The series follows Elliot Alderson, a cybersecurity engineer and hacker with social anxiety disorder, who is recruited by an insurrectionary anarchist known as "Mr.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 0.651 million household viewers and gained a 0.3 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
Before moving forward with a new plan, Elliot visits his mother, Magda (Vaishnavi Sharma), at a nursing home to thank her for helping him through his time in prison.
Angela (Portia Doubleday) hacks E Corp herself, and discovers that the toxic waste leak at the Washington Township plant wasn't fixed.
Whiterose (BD Wong), as Zhang, meets with Price (Michael Cristofer) to discuss the latter's failed bailout plan.
Elliot convinces Cisco to arrange a meeting with the Dark Army in order to find about the Stage 2, claiming that Mr.
However, Darlene realizes that she left an fsociety tape showing her face at Susan's house, forcing Cisco to leave and retrieve it.
Darlene hacks into Cisco's contact, hearing the Dark Army say Stage 2 is Elliot's plan before someone knocks at the house's door.
The site's consensus states: "Brimming with suspense and ripe with intrigue, 'Init_5' answers lingering questions only to raise others as the season approaches what's sure to be a compelling final act.
Club gave the episode a "B" grade and wrote, "It was good to have Elliot back in the fold this week, though 'init_5.fve' was weakened by a surfeit of soap opera cliffhangers.
"[7] Jay Bushman of IndieWire gave the episode a "B+" grade and wrote, "Elliot forces a meeting with Dark Army contact Xun, who we last saw breaking a needle off in Cisco's finger.
Instead, it pretty much maintains a steady boil as Elliot, Darlene, and Cisco contend with growing fallout while Angela tries to blow the whistle on E Corp's toxic-waste leaks.
The episode is largely a success because credited writers Kyle Bradstreet and Lucy Teitler pare down the focus, which allows the narrative to keep moving at an eager clip.
"[9] Alec Bojalad of Den of Geek gave the episode a 3 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "The longer Tyrell stays offscreen, the larger the boogeyman grows.