Mr. Robot: Season 2/ Episode 3 "eps2.1_k3rnel-pan1c.ksd" – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUpry9Gfl-c

 

Trigger Warning(s):
Blood (Bullet Wound), Vomiting (Puking and eating materials from puke)

Major Characters

Angela | Elliot | Ray | Darlene | Dominique | Mobley

Main Plot (with Commentary)

Topic 1: Are We Friends or Am I Just A Tool? (Angela)

Angela’s rise to a prominent position has already been questioned and, let’s be honest, she seems rather unsure of whether she is worthy for it her damn self. Yet, there is that mask. So when Mr. Price calls her into his office talking about how they should switch the interview to Fox and tells Angela she has to setup a whole new meeting to get demands in place, she at first handles it how Angela would, but then she puts on her mask and tells the CEO, as kindly as possibly, his idea isn’t the best one. Which, so it seems, he respects. In fact, he respects it so much he asks her out to dinner.

 

Pause.

 

Now, when an old man like Mr. Price invites a young woman like Angela somewhere, red flags are raised. After all, in most shows, it means he is about to try to woo her and get some tail. However, this is Mr. Robot. So while he does admire her greatly, he brings two colleagues to dinner so whatever Angela was hyping herself up with, reaffirming she is attractive, that goes out the window and strangely enough, the girl looks disappointed. Which was strange to me since hasn’t her goal been since the beginning to be taken seriously? Why would you want your old ass boss hitting on you? Mentoring you, yes, but anything beyond shoots your credibility in the foot and with seemingly hardly anyone thinking you deserve the position you have already, why make it seems bending over for the boss is the reason?

 

That though aside, the two men who Mr. Price invites to the dinner are Mr. Winberg and Mr. Chutney. Two men with families, two men who do charity work, and these two men are also why Angela’s mom is dead. So, here comes where Mr. Robot stands out from the average show. For reasons not explained, Mr. Price slips evidence of insider trading to Angela to do as she wishes. However, he warns her that using this material, putting it out there, she would effectively end the lives they have come to know.

 

As for why he slips this? One can only assume it is so he doesn’t have to get his hands dirty. The only other option maybe to win Angela’s trust. Perhaps that story the lawyer told, about how much that woman at the bar can be bought for, might apply here. Who knows?

 

Topic 2: It Might Be Time For A Family Reunion (Darlene, Dominique, and Mobley)

Darlene is in trouble. Romero got shot, Dominique has found the arcade, and Mobley and the rest of the members of F-Society we know of, they are getting skittish. So, being that, at this point, people don’t agree with her methods, think she is being too rash, it seems brother and sister may meet again. I wonder what took so long?

Topic 3: Battle for Supremacy (Elliot & Ray)

With enough Adderall, Elliot can make Mr. Robot disappear, but he doesn’t have an unlimited supply. Plus, overdosing on Adderall means no sleep and Elliot becoming manic. Which to him, the one who overanalyzes and has semi-rants about masks and all that, he seems to think his manic state is his normal. Which is an odd thought for while, granted, the Elliot we know usually is exhausted to the point of depression, it doesn’t seem this polar opposite is the balanced version of him.

 

Which brings Ray into the conversation. Ray, so it seems, is some kind of Bitcoin gangster. Why exactly is he roughing people up to help him migrate some bitcoin? Well, Ray do got bills to pay. Plus, considering he is coping with his wife dying in a car accident, and he has a dialysis machine, needless to say, the man probably has medical bills up the wazoo.

 

But what connects Ray and Elliot, at least in Ray’s mind, is their coping methods. Both of them talk to a dead person in order to cope with their absence. Problem is, Ray is talking to someone he misses, Elliot is glad when Mr. Robot, who takes on the form of his dad, disappears. Unfortunately, though, he never stays away for long. Then, even when he seems gone, he may actually be there.

 

Take for instance Elliot talking to Tyrell, thinking he got kidnapped, and maybe even thinking Ray is someone he might be able to trust, it seems Mr. Robot is just adapting. He knows Elliot won’t work with him willingly, so being that he is so ingrained into the boy’s mind, he just pulls whatever string and creates whatever hallucination needed.

 

Collected Quote(s)

Maybe we’re all just stumbling from the right questions to the wrong answers or from the right answers to the wrong questions. It doesn’t matter where you go or where you come from, as long as you keep stumbling.

—        “eps2.1_k3rnel-pan1c.ksd” Mr. Robot

Review Summary

Highlights

• With Mr. Robot not only able to take over while Elliot sleeps but now capable of making Elliot full on hallucinate while he is awake, what can Elliot do? Overdose on Adderall for as long as he can and live his life in a manic state? Nah. This version of what Elliot thinks is normal is like him wearing a mask. One of what he thinks normal and happy people are like, but isn’t really him. Though really, considering how much Mr. Robot has influenced Elliot into who he is today, who is the real Elliot anymore?
• I must admit Angela is growing on me. I would never say I could watch an hour of her going back and forth from being confident and sure of herself to repeating self-help lines, but I can enjoy her storyline a bit more now. If just because Mr. Price injecting some intrigue with giving her some real power. Not something easily taken away, but she now wields the ability for revenge. Leading you to wonder who will win? Sweet little Angela, who can barely hold eye contact, or the Angela it seems this young woman is trying to be?
• You got to love how all the original members of F-Society are getting paranoid and thinking maybe the Dark Army is trying to pick them off, among other theories. Though Darlene and Elliot back together in a scene is really all that matters when all is said and done. Can the sister help her paranoid brother find his way or will she become just another pawn in Mr. Robot’s game?

Low Points

• Granted, damn near everyone got issues when it comes to the main cast, but can’t someone not seem mopey?
• Also, Elliot’s speech in the church, the one about all that god doesn’t do, didn’t that seem like it should have been awesome but fell short? Like it was inspired or copy and pasted from some atheist’s blog and put on screen? That is, as opposed to what Elliot usually, for a lack of a better term, preaches and makes sound awesome?

On The Fence

Dominique, I have mixed feelings about. A part of me wants to like her, because she will be the one to challenge Mr. Robot, Elliot, Darlene, and F-Society, and who doesn’t like a good villain-esque role? However, seeing how miserable her life is, where she has a platonic Her like relationship with this device known as “Alexa,” I get mixed feelings. In a way, it is like my wavering feelings toward Angela. In the big picture, these characters are all part of the same universe, part of the same show, just don’t often interact. With that it sometimes feels like they have their own islands, their own plots separate from the main one and with that comes us being allowed to really get to know these characters. Angela is more than a former love interest of Elliot and an old friend. Dominique is shown to not only be a capable FBI agent but a human being. One who you perhaps aren’t supposed to like because she is eventually going to go after Elliot, yet at the same time she isn’t some villain without a personal life. I mean, technically she doesn’t have a personal life, but with that, she fits in with everyone else. She is sort of like the male Elliot when it comes to how unhappy she seems to be when she isn’t doing what she does best. For when she is doing FBI work, she can become social, she has purpose, and isn’t forced to really confront this life she has where she is in her late 20s or 30s and is having cyber sex with strangers and can barely sleep.