Phillip Price’s Revenge Tour
Vengeance Is Coming, Sayeth The CEO
Mr. Robot fans, there are probably spoilers below — so do not read if you don’t want anything spoiled.
The landscape has decidedly shifted and E-Corp is now, most likely, finished as a functioning corporation. As usual, I am just playing around with some of the ends left lying around after last week’s episode.
There is no way to run a business without proof of your assets, proof of liabilities and debts owed, or proof of capitalization. Remember, Stage Two was designed to finish the 5/9 job and take down E-Corp 100% (and remember the company that E-Corp borrowed it’s logo from, Enron, is no longer with us).
There has already been some anecdotal information to support the end of E-Corp as a meaningful entity:
- Zhang’s indifference to Price’s likely fury (when warned by his Assistant and face-to-face with Price). Zhang is 100% convinced he is about to land such a decapitating blow that Price will cease to have enough influence or power to matter anymore to him.
- No E-Coin commercial during episode 3.6 — this is the first time there was not an E-Coin commercial this season and also the first time I haven’t seen E-Coin propaganda online.
- No E-Coin perks — This is the first week since they started giving away E-Coin perks that no gifts were given away. It would be impossible to send perks out in a world with no records and I suspect that any messages we get going forward at our E-Corp or E-Coin accounts will likely be corrupted.
I am not saying E-Corp is down forever and could never be reconstituted, but I do think it is likely close to death at this exact moment. I also think that the real impact of the 71 buildings twist was to destroy E-Corp (think of it as a Red Wedding, but for a company and hosted during cocktail hour at the Mara Lago Resort).
So, will the end of E-Corp mean the end of Phillip Price as Zhang clearly intended when he told Price, “You will have your accord by end of day?”
Family Matters?
One of the real problems with Zhang’s arrogance towards Price is that Price knows not only where the bodies are buried but also about Zhang’s obsessive-compulsive relationship with the Washington Township Facility (WTF).
I was in a discussion on Reddit earlier today where someone (u/Pot_T_Mouth) suggested that Angela would probably spill the beans to Price about what ‘whiterose’ was up to.
That seems logical given all the exposition suggesting that Angela is Price’s daughter (re-watch the first fifteen minutes of 3.6 if you have questions). But here is the problem, Price knows way too much already to need Angela’s help:
- He knows about Zhang’s insistence that he keep sole control of the WTF and to have no interference at the WTF from the USFG.
- He knows about Zhang’s play for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (in trade for what was supposed to be an agreement for China to give preferential currency treatment to E-Coin).
- He most likely knows that Zhang is playing China and enough of the back history of the relationship between E-Corp and Zhang to be able to cause real problems for all parties.
So, while I agree Price is most likely Angela’s father, and that he was her Mother’s anonymous benefactor, I am not sure Angela is necessary to putting the pieces together for Price.
In fact, I have to assume that part of ‘whiterose’ plan includes assassination of Price (how could he afford to be so cavalier about Price when he has his predecessor killed when he posed even less of a risk — I seem to remember that killing was entirely out of spite).
My gut tells me that the Dark Army will try a hit on Price that will appear successful but actually be a failure. My guess is that Price will go underground and start trying to take down Zhang.
And, since Zhang told Price that he was able to turn Angela from E-Corp to the Dark Army (in a previous episode) that Angela will be one of the levers Price will use to exact his revenge (In other words, he will be forced to use Angela to take down WR).
Why I am Sure Revenge Is Coming
In the aftermath of episode 3.0 there was a flurry of speculation about the particle accelerator inside the WTF and it’s possible use in creating parallel universes and/or time travel (see my recap for a fuller description of the possibilities) as part of WR’s plan to change the world.
One of the first people to respond to the speculation was Sam Esmail who confirmed that ‘whitrose’s’ plan was to use technology to change the nature of reality and to create/visit parallel universes:
“We reveal more of Whiterose’s overall plan. It is still cryptic and still a mystery, but she clearly has an agenda and that agenda does involve parallel universes. The most powerful people in the world, not unlike a lot of people in our real world, go after these loftier goals because they can, because they have the money and the power to do so. In the Mr. Robot world there is a character who is fixated on this idea of parallel universes. Do they exist? And can she somehow find a way to harness that?”
But then, on the same day, in another interview he expanded on his response to create a distinction between ‘whiterose’ goals and what was actually likely to happen on the show:
“But I will say we try to be as rooted and grounded with the real world as possible. Even though we’re in an alternate timeline, we still see a lot of parallels, given the fucked up nature of the world that parallel story is in to our real world. We think it’s important to keep that credibility to the world we know. I’ll leave it at that. I’ll say this: In the real world, we do have a lot of people with wealth and power who have some lofty designs on the nature of reality and how technology can manipulate that reality. It’s in that realm that I think we keep the show in. I’ll say this: In the real world, we do have a lot of people with wealth and power who have some lofty designs on the nature of reality and how technology can manipulate that reality. It’s in that realm that I think we keep the show in.”
And finally, in yet another interview posted that same day, Sam laid a pretty strong smack down on the idea that ‘whiterose’ would be successful in her endeavors:
“The problem with time travel? We’ve always said in the writers room that whenever you introduce time travel, it’s game over. Then all of the rules go out the window. Throwing out time travel in the middle of a series run is a little late.”
<yes, some will correctly point out that time travel is not necessarily the same as visiting parallel universes but why would it be any less “late” to change the nature of reality either through a parallel universe or through time travel?>
So, following those clues, it is likely ‘whiterose’ is trying to create a visit-able parallel universe but will likely fail (sorry Sci-Fi theory fans). So, the questions become:
How will ‘whiterose’ fail?
and
Who will cause her plans to fail?
Another person (u/Smithrandir2) made an interesting argument on Reddit earlier today, suggesting that when Phillip Price made the statement about always being the most powerful person in the room “except once…or twice,” that Price was referring to Zhang and WR.
In other words, in addition to all of the other information Price possesses, he might also know that Zhang = WR.
There is never any wasted information on Mr. Robot, so I suspect that u/Simthandir2 was correct. There was a reason Price added “or twice” to his statement and that reason is most likely that Price knows about WR.
In other words, there has just been too much exposition involving Price for this to go down cleanly. And who has more reason (now) than Price to ruin WR’s plans?
Does Phillip Price seem like the kind of person who gives up easily or who won’t try to get revenge?
So, what I am suggesting is that ‘whiterose’s’ plan will fail and that Phillip Price will be a big part of that failure.
Josh is a blogger and freelance writer. Please consider following him on Twitter, throwing a tip into his hat on Patreon, or adding his blog OnPirateSatellite to your feeds.
