended too early.
The fact it didn't heavily suggests phase 2 won't succeed. An interesting moment came earlier in the season when Susan Jocobs stumbled onto the gang. The writers made the resolution simple by giving Darlene a strong reason to kill her. But what if that reason didn't exist? To kill her then would have been a giant step to the dark side. That was the choice Elliot faced in this episode.
That's the choice facing us the viewer as well. It was easy to root for FSociety to take down some servers, now lives are at stake: looks like the building is in downtown Manhattan, it doesn't get more symbolic than that. Are we still with FCociety for Phase 2?
ps. love the first part of "We Got Tonight":
I know it's late, I know you're weary
I know your plans don't include me
Still here we are, both of us lonely
Longing for shelter from all that we see
Yes, it would :) There are art-house movies where nothing much happens, just a collection of beautifully shot perfect moments that resonate with viewers on some level, and making them forget the lack of resolution of plot. Mr. Robot is not that type of show.
This show deals with some of the biggest issues facing the world we live in today, real issues, and speculate how things can play out. That require resolutions. Right now it feels like the season ended too early.
The fact it didn't heavily suggests phase 2 won't succeed. An interesting moment came earlier in the season when Susan Jocobs stumbled onto the gang. The writers made the resolution simple by giving Darlene a strong reason to kill her. But what if that reason didn't exist? To kill her then would have been a giant step to the dark side. That was the choice Elliot faced in this episode.
That's the choice facing us the viewer as well. It was easy to root for FSociety to take down some servers, now lives are at stake: looks like the building is in downtown Manhattan, it doesn't get more symbolic than that. Are we still with FCociety for Phase 2?
ps. love the first part of "We Got Tonight":
I know it's late, I know you're weary
I know your plans don't include me
Still here we are, both of us lonely
Longing for shelter from all that we see
4
Oh! Speaking of the building in Manhattan: remember Elliot's dream sequence, where all of his close friends gather around the dinner table for a meal, right before he faces Mr. Robot in a game of chess? A skyscraper crumbles in the distance and everyone cheers. Elliot's got a legitimate smile on his face. Talk about flippin' foreshadowing, haha!
7
David,
The song's title is "Stay", by Bob Seger.
The song's title is "Stay", by Bob Seger.
An excellent accessment, Sean… I've spent the last hour and a half reading Reddit threads, but your work helped bring clarity. It's amazing how much one can absorb of what's onscreen, yet still be left shaking your head and wondering what happened.
It would have been interesting the two halves of the finale back to back, on one night. Such a contrast.
It would have been interesting the two halves of the finale back to back, on one night. Such a contrast.
6
Honestly, my head is still spinning. But in a really good way.
1
Thank you for this review! I was getting sick of seeing so many people complain about how the finale was crap and that they didn't have enough answers. Why can't more people just enjoy the show and it's inventive storytelling.
15
Are these two mutually exclusive possibilities? Seems to me people enjoy and engage with things in different ways i.e. complain about how they don't have enough answers is one way to enjoy the show for some. Teaching philosophy has taught me this much. . .