Part 1 of Mr. Robot's second season finale was godlike in terms of acting performances, cinematography, and set and sound design, but ultimately the episode's writer/director, Sam Esmail, didn't answer much of substance last night. Instead, the entire ecosystem surrounding the mystery of Stage 2 took another dramatic turn, with the long-awaited return of Tyrell Wellick.
"eps2.9pyth0n?pt1.p7z" set the scene with around 70 seconds of recaps covering some of the bigger plot points thus far. Following that, I became concerned almost immediately that this episode would be so cerebral that it would be useless as the first scene of the episode had Elliot lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, and trying to put himself into a type of sleep in which the mind remains active, but the body sleeps.
Angela's right. We can't beat them but we don't have to lose to them either. Maybe there's a way to stop them from winning.
Elliot's mind was active for sure. What he narrated to the viewer was far from babble, but only really served to further confuse things and add uncertainty. While he was indirect, he was clearly chiefly concerned about taking down E Corp, and that was a very good sign despite the sleep state.
Whatever he did, it obviously worked. Near the back end of the hour, Elliot did wake up. In a fascinating role reversal, Elliot awoke to find Mr. Robot sifting through letters on the floor, which answered one of many questions stemming from last week's instalment whereby viewers were asked by Elliot if they could spy anything in his apartment that would explain Mr. Robot vanishing late in the piece.
In last night's episode, Mr. Robot found a series of codes within the letters and managed to decipher them to reveal a phone number. Elliot, behaving like Mr. Robot himself, watched and behaved like his virtual father, but one thing Sam Esmail nailed in this area was to ensure there was no confusion that Mr. Robot had suddenly departed Elliot and was acting as his own being. Elliot narrated several times that he was Mr. Robot so the actions Mr. Robot was doing were actually being done by him.
Late in the piece, Elliot - minus Mr. Robot - went to an address which was given to him by the voice at the end of the deciphered phone number A cab was waiting outside the address - as was specified, but the driver spoke almost no English. After arguing about the destination - or lack thereof, Tyrell Wellick hopped in.
Thanks to the taxi driver's convenient lack of English, Elliot wasn't able to confirm whether Wellick was in fact seated next to him or whether he was another hallucination similar to Mr. Robot, but the fact that Wellick gave directions to the taxi driver suggests he could very well be real, although that very supposition has gone against me before with this series. Either way, it doesn't look like he's been in a great deal of strife while on the run. Wellick was immaculately dressed and groomed. Someone living in the hills or ducking between alleys and feeding from dumpsters wouldn't share the same fortune, but the added mystery is what comes next. More on that later.
Last week, Angela's situation was left as a cliffhanger of sorts when it appeared she was stopped in her tracks by two people shortly after farewelling Elliot on the subway. Last night, Angela was seen in the back of a van. The other two occupants, a man and a woman, did not speak at all (maybe Sam Esmail had had enough of writing lines). After they arrived at their destination, things were made to look rather ominous as the unknown assailants drove into a garage and waited for the door to close behind the van before letting Angela out.
Angela wore no restraints and wasn't manhandled in any way that we saw, though how she came to be in the van probably won't be revealed. She was led to a dimly lit room which contained a fish tank and an old desk with a Commodore 64 computer. The set was wonderful, and allowed for some stunning cinematography, but things got weird super quick. A girl entered, logged onto the computer and launched a game called 'Land of Ecodelia'. The game displayed questions which the girl asked to Angela and entered her answers into. The questions were pretty out there, and highly personal. Meanwhile, the fish tank in the side of the room supposedly had a leak. The water level dropped noticeably during the questioning.
Later, the fish in the tank was dead because the water had leaked out, in what can be assumed as symbolism of an hourglass, only it can't be reset by simply turning it over, and additionally since the fish is dead there's no point in filling it up again. Enter Whiterose, in what was this episode's biggest shock for me - yes, bigger than Wellick's return (or reincarnation). True to character, and dressed as a female, Whiterose posed further questions to Angela.
I am a woman of time and I don't believe in accidents.
Whiterose made it clear that she wanted to know what her motives were for her (small) role in E Corp's troubles. She also mentioned they had an event and friend in common. The friend is presumably Elliot, and Whiterose was also aware of Elliot's presence, which is rather concerning. According to Whiterose, Angela should also have been dead by now - up to 90 days prior in fact. For someone as fragile as Angela, suddenly becoming aware of how expendable she is, on top of her run-ins with the FBI, would have been one hell of a shock. Portia Doubleday's performance in this scene was superb, as was guest star BD Wong.
