‘Mr. Robot’ season 2, episode 7 review: Who’s behind the bars?
Mr. Robot is an albatross. It can also be a tool. On Wednesday night’s episode of the series of the same time, Elliot Alderson used this inner creature, this hope for his despair and joy, to secure some freedom from Ray’s operation.
Ray showed himself to be a sharp, shrewd businessman, so at a certain point he had to realize that the moment Elliot made it back to the computer, he was signing his own death warrant. The place was surrounding within a matter of keystrokes, the hero / antihero escaped, and he was a step closer to getting back to normalcy … or normalcy for him. The Ray saga, at least for this particular time, seems over.
The end of one struggle marks the beginning of another; while time may have passed within the show, for us it was mere minutes before Mr. Robot encouraged Mr. Alderson to begin his rallying cry, and to be that leader for fsociety to “finish what he started.” Evil Corp was still out there, and still standing despite the wonderful infiltration by Angela and Darlene. What a season we’re having for Angela? One moment she’s flexing her power in a meeting to snag a better position; another, she’s using that voice in her ear to casually evade questioning from DiPierro, who played the chess match (chess reference intentional) perfectly. Angela is the hero we need and the one we deserve.
We still deserve more, and we’ll get it after taking a brief little detour to talk a specific supporting character who continues to draw great intrigue.
Oh, Joanna – There never was a story of more woe, than that of Tyrell and his Jo … anna. This may be the worst excuse for a Shakespeare reference to date, but their romantic tragedy played out in romantic idealism at the beginning of the episode. Then, it played out in the form of divorce papers that she showed to Derek as a gesture.
In touching back on Tyrell’s true fate, we’ve never been more sure he alive. Having him buried like Elliot’s innermost secrets in a void is no fun. Having Joanna have something more up her sleeve is delightful.
Back to Elliot – Eventually, the work with Ray came back to bite Elliot in the form of multiple attackers. Or, the perception of multiple attacker. Or, the perception of being saved by Leon with a connection to Whiterose.
Or, that anything that we’ve seen so far this season is reality from Elliot’s point of view. There’s a magic trick, and then there is blurring magic and reality. The twist in the closing minutes is that the entire season has been a twist to date, a figment designed for Elliot to get “better” and imagine a different world. We always knew him to be an unreliable narrator, but this takes reliability and smashes it upside the head.
Do not worry friends: We’re not going to end our “Mr. Robot” coverage before presenting a preview! For now, we close this review thinking about Joanna’s secret, Elliot’s decision, and Angela’s rise, hoping at least it happened. Maybe we’re getting caught up in the vortex, and despite our love for this show, this twist may be one that we cannot climb out of. Grade: B, though open to fluctuation. The show has room to win us further over.