Joanna
In a flashback, Joanna comes across a gift left for her by Tyrell: a pair of cubic zirconia earrings. Wearing the earrings, she and Tyrell attend a gathering of other E Corp employees, where they are introduced to Scott and Sharon Knowles by Phillip Price. Sharon compliments Joanna's earrings, which Joanna explains as just one of many surprise gifts that Tyrell often leaves for her. We then return to the present to see Joanna out on a stroll with her child. A woman approaches her, calls her a "capitalist pig", and douses her in red paint. As the woman flees, Joanna screams at her. Later that day, Joanna sips a glass of wine as she stares at a new, mysterious gift: a framed sonogram of her child.Some time after, Joanna and Derek have another rendezvous. Derek asks her to attend his upcoming birthday party, but Joanna reaffirms that they cannot be seen together in public. Tired of sneaking around, Derek tells Joanna that if she doesn't show up at his birthday party, their relationship is over. That evening, Joanna shows up at Derek's apartment. Derek, angry at Joanna for not attending, tries to get her to leave. Joanna explains that she couldn't attend the party because of pressing business with her lawyer. She then presents rolled-up papers with a ribbon, which Derek takes before unrolling to reveal a summons for divorce addressed to Tyrell. Joanna reveals it to be her birthday present to Derek, and that she wants what he wants.
Angela
At E Corp, Dominique questions Angela about her presence on the FBI's restricted floor. Darlene is puzzled, but Angela quickly says that she was finalizing a meeting over lunch with Agent Thomas. Dominique admits that she is fascinated by Angela's story, specifically, her convenient departure from Allsafe and employment at E Corp. Darlene reassures Angela that Dominique has nothing incriminating on her, or else she would already be in the FBI's custody. Dominique looks Angela over one last time before saying that Angela isn't being her true self by working at E Corp. She leaves, and Angela finishes inputting the last command which allows fsociety access to the FBI's data. Later, Dominique has an analyst look over the FBI's data archive, which they discover has been corrupted. With her suspicions confirmed, a dejected Dominique orders that the 23rd floor be swept over along with Angela Moss's terminal for trace evidence, despite doubts that they will find anything. Dominique then tells the analyst that she'll be finding a bar to "be miserable at".In a taxi, Angela gazes at fsociety graffiti and garbage piles that have started cluttering the city streets as a news broadcast in the taxi tells of the looming credit crisis brought about by the Five/Nine hack, which has crippled waste management services and led to a cottage industry of trash burning by citizens looking to earn money during the crisis. Angela runs into Darlene, who is waiting outside her apartment to explain everything, as she understands that Angela has likely figured out the full extent of her and Elliot's involvement in fsociety. Angela confirms this when she brings up how she made the initial connection between them and fsociety as a result of their use of the Gentlemen mask from The Careful Massacre of the Bourgeoisie, their favorite childhood film. Darlene says nothing as Angela walks into her apartment.
Returning to Susan Jacobs' house, Darlene is met by Cisco, Trenton, and Mobley, who are gathered around a laptop. Darlene joins the group and looks over the screen, in disbelief. Darlene asks if this is happening tomorrow, which Mobley confirms.
Elliot
Mr. Robot comforts Elliot, who questions the purpose of the sitcom hallucination Mr. Robot put him in. Mr. Robot explains that it was what Elliot needed, but Elliot also asks about Tyrell's presence in the hallucination, and why Mr. Robot avoided discussing him. Frustrated, Mr. Robot asks why Elliot even cares, and Elliot states that he wants to finally accept what he did and move on. Mr. Robot asks about the last thing Elliot remembers. After a moment of thinking, Elliot replies, "I remember the popcorn." After a while, Elliot slowly understands Mr. Robot's hesitation to mean that he murdered Tyrell. Mr. Robot confirms that he shot him, but Elliot corrects Mr. Robot, saying that he shot him.Ray has Lone Star retrieve Elliot from the basement, and the three meet up in Ray's office. Ray questions if Elliot has had enough time to get his head right since their last interaction, and Elliot confirms as much. While Lone Star sits in the corner, Ray closes in on Elliot, ordering him to finish transferring the site. Ray leaves, and Elliot gets to work, opening the command prompt on Ray's terminal. After some time, Elliot completes his job, which Lone Star confirms to Ray. Elliot requests that he and Ray play a game of chess, which Ray agrees to. Over the game, Ray confesses the origin of Midland City, and that it wasn't always a site that hosted illegal activity. He admits that he and his wife "let the market dictate" what happened on the site and that his wife was better at staving off curiosity about what was happening on it. Ray says that he only learned of what the site really contained after Elliot found out, and Ray concludes that he should have taken a stand instead of denying the truth of what Midland City had become. This, he reasons, is why Elliot is really his answer, despite originally approaching Elliot as a mentor. At this point, Ray looks out his office window before asking Elliot how much longer he has. Elliot plays dumb initially, but after Ray calls him out, Elliot states that at this point, authorities will have completely surrounded them. Ray tells Elliot to leave before they bust in, and tells him to be careful, Elliot leaves as Ray knocks over his king, with an amused look washing over his face. A voice-over from Elliot confirms that he made the website public to everyone on the surface web, which quickly got the attention of the FBI, who collect him as a tactical unit rushes past.
Tropes:
- Graceful Loser: Ray, upon learning that Elliot has tipped him off to the authorities, accepts his downfall and allows Elliot to leave.
- The Reveal: Two huge ones:
- Leon is a member of the Dark Army, seemingly sent to protect Elliot.
- Elliot has been in prison since the beginning of season two. The story about him staying with his mother was a lie to us, as well as an elaborate delusion imposed upon himself to cope with his situation.
- Technician vs. Performer: One of the reasons why Angela feels undermined by the Alderson siblings and fsociety. The fact that she has worked so hard and studied everything to enter the corporate world like E Corp while Elliot and Darlene merely just started a revolution by being self-taught in hacking and not doing enough to achieve it and not being in the same status as her. Yet Angela is a little scorned towards them for not including her in the first place and presumes that they get things done easily.
- Unreliable Narrator: Elliot cements himself even further as such when he reveals the truth about his "exile", and that he willingly hid it from us as punishment.
- Wham Line: "Elliot, you know you haven't been staying with your mother, right?"
- Wham Shot:
- Leon standing over the dead bodies of the white supremacists.
- Krista's office and other environments we've gotten used to in Elliot's arc since the beginning of season two (the basketball court, the diner, Elliot's bedroom) slowly transforming into the prison.
