Mr. Robot - eps.1.2_d3bug.mkv - Review: "Superb, Yet Again"

Episode 3 of USA Network’s acclaimed new drama Mr. Robot did not fail to disappoint last night. It was superb, yet again.

Written once again by showrunner Sam Esmail, and directed superbly by Jim McKay, "eps.1.2_d3bug.mkv" kept the story moving at a surprisingly brisk pace, but without making anything feel rushed.

Like last week, the hour kicked off with Evil Corp’s Tyrell Wellick, who was practicing a speech prior to a meeting with senior management to put his name forward for the CTO role. A portion of the scene was released early as a sneak peek, and boy was it good to watch. While Wellick is currently the most distanced character from main man Elliot, the pair is being set up to collide again at some point in the near future.

Wellick’s night didn’t end there – in fact, things got really weird. We were introduced to Wellick’s wife for the first time. She is a very attractive woman, but has a really bizarre temperament. She was also pregnant, and intent on some sort of bondage routine later in the episode. We also saw Wellick severely beat a homeless guy, taking great care to remove his suit jacket and tie, and adorn rubber gloves beforehand. To top it off, he picked up a man in a bar and had sex with him later that night, in addition to infecting his phone. It capped off a super strange hour for the character, and next to none of what he did makes any sense. That’s the least of my concerns, however, because the showrunners are simply too good for that. I say give it time.

Thankfully, we still have Elliot, who is making great leaps and bounds up my list of favorite television characters after each scene he is in. We picked up his action in the hospital, where his psychiatrist, Krista, along with drug dealer/girlfriend Shayla were awaiting his emergence from unconsciousness after Mr. Robot pushed him off his perch on the boardwalk and onto the rocks below in the final seconds of last week’s hour. Both made it clear to Elliot that he wasn’t leaving the hospital until he had come clean to Krista about what happened. Despite lying that it was a bunch of kids who threw him over the railing, he did admit to using morphine.

Elliot’s choice of hospital was masterfully deliberate, however. In voiceover, we hear Elliot explain that he chose the hospital he was in because its IT system was severely understaffed and under-resourced, allowing him easy access into the back end to modify his medical records. Unusually, there was no case of the week for Elliot in this hour, beyond his singling out of William Highsmith, the hospital’s IT guy.

For Shayla and Elliot, this was a fascinating hour. Shayla was gutted to hear of Elliot’s involvement with the incarceration of Fernando Vera, whom Elliot assisted in arresting via anonymous tip. Vera is apparently up on murder charges so I’d be surprised if he is sighted again. But things went further for the fledgling couple. After another unannounced visit to his apartment by Darlene. Elliot defended Shayla, booting Darlene out. Later the pair kissed, and Elliot somewhat awkwardly asked Shayla to be his girlfriend for the purposes of attending a party hosted by his boss, Gideon. More on that later.

For Angela and Ollie, things took a sizable turn last night. After Ollie’s computer was hacked last week, things rapidly deteriorated, with Ollie struggling to deal with the trouble his other girl, Stella, was causing. The mixtape hacker changed things up a gear, giving Ollie 100 hours to cooperate with the blackmailed order to infect Allsafe’s network in exchange for not releasing the footage taken of a naked Angela by the computer’s webcam. Against anyone’s predictions, Ollie also came clean to Angela about Stella, and further still, the pair agreed to stay together.

Shit. I'm gonna have to let him hug me, aren't I.

That quote came at Gideon’s party. Elliot, with new girlfriend Shayla in tow, finally agreed to actually go somewhere where there were other people. In the two prior episodes in the series, we’ve seen Elliot turn down such invitations on multiple occasions, but after a beautifully executed dream sequence about being ‘normal’, Elliot changed tack and took the plunge.

Whether things went well or not for Elliot is another matter entirely. Gideon has still not settled with Elliot’s version of events on the breach of Evil Corp’s systems seen in the pilot. This had Elliot teetering on the edge, but for now it seems he may have a reprieve as Gideon appeared to back off – at least for now.

Things were far from done, however, as a devastating moment from the past of Angela and Elliot reared its ugly head. In further leaks following the Evil Corp hack, Terry Colby was implicated for his role in a toxic waste scandal from years earlier which took the lives of Angela’s mother and Elliot’s father (who committed suicide), among two dozen or so others.

The creative team couldn’t have picked a better time to deepen the relationship between these two characters as well as introduce what drew them together in the first place (at Gideon’s house, the pair spent some time talking alone). It’s clear from both their reactions that the wounds they share from the loss of their parents are still fresh. It was the trigger for Ollie to open up to Angela about his problems, and the final weight on the scale to trigger Elliot to decide whether to participate in the demise of Evil Corp, or continue working for them.

That leads nicely into the final part of the hour I want to mention: Mr. Robot himself. Christian Slater had another good night at the office, despite it being his shortest stint to date. I didn’t mind this though because it shows the creative team knows how much is too much. Mr. Robot made an abrupt visit to Allsafe, forcing Elliot to have a drink with him in the bar next to the office. There, he apologized for the push, which landed him in hospital, but continued to prod at Elliot’s curiosity by revealing the plan to take down Evil Corp was no more in light of his departure.

Bugs usually get a bad rap, but sometimes when a bug finally makes itself known, it can be exhilarating

That caps just about everything from the third episode of Mr. Robot. My final word would have to go to director Jim McKay, who did a stellar job in this hour. I loved the really unique camera angles he opted for, and the atmosphere they created, in particular with scenes featuring Tyrell Wellick.

In all, the excellent directing was just a small part of another outstanding episode for this new series. The beautifully timed progression of the key storylines is an early standout for the series. With Elliot finally committed to the cause, I think we can expect some big moves next week, especially if anything we see in the promo is to go by. Mr. Robot is a perfect example of how an exciting, intellectual, and character-driven television series should be thought out and executed, and I cannot wait for more.

Thanks as always for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode in the comments below. A link to the promo once again is here, and you can find some promotional photos for next week’s episode here, and its press release here.

About the Author - Jimmy Ryan

Jimmy Ryan lives in New Zealand, and works in the IT industry. He is an avid follower of drama television and has a keen interest for television ratings and statistics. Some of his favorite shows right now are Person of Interest, Scandal, House of Cards, Orphan Black, The Blacklist, The 100, How To Get Away With Murder, Elementary and Castle. You can visit his television ratings website, www.seriesmonitor.com or follow him on Twitter, @SeriesMonitor.

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