'Mr. Robot' Episode 4, Season 2 Review

Image from USA Network

By Darian Scalamoni

            Within the opening minute of this week’s installment, I was actually confused on why Darlene would be speaking with Elliot before realizing that it was a flashback to a place in time we haven’t seen on the show before; the moment when Elliot decided to explain his plan to take down Evil Corp to his sister. This happens even before Elliot enters therapy for his behavior, but once he shows Darlene his father’s jacket, it seems like a spiritual connection to Mr. Robot. Paired with the fsociety mask, Elliot explains his plan in detail in quite a creepy and harrowing sight that truly gives the viewer those first moment where the tide changes for our protagonist.

            We also see a major change for Angela’s character as she follows through on the tip left by Price about the men who were responsible for the death of her father. The men are then arrested and then Angela realizes that Price gave her this information so there could be leverage between the two. She then reveals the information with her lawyer before threating Price with a 20^th floor office and Melissa’s job. Price does not oblige but says that he has no idea what she is talking about. The most important thing corporate wise within the episode though is Price’s interaction with the Dark Army’s Whiterose (played by BD Wong) who has previously met Elliot. We still don’t know exactly what these people are up to, but it definitely seems like the have a bigger, evil scheme planned going forward.

            We continue to see the show bring more attention to characters we haven’t seen in a little while like Darlene. She is pursued off the subway by a mysterious man in a suit before she is cut off by Cisco, her ex-boyfriend who works for the Dark Army. Cisco breaks down how severe of a situation Darlene is in since the hack, she now knows that the FBI has located the fsociety headquarters and Romero (who was found dead last episode) has some uncomfortably detailed records that the FBI could locate. Darlene looks foolish after Elliot had previously told her to abandon the plan entirely but as siblings do, she didn’t listen.

            The biggest turning point in this would definitely be from the newest characters in the series, Leon and Ray. The relationship is forming slowly, but surely between Elliot and Ray as Craig Robinson’s soft spoken but dangerous character continues to be helpful towards Elliot by correctly prescribing chess as something to deal with him hearing voices in his head. This leads to a fantastic scene between Rami Malek and Christian Slater in which the two face off in multiple games of chess before every end result is the men are stuck at a stalemate. The show then reminds us that Ray is not a man that can be trusted and we see him turn the page to his darker side as soon as Elliot agrees to help him with his computer problem. He establishes to Elliot that he is a private guy and doesn’t want him snooping around his computer other than the project at hand before bringing in some muscle to solidify his position of power in the relationship.

            Along with that, Leon has quite possibly his best moment of the entire season thus far which leads to an even better scene to follow. Leon asks Elliot if he really wants to exist. He means this in the literal sense by asking “Do you want to be here in the cosmic sense? Existence could be painful or it could be beautiful but that’s on you. You need to dream.” Strong words from a character who is known mostly for his meaningless diner dates with Elliot and Seinfeld references. But after this, followed an actual dream sequence for Elliot that included an all chime version of the Green Day song Basketcase that showcases moments like Elliot getting dinner with Angela, at a cookout with the SafeCorp staff and Darlene getting engaged to Cisco. Interestingly enough, we even get a glimpse at Tyrell, his wife and grown up son along with the previously mentioned characters, Ray, etc. at a giant family dinner a la the last supper in the streets of New York while buildings collapse around them.

            This episode acted as an eye opener for everyone whether it be Darlene, Angela and ultimately, the show’s main character, Elliot. The audience sees his ultimate goal in the dream sequence, what he needs to truly reach his dream that Leon was referring to. Another fantastic episode within quite possibly the best show on TV currently.

9/10