“402 Payment Required” – Recap and Review

What’s poppin’, y’all?  Let’s just jump right into this bad boy, because this latest episode of Mr. Robot had a lot to doggone unload.

Deus Ex Machina (Literally)

The show opens up with Price giving some very insightful exposition regarding Whiterose.  After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the USSR in the late ’80’s, Whiterose (disguised as Minister Zhang) decides to take advantage and begin an investment group called Deus, which consolidates foreign powers and uses global events (and by events, I mean mostly catastrophes) for profit.  Whiterose was able to get numerous world leaders behind her investment group, and eventually started the first Gulf War, aka Operation Desert Storm.  You read that correctly.

Turns out causing Operation Desert Storm was lucrative for Whiterose and her friends, as it gained them money in oil and influence within the military.  Then, Whiterose has a sensational idea:  instead of using industrial spies to gain information, she’d rather have electronic access to any and every person living to obtain whatever data she needs.  That’s right…Whiterose invented the internet.  THE WHOLE.  DAMN.  INTERNET.

Apparently, America was supposed to be the test case for the World Wide Web, and we flocked to that thang like flies to poo.  I can’t front; I still remember the first time I surfed the web.  I was 17, and my high school finally gained internet access, just in time for my senior year.  The second I went on a couple of websites (including IMDB.com) and saw how much information was right there at my fingertips, I was hooked.

Back to the subject at hand, with the rise of the net came the rise of E-Corp, which was actually a front for the Deus Group.  With every endeavor E-Corp had—be it E Coin, their health insurance, real estate or banks—the Deus Group became even more powerful, as they now had further influence over the public.   The members of the Deus Group learned soon enough that Whiterose wasn’t their partner, she was their boss, and the purpose of even starting the group was to fund whatever her project is in the Congo.  Yeah, they all talked their shit about it when it was underneath the power plant in Washington Township, but now that’s it’s going abroad, it’s becoming clear that Whiterose has something big planned and whatever it is, it’s no laughing matter.

An Unlikely Ally (TBD)

After Price’s rousing monologue, we see him speaking with Elliot and Mr. Robot back at Allsafe, with the Deus Group added to Elliot’s Dark Army board.  Price reveals that he was tasked to eliminate anyone that ever appeared at “John Garcin’s” apartment and to report the incident.  Elliot asks why Price saved him, but he never answers.  Price simply tells Elliot his bank heist won’t work, considering Whiterose designed the Deus Group to be impenetrable.  Mr. Robot takes over and suggests that Price act as a mole and provide his bank contact’s information.  Price informs that the bank contact is Susan Jacobs.  I admit; I laughed out loud at that.   Susan Jacobs is a dead end (pun intended).

Elliot asks for Susan’s info, and of course, Price tells him that she’s been missing for months.  That’s an understatement.  That chick is a pile of ashes at some animal shelter!  Anyway, Price tells Elliot that he can’t help him, but Elliot reminds him that Whiterose killed his daughter.  Damn.  He knew about Price and Angela.   Price reiterates that Elliot’s bank heist won’t work, and Elliot suggests to him to have all the Deus members meet up in the next eight days.  Price believes it’s impossible to have them all together in such a short amount of time, but Mr. Robot mentions that because of Price’s loyalty, initiating the meet won’t be too far fetched.  Elliot tells Price he may as well be dead if he sits around and does nothing.  Price says he became a dead man walking when he got involved with Whiterose…just like Elliot is.  Ouch.

Price leaves, and Darlene—who’s been blowing up Elliot’s phone for the past few minutes—calls again.  When Elliot answers, Darlene tells him that their mother died.

Ciao.

At Mrs. Alderson’s nursing home, Elliot and Darlene meet with a staff worker who won’t shut up about what a great person their mother was and how blessed they must’ve been to have her.  Darlene and Elliot ain’t here for the foolishness.  They know how the real deal, and simply ask the lady what they’re supposed to do with her stuff.  After she leaves–silently judging them, I might add—Elliot quickly gets to work, packing everything up to go to charity, while Darlene’s chillin’.  She admits that she’s relieved their mother is gone.  Elliot, on the other hand, has other stuff on his mind.  Darlene asks him if they’re still cool after she wigged out on him about Angela the day before, and Elliot says they are as he continues packing everything up, never even breaking stride.  When he starts to unload the drawers, he notices his old walkman.  He opens it and finds a tape inside, but once Darlene spots him with the tape player, he quickly closes it and puts it in a box.  Darlene decides to keep it, saying that “cassettes are full on back.”  Since when?  When Darlene finally decides to help Elliot out, she notices a receipt for a safe deposit box with the Bank of E.  Hmmm…

Where in the World Is Agent Santiago?

