‘Mr. Robot’ Season 3, Episode 5: Taking the Long Way

The filming technique reminded me of Birdman.

Any German speakers out there know what that mystery man in the elevator said at the beginning of the episode? Yes: "Aller Anfang ist schwer" "Anfang ist einfach - Beharrlichkeit eine Kunst"

This was a great episode of non-stop action. I agree the best shot was the one of Angela up in the building showing the street below. Not only does it show that she is but one small part of a bigger picture but it is a long way down if she fails. I did wonder how the cops allowed Elliot and Darlene to stand there behind the line of defense. I am anxiously awaiting to see if the building explodes or not. The ongoing TV news reporting in the elevator seemed out of place with the chaos going on inside and outside of ECorp. On the whole this is an episode worth watching a few times. Actually I'm saving all of this season's episodes so that I can watch them again one right after the other to see what I missed the first time and how the story arc develops.

Spoiler Alert!!! Did anyone notice towards the end, after Angela comes out of the server room, and as she is standing by the elevator, that Elliot runs past the end of the corridor towards the server room? How he gets from the 23rd to the 41st floor in time to meet Angela outside her office I'm not sure.

I am not sure that someone proficient in Kali Linux would have to resort to thumb drives and social engineering to accomplish critical intrusions. Also, I am not sure that someone proficient in Kali Linux would resort to live installs to root a hardware-secure server. But what do I know. I learned to code when you could use a hole-punch, scissors and manila file folder to hack assembly language on an IBM 360. Is it good? I don't know. I learned to read by sounding out syllables in Kafka's "Trial" while watching the Army-McCarthy hearings on a 21-inch black and white tv. That makes conspiracy my native OS. The show is about bureaucracy if it is about anything.. RoboEliot's psychic split reflects a turf battle between overlapping divisions in an agency. FSociety is an usurping consultancy brought in to resolve a failed merger's procedure manuals. I think the Altered Carbon / Corporate Anthropology lesson is prying open a new narrative space to explore, hinting at self-modifying code using the will of the coder to effect its emergent consciousness. But that sounds pretty aspirational for the current status of television sci-fi. We'll see, if only in our minds's eye.

Imperfect episode, as all great works are (here I include Hamlet, Absalom Absalom, and 100 Years of Solitude). If they're not imperfect, they are not pushing the edge. Surely this episode will be a major contender when awards time comes around.

Samar's flat character just became round: He's changing, growing, admitting to Elliott that he's lying for egotistical reasons. (Are all lies for egotistical reasons? Until further examination, I can buy that they are.) Elliott's diagnosis of Samar, however, seems only partially correct, too. I don't know the real, believable answer to: Why would someone endlessly brag about nonexistent sexual conquests? The best thing to do would be to say nothing, which is the way I got through high school a virgin, but no one really guessed, at least, I hoped they didn't, for nothing -- nothing! -- is more embarrassing to a cool high school guy than to be "deprived," as the high school girls labelled and mocked it. (I get no respect.)

btw, this screenshot used is technically a spoiler.

The Red and the White, Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors.

tried watching this seemingly popular show, but the star is such a dreary mumbly bore....flabbergasted by its success.

The 2002 film Russian Ark was one 96 minute take moving through the Hermitage Museum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Ark

I didn't admit earlier, the first four episodes of this season haven't enthralled me. I expected identical disappointment tonight. Boy was I wrong!! China's interest in the Congo hasn't been explained yet. The latter half of Season 2 hinted at it, now it's a done deal, but Esmail's world hasn't revealed the ramifications of this annexation. I posited last year that Congo is chock full of natural resources, resources China could reasonably seek after to gain economic footing. Perhaps it's an inexplicable, too-deep-for-you solution to their alternate-reality particle collider plan. I don't know if Esmail intends it to be more than a gear running the Chinese monetary machine; I always hold out, however, that he's got a deeper reason than any and all obvious ones. The protesters in this episode act far more like black bloc in Europe and the Middle East, than downtown America. They're not afraid to get their masks dirty; I was surprised the glass bottle wasn't a Molotov cocktail (since they stormed the police line after it was thrown, I understand the reasoning). They see a looming skyscraper as a tasty target, not an intimidating, indomitable symbol of power. Overall, this is the Mr. Robot I've craved, that holds me onto the edge of my seat, throwing devilish curveballs from all around, juggling chaos and composure magnificently.

