Last week’s episode of Mr Robot had a “magical mystery tour” feel to it, Elliot going cold turkey and stopping the drugs, and in episode 1.4_3xpl0its.wmv he is infiltrating Evil Corp. This week it is all about flaws; human and system. Being aware that they exist, that everything and everyone has them, finding them and exploiting them. Fsociety “mount up” and ride to complete their mission while Darlene hits up the Dark Army and Angela lets Ollie know just how screwed he is as she walks out the door.
Before the team can get into Steel Mountain, there is the matter of Vera, aka Fernando, aka Shayla’s drug dealer/rapist, that Elliot turned in with enough paperwork and proof of the douchebag’s criminal activities to ensure he spends the rest of his born days in prison. As he learns of all the evidence against him, he glances at photographs brought in by his lawyer and sees a bottle of either morphine or Suboxone, a line of powder and a straw.
Vera has a lightbulb moment, pretty amazing since the man really is not the sharpest tool in the shed (neither is his baby brother a shining star in the heavens, it was his bruv’s idea to use social media to transmit their transactions, which included premeditated murder, “Do you know how much money we saved?”), regardless of his limited intelligence in some areas, he is smart enough to follow that trail of powder to Elliot and Shayla.
Meanwhile, Mr Robot gets an entry badge that the fsociety team can clone and they get into the Steel Mountain data security storage facility. Passing through the gate, Elliot points out that the company logo is “Impenetrable” something that is cause for concern but also not true. Nothing, Elliot points out, is impenetrable, because of those ever present flaws.
Once in, Elliot points out that he has no real problem hacking people, their flaws, he says, are there for all to see, like a neon sign. He goes through the flaws of each fsociety team member in the van. When he gets to Mr Robot, Elliot points out that his flaw is that Mr Robot is crazy. A man, Elliot asserts, that would jump off a bridge if a friend did, with no hesitation, just to prove something. Considering his pushing Elliot off the pier in an earlier episode, the diagnosis seems pretty spot on.
In the van, the team pick out the first weak link for Elliot to exploit. Once in, Elliot is Sam Sepiol (a billionaire data magnate as set up by Mobley) and he must shut down Bill Harper, a Level 1 cleared Evil Corp employee with staggering low self esteem, in order to get access to his supervisor Wendy Gallagher, who has Level 2 clearance, which Elliot needs so he can plant the Raspberry Pi.
Wendy’s partner is pregnant and due any minute, the team will send her a message about the baby, thus getting rid of her and leaving Elliot/Sam alone to put in the device. Unfortunately, the human flaws that Elliot has been talking about apply here and belatedly the team learn that Gallagher’s partner has already had the baby. After Elliot completely destroys Harper, the man is sniffling, Trudy Davis comes out, she has Level 2 clearance but also no personality and, according to the Internet, no life.
She does have a cell phone listed for her husband. Thinking quickly Mobley sends Trudy a spoof text from her husband saying he is at the doctor’s and it is as “they feared.” Davis crumples completely and leaves Elliot alone. The team direct him to a locked staircase, that he can pick open, and in his confusion he heads to the wrong one.
After learning that he needs to be on the other side of the hallway, Elliot leaves the stairwell and bumps into Tyrell Wellick, who recognized him. Shayla is learning how to earn a living without selling “pharmaceuticals” as a waitress, complete with a uniform that includes a cowboy hat.
Wellick being at Steel Mountain has freaked Elliot out and Tyrell asks why Allsafe sent him to the storage facility. He invites Elliot to lunch and as they stand in the entrance to the employee dining room, Mr Robot reminds him that Wellick’s flaw is his hubris. Elliot immediately gets Tyrell to take him to the executive dining area…on Level 2.
Tyrell shows how little he thinks of ordinary people, “cockroaches” and Elliot’s blood pressure hits new heights when two armed guards head to their table. He excuses himself, “I have to go to the bathroom,” and once inside, he throws up in a sink…twice. He blames the withdrawal but believes it may be the stress of Wellick turning up.
