This episode has been hyped up a lot by the promotional material, and I'm sure it will continue to be hyped up by fans in the future. I've been waiting anxiously all week for this to come out, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. It not only kicks off the climax to a story-line that has been building for a season and a half, but does it in the most cinematically impressive way possible; one long shot.
That's right, the entire episode is one long shot. There are obviously many cuts hidden in there, but they aren't visible to the viewer. For all intents and purposes, it's a 46-minute- long shot. But the thing I really appreciate about it is that it doesn't seem at all like they did it just for the sake of showing off; rather they use it to immerse us in the paranoia of the characters and simulate what it would really be like to be on the ground in a situation like this. It's gripping, intense, and all the more effective because it doesn't let up for the entire episode. I actually breathed a sigh of relief at the end of the episode, not because the danger had passed (quite the opposite in fact) but because the shot had finally ended.
The episode can be dissected quite nicely into two halves; the first half, in which Elliot realizes stage 2 is going down and tries desperately to stop it, and the second half, in which Angela has to navigate a violent riot in order to execute stage 2. The two halves use the format of the extended shot quite differently from one another (though both extremely effectively). In the first half, we take on the role of the viewer (AKA Elliot's third personality) and float around his head the entire time, giving us the longest and most immersive representation so far of this meta aspect of the story. From this perspective, we see Elliot finally piece everything together and then scramble to stop it. In the second half, the shock of graphic violence from the riot suddenly gives the episode life-or-death stakes which amp up the tension as it passes over to Angela, whose section of the episode is more viscerally thrilling than Elliot's.
All in all, I sense this episode will be discussed for years to come. It's ballsy, thrilling, cerebral, and definitely one of the show's best.
That's right, the entire episode is one long shot. There are obviously many cuts hidden in there, but they aren't visible to the viewer. For all intents and purposes, it's a 46-minute- long shot. But the thing I really appreciate about it is that it doesn't seem at all like they did it just for the sake of showing off; rather they use it to immerse us in the paranoia of the characters and simulate what it would really be like to be on the ground in a situation like this. It's gripping, intense, and all the more effective because it doesn't let up for the entire episode. I actually breathed a sigh of relief at the end of the episode, not because the danger had passed (quite the opposite in fact) but because the shot had finally ended.
The episode can be dissected quite nicely into two halves; the first half, in which Elliot realizes stage 2 is going down and tries desperately to stop it, and the second half, in which Angela has to navigate a violent riot in order to execute stage 2. The two halves use the format of the extended shot quite differently from one another (though both extremely effectively). In the first half, we take on the role of the viewer (AKA Elliot's third personality) and float around his head the entire time, giving us the longest and most immersive representation so far of this meta aspect of the story. From this perspective, we see Elliot finally piece everything together and then scramble to stop it. In the second half, the shock of graphic violence from the riot suddenly gives the episode life-or-death stakes which amp up the tension as it passes over to Angela, whose section of the episode is more viscerally thrilling than Elliot's.
All in all, I sense this episode will be discussed for years to come. It's ballsy, thrilling, cerebral, and definitely one of the show's best.
