Mr Robot S2:E12 Recap & Review
Upon reflection the unifying theme of this season is love. Loss, loneliness, despair are all there but love, or rather, holding on to the people you love and doing whatever is necessary for them, is the main theme. In keeping with that I’m going to try and break this finale down via the tropes of love that this show delves into.
I said a few episodes back that the death of Edward Alderson changed the world. Whiterose echoed that sentiment to Angela last episode when speaking on the tragedy of Washington Township: Darlene and Elliot (and Angela) would absolutely not be the people they are if it weren’t for what happened there and none of the events of this show would have come to pass. From the 5/9 hack to Susan Jacobs death, everything spiraled from the love that two children had for their father and their need to avenge his, and everyone else who was affected, senseless and preventable deaths at the hands of a corporation.
It is why, despite just how good Dom is, and she’s very, very good, she will never break Darlene, who survived her encounter with the Dark Army’s assassins. Darlene loves her brother beyond all reason, she will do whatever it takes, including taking the fall with the F.B.I., to protect him. However, she won’t have to because Dom, in her eagerness to break Darlene and get at who she thinks is behind 5/9, screws up. Big time. I won’t spoil how but pay attention to her conversations with Darlene, when it’s just the two of them.
Dom, like many before her, underestimates the Alderson sibling crazy and more importantly just how much they love each other.
Scott Knowles loved his wife. The problem was Sharon didn’t love him. So, on the day he found out he’d been made the CTO of the biggest corporation in the world and that his wife was pregnant, said wife chose to meet another man for the express purpose of getting nailed. When that led to her death Scott decided, in lieu of taking his vengeance on the man who murdered her (as he’s missing), he’d torment the killer’s wife, which led to another, larger problem: Joanna Wellick.
See Joanna adores her husband. No, she’s not as showy about it as he is, but she loves him down to her very bones. Joanna is also terrifyingly intelligent and has the patience that only an apex predator can have. Which is why, when she realizes just who is behind the phone calls and gifts she’s received over the course of the season, she doesn’t flip out. Instead, because Joanna loves her husband and child above all things, she uses every tool at her disposal and does what she will always do: protects them.
There is no place too far, no darkness too deep that a wife and mother won’t wade into to protect the family she loves.
Which leads me to Tyrell Wellick. Tyrell is a man who never does anything half-way. He’s the epitome of psychopathic man-child, his emotions always far closer to the surface than he’d like anyone to think. Which is why the ever calm, cool and calculating Joanna is the perfect match for him. It’s also why beautiful, broken, brilliant Elliot fascinates him so. Tyrell’s absence has hung over the show since episode one of this season and his return almost broke the internet last week as the dynamic between him and Elliot is one that’s alternately beautiful and disturbing. Tyrell is utterly and completely in love with Elliot and, because he’s the type of man who will do anything for those he loves, has been working in the shadows the entirety of the season to complete Elliot’s mission. He, in conjunction with the Dark Army, has made all the moves the recently incarcerated Elliot could not. Not just because he wants revenge on ECorp (he does) or because he wants to give his beloved wife and child the world on a platter (he definitely does) but because in Elliot he has found what he didn’t know he was missing: someone to worship.
Tyrell will do anything to please his new god, even if it means saving him from himself.
This season has been filled with twist and turns and will need to be rewatched to be fully appreciated but what a journey it has been. Sam Esmail and his cast and crew’s love for these characters has shown through with every frame, every sentence and every moment of the season and I’m beyond ready for season 3 to start.
Backup Files
- Stay tuned after the credits for some guest appearances that I’m sure will have a huge impact next season.
- Congratulations Rami Malek on your Emmy. Yes, we all saw it too!
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