Robot:Season 2, Episode 7
Mr. Robotloves to trick us.
Its one of the main appeals of the show.
TV as a medium has historically given the viewer what he or she wants.
After all, if theyre not satisfied enough to stick around around for the commercials, whats the point?
Robotand many other shows like it is that its willing to openly, sometimes gleefully fuck with us.
It deceives us; never gives us a full portrait of whats going on.
Robots season two, Handshake finally reveals to the audience that many of them were right all along.
Elliots reality isnt what it seems.
Hes not living with his mother.
The most frequent interpretation was that Elliot was in a halfway home and mental health institution of some sort.
The reality is a little more stark and punitive but the gist of the theory was right.
Does that mean thatMr.
It meant to keep a secret from us, the audience and wasnt able to.
Someone with a punishingly mathematical interpretation of art (maybe like Elliot) might say so.
But I dont think it does.
On that level the events of Handshake are viscerally satisfying.
Even more importantly, however, is that they are narratively satisfying.
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Handshake is the best episode ofMr.
Robotthis season and thats because it has a lot to say.
But it also has a lot to say about morality.
Handshake is the first episode ofMr.
Robotto force me to step back and take stock of the villains presented thus far.
And upon examination, theyre more varied and fascinating that I had realized.Mr.
Robotexists in a morally gray universe.
This does not make it unique amongst television shows or even reality itself.
Elliot is the audiences hero by default.
Hes not only our protagonist but our ears and eyes into this particular universe.
- Hes also a murderer as we find out in Handshake.
I love what this season has done with Tyrell Wellick.
First appears only by mention.
Then only by his voice.
Then in an 80s sitcom coma dream sequence.
And finally in a flashback.
Robothas approached Tyrell Wellick this season has created the effect of him turning into an encroaching boogeyman for weeks.
Of course, Tyrell Wellick may not stay dead.
The TV golden rule is no body = no death.
But that would be a shame.
Elliot as a murderer is dramatic territory that must be explored.
Its no wonder that Elliot is so desperate to re-earn his hero credentials by shutting down Rays site.
Part of him (specifically the Mr.
Robot part of him) must have always known that he killed Tyrell with Chekovs Popcorn Gun.
And that means he must double down on his efforts to save innocent people.
Then actual hero to Elliot, Leon shows up and gruesomely murders them.
Leon then reveals to Elliot that hes been protecting him under Whiteroses orders.
Another villain trying to be a hero…or both…or neither.
Ray has ostensibly been the Big Bad of the first part of the season.
As portrayed by Craig Robinson, hes a perfect, fascinating character.
He begins by offering to help Elliot.
Hes appears kind and soft spoken but theres an undeniable air of menace about him as well.
Then we discover theres a very good reason for that air of menace.
That contrast would be enough alone to make Ray a worthwhile character.
But the Ray of Handshake is even more interesting.
Ray is that soft-spoken teddy bear who wants to help Elliot.
Elliot defeats him in one last chess game and Ray knows the FBI are coming.
In some ways, Ray is like Elliot.
Theyre both now murderers after all.
But in another way, Ray is the kind of person Elliot set out to help.
Its people like Ray who Elliot had in mind when he hacked the worlds economy.
People who were fundamentally decent but who also were beholden to the almighty dollar.
Now that all the blinders are pulled back and we can see this season ofMr.
Robotfor what it is we can also now see where its going.
Elliot wants to be a hero again.
Angela wants to be a hero again, now infiltrating the Risk Management department of Evil Corp.
But they, like many others onMr.
Robot,have to simultaneously become villains to do so.
*Which apparently closely mirrors our own.
