Summary: Elliot prepares to cover up what he has done. Mr. Robot appears and discourages Elliot who won't listen. Elliot is busted by police officer Dom and runs away to the subway where he goes to Coney Island where he's going to marry Angela. However, she is not there. Mr. Robot tries to explain to Elliot that this is not a parallel universe, rather a prison where Elliot keeps the "real Elliot" imprisoned so he can keep control. The Elliot we have been following is another personality called "The Mastermind". Elliot runs after Angela, who suddenly appears, and after a dream-like sequence, he finds himself in a room with Krista. Krista explains all of Elliot's personalities to him and tells him that it's time to let go and allow the real Elliot to take back control. Elliot refuses and wakes up in the hospital with Darlene and gradually accepts that he's just a personality. Darlene always knew but finally had a chance to be close with Elliot so she didn't bring it up. In the end, Elliot relinquishes control and the real Elliot wakes up to Darlene.
The Good: This was a highly effective finale. In this final episode, Sam Esmail revealed his final hand and finally divulged one final enormous twist which had very clearly been planned out since the start of the show. Even if you did predict the twist, it's still effective, emotional, and completely changes our perspective of the entire show. I am of course talking about the reveal of "The Mastermind", telling us that the character we had been following all along was never the real Elliot, but another personality who had been put in control for the past while to create a better world for the real Elliot. To avoid things getting too complicated, I will dub "The Mastermind" simply as "Elliot" and the other Elliot as "the real Elliot". This twist is really impressive. I did not see it coming, and having watched some earlier scenes of the show, it makes perfect sense and aligns with what we have seen in the show. A few notes I can specifically bring up is the importance this put on Elliot's morphine addiction, which is what caused him to forget that he is not the real Elliot, and it also explains why he forgot so many things, including Darlene. Furthermore, this also explains why Angela was always inexplicably distant from Elliot and why it was always so hard for me to understand how they were such close friends for so long. In the end, Angela was interacting with somebody who was completely different from the Elliot that she knew for the entire duration of the show. I really love what this twist does to the show on rewatch. It's going to be a completely different experience to rewatch this show with all of the new knowledge we have about Elliot and who he actually is. Overall, I think that this twist works so well because it has layers to it, it makes sense, it changes how we can view the show, and perhaps most importantly, it has an emotional impact within this episode. The emotional aspect of this twist fits in so well with the themes of the show. One of those central themes is what it means to be in control. I haven't discussed it as much as I should have since I never realized how central this idea was to the story of the show. But "Mr. Robot" has always been about the illusion of control and what it means to have agency over your life. It makes perfect sense that this final episode hinges on who is in control in the head of Elliot Alderson. The Elliot that is in control was a fake all along, and the emotion of this episode comes from Elliot having to accept that he is a fake and needs to relinquish his own control to let the real Elliot, the one who belongs in this body, return to his own life. I became invested in this plight, and there were a lot of powerful scenes that explored this idea. Elliot's scene with "Krista" is very effective at giving up all of the necessary exposition, and Elliot's difficulty in accepting these harsh truths was wonderfully acted and so human. But after waking up to Darlene, Elliot feels immense guilt now that he is living a life that he knows he doesn't belong in. After a heartfelt and beautiful scene with Darlene, he finally lets go, and I found myself with a sad smile as the real Elliot was finally allowed back into the world and Elliot took his place in the real Elliot's mind alongside all of his other personalities. That scene with Darlene was wonderfully effective. The bond she has with Elliot is the best character relationship in the series. We've always known that Elliot and Darlene weren't particularly close before fsociety, so there is some beautiful honesty in Darlene being unable to tell Elliot about the nature of his existence because she simply wanted the