Dom finally takes her interview concerning Santiago, and as it turns out, it’s part of an investigation about his disappearance.  As Agent Horton interviews her, she’s clearly ill at ease, and he asks if she’s okay.  Dom admits that Santiago was a double agent.  OH SHIT!!

Agent Horton asks Dom who Santiago was working for, and she takes a deep breath and reveals the name:  The Trujillo drug cartel.  Got scared there for a minute!

La Mort Heureuse

After the interview, we see Janice’s creepy ass at her taxidermy business when she gets a call.  It’s Dom, letting her know that she did the interview and everything was all good.  Janice wants Dom to define “good.”  Dom tells her that Agent Horton bought her story.    Janice goes on to ask if everything’s on the up and up with Dom’s colleagues.  Dom says again that she’s sure Agent Horton believed her story.  Janice jots down Agent Horton’s name and asks her to define “sure.”  You gettin’ on my nerves, ho.

Dom says she’s 99.9% sure Agent Horton believed what she told him.  Janice seems to accept that and she goes on to give Dom a bit of a pep talk about how beginnings are hard, but everything’ll be alright as long as she keeps a level head, or some bullshit.  She goes on to tell Dom that everyone’s glad she’s back at work, and if she needs anything, to let them know.  Dom hangs up the phone, clearly not being able to take anymore horseshit.  Janice has a customer who entered the shop while she was talking to Dom, and when she goes up front to help her, the lady says she wants her dog to be with her forever, and proceeds to slam the dog’s dead (and deboned) body on the counter.  Gross.

By the way, I couldn’t help but notice that Dom has a promotion (come to think of it, they may have briefly mentioned this in the last episode).  Now she’s the Assistant Special Agent in Charge.  Just like Tyrell, she probably got a job she always wanted…but she can’t even enjoy it.  SMH.

Final Arrangements

At the funeral home, Mr. Robot can see that Elliot’s not really dealing with his mother’s death, but instead is racking his brain trying to figure out how to track down Susan Jacobs.  Mr. Robot tells Elliot that he’s become an expert at observing him and he needs to take a second and try to cope with his mother being gone, instead of holding his feelings in.  Elliot lets Mr. Robot know that the only thing he’s holding in is the fact that he needs to take down Whiterose, or else they all die, Darlene included.  Elliot walks off and asks if Mr. Robot’s expert observation noticed that.  Something about that was kind of sexy.  Mr. Robot acknowledges that could’ve gone better before muttering to us, “Fuck you.”  Fuck you too, Mr. Robot!  Bastard.

Meanwhile, Darlene’s trying to decide what funeral arrangements her mother would’ve wanted and has to deal with more silent judgement, this time from the director.  Elliot walks in and indifferently asks for cremation, a cardboard coffin and the cheapest urn they have.  Boss.

Sometime later, Elliot and Darlene are waiting for the subway, Elliot’s still trying to get more information on Susan Jacobs via his cell phone, whereas Darlene’s wondering aloud why their mother had a safe deposit box.  Money?  A deed to a house?  Adoption papers?  Elliot ain’t got time and keeps doing what he’s doing.  Darlene finally gets tired of him ignoring her and snatches his phone.  She thought they were cool, and Elliot tells her that they are.  Darlene wants him to prove it by coming with her to the bank.  Elliot doesn’t want to, but Darlene tells him that she needs him right now.   This convinces Elliot, although he still thinks it’s a waste of time.  A snowman sitting nearby give his condolences.  A kiss and hug to anyone who can tell me what that’s in reference to.  🙂

Keep it 💯

Dom is interrogating an Irish human trafficker and appears to be back in her element again, when she receives a text from Janice that reads, “Sorry about your co-worker.”  As if on cue, an agent bursts through the door and calls Dom out of the room due to an urgent issue.   The agent shows her a news report about a man that jumped to his death a few hours earlier.  Dom asks what that has to do with her, and the agent informs it was Agent Horton that supposedly committed suicide.  He goes on to ask Dom if she noticed anything off with Agent Horton when they had their interview earlier that day.  After all, she was one of the last people to talk to him before he “took his own life.”  Just then, Dom gets another text from Janice that reads:

Wow.

