In season 2 of the series, Mr. Robot played it fast and loose with its qualifications as a one-hour drama. Episodes frequently would go over the one-hour mark, even stretching to as long an hour and a half. Personally, I was fine with the change because one of the greatest strengths Mr. Robot is the way it lets scenes breathe and go on for a longer amount of time than usual.
However, for the finale, Mr. Robot delivered one of the shortest episodes yet. Now more than ever was really the time that an episode needed to be longer and the show didn’t take the chance. There are so many questions to be answered and (brace yourself) all of them most of them were not answered. If anything, this season’s finale of raises even more question than it gives answers back. Such is life and such is the experience of watching Mr. Robot.
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Joanna Wellick in the Case of the Mystery Mail
Of all the many questions Mr. Robot had to answer, the one that was on the very bottom of my list was Joanna’s mysterious weird packages. However, it is this one that the show tackles first and answers most completely.
It turns out that these are not messages from Tyrell playing out his twisted love story with Joanna. The packages are intentionally weird and unnerving. They are, in fact, messages from Scott (aka Brian Stokes Mitchell) who is trying to drive Joanna insane for her part with Tyrell killing his wife.
Joanna, as you can imagine, does not take this well. Joanna confronts and insults Scott calling him a coward (that’s the PC word of the non-late basic cable version Joanna actually uses). Scott, as you can imagine, does not take this well. Scott pounces on Joanna and starts beating/choking her. Though Joanna tries to fight back, she is no physical match for Scott no matter how impressively plump and sexy her lips look. Luckily, Scott realizes what he is doing and jumps off of Joanna, letting her escape with her life. This turns out to be a mistake.
Joanna goes to her boyfriend (or live-action sex doll) Derek and forces him into a plan. She wants to frame Scott for his wife’s murder and it looks like she has enough evidence to do it. After all, Joanna’s face does look a slab of meat from the training sequence in Rocky at this point. Scott clearly does have anger issues. Hell hath no fury like a woman emotionally blackmailed, abused and nearly choked to death.
Dom Reveals Her Cards
While Joanna is amassing fake evidence, Dom is gathering even more real evidence. Darlene is alive and she is being her typically non-cooperative self with Dom in interviews. Dom has been a weird presence all season because while she is certainly characterized more than most, she has felt more like a plot device than an actual human being. If Dom’s whole character was to get to these interactions with Darlene, it was worth it. Both women are so sarcastic and rude to one another it is incredibly amusing and a master class in apathy.
Eventually, Dom decides that she’s had enough fun placating Darlene. Dom takes Darlene to her evidence room and she reveals it all. Dom has everything plotted out with fscociety and the Evil Corp hack on 5/9. Dom knows everything about Darlene, Elliot, Angela and the whole shebang. Dom also reveals that Romero wasn’t killed by the Dark Army, it was just an accident. Romero was killed by crossfire in a gang shooting. The Dark Army isn’t after fsociety or Darlene but the FBI is and there is nowhere for Darlene to run or hide. She is going to have to work with them.
Everything Changes … Once Again
It turns out that while Dom thinks she has the whole picture, she’s wrong. Dom knows everything that we know but we don’t know everything. Elliot follows Tyrell (who may still be imaginary) up to some creepy warehouse attic. Tyrell then reveals Stage Two … well almost. Apparently, Mr. Robot, White Rose, the Dark Army and Tyrell are all in on some plan that will blow up Evil Corp HQ. It’s a plan that they have been working on since the beginning of season 1. Elliot though, is learning all of this now.
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Elliot is not happy with the idea of a widespread manslaughter. Elliot is angry and tries to stop Tyrell with going through with the plan. This confuses Tyrell because this is really all “Elliot’s” idea but no one is more confused than me about why Tyrell is still on this show. Tyrell grabs a gun and points it at Elliot. Tyrell tells Elliot he will shoot if he stops the plan. Elliot seems to hold a different opinion. Elliot becomes convinced that Tyrell isn’t real, he doesn’t exist and this is just another mental trick by Mr. Robot. Elliot is wrong.
Tyrell fires the gun and Elliot is shot in the stomach. He collapses to the floor, hands literally filled with blood. As Elliot loses consciousness, Mr. Robot tells him that he won’t let anyone stand in the way of their plan. not even “himself.” (Good thing Rami Malek got that Emmy because Elliot’s continued life doesn’t look promising.)
Angela Flips the Script
Luckily, Elliot appears to survive … maybe. Angela is in her apartment when she receives a call from a frantic and crying Tyrell. Angela is expecting the call and talks Tyrell off the ledge. Tyrell tells Angela that Elliot is waking up. Angela says she will be right over. Her face is the first one that Elliot sees.
Ummm, what now? Angela has had quite a trans-formative season 2 but I never anticipated that she was the mastermind or this deep with Tyrell and Mr. Robot. I suppose it explains her mysterious plotting at Evil Corp but that’s the only thing it explains. There is also the possibility that this is arrangement is all new. Angela only came on board after her little interview with White Rose in the first part of the finale. This seems the more likely option but with Mr. Robot, uncertainty is the kind of the whole point of the series. Answers await in season 3 (or whenever Sam Esmail gives a post-season interview.)
Oh! There is also this little epilogue with Mobley and Trenton, alive and living under new names, to close out the season. They are approached by Elliot’s prison buddy and Dark Army member, Leon and that’s all. Giving Mobley and Trenton new names has done nothing to give them actual personalities or reasons to care, so I continue to not care.
Mr. Robot will return for season 3. Like BuddyTV on Facebook and follow BuddyTV on Twitter @BuddyTV to get the latest updates on Mr. Robot and more!
(Image courtesy of USA)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
