Mr. Robot is pretty much a superhero show. Elliot leads a secret double life, he wants to save the world and he is going up against a large group of antagonists who literally have evil in the name. Elliot isn’t squeaky clean (or sane) as most superheroes but in the world of Mr. Robot he definitely qualifies. This makes Angela the superhero’s love interest, a character that sadly has been typically maligned and sidelined in live-action superhero history. Angela though has had an arc that most love interests would kill for; her story has been every bit as dynamic and interesting as Elliot’s.
She’s gone from doe-eyed corporate drone that’s kind of sweet but mostly boring to a doe-eyed secret bad-ass with a heart of steel. Angela has been fighting against Evil Corp pretty much single-handedly and trying to bring them down legally. She’s been so impressive that Evil Corp has even offered her a job in the penultimate episode of season one. While it stands against everything Angela believes in it would be in the best interest of Mr. Robot and Angela’s story if she accepted the offer and joined Evil Corp.
There’s So Much Conflict to Be Mined
There’s a pretty convincing argument for why Angela shouldn’t join Evil Corp as an employee. They killed her mother and they’re the reason her father is drowning in debt. Those are boring and ethical character reasons though. Angela’s story, which has been hitting it out of the park story wise lately, can only be improved by her working for Evil Corp.
While there are several reasons why Angela shouldn’t work for the company there are more about why she should. Angela is broke, she burned all bridges in the tech field by quitting Allsafe in disgrace and she has no experience for any other field. If she starts working for the biggest company in America it could do a lot to salvage her resume — and not to mention be extremely lucrative. So whether Angela wants to work for Evil Corp or not, she kind of has to accept the offer. Unless she wants to spend the rest of her life sleeping on her father’s couch in the house he can barely afford.
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This would be a great internal and external conflict for Mr. Robot to mine next season and beyond. Angela hating herself and everyone around her by working for this company she can’t stand but being forced into this position for financial reasons. She could even try to bring the company down from the inside while hopefully building a golden parachute for herself on the way. This is not even to mention how Angela working for Evil Corp would affect Elliot and Darlene’s mission at FSociety. How will the two Alderson’s feel about destroying the company that is now their lifelong friend, Angela’s, sole source of income? Not too great one would imagine especially since Darlene said that Angela was family.
Angela Can Be the New Inside Source of Evil Corp
Angela’s new job benefits more than her (and Elliot’s story) it also helps Mr. Robot as a whole. Some of the most fascinating scenes of the first season of Mr. Robot were those that followed Tyrell Wellick as a high-ranking employee of Evil Corp. Of course Angela’s story won’t have the added element of Tyrell’s wife. Angela will be missing out on the whole Macbeth and Lady Macbeth dynamic that was thrown into a David Fincher-like blender of weirdness and given a helping scoop of Swedish subtitles. Still there is something valuable about Mr. Robot having an inside man (or woman) in Evil Corp.
Unless FSociety actually succeeds in the season finale of completely taking down Evil Corp, the company will still have a major role in season two. Mr. Robot has introduced some familiar faces inside the company like Terry Colby and Scott Knowles but none of the characters introduced are big enough for the show to follow. Since Tyrell was fired, there is no one to take up the mantle of our eyes and ears inside Evil Corp. Angela would fill that opening perfectly. FSociety’s attempts to bring down Evil Corp have much more impact if we see how it effects the company through someone we care about that works there. That someone could and should be Angela.
Working for Evil Corp would accelerate Angela’s development of her inner warrior. The most effective parts of Angela’s story has been when she has stripped herself of a facade of innocence and naivete and turns up the manipulative heat. If Angela was in the belly of the evil beast those moments wouldn’t be rare, they’d be commonplace and that’s something we should all be happy to experience.
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But what do you think? Do you want to see Angela work at Evil Corp or is it too against her character? Or do you think is all irrelevant because Elliot and FSociety are going to bring down Evil Corp for good in the season one finale?
Mr. Robot airs Wednesdays at 10pm on USA.
(images 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.
