2.11 Python Pt. 1 It also involves Angela being taken by her kidnappers to a suburban home where a young girl asks her questions like “Have you ever cried during sex” in a room that contains nothing but an aquarium and an ancient computer. But among all of those truly reality-bending, mind-fucking moments there is the surprisingly affecting story about a young FBI agent and her digital household helper. “They can’t get away with this,” she says. “They’re going to get away with this,” he responds. “Alexa, are we friends?” “Yes.” “Alexa, what is your favorite colour?” “Infrared.” “Alexa? What colour are your eyes? Mine are grey. I think.” “Alexa. Are you alone?” “Alexa. Do you love me?” In an episode that’s so unrelentingly bizarre, it’s nice to have a quiet poignant moment, even if its between humanity and an algorithm. But Dom’s interactions with Alexa serve another purpose beyond that. As if this scene wasn’t enough to remind you of Dom’s previous conversations with Alexa, the “Previously On” segment of Python Pt. 1 does it for us. We get to go back a few episodes and observe the time Dom asked Alexa an even bigger question, bigger than even perhaps “Do you love me?” “Alexa, when is the end of the world?” Python Pt. 1 is the best episode of Mr Robot this season because it clarifies the show and season’s purpose even more perfectly than ever before.* Python Pt. 1 feels apocalyptic. Hell, this whole season feels apocalyptic. The collapse of currency (culminating this week with the adoption of ECoin as the United States’ new currency), the failing of thew power grid, etc, etc. Mr Robot doesn’t need us to understand what’s happening onscreen. Mr Robot instead has been trying to make us feel what the end of the world feels like while suffering from schizophrenia at the same time. Experience the collapse of the economy and power grid all while at the same time questioning the very fabric of reality you live in. *Yes, even more than last week’s which I both called the best episode of the season and said clarified the season’s purpose more perfectly than ever before. I’m gullible…or empathetic. Season two has only gotten more inscrutable as it’s gone along precisely because this is the end of the world (as we know it). It shouldn’t make sense. We cannot conceive of it. The reality (or at least what we’re pretty confident reality is) on the show reflects that with the aforementioned blackouts and unprecedented loan from rival superpower to private company. But so does almost everything else. Elliot’s dissociative identity is disorienting. The editing is disorienting. The storytelling choices like all the cliffhangers and Tyrell’s extend absence is disorienting. And that’s the point. At some point between season one and two, Mr Robot creator Sam Esmail claimed he had a solid plan in place to pull off future seasons of Mr Robot. This was supposed to be a movie after all and we’re only in Act Two with many more to go. Surely, what we as viewers would get was a solid, confident next step into an overarching storyline. Mr Robot season two is an entire season of television that exists subtextually. We’ve gotten text but almost none of it matters. As Elliot says to us in the cab when he sees Tyrell Wellick again “This is no longer a question of what I’m seeing. We know that’s not reliable. The question is: what am I not seeing?” There’s no question of what we’re seeing. The only question is what are we not seeing? That’s what this entire season has been. Not only has it been frustrating but in some senses terrifying. Elliot’s own reaction in the cab is indicative of that. “Do you see someone sitting next to me?!?” he screams to the cab driver in a panic. And then he screams it again. And again. And then hits against the barrier to the front seat over and over again, trying to get some outside confirmation that this is all real. I almost never believe that shows can stick the landing when it comes to finales. It’s such a difficult feat to rationally conclude a season of 12-24 episodes. But Mr Robot by becoming more inscrutable every week has paradoxically made it clearer and clearer that the end will somehow satisfy. Because how could it not? Just even to gain a semblance of clarity. in some ways, however, I hope they don’t. This feeling of the apocalyptic schizophrenia is hard to top. Read Alec’s review of the previous episode, Hidden Process, here.
