Mr. Robot – eps2.5h4ndshake.sme

By: Jessica Wolff

This week’s “Mr. Robot” episode was filled with revelations that provided a new outlook on the entire season so far. The episode opens with a flashback to a time before the five/nine hack where Joanna and Tyrell Wellick (Stephanie Corneliusson and Martin Wallstrom) were happily married. Tyrell surprises his wife with a pair of earrings before taking her to meet the CEO of E Corp, Phillip Price (Michael Cristofer). In the present, Joanna is splashed with red paint by an angry protester calling her a capitalist pig. Back in the darkened room that Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek) was thrown into at the end of last week’s episode, Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) tries to comfort him. Elliot asks Mr. Robot what really happened to Tyrell on the night of the hack, deciding that he doesn’t want to be kept in the dark any longer. Mr. Robot finally gives in to his request, asking Elliot what was the last thing that he remembered from that night. Elliot responds that he remembers the popcorn machine in fsociety’s old arcade hideout.

At E Corp’s headquarters, Angela Moss (Portia Doubleday) is interrupted by Dominique DiPierro (Grace Gummer). DiPierro is extremely suspicious of Angela’s actions and Angela is unable to deter her suspicions. She is able to get DiPierro to stop questioning her and completes the final steps to successfully hack into the FBI. Darlene Alderson (Carly Chaikin) is thrilled and begins to work with the FBI servers. Meanwhile, Elliot is distraught when Mr. Robot tells him that he shot Tyrell with a gun hidden in the popcorn machine on the night of the hack. Elliot comes to terms with the revelation and confesses his own guilt in shooting Tyrell, as Mr. Robot is a part of him. Meanwhile, Derek (Chris Conroy) gives Joanna an ultimatum: come to his party as his girlfriend or their affair is over.

DiPierro looks through the footage from E Corp headquarters with other FBI agents and find that the security footage is missing. Realizing that the FBI has been hacked, DiPierro gives a series of commands, including checking Angela’s computer for evidence that she was behind the hack. Angela goes to see Darlene and confronts her about fsociety forcing her to be an accomplice in the hack. She confesses to Darlene that she should have known that Darlene, Elliot and fsociety were behind the hack, as the masks were the same as the one in the movie they watched as kids. Lone Star (Michael Maize) drags Elliot into the office and Ray (Craig Robinson) asks if he is finally ready to complete the job. Elliot tells him that the job will take a couple of hours in order to buy time.

Derek comes home and confronts Joanna about not coming to his party. To his surprise, Joanna shows him the divorce papers she had drafted for Tyrell. Elliot completes his job and the server is up and running again. Knowing that Ray will have him killed, Elliot challenges him to one last chess game. During the game, Ray thanks Elliot for everything he’s done for him. He asks Elliot how much time he has left and Elliot tells him that the feds have probably already arrived. Ray lets Elliot walk out and the feds come in to arrest Ray and his accomplices. While Elliot was putting up the server, he made the site public and sent an anonymous tip to the FBI.

The balls of the bronze bull statue that were removed by fsociety earlier this season are dropped into the US Capital as Congress begins discussions of the E Corp bailout. Angela goes to visit one of the plaintiffs of the class action lawsuit against E Corp. She tells him that E Corp will agree to settle the lawsuit if the clause requiring inspections are removed from the settlement. The man objects to this, but Angela tells him that it is going to happen whether he is on board with it or not. Elliot and Leon (Joey Bada$$) watch a basketball game and discuss Ray’s arrest. Leon tells Elliot that many people are not happy with Elliot’s actions and a group comes over to confront them. Leon defends Elliot and the men back off.

Angela goes to Price and informs him of the settlement deal. He is surprised, but pleased with the results. Seeing an opportunity, Angela asks to be moved into the risk management department. After some persuasion, Price agrees and reveals to Angela that today is his birthday. He asks her to celebrate with him and she declines. Elliot resumes going to his church group and apologizes to the leader for his outburst from a couple weeks ago. She forgives him, telling him that she can see that he is talking to someone that she assumes is Jesus. Mr. Robot appears to Elliot and tells him that he wants to get back to his original mission: destroying Evil Corp. He believes that Mr. Robot is the key to helping him succeed, but Mr. Robot tells him that he is the real leader and mastermind.

The next day, Angela’s new supervisor shows her the ropes of the risk management department. Angela requests to sit in on the directors’ meeting, despite not being at that level. Finally accepting Mr. Robot into his life, Elliot burns the notebook that he had been using to try and keep Mr. Robot at bay. On his way home, the gang that harassed him at the basketball court grab him and pull him down an alley. Before they can physically and sexually assault him they are slashed to death. Elliot turns around to find Leon standing with the knife. He tells him about a letter and to put a good word in for him with Whiterose before leaving the alley. The E Corp directors’ meeting begins as they discuss the issues plaguing the company. Angela interrupts the meeting, requesting access to the files of the previous lawsuits and offering to compile a report for them. Angela’s supervisor speaks to her after the other directors leave, telling her that he knows exactly what she is doing and that Price told him that he can do whatever he wants with her.

Elliot goes to see Krista Gordon (Gloria Reuben) and tells her about his breakthrough with Mr. Robot. He mentions that he’s been staying at his mom’s house and Krista stops him. She asks him if he knows where he really is and Elliot replies that he does. The therapist office turns into a visiting room at a prison and Elliot sits among the prisoners wearing an orange jumpsuit. Elliot addresses the audience, telling them that this illusion was his way of coping with being incarcerated. The places that Elliot has frequented throughout the season are revealed to be parts of the prison and his room in his mom’s house is his cell. He apologizes for lying to the audience, promising that he’ll be honest in the future.