Mr. Robot: eps2.2_init1.asec Recap

Synopsis: Elliot and Mr. Robot confront each other in a battle of wits. Darlene and fsociety land in some serious hot water, and Angela tries to take a bite out of E-Corp.

Does anyone else have to spend like three days mentally preparing themselves to watch Mr. Robot lest they feel the urge to fling themselves into an existential abyss? Just me? Anyway.

This week opens on a flashback of Darlene barging into Elliot’s apartment on Halloween, wearing the now-signature mustachioed mask (that she has apparently just found at the dollar store) and insisting that they hang out and watch an old horror movie – as is apparently their tradition.

It becomes clear that they haven’t seen each other in quite some time, and although Elliot isn’t initially pleased to have her there, they end up chilling and smoking and being siblings. He shows her their father’s old Mr. Robot jacket, and she makes him put it on, along with the mask. While wearing them, he announces to her his thoughts of a major hack that could burn E-Corp to the ground, avenging those that died.

He knows how big the scale would be, and the fallout worldwide of doing it, but he thinks it would work. She’s shocked to hear him say it, but she doesn’t exactly tell him ‘no’ either. It’s also worth noting that Elliot pointedly avoids the question of how he got the jacket, prompting questions about just how long Mr. Robot might have been around.

In the present, in a similar scene with a vastly different vibe, Darlene checks in on Elliot at their mother’s house, intending to tell him about Romero and ask him if he’s had any contact with the Dark Army that she doesn’t know about.

Instead, she seems to realize how far gone he actually is. Elliot tells her he doesn’t want to be a part of what they’re doing anymore, because it might  trigger “him” (Mr. Robot). Darlene – quite nastily – says that maybe Mr. Robot is the one she needs, since Elliot refuses to help.

On the legal side of things, Dom and the FBI are all over the arcade. They find a bullet casing behind one of the games, leading her to believe that the arcade is where fsociety and the E-Corp hack originated.

Also, Joanna is getting desperate for money, since E-Corp won’t release Tyrell’s severance package to her, meaning she’s struggling to continue paying off Kareem the parking attendant, who found Elliot after the hack occurred. She goes to Scott Knowles to ask him to release the money, but he refuses, knowing that Tyrell killed his wife, and insisting that Tyrell’s wife and child will – in turn – get exactly what they deserve  – nothing.

Elsewhere, Angela hands over the evidence that Price gave her to Antara, who has Jim and Saul arrested immediately for their part in the leak that killed Angela’s mother. They discuss what Price’s motivation could possibly be, and Angela determines the only reason he’d have hired her, let alone helped her, is if she had something he needed.

She goes through the settlement paperwork again, realizing that E-Corp has consistently tried to eliminate the stipulation that a third party must perform the inspection on the plant. She goes to Price and offers to get the stipulation dropped in exchange for a corner office and a much bigger salary. Price admires her for making the move, but insists she’s seeing ghosts.

Angela’s not convinced. Rightly so, because it turns out Price and Whiterose are making double secret plans about… something. We don’t know, but it can’t be good.

At the same time, Darlene is approached by Cisco, who warns her that the FBI has found the arcade. She thinks it was the Dark Army and tries to blow town, but Cisco tells her it wasn’t them, and running would make her look guilty. He insists that she needs Elliot to help her cover their tracks, and she better kick his butt into gear.

Elliot, for his part, is understandably overwhelmed by the position he’s found himself in, and seriously considers telling Ray everything, and just dealing with the consequences so he doesn’t have to hide anymore. Mr. Robot tells him that will only mean more trouble for Darlene.

Noticing his uh – split personality, Ray gives Elliot a chessboard and tells him to play himself and maybe it will help him work his shit out. Elliot and Mr. Robot make a deal. They will play, and if Elliot wins, Mr. Robot will disappear. But if Mr. Robot wins, he’ll take over, effectively killing Elliot in the process. Naturally, they stalemate every time.

Mr. Robot uses this as an opportunity to point out that they are two halves of a whole, that he can’t, by definition, be beaten. Stung by this revelation, Elliot agrees to end his digital dry spell when Darlene asks for his help. To gain access to fsociety’s chatroom, Elliot agrees to help Ray with his website server issues. And straight-up hacks the FBI.