- This is the episode shot to look like a continuous scene from uninterrupted camera footage. That was actually a series of tricky transitions, compositing effects of swinging doors and walls which would have imposed barriers the cameras could not transit in reality.
- Elliot wakes in a crowded E Corp elevator. There is a sound of crackling static to imply a glitch, the runtime error, in his disjointed experience. A middle-parted German says "Aller anfang ist schwer. Anfangen ist einfach. Beharrlichkeit eine kunst." That translates as "Beginnings are hard. To begin is easy, to persist is an art."* A music chorus begins in 4:4 time "One two three four," which later has further relevance. The TV inside the elevator covers the story that today the UN Security Council will vote on China's annexation of the Congo.
- *This seems to be a German proverb by Friedrich Heinrich Wilhelm Körte (1861).
- Elliot's phone is buzzing in his pocket, but he is unaware of it until Angela, standing next to him, brings it to his attention. More crackling occurs. It's Darlene, who says to meet her downstairs in ten. Angela asks if everything is okay. "Everything's fine," he assures. "Hey, we should grab lunch later," she replies with a look of concern.
- Elliot receives graphic sex talk from his coworker Samar. When calling him on it, the response is mixed, but raises the question "What did I do this weekend?" Still unable to account his time, we tries to log on to the workstation, and is denied access. He phones the help desk for a password reset, giving his employee number as "072391."*
- *07-23-91 is the date published in a book for the date that Nelson Mandala allegedly died in prison, years before more memorable moments in his life. This is the event for which "The Mandala Effect" gets its name, describing false memories inconsistent with present reality. Some even believe that people bring real experiences back from alternate timelines in the multiverse.
- Still waiting for the help desk, he asks Samar if he can borrow his computer (actually wanting to check a monitoring computer about shipping). He discovers an update failure, showing Stage 2 is already beginning to attempt to hack the UPSes.
- Bobbi from HR & security arrive as Elliot gets word back from the help desk that "we cannot restore your access at this time." Elliot knows hey come for him, so he asks Samar to stall as he grabs his notebook & backpack, and runs. The camera lifts overhead, and Elliot's narrative instructs us "stay focused!"
- Trying to scam an old lady Edie sniffing whiteout, he discovers she's the wrong mark as she is very competent about computers. But She's also quick to blame a younger coworker, so Elliot changes his target. He now knows that Stage 2 is in effect, and he has to reach the HSMs (Harware Security Machines) before Dark Army does.
- He has to run to an elevator, but is forced to the lobby where security is prepared to escort him outside. In the protest out front, he tries to warn the Recovery Building, but is not understood over the noise and confusion. He meets Darlene, who tells him she has been working with the FBI since Cisco's death. I crackle and high pitch return. He feels betrayed, but she updates him about Mr Robot meeting Angela.
- The camera sweeps back through the riot police and protest crowd, then sweeps forward again to a CNN newscast of the impending riot. (A superimposed CNN headline briefly takes over the camera view.)
- We are carried into the action of the opening attack, as thrown bottles and gas grenades start the riot into the lobby. The camera follows a pack of attackers into the elevator where the pack leader demands an employee "scan your badge!" After physically forcing the scan, they all stand politely as the song restarts its 4:4 march... "One two three four." When it reaches its floor, the car opens and the song breaks into a frenzied pace: "Onetwothreefour Onetwothreefour..."
- As the rioters break out across the 41st floor, they spray paint art & windows, kicking over stacks of paperwork and files along the way. Angela answers a call from Irving, replying with passcodes: "This is Angela." "Blankenship." "Mentor." He instructs her to get a package near the elevators. She's afraid to leave the office amidst the riot, but he simply says "that's our distraction." She retrieves the package, sees the badge and instruction paper, and replies "He'll get it done."
- She enters the elevator and presses 23. On floor 32, a security chief Murphy unexpectedly enters the elevator. He says he'll escort her to the secure zone with no windows on 23. Meanwhile, the news is that the UN has passed the annexation of Congo for China.
- Power on the elevator is lost. Murphy sees her drop an ID badge with higher access than hers, busting her story that it was dropped by her "direct report." By protocol, he says "we're going to have to straighten this out," but the moment he starts leading her away, she draws the rioters to attack him.
- She is chased into a room. The camera follows 'above the walls.' It even pans outside (from the middle floor of the building?), and back in where she performs the instructed operation on the HSM.
- Many of the transition are tricky to provide the suggestion that they flow uninterrupted. One angle the ceiling and floors above are removed for bird's eye viewing; the next it is back in view of the camera.
- Most of the way through the setup, she realizes that the USB key is missing. She steps back out into the locked office. Ransacking the desks, she eventually finds a backpack that has the key. Just then, a frenzied woman enters the room and locks the door behind. Angela sees her ID, and likewise she spots Angela's, asking "how did you get in here?" As Angela tries to 'splain her way out, a rioter busts the door window and forces his way in. The woman pepper-sprays him and flees.
- Eyes stinging with spray, Angela makes her way back to the HSM. She executes the procedure, punches the code into a USB security pad. It quickly clones a long list of files to thumbdrive.
- She needs to leave back to her office, but prepares her self for such a dangerous path. She spots the FSociety mask stained with pepper spray on the floor. Grabbing a nearby hoodie, she wipes the mask and puts on the disguise.
- Near the elevator, the rioters are looting the place and the body of Murphy. She continues to the lifts. For an instant, Elliot is seen running past toward the HSM room. She enters, removes her mask, and gasps for air. Frank Cody is on TV explaining how the UN vote shows "why we need a man with business accumen like Donald Trump to be president."
- Angela phones back Irving, with passcodes "Marlinspike" and "Moxie." She frets she was made by the woman in the CSAT room, Lydia Riley. She informs him of the completed operation; he tells her to deliver the contents to reception on her floor.
- In these exchanges between Angela and Irving, they are using the end-to-end encrypted communications app Signal.
- She returns to floor 41, and Hamburger Man is there, wearing his usual cleansuit and a Red Wheelbarrrow ball cap. He is eating his usual sandwich. She hands him the package, and he hands her a BBQ bag, then leaves.
- Gasping and trembling, Angela walk her way back to her office. Elliot is standing there. "Angela, is there something you want to tell me?"
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