eps2.5_h4ndshake.sme 

Mr. Robot and Elliot try to keep the peace. Fsociety releases a video honoring Uncle Sam. Darlene acts upon an old desire.

Director:

Sam Esmail

Writers:

Sam Esmail (created by), Sam Esmail

Stars:

Rami Malek, Carly Chaikin, Portia Doubleday

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Rami Malek	...	Elliot Alderson
Carly Chaikin	...	Darlene
Portia Doubleday	...	Angela Moss
Michael Cristofer	...	Phillip Price
Stephanie Corneliussen	...	Joanna Wellick
Martin Wallström	...	Tyrell Wellick
Grace Gummer	...	Dominique DiPierro
Christian Slater	...	Mr. Robot
Gloria Reuben	...	Krista Gordon
Azhar Khan	...	Mobley
Sunita Mani	...	Trenton
Michael Drayer	...	Cisco
Brian Stokes Mitchell	...	Scott Knowles
Michele Hicks	...	Sharon Knowles
Joey Bada$$	...	Leon

Storyline

Elliot and Mr. Robot try to make peace, Elliot severs ties with Ray, and the full truth behind Elliot's seclusion is revealed; Angela drops her case and requests a new position, but she still keeps prying for answers; Joanna receives another interesting gift in the mail and makes a sacrifice to keep Derek happy; Angela confronts Darlene about fsociety; fsociety prepares for an upcoming event; In a flashback, Tyrell surprises Joanna with a gift.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Swedish Danish Spanish

Release Date:

17 August 2016 (USA)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

49 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

Origin of the Title:

• The handshake establishes the mode of communication used between a computer or server and the devices connected to it, creating an automatic connection.
• The extension: .sme files are Smart Encryptor archives. The software is open-source and free, and is designed to encrypt files sent by e-mail.

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Quotes

Elliot: Control can sometimes be an illusion. But sometimes you need illusions to gain control. Fantasy is an easy way to give meaning to world. To cloak our harsh reality with escapist comfort. After all, isn't that why we surround ourselves with so many screens? So we can avoid seeing? So we can avoid each other? So we can avoid truth.

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Connections

Referenced in Collider TV Talk: Episode #1.23 (2016)

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Soundtracks

Play the Game
(uncredited)
Performed by Jack Nitzsche

User Reviews

Long awaited answers, lots of new questions.

My oh my. This episode had a lot of big twists, including one that changes the nature of everything we've seen this season and everything we think we know. Much like the Mr Robot twist last season, I predicted it within the first couple of episodes but then completely forgot about it as I was engrossed by the story. Like any twist that changes the nature of things we've seen, it raises many questions about things we've seen and things we haven't seen. Some of them will need answering in future episodes, but many more can be more or less solved by just thinking back on the previous episodes through a new lens. The big twist's reveal was cinematically delightful, as always in this show.

Another important reveal in this episode is the fate of Tyrell Wellick. The show has been teasing that angle of the story a lot this season, and yet the reveal was strangely anti- climatic, and doesn't entirely fit the given evidence. I'm pretty sure that there's more to it, but it's good to have something resembling an answer for now.

This episode contains too many other little reveals and payoffs to recount, but it is worth noting that the episode also contains a lot of great character development. Angela takes centre stage here, while Ray and Leon also have important moments.

This season seems to alternate between episodes full of very long scenes and episodes full of very short scenes. This was the latter. Curiously, the pacing feels no different between episode types. But it's obvious which is which, because episodes like this one and episode two (counting both parts of the premiere as one) cram an unbelievable amount of material in, while episodes like last one and episode three hold a lighter load despite having the similar run-times to their counterparts.

In case it wasn't clear enough, I really liked this episode. Mind you, I'm only okay with the twist because I'm at a point with this show where I trust it to clarify certain elements in future episodes. Should it fail to do so, I might find this episode problematic in hindsight. But for now, I'll give Sam Esmail the benefit of the doubt and say that this was great.