Bank of E:  We Don’t Give a Damn ‘Bout Our Customers!

Darlene and Elliot are at the bank waiting to see what the big secret was in their mother’s safe deposit box.  Unfortunately for everyone, the box is gone; it has been for two years now.  The banker tells them that Mrs. Alderson stopped paying her bill, and after a 120 day grace period and zero contact from her, the organization threw all her stuff away, per Bank of E policy.  SMDH.  Darlene promptly cusses the man out and Elliot tries to get her to come back with him to the funeral parlor so they can collect their mother’s ashes.

Darlene’s clearly distraught and Elliot tries to tell her that the safe deposit box isn’t that big of a deal.  Darlene admits that it has nothing to do with the safe deposit box and everything to do with Elliot just not giving a shit.  Elliot says after years of enduring their mother’s abuse, of course he doesn’t give a damn, but Darlene’s not talking about their mom…she’s talking about Angela.  Darlene accepts that Angela’s gone, and wishes she could just brush off her death like Elliot did.  Elliot admits that he hasn’t gotten over Angela; not even close.  He takes out his walkman and hands it to her, and tells her to open it up.  There’s a tape inside labeled, “Happy Mother’s Day.”  It turns out it was a tape Elliot, Darlene and Angela made for Mrs. Moss, not Mrs. Alderson.  Darlene has no idea how their mother got it or why she kept it.  Elliot assumes she was lonely and wished her kids would’ve made her a Mother’s Day tape.  Uh…maybe if you treated them better they would have?  Just a thought.

Darlene plays the tape and asks Elliot to listen to it with her, but he can’t bring himself to do it.  However, once Darlene puts the headphones on her head and starts crying, Elliot cuddles up next to her and listens in.  Awww…

Price’s Gift to Whiterose

Price goes to visit Whiterose—disguised as Zhang—and lets her know that he’s resigning as the CEO of E-Corp by the end of the year.  Not only that, but he’s leaving the Deus Group, too.  Whiterose tells him he can’t leave now; her project hasn’t shipped to the Congo yet.  Price doesn’t care.  Whiterose mentions that in order for Price to resign, all the Deus Group members have to meet in person.  Price suggests they have a meeting on New Year’s. Whiterose ain’t happy at all, and screams at Price that the game isn’t played that way.  Price tells her that if she thinks this is all a game, she should be ecstatic.  She won.  With that, Price leaves and Whiterose is so pissed off, she sends her gorgeous Christmas tree crashing to the floor.

fsociety Reunited

Back at the funeral home, Elliot gets a call from Price, notifying that he made his move.  Elliot thanks him, but Price tells him he didn’t do it for him.  Bitch, Elliot didn’t want you to do it for him!  Anyway, Darlene shows up with their mother’s urn in tow and asks who Elliot was talking to, but he lies and says it wasn’t anybody.   Darlene sees through this and reveals that she saw him looking up info on Susan Jacobs on his phone.  Elliot asks why she cares so much, and since Darlene is in a chapel, she pretty much confesses to killing her.  Elliot immediately blasphemes, but then realizes he’s in the house of the Lord and takes pause.

On a side note, I’m still not sure if Darlene accidentally killed Susan Jacobs or if it was intentional.  On one hand, she seemed shocked when she saw Susan’s lifeless body fall into her pool after shocking her with that stun gun, and she swore up and down she didn’t know the woman had a pacemaker.  However, I don’t know how Darlene didn’t notice she had a heart condition, considering all the e-mails about pacemakers and heart health she came across when she hacked Susan’s e-mail.  Darlene had to have seen at least one of them.  Mobley did.  Not only that, but Darlene stunned the woman directly in the heart.  Most folks tend to go towards the lower torso.  I can’t even say I’m 99.9% sure of what really happened.  Too soon?  😂😂

Anyway, Darlene asks Elliot if they’re still cool, even though she committed murder.  Elliot assures her they are, considering that Susan Jacobs wasn’t exactly a moral compass, and he asks Darlene for everything she has on Susan.  Darlene wants to know why he needs that information, and Elliot lets it be known that he’s going after Whiterose.  Darlene wants in.  Elliot refuses, but Darlene truthfully tells him that every successful big time hack he did was with fsociety, and now, they’re all they have.  Deep down, Elliot knows she’s right and reluctantly lets her join the team, although he wouldn’t have had any say in the matter anyway.  Darlene mentions that she figured Elliot was up to something, but she wasn’t sure what it was.  She assumed it had something to do with Vera.