chance to repair her relationship with her brother, and she was able to do that easier with Elliot compared to the real Elliot who she ran away from before. But of course knowing somebody who is only a part of Elliot isn't enough for Darlene, and part of her did crave to have her real brother back. It's such a sad scenario, which gives the episode's conclusion a heartwarming sense of happiness as Darlene is finally able to reunite with her brother - her real brother. I did like the twist that this parallel universe ended up being a fake world that Elliot created in his head. It had its flaws (see: The Bad), but it was a subversion that nicely set up the much bigger twist by explaining where the real Elliot had been all along (living in this loop over and over again). It was great to see "Mr. Robot" include some final filmmaking delights in this episode, especially with that trippy sequence where Elliot is running around Coney Island as reality seemingly collapses all around him. Mr. Robot's face is everywhere, Krista appears, we hear Angela say that iconic "you're not Elliot, you're The Mastermind" line, and even Tyrell shows up to shoot Elliot. This sequence was a lot of fun to watch, and did a magnificent job of confusing reality for us. The Bad: Parts of this episode felt a bit cheap. For example, we were misled into believing that this world was a parallel universe only for it to have been a delusion inside of Elliot's head the whole time. The reveal made sense and it was an effective twist, but it does feel cheap considering that we spent 3 episodes inside of this world only to be told that it was fake all along. Especially considering that this is the final storyline of the series, it doesn't feel right that we spend so much of it in a separate world inside Elliot's head. Furthermore, the idea that this world exists is too strong of a metaphor for me to accept. The mind is such an abstract concept, and I've usually appreciated how this show attempts to create some literal meaning out of such an abstract concept, but this was a step so far. To have such a realistic and well-developed world in Elliot's head where he sends his real consciousness away was a step too far for me to easily accept without question. I was also disappointed that we never got answers to what Whiterose showed Angela. "eXit" teased heavily that we would understand the nature of Whiterose's machine and how she manipulated Angela so heavily. But we never got those answers, and I'm left frustrated as to why the show would tease something that it had no intention of answering. I'm fine with the idea of leaving these things unanswered, but don't tease answers if they are not coming! It's the same mistake that "Lost" made when marketing the final season. The Unknown: Not too many questions of substance. I think that this finale resolved everything nicely. However, I do have a lot of questions to pay attention to for when I inevitaly revisit this show. When did The Mastermind first emerge? How much did this affect the people in his life? When did Darlene realize that Elliot was not who she remembered? How did The Mastermind forget that he was not the real Elliot? Did Mr. Robot always treat Elliot differently, knowing that he was not the real Elliot? So was there really nothing to Whiterose's machine? What exactly did she show Angela? I suppose we will never know. Best Moment: Elliot speaking with Darlene and coming to peace with the fact that he needs to relinquish control. I've said time and time again that their bond is the heart of the show and that remained true here. Character of the Episode: Elliot/The Mastermind. Conclusion: This was a beautiful, powerful series finale. It had some flaws for sure, but overall this was an excellent way to conclude the series, providing a thematic and resonant conclusion. Score: 75
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Summary: Elliot wakes up in the alternate universe and finds out things are different. His dad is alive, and his so is his mother, who is know very loving. Elliot learns he's supposed to marry Angela and tries to go see her. He runs into her parents, including Price, at her apartment. They get a call from the other Elliot and Elliot picks up. This causes an Earthquake. Elliot runs out and goes to his apartment where he hacks the other Elliot. He learns that the other Elliot created drawings of fsociety, including of our Elliot and Darlene. The other Elliot returns and meets Elliot. Both of the Elliots speak and learn what is happening, but an Earthquake happens and the other Elliot cracks his head and is knocked out. After calling with Angela, Elliot decides to kill the other Elliot and take over his life.
