Recap / Mr Robot S 02 E 09

Elliot

A flashback reveals that Elliot's mysterious visitor from the season one finale was in fact the police, who promptly arrest him for hacking Lenny Shannon and stealing Flipper. At his trial, Elliot goes against his attorney's guidance and pleads guilty in order to incapacitate Mr. Robot. While he is being processed, Elliot meets Lone Star, who is revealed to be a guard at the prison, and later sees Ray, who is shown to be the prison's warden. Afterward, Leon quickly befriends Elliot, advising him to keep a strict routine in order to stay sharp while also introducing him to the other prisoners in the yard, including Hot Carla and the white supremacists. When Leon offers to help get him anything that he desires during his incarceration, Elliot requests that Leon get him a notebook.

Several months later, Elliot is released early, with a guard explaining that they are releasing a record amount of non-violent offenders due to the effects of Five/Nine overburdening the prison's budget. Outside, Elliot reunites with Darlene, and they embrace. While taking the subway, Darlene reveals her discovery of "stage two", and confesses her worry that the Dark Army is tying up loose ends since Mobley and Trenton have gone missing in the interim. Elliot is skeptical, theorizing that the Dark Army were the actual culprits behind his early release. The two take a detour through a hospital, where Elliot stops to visit his mother, now afflicted with dementia. He thanks her for "helping him survive" the past few months. She doesn't respond, and Elliot departs.

At Cisco's apartment, Darlene argues with him about what the Dark Army is planning. Meanwhile, Elliot uses the bathroom and becomes alarmed when he hears Mr. Robot trying to communicate with Cisco and Darlene. Elliot takes over and requests that Cisco give him information about his Dark Army contact, Xun. Cisco complies. Mr. Robot then appears, asking about what just happened. Elliot is accusatory, but Mr. Robot states that Elliot "stopped responding" and that he had to take over. Brushing it off, Elliot uses a Pwn Phone to hack Xun's phone signal and monitor his communications. Elliot then tells Cisco to set up a meeting. Cisco is resistant, preferring to operate from his apartment. Elliot states that he can convince the Dark Army to give him information, and Darlene immediately volunteers, but he rebuffs her. Instead, Elliot proclaims that the Dark Army will be dealing with Mr. Robot. Cisco and Darlene are puzzled by this statement, and Elliot walks it back, saying that he meant him. While Cisco contacts the Dark Army, Mr. Robot voices his concern about Elliot's plan and their dynamic in general, saying that they're "overheating". Elliot reaffirms that he has it under control.

Taking the subway, Elliot panics when he sees Mr. Robot talking with Cisco in a different train car and can't reach them. Elliot lapses back into control just before he and Cisco get off the train. At the library, Elliot confronts Xun and his henchmen, demanding that they tell Whiterose about him wanting to know what "stage two" is. They leave in silence. During this time, Darlene monitors Xun's phone at Cisco's apartment and realizes that she may have left an incriminating VHS tape back at Susan Jacobs' house. Elliot and Cisco return as brownouts begin throughout the city, and Darlene confesses her blunder to Cisco, who elects to go back to the house and retrieve the tape, reasoning that the FBI isn't looking for him. Darlene sits down to talk with Elliot, unaware that Mr. Robot is in control. He states that home would be better than simply staying put and that it will throw off the FBI if he portrayed an image of normalcy. Having been watching the entire time, Elliot lapses back into control but goes along with Mr. Robot's suggestion nonetheless.

Cisco arrives at Susan Jacobs' house and discovers the lost tape. Just as he prepares to leave, Cisco hears labored breathing and groans coming from the living area and investigates. Meanwhile, Darlene continues to monitor Xun's phone. Xun meets with Grant and tells him of Elliot's request. Grant is baffled and reveals that "stage two" is Elliot's plan. Grant then takes Xun's phone and destroys it as a precaution, ending the connection. Darlene is then startled by a loud knocking at the door and hesitantly goes to open it. As this occurs, Elliot nears his apartment and sees that Tyrell's SUV is parked out front. Elliot slowly approaches the SUV, and a passenger window slides down, revealing Joanna. She greets him as "Ollie".