Elliot is confused.  Vera?  What about Vera?  Darlene tells him that she thought his plan involved trying to get revenge against Vera.  After all, he showed up at Elliot’s place a few months back, and when Darlene tried to tell him about it, he brushed it off.  We get a glimpse of Mr. Robot sitting nearby, looking a bit confused himself.  When Darlene leaves, Elliot’s furious.  He goes off on Mr. Robot, accusing him of being untrustworthy yet again.  Mr. Robot swears down Darlene didn’t tell him about Vera.  Elliot knows good and well Darlene didn’t say anything to him.  Mr. Robot promises he didn’t know anything about Vera coming back.  Now, we all know that Mr. Robot lies like a damn rug, but this time, he appears to be telling the truth.  Elliot asks the question we’ve all been asking…if Darlene didn’t tell him, and she didn’t tell Mr. Robot, who did she talk to?

Meanwhile, Inside the Wonderful World of Elliot’s Head…

Little Elliot is in a boardroom, turning in a chair—the same boardroom Tyrell invited grown Elliot to (for real) in the pilot episode.  There’s four chairs at the table where little Elliot is seated.

Elliot’s mom walks in and tells him that’s not his seat and he needs to move.  Little Elliot asks why and his mother answers that they have to wait until “they’re” ready.  When Little Elliot asks who they’re waiting for, his mother responds, “Him.”  Little Elliot wonders if it’s Mr. Robot.  His mother tells him it isn’t.  Little Elliot guesses it’s grown Elliot, then.  Wrong again.  Then who?  She says, “The other one.”

The other one!?

THE OTHER ONE!?

THE OTHER ONE!?  THERE’S ANOTHER PERSONALITY!?!?

And that’s the end of the show (that’s enough!  Damn!).

As usual, this episode was great, and it mooked up my mind.  No lie, I lost serious sleep over the ending.  However, after racking my brain over it for the next day or so, I think I may have an idea as to who the third personality is.  I’ll save that for a separate post; I really have to break down how and why I came up with the person I came up with.

I’ll say this much, I really miss Elliot talking to us.  Mr. Robot doesn’t talk nearly enough for my taste, although I laughed out loud at his “Fuck you” line (I wasn’t really mad 😀).  I loved the scene where Elliot and Darlene cuddled up together at the bank, and I’m so glad the dynamic duo is back together again!  Let’s just hope they both live through this.  On this show, you never know.  On a side note, whenever Elliot gave Mr. Robot the business this episode, it was hot!  Don’t judge me; I love that little guy.  He and Bruno Mars are my favorite little men.

I feel really bad for Dom, and that doggone Janice irks my nerve.  At least Leon and Irving were likable!  I really hope Dom can find a way to get out from under the Dark Army’s thumb, with Elliot and Darlene’s help, of course.  Next week, Elliot and Darlene start putting their plan in motion and Vera finally makes an appearance, whining about how he wants Elliot to be his partner.

So far, I’m enjoying the season, and I know the best (and craziest) is yet to come!  Once again, I just hope Elliot and Darlene live to tell the tale.  It’s bad enough they killed Angela…  😭😭😭

—Written by Nadiya

So what did you think about “402 Payment Required”?  Are you glad Elliot and Darlene teamed up again?  Do you think Elliot dealt with his mother’s death or just pushed it all in like Mr. Robot said?  Also, do you think Elliot and Darlene were cold about their mother dying, or were their attitudes justified?  Did you want to see what was in Mrs. Alderson’s safe deposit box?  Why do you think Price is helping Elliot?  Is it revenge for what Whiterose did to Angela?  Who do you think the third personality is?  Are you excited to see Vera come back?  Let me know in the comments section!