Summary: Santiago grabs Darlene and tries to take her away. Dom confronts him so he knocks her out and takes her too. Santiago takes them to a barn where they are kept under Leon's watch. Elliot panics when he realizes Darlene has been captured and connects with Mr. Robot for help. He's found by Irving who also takes him back to the barn. Irving takes Dom and Santiago. Irving murders Santiago with an axe and threatens Dom's family to ensure that she is the new Dark Army FBI mole. Dom returns to the barn and Grant arrives. Grant hears Elliot out and Elliot offers to get Whiterose's project transported in a day. Grant doesn't believe him and orders Darlene to die but Leon kills everyone else and puts the gun on Grant. Grant kills himself and Elliot has a deal with Whiterose. Leon gets Elliot to do it and then he is let go. Dom holds a grudge against Darlene for everything that happened. Elliot learns from Darlene that his father never pushed him out of the window. Elliot gets Mr. Robot's help and learns that the encryption keys were saved by him. Together, they undo the 5/9 hack. Meanwhile, Price has kept Angela locked away. He goes to talk to her and reveals that he is her father. He informs her that Whiterose manipulated her and encourages her to accept it and move on. In a post-credits scene, Vera returns and meets Darlene.
The Good: The drama at the barn was exciting to follow. I was genuinely concerned that Darlene or Dom might end up dying at some point, so I was at the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen. We were treated to some great scenes here. Elliot's showdown with Grant was dramatic, and Rami Malek delivered another lovely performance in conveying Elliot's desperation to cut a deal with Whiterose. Unfortunately for him, Grant has never liked him and you feel that Grant is looking forward to killing Elliot and Darlene. Leon's ensuing betrayal is an excellent twist, and it makes sense considering his fondness for Elliot and because the last time he let Grant take over, Mobley and Trenton ended up dead. So this time, Leon takes things into his own hands and delivers a great twist to conclude the barn sequence. But perhaps the best part of this storyline came from Irving. Irving has been around a lot this season and he seemed to be a kind-hearted free spirit that simply does his job. That all changed here. In a tremendous callback to "chopping logs" with Tyrell, Irving dons his axe and ruthlessly massacres Santiago, letting out all of his frustrations with simultaneously threatening Dom into cooperation in a terrifying manner as he casually reads names off of his hand while chopping up Santiago. This scene was brutally affecting and it landed perfectly. Irving leaving for Barbados suggests to me that he may not be coming back for the next season, which is a shame because I greatly enjoyed his performance. He at least went out in style by talking down to Grant and reminding him that Whiterose is simply using him, setting up nicely for Grant to be sacrificed by Whiterose. You can't help but feel for Dom in this episode. She hasn't done anything wrong. She did her job the best way that she could to get to the bottom of everything, and she tried her hardest to create some sort of a happy ending for Darlene. And as a reward for her troubles, Dom has her loneliness exploited and manipulated by Darlene, and she is forced to abandon all of her virtues and values under threat of torture for her family. That is absolutely brutal, and you have to feel for Dom here. Her rage-filled rant towards Darlene is powerful and affecting, even if it is misdirected in her direction. It's a brutal moment for Darlene too, adding yet another thing on her already guilty conscience to contend with. The acting from both Grace Gummer and Carly Chaikin is superb and that makes this scene work really well. It is a terrific pay-off for this season's Dom/Darlene storyline. Elliot has a great episode with a lot of big moments. His breakdown upon realizing that Darlene's life was in danger felt real, and it was conveyed perfectly. This show does a terrific job of making us feel the anxiety that the characters feel. Another big moment was Elliot finally forcing a direct conversation with Mr. Robot again, for the first time this season. I liked the callback to season 1 with the discussion taking place on a ferris wheel. It's nice to see them talking again, and instead of any kind of conflict, it feels like there is a mutual understanding between them now. Mr. Robot is addressing that there is a part of Elliot inside of him, and that is key for Elliot feeling like he can trust him again. I liked the reveal that it was Mr. Robot who left a way to undo the 5/9 hack, not Romero. There is much more significance to it being Mr. Robot, and you can sense that this reveal has allowed Elliot to trust his alter ego once more, accepting that Elliot needs Mr. Robot to fight back against the Dark Army. The conversations between these two towards the end of the episode were rich and filled with emotion. The dialogue is written so well, and it's good to see Elliot accept that he has to undo 5/9 to help him contend with the guilt he feels for causing the complete mess that was his misguided "revolution". We're treated to a couple of big reveals in this episode. The first is that Price is Angela's father. I'm surprised that I never picked up on this one (the hints were definitely there), but it was an effective twist that clears up why Price was always so invested in Angela. I don't think it's that big of a moment, but it takes place in a great scene as Price gets to play the father and help Angela recover from her deluded state. Combining the twist with the emotions of Angela accepting what happened to her strengthened the moment significantly. It was good to humanize Price a bit by seeing him put in some effort to help Angela move forwards. The second twist is the reveal that Elliot's father never threw him out of the window. I predicted this back in season 1 (and for a while I thought it was actually confirmed), so this one did not surprise me much. However, it was an effective character moment so I'm grateful for its inclusion. Elliot had spent much of this