Mr. Robot Review: eps2.6_succ3ss0r.p12 (Season 2 Episode 8)

Mr. Robot‘s “eps2.6_succ3ss0r.p12” isn’t anything to write home about, but it contains a few small surprises to tide us over until next week.

Let’s start with fsociety’s hack of the FBI’s conference call.

As someone who’s been on far too many conference calls in her life, it never occurred to me that anyone who happened to come across the access code could just call in and listen to everything you say, without you even knowing she was there.

Shouldn’t an FBI conference call be more secure than that?

Or is the FBI just so full of hubris that they think they’re incapable of being hacked?

And how ironic is it that the FBI is discussing wiretapping while they themselves are being “tapped”?

To be honest, I enjoy the clips of President Obama on the show, but this reference to how much the government is spying on us annoys me. It’s too large a dose of reality. It takes me out of the world Mr. Robot creates and forces me back into my real one.

Am I ultimately grateful Edward Snowden did what he did? Yes, I am. But making fsociety analogous to him is beneath them. Edward Snowden is arrogant and, some would say, a coward.

Contrarily, fsociety is a group of badasses letting people know the truth about the world they live in. Yes, I know Edward Snowden did that too, but he also pretended he didn’t care about getting caught, and we all know he did. The members of fsociety have always been honest about not wanting to go to prison.

Moving on to Angela’s love life, I have many comments about this. First of all, kudos to Mr. Robot for showing her with this guy again! And on a holiday no less!

Scenes like this help dispel the idea that if you sleep with a guy too soon, “he won’t respect you.” I am so sick of hearing people say that! Sometimes a woman’s just gotta get her rocks off.

I think I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again; one of my favorite things about Mr. Robot is how feminist it is.

Here’s where I have an issue: Angela’s date doesn’t understand why she’s so engrossed in fsociety’s video. On the one hand, this could be seen as sweet. He’s bothered that she’s not paying attention to him so he must like her.

On the other hand, are you kidding me?! Dude, we all are just finding out the government is spying on us, and you don’t care?! Angela, if he doesn’t care about what is going on in the world, drop him.

Although, a guy who’s extremely focused on her may be the distraction Angela needs from the scrutiny of the FBI and her job at Evil Corp.

Steve: For you though, swallowing’s not really a problem, now is it?

Okay, I am seriously sick and tired of all of these vile sexual comments being made to Angela! I cannot even fathom someone saying something like this to me. What kind of man speaks to his friend’s daughter like this?!

Why do men keep making comments like this to Angela?! She’s gorgeous, therefore tons of men want to have sex with her. That’s not her fault or her problem.

Angela’s response to Steve is weak. I would have taken my glass and hit him upside the head with it.

Man, Angela is flirting up a storm lately! She must be taking a page out of my playbook. Ha!

Seriously though, it’s a bit cliché to show Angela drowning her sorrows in men and booze. It’s definitely fun to watch though.

Also, has Angela been back to her table? Shouldn’t her date be coming to look for her?

Now let’s move on to Susan Jacobs. As soon as the pool comes on-screen, I know she’s going to end up drowning in it.

You shouldn’t have laughed, Susan. Children never forget.

So now Darlene’s a murderer too. I don’t blame her. She doesn’t have a choice. Susan knows what the majority of fsociety looks like.

I applaud Darlene for doing the dirty work herself. She’s the leader of the group. If anyone’s going to cross this moral boundary it should be her, because none of them would be in this situation if it weren’t for her and Elliot.

Darlene says she doesn’t feel bad about killing Susan, but I’m interested to see how this act will affect her as the season continues.

Holy shit, Angela’s date works for the FBI?! So this kind of takes away from the feminist point his going out with her makes, but it still counts for something. He could’ve easily just tailed her and not taken her out on a date.

Nicely played, Dom. But if you’re going to use sex as a gateway to information, you have to know your audience.

Angela’s not into old dudes, she’s into power and a challenge. The agent you put on her displays neither.

Finally, what is Cisco planning for Darlene?! I’m so glad Darlene catches on and gives him what he deserves. I probably wouldn’t have noticed the computer’s camera recording me.

What is she going to do with him? Kill him? I can’t wait to find out his fate next week!

Other Random Thoughts:

• “Whole milk? You must be some kind of revolutionary.” I agree, Mobley. Who else on God’s green earth would be drinking whole milk?! It’s too thick!
• Susan Jacobs’ comments about Trenton being Muslim are so racist and stupid. Even if Trenton was a member of ISIS, you’re not important enough to target, Susan! You have no control over the company, you just provide legal advice.
• Really? A clip of Edward Snowden is part of this episode? That’s just overkill, okay? We get it: fsociety is just like Edward Snowden. Geez!
• At what point in their lives do Cisco and Darlene learn Chinese?

This episode doesn’t have enough twists and turns for my taste, but after the huge bomb dropped last week, I guess the showrunners feel the audience needs some time to process.

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.

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