Mr. Robot – S2 Ep 5 Review – “logic-b0mb.hc”

After a strong start and a slight stumble, Mr. Robot is up and running again, and it’s running fast with episode 5: “logic-b0mb.hc.”  While I really enjoyed the first three episodes of this season, I enjoyed them for character development purposes; nothing had quite compared to some of the intense action we experienced last season… Then the logic-b0mb dropped.  The opening scene with Elliot creating the FBI hack is some of the best work this show has done to date.  The background fading to black as he hacks; nothing else matters while Elliot is at a terminal.  It got my heart pounding; you’d think that watching someone typing on a computer would be boring but then you’d be that person who’d never seen Mr. Robot.

Elliot hacking Mr Robot

Elliot’s plan to hack the entire FBI staff’s phones comes together seamlessly, like he was meant to do this or something.  In fact, he’s doing this all while he’s supposed to be doing work for Ray.  The job he accepted is so easy to him that it’s an after thought post-FBI-hack.  That is, until he runs into a part of the hack he can’t complete without “RT,” the guy that Lone Star beat the living hell out of earlier this season.  RT reveals to Elliot what Ray’s online business really is…  but before we bite into that, let’s check in with our resident FBI agent, Dom DiPierro.

Dominique is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters on this show.  She was revealed to us as a lonely FBI officer who masturbates to instant message chats in the early morning when she can’t sleep, and whose only friend is an Amazon Echo.  Since then, she’s discovered the murder of Romero and even talked face to face with Whiterose (more on that later, as well).  With nothing to live for but her job (we find out that she left her to-be fiancé and a career as a lawyer to work for the FBI) Dom has literally nothing else to do but track down the team behind the 5/9 hack – f society.

Speaking of that wile cross-dressing leader of the Dark Army, turns out he/she’s the goddamn Minister of Security for China!  Whiterose agrees to help the FBI with their security issues and to provide them with whatever dossiers they have on the Dark Army (Ha! Right).  I love when this show puts everything right under someone’s nose.  Dom is sharing very personal moments with one of the key players of 5/9, and yet so is Whiterose, asking Dom if she ever thinks what life would be like if 5/9 never happened.

Dom Mr Robot

You have to stop and wonder if what comes next was because Whiterose feels paranoid after getting too close to Dom – as Dom is sharing her conversation with a colleague the next morning, two gunmen appear and slaughter her entire team.  Dom tries to defend herself, shooting one of the gunmen in the leg, but he takes the easy way out and kills himself.  Then we’re left with a cliffhanger as Dom takes cover from the remaining gunman.  As a side note, I would like to raise the question as to why Dom had to grab her fallen colleague’s gun… Do all FBI agents not get firearms?

Angela is back and this time she’s only half-unbearable!  She initially denies Darlene’s call for help, not wanting to get any deeper (typical Angela).  But after learning that her awesome ex-boyfriend talked to the FBI about the Allsafe computer that started 5/9, she’s left with no choice but to help Darlene and Elliot hack the FBI so she can cover her own ass.  This scenario showcases my biggest gripe with Angela – she’s one of Elliot’s best friends and yet after already being an accomplice to the 5/9 hack, only agrees to help further after her own life is threatened.  What a bitch.  We’re left with this: Elliot’s entire plan to hack the FBI rests on Angela’s shoulders, like it did with the CD and the Allsafe computer.  Great.

angela 2 mr robot

Tyrell is getting closer and closer.  I can smell his douchey cologne (you know he wears some) from a mile away.  Joanna finally gets that call from who we assume is Tyrell, and while I picture him thousands of miles away in a safe-house, an ambulance passes outside Joanna’s house and she can hear it in the phone call as well.  Tyrell is lurking around every corner and I’m still putting my money on a Tyrell vs. Ray smackdown.  This is the slowest moving storyline of the season and I’m really, really hoping that it isn’t a letdown.  The return of Tyrell better collectively blow everyone’s socks off.

But I digress, and we’re back to Elliot.  RT helps Elliot discover what Ray’s online business really is: an online black market.  “Elliot is addicted to all kinds of drugs!” I can hear you exclaiming, “Why would he have a problem with Ray selling heroin online?”  Elliot presents us with the if/then theory – if certain conditions are met, then something is triggered, that’s what a logic-b0mb is in hacking.  Ray’s website selling drugs isn’t a big enough “if” to warrant a reaction from Elliot, but Ray’s website also happens to also traffic underage girls and that’s the logic-b0mb.

Mr robot yelling

Elliot has a hard time deciding what to do with this information and of course Mr. Robot is telling him to ignore it because there are more important tasks at hand.  Just when Elliot decides that he’s going to take down Ray’s website (because he could do so in seconds) two thugs break into Elliot’s room and drag him outside to face Ray, who told him that he wasn’t supposed to look.  Cue Elliot getting the old “RT” treatment.  I’m most curious to see if this was just a warning, and Ray still wants Elliot’s help or if this is the beginning of a war.  (Psssssst, Elliot and Tyrell vs. Ray.)

You seriously need to catch Mr. Robot next week at 10PM/EST on USA.

About Joel Reaves

Joel (Aka The LA Nerd) is an independent filmmaker and podcaster that loves comic books about zombies, really short walks to the bar, and redheads named MJ but he's definitely not Spider-Man so stop asking, okay? Jeez.

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