Angela

Using the Rubber Ducky she procured from Mobley, Angela goes to E Corp. Infiltrating the Risk Management offices, she plugs the Rubber Ducky into Joseph Green's terminal, and retrieves his account password. She logs into another terminal with his credentials and copies files relating to the Washington Township leak to a separate jump drive. Afterward, Angela takes the jump drive to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, intent on exposing E Corp as an anonymous whistleblower. She denies any financial compensation. Hours later, the Deputy Director of the Office of Investigations meets with Angela. As they walk to another room, the Deputy Director asks for more contact information from Angela despite an earlier promise that she will be kept anonymous, and inquires about her position within E Corp even though Angela never mentioned her employment previously. Angela becomes spooked by this and leaves.

Back at her apartment, Angela is paid an unexpected visit by Dominique, who has brought gyros from Angela's favorite restaurant. She forces herself in. Angela is suspicious of Dominique's intentions and requests that she leave. Dominique reveals that Ollie Parker made a confession about the CD at Allsafe two months prior and that she has had Angela under surveillance ever since. As a result, Angela's visit to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was also being monitored. Dominique offers to help Angela, warning that whatever she is up to will eventually catch up with her and that the next person who comes knocking on her door will not be as kind. Dominique then recalls a nightmare that she had about an attractive girl who ended up drowning her in the end. She remarks that it was only when she stopped struggling that the nightmare finally stopped and that she "survived". Dominique then leaves a card with her contact information on the counter and leaves.

Minister Zhang/Whiterose

Whiterose drops flowers at the grave of E Corp's former CEO, Lester Moore. She asks Grant if he knows how he died, and is amused when he describes it as an accident, reminding him not to use that word. She then reveals to Grant that Lester, in the wake of a scandal, tried to have her project shut down, but his death via plane crash allowed it to continue. She proceeds to urinate on the gravestone, stating that she feels inclined to take the same action now that she did back then.

Later in the day, Minister Zhang meets with Phillip Price. While Zhang congratulates Price about his "pet project" working out better than expected, Price admits that with the failure of the bailout for E Corp, he has become desperate and that the federal government will assume jurisdiction over the Washington Township plant. Zhang becomes irritated, and Price warns him against issuing threats, as the institution of a new CEO will not change anything. Price mentions that the bailout failure was because of the Dark Army's shootout with the FBI in China, and proposes that Zhang return to China and suggest that their government bailout E Corp instead. Price reasons that this will not only help the company but will be a major diplomatic milestone that will paint the Chinese government as sympathetic. Zhang reluctantly agrees, but cautions Price against threatening "his plant". Price is not intimidated, and promises that he will take Zhang down with him should anything go awry. Zhang's watch beeps, and Price mocks him before leaving, "oh, that's all the time I have."

Now I'm not looking for absolution...

• Call-Back:
  • Joanna refers to Elliot as "Ollie", the name he used when they last communicated.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • Angela still has the Rubber Ducky that Mobley gave her back in "eps2.4_m4ster-s1ave.aes". In much the same way that she was originally supposed to use it, she takes it to E Corp to get Joseph Green's login credentials.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Cisco is still pissed about Darlene taking a bat to his face. He also sports a pretty nasty bruise on his forehead from the affair.
• Creator Cameo: Showerunner Sam Esmail can be seen leering behind a set of bars while Elliot is being processed.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Dominique's warning to Angela about being taken off the street and thrown into a dark cell if she doesn't stop whatever it is she's doing. Mere hours after this exchange, Whiterose has Angela kidnapped and placed in a dark room, despite her intentions of going to the FBI.
• Freudian Slip: Elliot unconsciously refers to himself as Mr. Robot when laying out the plan to meet with Xun. He quickly corrects himself once he sees the utter confusion on Cisco and Darlene's faces.
• Mutually Assured Destruction: The gist of Price's wondrously hammy rebuttal to Zhang:
  Minister Zhang: "I will be happy to go back and talk with the Chinese government. I'm sure they will be most agreeable, but the next time you threaten my plant—"
  Phillip Price: "What? What? The only move left in that scenario is a third World War. You see? I'm a mercenary. I don't play fair. I play what I want. When you deal with a mercenary, then all decorum gets tossed out the window, so you go ahead with your cute threats and your watch beeps. Order... will not protect you anymore, my friend. I WILL RAIN CHAOS!"
• Once More, with Clarity: We see the exact circumstances of Elliot's imprisonment, beginning right where season one left off.
• The Reveal: Stage two is Elliot's plan.