While in the washroom he notices an open door leading to a utility area. Entering the room, he installs the Pi partially, stopping as Tyrell comes in. Wellick reveals that he knows Elliot’s father died while working for E Corp and that he, Elliot, framed Colby. It allows Tyrell the privilege of feeling superior to Elliot, “Revenge, how average,” he says before taking his leave and telling Elliot that he will take a helicopter back to his place of work. After Wellick leaves Elliot finishes installing the Pi.
Back at the arcade, Darlene learns that the Dark Army has bailed and banned fsociety from the forum. Angela goes home, where her dad tells her that Ollie called asking him to plead on his behalf. She tells her dad that Ollie cheated and he responds by saying he is not surprised, because her former boyfriend was a “total douchebag.”
Wellick and his wife are heading to the dinner party with prospective CTO Scott Knowles and his wife and they discuss strategy. Darlene meets with her contact with the Dark Army in person and he tells her that “it’s over.” He explains that China pulled out before the team ever got to Steel Mountain and to “let it go.”
The meal, despite best efforts, is an awkward affair and the couple learn that Scott’s wife Sharon is a tough cookie and that Knowles is very suspicious about how Tyrell learned about his new job offer. Shayla and Elliot talk about their day and make plans to meet up later. Back at the meal, Tyrell’s wife makes a connection with Scott and when he tries to link up with Sharon, it goes badly.
He asks how she can stay married to Scott and not “blow her brains out.” She excuses herself to the toilet saying that she will treat the remark as a joke in poor taste. In the bathroom, she is sitting on the toilet urinating when Tyrell comes in. She calls out, “I’m in here” as he opens the door and then cooly asks, “Can I help you.” He says nothing and moves in front of Sharon, hands in pockets, and stares down at her.
She leans back on the seat and legs slightly spread. Tyrell continues to look down at her and says, “Thank you for a lovely evening.” He then smiles and leaves the bathroom, Sharon sighs as he closes the door, although it is not clear what she is feeling at that moment.
Fsociety come back to the arcade and Darlene tells the guys that everything is ready to go. She then admits that China bailed out on the whole thing and Mr Robot reacts badly. Elliot gets a call from Shayla, which he ignores. Darlene wants to go ahead with their part of the plan and Mr Robot explains that it will be mistake. It might hurt them, he says, but they do not want that, they want to kill them.
Mr Robot asks Elliot to stop her and as he stands next to Darlene, who is poised to hit execute, Elliot says nothing. She finally gives up. Elliot says that it is not over and they will find a way to make it happen. He invites a distraught Darlene back to his place to crash.
On the way home, he relates a childhood tale about coming back from the beach and getting sand in the floor. The moral of the story is that making big changes take time and that not everyone can do it. Angela goes through her father’s things and finds he owes big money to E Corp. Later she goes for a run and come to a fork in the road and Elliot returns home to find that Shayla has been targeted by Vera from the prison.
While the real star of this show is Rami Malek’s Elliot along with Christian Slater’s Mr Robot, Tyrell Wellick is becoming a very compelling character. Martin Wallström is infusing this ambitious and scheming executive with a Hannibal Lector-ish quality, albeit a more crude version of the murderous sophisticate. Wellick, one imagines, is a devotee of Sun Tzu’s Art of War, as is, apparently, Scott Knowles. “What would you have done” questions Knowles about the dinner party and Tyrell replies, “I would not have let me in.”
The theme of flaws with its focus on people being the most common one, as pointed out earlier by Elliot when the team were canvassing Steel Mountain “I see six flaws,” he says referring to the security guards in the pictures, runs throughout. The underlying theme of successful people exploiting these flaws to their advantage runs parallel to brilliant effect.
The tension in this episode was kept taut with the music, again, and the mood was dark, as was the lighting for the dinner scene. The thread of Vera, Shayla and Elliot looks to be interesting although it is questionable whether the criminally inclined mistreat would really be smart enough to make that connection.
Mr Robot could be called candy for the thinking man/woman. Each episode intricately weaves each set piece, character interaction, subplot and plot-thread together. Multiple meanings prevail and the scenes all add another facet to the show’s data base. More of Elliot’s backstory is revealed in each episode and his destruction of Harper early on was eye opening.
Mr Robot airs Wednesdays on USA Network. Television that makes one think should not be missed.
