USA Network‘s Mr. Robot eps2.2init1.asec TV Show Review. Mr. Robot: Season 2, Episode 4: eps2.2init1.asec smartly departs from the hectic pacing of previous episodes in favor of a quieter, more intimate story.
Compared to the preceding installments, last week’s show was slow, straightforward, but steady all the while. Coming off the highs of f society humiliating E Corp and it’s fellow Wall Street fat cats before the whole city and Elliot (Rami Malek) overdosing on Adderall in order to drown out Mr. Robot (Christian Slater), its almost strange to see an episode in which a good deal of time is allocated to the characters simply talking to each other, even if what they have to say is significant. In fact, most of the episode consists of people providing exposition, almost as if it were trying to account for any unresolved issues or plot holes in the previous chapters of the program. Don’t let the word “exposition” give you the wrong idea however: the way the characters and dialogue convey it is adequate, and never once does it detract from the story.
By privileging interaction over action this time around, the show shifts its focus to the characters and their relationships with each other. Angela (Portia Doubleday) must play Philip Price (Michael Cristofer) for what she wants, Joanna Wellick (Stephanie Corneliussen) must bargain with Scott Knowles (Brian Stokes Mitchell), and Elliot must contend not just with Mr. Robot and Ray (Craig Robinson) but with his sister Darlene (Carly Chaikin) as well. Each interaction comes with it’s own twists and turns, but all end in either defeat or stalemate.
Price embarrasses Angela when she tries to blackmail him, adding back-handed insult to injury by saying he is impressed by her attempted ruthlessness, Knowles rebuffs Joanna’s pleas for him to disburse Tyrell’s severance package when she mentions she needs it for her child (sneering that it will get what it deserves: nothing), and neither Elliot nor Mr. Robot are able to defeat each other in multiple chess games, leaving them roughly in the same place as they are were at the start of the episode. But rather than remain in stalemate, the hacker decides to take action and infiltrates the FBI’s database on Darlene’s behalf. Elliot is back in business, but we can only guess where Mr. Robot goes from here.
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