TV Review: MR. ROBOT: Season 2, Episode 2: eps2.0_unm4sk-pt2.tc [USA Network]

USA Network‘s Mr. Robot eps2.0_unm4sk-pt2.tc TV Show Review. Mr. Robot: Season 2, Episode 2: eps2.0_unm4sk-pt2.tc is a strong follow-up to the season premiere, with an opening that will stick with viewers long after they’ve watched it.

Continuing where the previous episode left, the show begins on a busy evening a crowded New York walkway, animated by the sound of overlapping chatter and an unseen radio playing pop music. Before long, Scott Knowles (Brian Stokes Mitchell), the chief technology officer of E Corp, arrives on the scene, carrying two bags filled with millions of dollars. He drops the bags and waits, communicating with company security remotely as he waits for a representative of the fsociety to arrive, as was arranged in the preceding episode. Knowles watches apprehensively as a man walking a dog seems to approach him before continuing on his way, allowing the dog to sniff the bags as they pass by. As the off-screen radio starts playing Phil Collins’ “Take Me Home”, a man on a bicycle rides up to Knowles, asking him to sign off on a delivery. Overruling advice by the company security man to nab the suspected fsociety operative, the E Corp CTO signs for the delivery and receives a package containing one of the hacktivist group’s infamous masks. Suddenly, his phone rings and the caller tells him that he has ten seconds to comply with the instructions on the mask before fsociety compromises all of E Corp’s banking systems. Wasting no time, Knowles opens the bags and throws their contents on the ground, before putting the mask and setting the pile ablaze, as a crowd of onlookers observes in silence and he watches in disbelief.

Now, it goes without saying that there is more to the episode than just it’s superb opening. Angela Moss (Portia Doubleday) gets to engage in some skillful repartee with her skeptical coworkers at E Corp, and Craig Robinson of The Office fame turns in an unexpectedly impressive performance as Ray, a neighbor of Elliot’s (Rami Malek) who comes to his defense and tries to get the reserved hacker to open up. But the sheer quality of the intro is such that it leaves everything else behind: emphasizing action over exposition, showing over telling, the scene is able to show us what Mr. Robot is about in a way that few shows manage or even attempt to do today.

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