Note: Major spoilers for the episode of Mr. Robot. You have been warned.
I got around to watching this episode late, thus my late post on the episode, and I think I may have picked the worst episode to have fallen behind on because I think this may have been the best episode of the whole series up to this point. There has been a lot of slow build towards the beginning of the season, and a lot of it gets paid out in this episode. From the masterful opening all the way to the big moment at the end, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.
We start with a sequence that looks like something from the early 90's, in an almost Full House sequence, where Elliot and his whole family (Darlene, their mother, and of course, dead father Mr. Robot himself) are all on a road trip, and Elliot is the only one that realizes that everything is out of place. Everyone else is playing along in their twisted version of the "perfect" family roles, but Elliot is confused and trying to figure out what is going on. We even get the laugh track playing over everything, which Elliot even comments on.
As things continue to role, we see Darlene playing a Gameboy, but instead of a game playing on the screen, it is Elliot taking his beating back in the real world. This was when we realize just what is going on. Mr. Robot has created this alternate reality for Elliot so that he doesn't have to go through the pain of what is really happening to him. It was a very beautifully done sequence, which also had the extra meaning to it, and I thought it was superbly done by the show runners. At the end of the sequence, Mr. Robot explains to Elliot everything, and then we flash to a hospital, where Elliot has been taken after his beating.
Ray is there and gives a little speech to Elliot, basically telling him that he got what he deserved for messing in his business, and also that things could have been worse if he had wanted them to be. He also let Elliot know that there were busy days in front of them, meaning that Elliot was still going to be used, and there is no real choice in the matter.
Darlene and the crew are trying to teach Angela how to code, so that she can plant what she needs to plant, but it isn't going very well. There are concerns that she won't be able to do what she needs to do when the time comes, but Angela is determined, and they don't really have much of a choice. The feds are going to be pulling out in the next couple of days, and so they move forward and hope for the best.
Angela gets on to the floor and goes to the women's bathroom to do what she needs to do. She has a complication early, but Darlene walks her through what she needs to do. Having accomplished what she set out to do, Angela goes to leave, but is stopped by an FBI agent. He hits on her, and then threatens her for being where she isn't supposed to be, but she turns it on him and tells him to meet her for lunch, which he agrees to since that was his goal to start with. As she goes to leave again, the wifi isn't working, and Darlene has to talk her into doing a little bit more. This appears to go off without a hitch and she leaves.
Not a whole lot going on with everyone else, other than that we find out Dom is being asked to take some time off after surviving her ordeal from last week. She says this is just what the Dark Army wants, and tries to plead her case to her supervisor, but we don't get clarity on whether or not she will have to take the time off or if he will listen to her.
Now that Elliot has started to heal up a bit, Ray's men take him away from the hospital and leave him in a room by himself. He can barely stand, and Mr. Robot comes to him and says that he was just trying to protect him, like he always said he would before he died. Elliot hugs him and thanks him, which is a shocking moment, especially to Mr. Robot. We get some flashbacks of Elliot's childhood as well, showing him seeing the store his father bought for the first time, and Mr. Robot tells him that he can name it anything he'd like, just the first thing that pops into his head. The episode ends before he says it, but we know that the store was called Mr. Robot, so we can only assume that is what he said.
As I mentioned above, I think this may have been the best overall episode of the series so far. That intro was both hilarious and so well thought out, that I think they could have ended the episode after that sequence and we would have needed nothing else for this week's episode. I loved every second of it, and was a little upset when it was over, but it had run it's course and there was more work to be done, just as Ray mentioned. I also rather enjoyed the Angela sequence, as it was intense and we just kept waiting for something to go wrong. While there may have been something we missed, which will likely come up in the next couple of episodes, it looks like she did what was necessary and maybe isn't as full blown E Corp crony as it has appeared for most of this season.
My rating for the episode is 9.5/10
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