season trying to cut Darlene out, thinking that she was bad for him. But now Elliot understands more than ever that he needs her, and that she is his connection to a past that he cannot seem to properly remember. This reveal is also more consistent with what we have seen from Elliot's father in previous episodes, showing him as a kind and gentle soul, certainly not the type of man to push someone out of a window. The Bad: There were a few minor things that lowered the episode's quality. The two twists didn't amount to very much in the end, so they don't feel like the monumental moments that the episode is trying to tell us they are. This episode used the rapid intercutting trick that was used back in "eps2.8_h1dden-pr0cess.axx" and "eps3.5_kill-pr0cess.inc" to build tension. Since we have seen it multiple times before, it was less effective this time and didn't carry as much suspense with it. It even used the exact same music as the first time, so it felt repetitive. Leon's betrayal and Grant's death are good dramatic moments, but they can't help but feel a little bit underdeveloped compared to most other storylines. Usually we see more depth and care put into storylines than this. This show usually portrays hacking with thorough detail and care, but that didn't happen in these final few episodes. Elliot hacks the Dark Army with no issues whatsoever. I thought they had set a trap, but apparently not. Furthermore, he simply solves Whiterose's shipping problem without batting an eye, which was underwhelming due to its simplicity. Again, we usually see more depth in storylines like this. I have a few final quibbles. Dom looks like an idiot for allowing herself to be knocked out so easily. Cameras or not, she is smart enough to keep her guard up against Santiago. Lastly, I was disappointed that we didn't check in with Tyrell. He is a major character and I feel like he wasn't quite used to his fullest this season, though what we got from him was very good. The Unknown: Why did Leon betray Grant for Elliot? Was it just because he liked Elliot and didn't want to see him needlessly suffer? Is Whiterose okay with this? She claims that she loves Grant, but I don't buy it. Irving clearly suggested that Grant was expendable. Why did Elliot jump out of the window himself? Why doesn't he remember this? Did Mr. Robot remember this? We know that Mr. Robot didn't come into existence until after Elliot's father died, or could he have existed before? Are there still further secrets about Elliot that we don't know about? What will be the fallout of undoing 5/9? It definitely won't make everything better. Will it cause more problems in the world? I suspect it will. What problems? How is Dom going to handle being a mole? I suspect that it's only a matter of time before she actively starts fighting against the Dark Army. Vera has returned! The post-credits scene was done in one long take as always, but I was hugely surprised by this reveal. Vera hasn't even been mentioned since season 1 I believe. Where has he been? Why is he back? What does he want from Elliot? Best Moment: The final few minutes between Elliot and Mr. Robot. It's great to see them back together again. Character of the Episode: Elliot. Conclusion: This finale was consistently good with a few flashes of brilliance. There was quality storytelling with tense scenes, memorable performances, and engaging dialogue that set up season 4 superbly. Season 3 was exceptional. I had a lot of concerns about this series following season 2, but its immediate improvement surprised me, and season 3 ended up being a fantastic season. The storytelling was easier to understand and that resulted in more memorable and effective character arcs. Every character had their best season yet, and I was engaged in everyone's storylines. The only major flaws come from Angela's story (again), but her story is still watchable as Portia Doubleday offers up a good performance and she was involved in some intense moments throughout the season. Outside of the characters, this season was still superb. The production value was as good as ever, and we had some of the biggest events in the whole series happen in this season, providing major twists, dramatic moments, and loads of pay-off for two seasons of build-up. Furthermore, this season provided a deeper and more insightful look at the show's themes, and it challenged us by changing what we believed to be true about the show. There are certainly still flaws here but they are much less abrasive than they were in previous seasons. I loved this season, and in my opinion, it's up there as one of the all-time great TV seasons. Score: 70
3 Comments
Joe Y
4/29/2022 10:18:53 pm
Season 3 was the year that Mr. Robot really pulled itself together. I never quite bought into the hype of Season 1--it's a well-made season of tv, but just a little too derivative to truly excel. Season 2 saw the show strike out on its own, but it fell victim to the same storytelling flaws that would sink Westworld, more invested in tricking its audience than telling an engaging story. Season 3's story is much tighter, and all the better for it--clearly the peak of the show overall. Not sure if you've seen Season 4 yet, but for me it doesn't quite match S3 for a few reasons.
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Aaronic
4/30/2022 07:33:25 am
We seem to have a pretty similar taste in television from the sound of it haha. I'm watching the fourth season for the first time right now, reviewing as I go through it.
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Joe Y
4/30/2022 04:11:55 pm
There are a few defenses of S2 out there, I've just never found them convincing. I'm fine with weirdness and mystery in a story. Lost and The Leftovers have plenty of that. But weirdness for its own sake and mystery used to obscure the real story (instead of *being* the story as is the case with The Leftovers) isn't going to appeal to me, and I'm not surprised you didn't care for it too much either. At least you didn't have to wait over a year for Season 3! But yes--conventional story structures have their place. Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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