Mr. Robot Review: eps2.2_init_1.asec (Season 2 Episode 4)
The direction and cinematography on Mr. Robot are incredible.
The opening scene of “eps2.2_init_1.asec” is no exception.
When Darlene begs Elliot to hang out with her, she’s only in the bottom right corner of the picture on your television screen, making her appear small and desperate. The choice to have her take up such a small portion of the frame perfectly matches the insecure pleading in her voice.
One of the many things I love about Mr. Robot is how well the show uses imagery.
Elliot is wearing a mask as he discusses masking his true intentions if he takes the job at Allsafe.
This show loves to give deeper meaning to obvious things.
Elliot continues to wear the mask as he lays out his plan to destroy Evil Corp. This scene raises so many questions for me.
Does putting on his father’s jacket and a 99 cent mask from Chinatown embolden Elliot to want to take on the most powerful corporation in the world, or has he already been thinking about it?
How influenced is he by watching “The Careful Massacre of the Bourgeoisie?” Does Elliot need to wear the mask and jacket when vocalizing his plan so that he can shield himself from what he’s capable of, or from what he truly wants?
Darlene freaks out when she hears Elliot’s plan.
I hate pre-revolution Darlene! She has absolutely zero ovaries, and it’s not cute.
This scene shows us how much the characters of Darlene and Elliot have changed.
In the present day Mr. Robot universe, Darlene is incredibly strong. She’s keeping the members of fsociety out of the reach of the police and FBI, and she’s ordering executives to publicly burn millions of dollars while Elliot is fighting a losing battle against a hallucination.
Last season, Elliot was portrayed as a meek follower of Mr. Robot. Darlene said that Elliot came up with the idea to take down Evil Corp, something that never seemed believable to me.
One could argue that the real Elliot does not come up with the idea.
He ‘becomes’ Mr. Robot in order to come up with it.
Speaking of Mr. Robot, why is he Elliot’s hallucination? Elliot’s mind can create anything (or anyone) to get him to hack a billion dollar corporation. Is it just as simple as Elliot misses his father?
Moving on to Angela, what’s up with the self-help tapes?
One of the affirmations Angela listens to is, “I place myself in alignment with the things I want.”
What does this even mean? How do you align yourself with the things you want?
Does it mean that if you want a promotion, you become best friends with your boss? Or does it mean that you visualize getting the promotion?
If the tapes are meant to help Angela forget Evil Corp killed her mother, they’re not helping. Angela seems broken and unhappy.
Returning to Elliot, just as he’s considering telling Ray what he did, Mr. Robot appears. Here’s one instance where Mr. Robot’s presence actually does more good than harm. He protects Elliot from prison, which makes me look at him differently.
Is it possible that Mr. Robot is just a part of Elliot he doesn’t want to face, and not a hallucination?
Mr. Robot is such a mighty force, but Elliot is holding his own against him and that’s inspiring. It makes you feel like you can battle the mighty forces in your life and win.
Elliot: Annihilation is always the answer. We destroy parts of ourselves everyday. We Photoshop our warts away. We edit the parts we hate about ourselves. Modify the parts we think people hate. We curate our identity. Carve it. Distill it. Krista’s wrong. Annihilation is all we are.
This piece of dialogue is brilliantly written. This idea that we are constantly changing ourselves for maximum positive effect is really sitting with me. Is it true?
If you remove a wart from a photo, have you changed who you are?
If I Photoshop my waistline in a photo to make it smaller, I’ve destroyed nothing. When I look in the mirror, I’m still going to be fat. Everyone who sees me in real life will know I’m fat.
So by changing that photo, what have I gained? Admittance to the beauty ideals of people who don’t know me?
I don’t know the answers to these questions but I love that Mr. Robot forces me to ask them.
Mr. Robot resonates with people because it’s about searching for your identity. It’s about who you are when no one is watching, and who you are when everyone is watching.
Other Random Thoughts:
- I HATE the word “c&^ty”! Frankly, I’m really surprised Darlene would ever use that word, but pre-revolution Darlene says it so let’s hope present day Darlene removes it from her vocabulary.
- The dark lighting and musical score on Mr. Robot give the show a very eerie, Hitchcock-ian feel. I love it.
- I love Darlene’s heart-shaped sunglasses! They’re so carefree, girly, and fun which sharply contrasts with Darlene’s personality. They add richness to the character because it’s hard to believe Darlene would even wear sunglasses like that.
- How can Scott say Tyrell’s baby deserves nothing?! A baby is an innocent and deserves everything.
- So Elliot’s hacking the FBI. That’s not going to turn out well.
- What the hell is Ray’s online business?!
I love this episode of Mr. Robot. It gives me so much to think about, and keeps me wanting more.
What did you think of this episode of Mr. Robot? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Mr. Robot airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on USA.
Sheena Bosket
Sheena is an attorney, writer, and Black feminist living and working in Atlanta. She can be found searching for an opportunity to date Jake Gyllenhaal and renovating her condo in Shondaland. She watches all of the Real Housewives franchises, and she's not ashamed. Sheena also occasionally writes about pop culture, politics, and feminism for Donatidaily.com.