'Mr. Robot' Episode 3, Season 2 Review

Image from Indiewire

By Darian Scalamoni

            Mr. Robot continues to impress week by week as a top five television show in what is known as the “Golden Age of Television”, this week’s installment is no different. Last season, Elliot’s addiction to morphine was able to keep him sane but the downers are no longer able to get Mr. Robot out of his psyche, so he has turned to Adderall. What ensues after is brilliant TV and includes a sequence over-dramatizing Elliot’s six-day binge in which he doesn’t sleep filled with faux-happiness and clarity, and even has him talking Seinfeld with Leon. The whole sequence is mesmerizing and extremely accurate to capturing the feeling of taking too many stimulants.

            After the drugs wear off, Elliot sits in his church group and he rants about how the idea of God is false and it becomes clear to the viewer that Elliot is speaking in a tone similar to Mr. Robot’s. Rami Malek transforms as his vocal tone and cadence shift completely to mirror that of Christian Slater’s pompous character.

            Craig Robinson’s Ray seems to be the one who will lure Elliot back into hacking, though his calming nature and aura make the viewer believe he’s one of the good guys, it seems that Ray is running some kind of criminal scheme and he needs the help of a skilled hacker. Elliot seems to be that last puzzle piece for Ray’s ultimate plan, but he continues to be patient. Week by week, he’s drawing him while learning more about Ray as a man. Though he seems gentle, we see within the episode that he is very capable of doing very, very bad things.

            We also learn much more about Dominique “Dom” DiPierro (Grace Gummer’s character) who works for the FBI. She is investigating the murder of Romero and whilst interviewing his mother, Dom realizes that his mother’s drinking glasses are wrapped in paper with coded messages on them. Within that same wrapping, she finds a flyer leading her to the secret hideout in Coney Island in which fsociety operates. When Dom notices that the Fun Society sign is missing the “u” and “n”, she realizes she’s hit the jackpot. We also learn that Dom is socially awkward and can’t seem to meet someone as she pleasures herself to an online sexting conversation with a random person via a dating service. I’m excited to see where her interesting character goes from here.

            Along with Dom, Angela had a little spotlight on her this week as well while existing in what seems to be a corporate hell. She continues to have these moments where it seems that she’s going to stand up to Price but then she stays within the comfort of her own skin and her dead-eyed affect stands out. Within minutes of her being in her bosses’ presence, he invites her to dinner. She gets excited for a night on the town before arriving to the restaurant and Price is with two other older, male executives from E-Corp. Something that would make any young woman uncomfortable, obviously. After the dinner concludes, Price reveals to Angela that the two men were a part of the group that was responsible for her father’s death. He then gives her a disk that has information that could destroy them forever. The question is, will Angela act on this and get revenge? Or is she not as manipulative as her boss.

            This show continues to impress me on a week-to-week basis. If you are not currently watching this show, I strongly urge you to begin Season 1 which you can currently watch on Amazon.

9.7/10