Whiterose’s machine was a Macguffin - it never mattered whether it worked or not because this show was never going to go full sci-fi. It was a plot device used to convey how completely batshit Whiterose was, and it never mattered what Angela saw, because ultimately the result was that she was manipulated by Whiterose. We can all imagine I’m sure that Whiterose showed her some kind of simulated fake world where her parents were still alive and she was so desperate to believe it, she went along with Whiterose.
I’m really happy with how the show turned out. Ultimately, the story being told was smaller-scale than what it appeared to be. The show was about Elliot’s suppression of his trauma, and how he created other personalities to deal with it. I also loved the show for the hacking and thriller components, which were what served to drive the story, but ultimately they weren’t the show’s true purpose.
If I have a complaint about the show, it would probably be that sometimes the expository pieces where info about Elliot was revealed felt kind of overwrought - like the scenes had to work a bit too hard to tell us what was going on, rather than conveying the information in a more subtle way.
This is one of the best shows I’ve seen this year though for sure. I liked S1 and 2, but I loved 3 and 4.