Mr. Robot – eps2.1_k3rnel-pan1c.ksd

                By: Jessica Wolff

The episode opens with a flashback to beginning of fsociety where Mobley (Azhar Khan) and Romero (Ron Cephas Jones) walk along the boardwalk, talking about the history of the boardwalk and the arcade. Romero unlocks a backdoor and shows Mobley the arcade that will eventually become the fsociety hideout. Mobley offers Romero a job, but he refuses by saying that he doesn’t want to be involved. Mobley tries to convince him by telling him the head of the operation wants to meet him. Romero eventually comes around, asking how much the job pays.

In the present, Elliot (Rami Malek) narrates about his relationship to panic as he is shown to be on the phone with a mysterious caller who is believed to be Tyrell Wellick (Martin Wallstrom). He tells him that it’s good to hear his voice and mentions a plan that is in motion. Elliot asks about the plan, but Wellick refuses to tell him. Wellick says that it’s not safe to tell him anything, but Elliot keeps pressing. He mentions the night of the hack and Elliot asks what happened that night. The call is interrupted by Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) who hangs up and takes the phone from him. He reiterates that it’s dangerous to talk about the plan on the phone. Elliot stands up to him and tells him that he is not going to let Mr. Robot make him a prisoner of his own paranoia. Mr. Robot responds that if he’s not paranoid than Elliot needs him more than he thinks he does. Mr. Robot tells Elliot that he fulfilled his part of the deal in getting him in touch with Tyrell Wellick. Elliot questions this to the audience and Mr. Robot tells him not to talk to us, insisting that he delivered on his promise. Mr. Robot asks him what more he wants and Elliot tells us that he wants the panic to end. In the other room, a new broadcast reveals that Gideon Goddard died from the gunshot wound at the end of last week’s episode.

Mobley comes into a woman’s apartment looking for her son, Romero. Mobley finds Romero dead on the floor. Later, Elliot meets up with Leon (Joey Bada$$) at the basketball court, who gives him a bag of pills. This angers Mr. Robot and he confronts Elliot, assuming that he is back on morphine. Elliot admits to the audience that he’s getting Adderall instead of morphine and takes the pills in front of Mr. Robot hoping to get rid of him. Elliot narrates on his walk home that an internal fatal error is hard to recover from. A mysterious man asks to speak to Elliot. Elliot tries to run away, but is captured by two men and thrown into a black van. Mobley sits on the subway and Darlene Alderson (Carly Chaikin) sits next to him. She tells him that Romero was a liability and asks him if anyone saw him find the body. Mobley mentions that he spoke to Romero’s mom beforehand, which causes them to worry.

Elliot is dragged from the car and tied down to a chair. The men pull the mask off his head and Elliot asks where he is. The men bring over a wheelbarrow and create cement. Elliot panics and asks what they are doing. The leader of the group stands cloaked in shadow. A funnel is placed over Elliot’s mouth and the cement is poured down his throat. This whole situation is revealed to be a hallucination. Elliot vomits on the floor in his room and Mr. Robot tells him to get the pills out of his system. Mr. Robot tells him that he is too embedded in his mind and that there is no way to get him out of his system. In an act of defiance, Elliot pulls the pills out of his vomit and forces himself to retake them. Elliot tells Mr. Robot that he won’t be owned by him.

Angela Moss (Portia Doubleday) walks into Phillip Price’s (Michael Cristofer) office. Price offers his condolences for Goddard’s death and then says that he wants the interview to be on FOX instead of Bloomberg and that he wants to approve all questions beforehand. Angela turns to leave, but tells Price that she thinks this is a mistake. Price demands that Angela sit down before sitting next to her and inviting her to dinner at an upscale restaurant. He agrees that Bloomberg would be a better option. Angela looks at an old newspaper clipping on her way out. Price notices and tells her that he finds it fascinating that a man can change the world with a bullet in the right place. Dominique DiPierro (Grace Gummer) gets ready for her day and goes to the crime scene of Romero’s death. Another agent reveals that Romero printed out a list of FBI agents and DiPierro gets a picture of the lists.

Darlene and Mobley go to visit Trenton (Sunita Mani) to inform her of Romero’s murder. Trenton is nervous since this is the second hack related murder, but Darlene insists that Goddard’s murder was unrelated. Darlene and Trenton get into a fight about Trenton leaving fsociety, but Mobley says that they need to be concerned about the Dark Army. Darlene tells them that she will talk to Elliot to figure out what to do next. After Darlene leaves, Mobley tells Trenton that he doesn’t trust Elliot or Darlene, theorizing that they are trying to cover their tracks by killing the other fsociety members. Ray (Craig Robinson) tries to intimidate another man to do a job for him and the man says he needs someone good with computers to migrate the systems in order to get the job done.

Elliot tells the audience that he hasn’t slept for three days and rejoices in the fact that Mr. Robot is gone. Throwing himself into his routine, Elliot is so happy to the point that he seems manic. Elliot comes down from his high, admitting that he doesn’t believe what he’s saying. Soon, his panic and paranoia return. He realizes that he has an internal fatal error that is difficult to recover from. Elliot runs out of his pills and starts losing his mind, giving in to his panic.

At the restaurant, Angela meets with Price who introduces her to two coworkers and toasts to new opportunities. DiPierro looks at the photos of the FBI agents list on her phone and finds a connection. Elliot braces himself for Mr. Robot’s return and is unable to focus in his church group. A woman asks if Elliot wants to share anything, saying God can help him. Elliot goes on a long rant about religion, questioning God’s presence and bashing the concept of organized religion. Elliot says that he doesn’t listen to his imaginary friend and that they shouldn’t listen to theirs. Elliot realizes he has said all of this out loud and leaves the church in a panic.

At the dinner meeting, Price asks to speak with Angela alone and reveals that the two coworkers were involved in the cover-up of the leak in Angela’s hometown that killed Angela’s mother. Price says that they are also involved in insider training and pulls out a CD with the evidence. Angela says that she doesn’t trust Price’s plan and Price responds that she needs to remove emotion from her work. At the diner, Ray sits with Elliot and hands him his notebook. Ray tells him that his wife passed away a while ago and that he talks out loud to his wife, telling Elliot that they are more alike than he thinks.

DiPierro goes to visit Romero’s mother, who yells at her and slams the door in her face. She offers to help roll joints for her, which gets Romero’s mother to open the door. DiPierro asks questions and Romero’s mom tells her that his only friend was Mobley, though not by name. DiPierro finds glasses wrapped in papers with computer code on them and a flyer for Mobley’s concert. Elliot and Ray sit in Ray’s office and talk about the journal and how it was Elliot’s attempt to control his life. Ray says that control isn’t real and asks about Mr. Robot. Elliot tries to walk away, but Ray convinces him to stay. Ray gets up and Mr. Robot appears to him. Elliot questions his attempt of controlling his problems. DiPierro follows the trail and finds herself at the entrance to the fsociety arcade.