Inside Job Season 1, Episode 1 recap: Unpresidented

Netflix’s Inside Job season 1 premiere introduces us to Reagan Ridley (Lizzy Caplan), who works at Cognito Inc. At first, we think her father, Rand Ridley (Christian Slater), is merely a conspiracy theory crackpot who falsely accuses her of working for a shadow government entity. However, rather quickly into the episode, we learn that Rand is all too accurate in his claims. Cognito Inc. does involve shadowy, reptilian world leaders and weather control, and the Dow Jones is influenced primarily through blood sacrifices. So, naturally, Reagan wants a promotion in the company and plans to replace the President (Chris Diamantopoulos) with a robot double named ROBOTUS, as she has mastered the art of artificial intelligence (AI).

We also learn that Rand used to run Cognito Inc. but lost his job after attempting to reveal its “Deep State” operations. As we tour the company, Inside Job has plenty of conspiracy theory-laden jokes, such as people taking selfies on the moon landing set. We also learn that Reagan’s “intensity freaks people out.” However, it does seem sexism comes into play regarding her quest for a promotion, which becomes even clearer when a new guy named Brett Hand (Clark Duke) joins the team, whose sole qualification is his handshake and ability to say “yes.”

Inside Job season 1, episode 1 recap: Meeting the staff at Cognito Inc.

The Inside Job season 1 premiere goes a classic route with animated series, where they immerse you in the action right away rather than give an in-depth origin story. Still, the average viewer will likely get the gist of it, including the basic premise that Cognito Inc. has a complicated mission. After all, their slogan is “We’ve got you covered…up.” So, with things like the emerging plot to replace the President, one wonders the same thing Brett asks: Is this place evil?

If Cognito Inc. is evil, Brett ultimately seems fine with it. He has a lot of standard qualifications for a societal manager, including the fact that he graduated from Yale, has enough ego to counterbalance lack of experience, and is a “yes man” to all the right people. And, again, the bossman, J.R. (Andy Daly), thinks he has one heck of a handshake. Dynamics start to form between Brett and other characters right away, too. Gigi (Tisha Campbell) in PR seems attracted to him, and he seems to blend in pretty well.

Inside Job introduces more bizarre characters, too, such as Glenn Dolphman (John DiMaggio), a man-dolphin hybrid who oversees weapons. There is also Myc (Brett Gelman), an almost jellyfish-like mushroom creature who somehow speaks in plain English. Then there is Dr. Lee (Bobby Lee). They all seem to operate under a “shadow board” that is always watching them (suggesting a secret society within a secret society, and possibly additional “watcher” layers beyond).

Inside Job season 1, episode 1 recap: Things get messy

Much of the Inside Job season 1 premiere focuses on Brett, including how he receives excess praise for bringing bagels to the office, while Reagan is ignored. Partly out of jealousy, she suspects Brett is working for someone else. She snoops around and learns that Brett worked at the State Department as a mere personal trainer and that, in high school, Brett was both a goth and a jock. Basically, it all makes him look like a social chameleon, and Reagan basically gets fired for not measuring up to Brett.

However, Reagan’s investigation is largely sidelined when flash photography scrambles President ROBOTUS’s circuits. Though ROBOTUS has some decent features, such as transforming into a travel bag, he can also function as a killing machine. As he short-circuits, ROBOTUS goes into “jingoistic overdrive” and proposes the “Americube,” which would supposedly “protect” the United States from all foreign influence. We soon learn that Rand had programmed the ROBOTUS inhibitor chip to turn off when Reagan was taken off the payroll.

Inside Job season 1, episode 1 recap: Can ROBOTUS be tamed?

Reagan gets back into the company through subterfuge (and Brett’s help) to help fight ROBOTUS (though she criticizes Brett for bringing jet fuel that “we all know can’t melt anything”). When they break in, Brett further demonstrated his chameleon-like charm, getting past multiple security guards by acting like one of their “frat bros.” So, how far does ROBOTUS go with his malfunctioning? He first deduces that America should be withdrawn from the world, but then, after observing online behavior and learning humanity’s flaws, determines that humanity must be destroyed.

It also seems ROBOTUS now has independent intelligence and is trying to activate the singularity and nuke the world. The action culminates with Reagan facing off with ROBOTUS in a helicopter. She carves her invention in half with a laser. However, by the end of the episode, we see it’s not completely destroyed, and is in fact being kept, suggesting future run-ins with this would-be robot overlord/destroyer.

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