A bit of music trivia: the unusual background music that starts in several elevator scenes and continues through most of Angela's hacking of the HSM is an excerpt from Philip Glass' opera Einstein on the Beach

The long take reminded me of the many fine long takes in "Birdman"

A sequence I particularly enjoyed was the overhead shot of Angela which panned outside through the wall showing the street far below. I agree that there were moments with Angela which dragged in real-time, but overall there were some awe-inspiring moments as well.

That electrical crackle heard when Eliot is learning of Darlene's betrayal is EXTREMELY compelling. What's it about?! Is it merely an artistic flourish meant to point up Elliot's sense of disconnection? Is it a merely a less than subtle ironic comment on the paradox of asking viewers to invest themselves in contrived fictional entertainments? Or is it an ingenious and startling clue as to just exactly whose perspective it is from which the entire "story" is being told? Are we, the presumably omniscient viewer, actually a character within the narrative, somehow having been co-opted into a conspiratorial role as an active, complicit, responsible agent? But an agent for who, on who's behalf, to what end? I dunno...

What? No mention of "Birdman" in the long tracking shot discussion?

One of my favorite long takes in recent memory was the hallway brawl in season one of Netflix's Daredevil. Raw, intense, and wholly believable. Far from a polished fight scene, it had moments of sloppiness and fatigue and was completely enthralling.

A terrific, exciting episode that was a trip down the rabbit hole and a magic carpet ride all in one, which is to say it was trippy. I'm going to guess that the Evil Corp recovery building DOESN'T blow up, and the reason is Elliot's efforts managed to build enough accidental resiliency into the system to stop the Dark Army's plot. Just a guess, however.

I am detecting a theme in Mr. Robot besides what is on the surface a show about a more common trope of millennial loneliness in a 21st century personal computer world. A theme that maybe more interesting to Esmail. Namely the three phases of revolution in Egypt. The first phase is the anger against the establishment. The second phase is the young leading the revolt. And the third phase is the coopting of the revolution by emerging establishment figures with nothing changing for the young foot soldiers. It also should be noted that this three-stage cycle happened twice, first is 2011 and then 2013. From my perspective this is the five-year "movie" Esmail has been talking about. I think we all can agree, that at the midpoint of the "movie", the young - Elliot, Darlene, Angela and even Dom - are being manipulated by establishment figures jockeying for power. And if not in danger, there is no win for them. We know this because we know their cause célèbre against Wall Street ends with Trump. That is to say, we already know the end of the movie. And from my perspective, this only enhances my opinion of the show.

"The long take has a special mystique, the most famous examples (“Touch of Evil,” “Goodfellas”) being among the most celebrated moments in movie history."... You forgot THE PLAYER!!!

All beginnings are difficult. To begin is easy, persistence a virtue.

I believe the German from the elevator translates to: Every beginning is difficult. Beginning is beginning.

The german is somthing like "All beginnings are hard. Beginning is easy. I respect (literally "I notice") your art."

“Every beginning is hard. Starting is easy, persistence is an art.”

Anfang ist schwer. Anfangen ist Einfach. Verstocktheit ist ein Kunst.

This episode requires multiple viewings to catch all that is happening with how it was shot. I think there is even a long tracking shot that looked like it went through the glass door. A stunning episode. I'm also wondering if they will put parts of it in VR. It felt like VR with the floating camera moves. Some shots reminded me of the VR they produced for the first season, i.e. floating around in Elliot's apartment. So very cool. This show makes TV fun. I like that its not bingable to start. And, the social media director knows how to keep you excited between episodes. Just brilliant from all angles.