Mr. Robot dropped a huge bombshell in the last episode. They proved yet another fan theory true and completely turned reality on its head by revealing that Elliot, our main character and narrator, has been in prison the entire season with the audience being none the wiser. So for the follow-up episode, Mr. Robot doesn’t get into all that twist at all. Nothing more is revealed, nothing more is discussed. Elliot isn’t even in the episode. Instead, this is a story of Mr. Robot the leading ladies, Darlene and Angela, and even Dom get it on in the spotlight.
The episode explores all three very different ladies having three very different days on July 4th. Though I typically haven’t enjoyed the increasing lack of emphasis Mr. Robot is putting on Elliot in season 2, this might just be my favorite episode of the season. In fact, it be one of the best episodes of the series. Sometimes Mr. Robot is much better when the title character is nowhere in sight.
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From the Highest Highs to Lowest Lows
On July 4th, Darlene and fsociety score a big win when they uncover (through their hacking of the FBI) a very damning conference call. The team learns that the FBI has been secretly spying on millions of people following the big 5/9 hack of Evil Corp. The FBI has illegal access to nearly everyone’s smart phones. Fscociety releases this information to the public. They are basking in the glow of the accomplishment when Susan Jacobs aka the woman who owns the house they are currently squatting in, suddenly comes back to her house.
Panicked, fosciety locks Susan up. Darlene sends the rest of the group to work trying to find some information they can use to blackmail Susan so she will not turn them in. Darlene, in reality, has other ideas. Darlene locks herself in a room with Susan and goes full supervillain.
Darlene begins to monologue telling Susan there is a reason that Darlene chose Susan’s house to be their hideout. When Darlene’s dad was dying because of Evil Corp, young Darlene vividly remembers Susan being integral in making Evil Corp get out of the situation free of legal harm. Darlene, at 4 years old, remembers Susan laughing as she was victorious over defeating Darlene and her poor, now father-less, family.
Susan tries to beg Darlene for her safety but it’s too late. Darlene tasers Susan directly in the heart. Susan falls into the pool and quickly drowns. She’s dead.
The presence of not just a hostage but a dead hostage, rightfully freaks the other members of fosciety out. Darlene is fine with them leaving saying that Susan is her responsibility. (She does leave the part out where she murdered him making it seem like self-defense. So Susan’s body quite a bit more than just her “responsibility.”)
Nothing Brings Two People Together Like Murder
Cisco, Darlene’s boyfriend and member of the Dark Army, agrees to stay and help hide the body. They go to the natural place one would go after murdering a high level employee of a billion dollar corporation, the crematorium at the ASPCA. Together, the two burn the body and because this is such a romantic date, Cisco convinces Darlene to come back to his house to sleep.
It’s already been a big day for Darlene. She exposed an FBI security threat, she kidnapped a hostage and then later killed that same hostage. The next morning things get even worse for Darlene.
Darlene wakes up to find Cisco’s laptop aimed at the bed. While Cisco is in the shower, Darlene gets onto the laptop and discovers that Cisco has been spying on Darlene and filming her for the Dark Army. Darlene, once again, does the natural thing. She smashes the laptop and then knocks Cisco out with baseball bat.
Angela’s Night Out
In Mr. Robot season 1, Angela was the doe-eyed clueless love interest of Elliot. She was blander than a piece of toast on white rice. In season 2, Angela has gotten much more interesting and has arguably become one of the more mysterious characters in the series. There are two surefire things we know for sure about Angela now though. The first is that she can be terrifying as hell when she wants to be and the second is she has a real old man fetish. Both of those attributes are on display as Angela goes to a karaoke bar for Independence Day.
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Angela goes to the bar with an attractive guy in her age group but she is not at all interested in him. Instead, she is much more interested in singing sadder versions of already moody 80’s pop songs and humiliating old family friends with how much money she now makes working at Evil Corp. Angela eventually ditches her handsome date altogether and goes home with a much older man. This guy is played by one of the actors who also played one of the “old guys” on Mad Men. So yeah, Angela’s type is definitely an old businessman who always smells like scotch and regret.
It turns out, however, that Angela might have had another reason for ditching her young date. The guy she was dating is actually an informant or at least colleague of Dom. This handsome devil has been dating Angela for the sole purpose of spying on her. After being dumped, the informant basically quits because Angela is giving him nothing, information or affection. Dom is disappointed but it may not matter she already has some other very promising leads.
In The Crosshairs
We have to travel back to those members of fsociety who scattered when Darlene killed Susan. They were Trenton and Mobley. If you don’t recognize those names, no one is blaming you because Mr. Robot has done nothing with their characters. It’s only now where their lives are in very real danger that Mr. Robot bothers to develop their characters beyond Muslim Girl and Chubby Nervous Guy. (It doesn’t really work.)
Anyway, straight after fleeing from Darlene, Mobley is picked up by the FBI. Dom tries to grill Mobley sensing that he is very connected to fsociety. Mobley clams up and Dom’s co-worker tells her that they cannot keep Mobley there. They have no real evidence. Mobley is released but the interview has done a number on him.
Moley is convinced that the FBI is much closer to nailing him and the rest of fosciety than they are in reality. Mobley texts Trenton and tells her that they have to flee. Trenton agrees and goes to a restaurant to meet Mobley but he doesn’t show up for two hours and time just continues to go on. Trenton texts Mobley but there is no reply. Trenton and the audience are left in suspense. If you can call it suspense. Let’s face it no one really cares about Trenton and/or Mobley not now and not ever.
Mr. Robot airs Wednesdays at 10pm on USA.
(Image courtesy of USA)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
