Mr. Robot closed out its second season with a number of powerhouse moments. It was always going to be difficult to top the season one finale. That episode featured a successful hack of the world’s systems. How would season two match up? Well, it did so with a lot of smaller but more personal revelations. And not a whole lot of victories for the people we like.
For a full recap of the episode, visit the Mr. Robot Wiki here. This article is a review of the episode in which specific details and events are discussed. SPOILERS may occur, so read at your own risk.
Elliot finally discovers that Stage 2 is an attempt to explode an E Corp facility containing all the remaining paper records of those affected in the Five Nine hack. However, this attack will cause the deaths of people and Elliot can’t agree to that. It’s been intriguing to figure out how Elliot’s worldview has been changing since Mr. Robot has been in control. He’s seriously questioning what he wants anymore. Unfortunately, plans have already been set in motion and no one, not even Elliot, is going to stop them. Leaving off the season with Tyrell shooting Elliot is a little typical for a show as unpredictable as Mr. Robot, but the season return will hopefully do something interesting with it.
Meanwhile, Dom and Darlene finally face off in the interrogation room. To be honest, this event felt somewhat dragged out but it was worth it to see these two great actresses bounce off one another. Plus, it was all leading up to that reveal. Again, it’s been somewhat obvious to us viewers that Dom has been on the trail of fsociety and probably knew more than she was sharing. It’s still a great revelation from Darlene’s perspective.
Probably the most engaging plot of the finale was Joanna‘s. We finally learn that Scott has been the one sending her gifts and getting her to believe that Tyrell was alive. However, Joanna is much more clever than that. She takes advantage of Scott’s decimated psyche and uses it to her benefit. It’s a vicious, uncomfortable, and ultimately brilliant piece of strategy that proves Joanna is one of the show’s most dangerous characters.
Finally, there are the last few moments during the show’s ending. The reveal that Angela has been in contact with Tyrell is earth-shattering. We knew that Angela was playing her own game this whole season, but this paints her machinations in a much broader and darker light. You can bet that she’ll be a huge focus at the start of next season. Lastly, we get to check in with Mobley and Trenton! It was great seeing them and it sounds like they are possibly trying to undo all the damage they did with the Five Nine hack. Eerily, they are interrupted by none other than Leon, a liaison for the Dark Army. Now that’s a cliffhanger!
Season two of Mr. Robot was a tad more scattered but that’s because the show’s reach is widening. We got introduced to a fantastic adversary in Dom and the show itself has learned to go even stranger places than we could have anticipated. That sitcom episode was the kind of surreal that the show needs to do more of. Thankfully, the characters remained engaging and the show’s commentary is as strong as ever. It feels like season two has set itself up for even larger conflicts going forward. That proves that Mr. Robot is great television. It continues to raise the stakes, whether they be societal or personal. If the show can maintain its level of quality, it could end up as one of the greats.
Best Moments of the Episode:
- Joanna confronting Scott. She continues to be just as cunning and twisted as her husband, if not more. Her verbal berating of Scott to goad him into violence was chilling and powerful.
- Dom’s reveal to Darlene. Seeing Darlene’s face when she realizes that they’ve been onto fsociety for a while is heartbreaking.
- Tyrell shooting Elliot. Rami Malek proves why he’s an Emmy winner with his acting in this entire scene. Fantastic work, often without speaking a word.
- Angela has been working with Tyrell?!? Just how involved has she been in Mr. Robot’s plans?
- “Have you got the time?” It’s going to be a long wait until season three.