Fortunately, Whiterose said she wasn't going to kill Angela, but she had some brutal words for her, mostly relating to the fact that she hadn't (and rightly so) entertained the idea that her mother was effectively expendable and wasn't valued at all as a human being. She suggested his death was akin to a sacrifice for the greater good, and so much more. This is truly cold and calculated stuff, and it adds a new dimension to the character. Series regular in 2017, anyone?. Nevertheless, Whiterose was keen to do whatever it took to convince Angela to drop her lawsuit and let things be.
I don't want your proof. I want your belief.
What came next was, again, bizarre. Angela arrived at the home of her lawyer, and, in indirect terms fired her, telling her to not contact her again. She looked almost zombie-like as she delivered the message. She rebuffed any suggestion she wasn't safe. Again, more questions here than answers. It's not a great feeling.
Next up, Dom. Also next up was one of the most disappointing moments of this season. Darlene and Cisco were absent, it appears their fate is still in suspension after the diner they were in was set upon by a gunman. Dom was in the hospital where her boss gave her a dressing down, and although she was uninjured as I suspected, it's a real pain in the ass not to know the fates of Darlene and Cisco. The shooting she was involved with a few weeks ago received minimal attention aside from passing dialog, and that's what's happened here too. It's deliberate deception by the creative team, but why they'd force the viewers to wait another week (and even then it's uncertain) to learn what happened is beyond me.
Putting that beef to one side, we also saw Dom in an interesting state at her apartment after she was discharged from hospital. Instead of obsessing over the case and going rogue, which is a very much overused cliché in television, Dom began to break apart. Her loneliness seems to have become more of an issue since her two close calls with death, but her only source of comfort and interaction is Amazon's Alexa AI, to which she put many rather dark questions.
Alexa, do you love me?
I love the character, and Grace Gummer is outstanding in the role, but is this the beginning of the end for Dom? Mr. Robot needs a law enforcement angle to the story, but the creative team have virtually all their eggs in one basket with Dom, so her fate likely isn't as simple as it may seem.
E Corp CEO Phillip Price featured briefly in part 1 of the season 2 finale. He was seen conversing with a high ranking government official about the bailout his company had received from China. More prominent later in their discussion was E Coin, a currency Price was keen to launch as a way to rebuild the economy and equity in his company. Price relayed the bad points about the more widely known Bitcoin, citing its intentional limitations and lack of visibility and control. E Coin would be different and have everything Bitcoin doesn't, but the consumer would again be sucking up to a failing multinational conglomerate if it was to come to fruition. The official was right to bat it back, but knowing Price it'll happen anyway.
Even though this scene was short, the $2 trillion interest-free bailout courtesy of China is perhaps one of this episode's most important overall storyline developments. It ties the USA and China together with an iron-clad bond, laying the foundation for Chinese interests and likely the Dark Army to forge deeper connections in the series' storylines.
The Dark Army has told me that Stage 2 is ready. When you see it you'll be pleased.
Back to Tyrell and Elliot for a final time. Despite quarrelling with the taxi driver and giving me the impression they had been booted out, Tyrell seemed happy with their departure point. A quick reference to the film "Casablanca" follows as the pair walk into the distance, though there were no obvious places they were going. They're effectively just walking into the cityscape. I've got no idea where they're heading, and have no worthy guesses to offer either.
In summary, the first part of any two part season finale is supposed to leave some unanswered questions, but it also must answer others in a bid to narrow the scope of its successor. The fate of Darlene and Cisco especially is a big disappointment here, and though smaller in scale, choosing part 1 of a season finale to effectively kidnap a lead character in Angela and introduce her to Whiterose again adds many more questions. Tyrell Wellick's reintroduction was not a surprise, and so long as him and Elliot remain focused on Stage 2, I can live with that.
Annoying aspects aside, the cinematography, set and sound design, and acting performances by Portia Doubleday and BD Wong were absolute highlights. Things are even more open-ended than they were when heading into last night's episode, so I'm hoping next week's hour will be much more concise and feature some much-needed conclusions and answers.
Thanks as always for reading! The comments section is down below for you to sound off with your thoughts and theories - I always enjoy reading those. Click here to get all the details and view the promo for next week's final episode of season 2 of Mr. Robot.
