‘Mr. Robot’ Recap Season 2 Episode 10: eps2.8_h1dden-pr0cess.axx

Mr Robot Season 2 Episode 10
Jeremy Holm as Mr. Sutherland, Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson, and Stephanie Corneliussen as Joanna Wellick in ‘Mr. Robot’ (Photo by Michael Parmelee/USA Network)

In season two episode 10 of USA Network’s Mr. Robot, Elliot (Rami Malek) speculates that Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) has been lying to him. Mr. Robot could be the “hidden process” of the episode’s title. With computers, a hidden process is one that runs in the background out of view of the user. Elliot is unaware of what Mr. Robot has done particularly as it relates to stage 2 of the 5/9 hack and Tyrell’s supposed murder. Mr. Robot has protected Elliot in the past (e.g., from the beatings he received in prison), so he is withholding that information now to protect him.

This lack of information puts Elliot at a disadvantage when Joanna Wellick (Stephanie Corneliussen) questions him about her husband’s (Tyrell) whereabouts. She indicates that she knows that they are working together and she wants Elliot to find Tyrell. She makes it clear that she has the power in her marriage when she describes how her husband does what she asks and then sends her a gift. Joanna tells Elliot that she knows Tyrell is currently doing what is necessary as she has been receiving gifts. When Elliot says that he can’t help her, she ominously asks, “Do you want to say no to me?”

Evidently he doesn’t want to say no to her as he buys the hardware necessary to track the location of the call Joanna receives, presumably from Tyrell. Elliot hacks the police in order to have them track the location of the phone call. When he finds the location, the man in Joanna’s employ who has been with Elliot recognizes the address and says that Tyrell wouldn’t be calling from that house. In a voiceover, Elliot questions why Mr. Robot is MIA and surmises that he is afraid that Elliot will find that he lied about Tyrell. In a wide-angle shot of his apartment, he enlists us in finding out what Mr. Robot wanted there.

This isn’t the only use of a wide-angle shot. In an earlier scene, Terry Colby (Bruce Altman) gives Phillip Price (Michael Cristofer) a copy of his book, The Last Honest Man. Price then asks Colby to call in a favor and get the UN ambassador to abstain in a vote allowing China to annex the Congo. There are wide-angle shots emphasizing that we are getting a bigger picture. When Price reveals himself to be a megalomaniac with the ambition to always be the most powerful person in the room, the moment is captured by the widest angle shot.

While still in his apartment, Elliot receives an urgent message from Angela (Portia Doubleday) asking him to meet her. They meet on the subway. There are clues that she is working for FBI Agent Dom DiPierro (Grace Gummer). In the last episode, Dom came to Angela’s apartment and told her that the FBI has been tracking her ever since Ollie told them about the CD at Allsafe. Dom also told her that she is Angela’s “one hand to play.” There are advertisements above both Elliot and Angela with “Phase” in red lettering featuring a big ear perhaps signaling that someone is listening in. It seemed strange that the first question Angela asks Elliot is “why start fsociety?” It is not so strange, however, if she is wearing a wire for Dom. After Angela leaves Elliot, two people approach her. These are possibly FBI agents coming to retrieve the wire from her.

Meanwhile, we find out that Cisco (Michael Drayer) found Vincent at Susan Jacob’s home when he went there to retrieve the VHS tape. Vincent had been involved in fsociety’s plot to drop part of the Wall Street bull from the ceiling onto the floor in the Capitol building. Vincent is badly hurt and Cisco convinces Darlene (Carly Chaikin) to take him to the hospital. They are informed by a hospital staff member that it will take an hour to determine his status so they go to a diner to get something to eat.

The FBI is closing in on them. FBI Agent Dom DiPierro is with other FBI agents at Susan Jacob’s house. She learns that the FBI had found two of the DC hacktivists and in the ensuing car chase one of them (Vincent) escaped. Those that were caught told the FBI that they were to meet at Susan’s house. Dom questions why they “burned” the house instead of using surveillance to apprehend other fsociety members. Dom’s investigation has been obstructed all along, particularly by her boss, Agent Santiago (Omar Metwally). His obstructionism, combined with fact that he was in his room when the slaughter of FBI agents happened in Beijing, strongly hints that he is working with the Dark Army.

This connection to the Dark Army is clearer when the FBI goes to the media with a sketch of Cisco’s face based on a witness’s description. Dom tells Santiago that it is a bad move because the Dark Army will kill him. The hospital staffer notifies the FBI after seeing the sketch on the TV. They tell agents Dom and Santiago that Cisco and Darlene left for an hour. Dom deduces that they didn’t see the BOLO and would go get something to eat.

She finds the café where Cisco and Darlene are dining. When she goes in to question them, a motorcyclist with a passenger drives up. One of them fires into the café at Darlene and Cisco and it looks like one or both of them is shot. Dom runs out but not in time to stop one assailant from killing himself and the other one from getting away.

So some questions from last week were answered in this episode. We know who was at Darlene’s door, who Cisco found at Susan’s house, and that Angela could be working for Dom. We still don’t know the whereabouts of Tyrell (if he’s still alive), or if Darlene and/or Cisco survives, and what motivates Joanna and Tyrell. There are only two episodes left–both of which will be aired next week–of a very exciting season.