The Good: This episode is divided into two halves. The first takes place during the events at the end of the last episode, catching us up to what our Elliot has been doing in this other world. Then the second half moves the story forward in a dark new direction. Starting on the first half, I thought this was very satisfying to watch. It's engaging to see Elliot slowly realize the truth about the world that he is in, and there are a few delights along the way to make this even better. Elliot encountering his living father and running away from "his monster" is the first of such delights. It's a great reminder of Elliot's fear of his father, despite him being so seemingly kind and spirited. We also get some other delightful scenes with characters from Elliot's past. Elliot interacting with his mother was a blast, especially with how unexpectedly kind she was with him. I also enjoyed seeing Price again, acting as a jovial father-in-law, which is a curious contrast to the villain that he has been throughout the show. I enjoyed this first half for its intentional whiplash effect with how different things are. Additionally, I found it immensely satisfying how several little details tied this into the sequence at the end of "eXit". We get to see what happened to Elliot's father's phone, and what happened to Angela's parents when other Elliot went to visit them. The second half of this episode gets more intense, exploring what this world is and what that means for Elliot. Elliot breaks into his own apartment using his own key and ends up hacking his other self. It's a lot of fun to see another hacking sequence, and the editing and cinematic flair is as magnificent as ever. I've always loved how this show portrays the activity of hacking, dramatizing it while still remaining realistic. Elliot's hacks lead into a startling truth that makes us question the nature of this world: the other Elliot has personal drawings of our Elliot, Darlene, and fsociety. Suddenly it became a realistic possibility that this world is reality and the world we have been following all along has been false. I have my gripes with this idea (see: The Bad and The Unknown), but it was a big twist that completely uprooted my understanding of what was going on, opening up further possibilities about how this series will wrap up. This was an exciting change that raised the drama of the episode. Then we get into the big moments at the end of the episode. The two Elliots meet and their interactions are fun to watch. Rami Malek does well at playing two slightly different versions of himself, and it's exciting to see how these two different characters slowly come to the same conclusion about the reality of who they are. Our Elliot faces the possibility of him being a fake, while the other Elliot has to comprehend that a fake character has somehow sprung to life in front of his own eyes. Both of these characters' plights are engaging and add an emotional element to the episode. Then out of nowhere, the episode takes a massively dark turn as other Elliot gets knocked out in an Earthquake and our Elliot decides to murder him to take over his life. The moment is a shocker, as Elliot has gone against his own morals just for the chance to spend his life with Angela. He's accepting the possibility that Whiterose was right, and decides to murder his other self for personal gain. This was shockingly dark, and I wonder if there will be consequences for Elliot making this unexpectedly bleak decision. I loved the return of Elliot's narration. It has been missing this entire season, so it feels monumental to have it back. Getting back into Elliot's head is fitting for this finale, and emphasizes that this show has always been about him and his experiences. I couldn't think of a better time to reintroduce Elliot's narration. The Bad: As I had feared in the last episode, I'm struggling to fully invest in this finale because this is a different world than the one we have spent the whole story in. Even if this is all in Elliot's head (see: The Unknown), it feels so disjointed from the rest of the series. We are spending an absurd amount of time in this world without enough emotion-driven storytelling to make it feel worth it. It's cool to see alternate versions of characters who have already died, and events that would never happen in the real world, but I don't have enough of an emotional connection to all of this for it to hit me hard. Perhaps all of that is being saved for the final episode and this episode is purely set-up. I certainly hope so. I really hope that Mr. Robot isn't about to jump the shark in its final act, but there is a chance that this happens. There are a lot of ways that this final episode can go, but some of the suggested ideas in this episode, like the entire plot of the show being fake, feel immensely cheap and unsatisfying. While I enjoyed much of the content in this episode, it didn't quite gel with me for some reason. I haven't fully connected with the direction that the show has gone in since "eXit" and I'm not entirely sure why. But a lot of the drama here never sniffed great for me, despite it all being logically sound and enjoyable to watch. Perhaps after the finale I will be able to better articulate why this parallel universe storyline hasn't been "Mr. Robot" at its best. The Unknown: What is this alternate world? Did Whiterose's machine work, or is this something else entirely? Is this all some sort of fever dream in Elliot's head? Was Elliot created by this other Elliot? What does this mean? Does this mean that much of the story we have seen so far has been fabricated? If so, I can't help but feel that this is a bit of a cheap ending. I hope that there's more to the story than that. Will Elliot be able to find peace in this world? Will he be able to seamlessly replace the other Elliot or will there be problems? Where is Mr. Robot? Why is he not in this world? Or is he hiding for some reason? Best Moment: I was horrified by Elliot opting to murder his alternate self. Character of the Episode: Elliot. Conclusion: What a curious way to kick off the series finale. I'm not sure about what to feel about most of this, but it was certainly interesting to watch. This was well written with some good emotional scenes, and I suspect that the more impactful stuff has been saved for the final episode. Score: 67 Summary: Whiterose is attacked in a raid but her men kill all of the attackers. Whiterose heads to the Washington Township Plant. Elliot says his goodbye to Darlene and also goes to the plant where he finds everyone has been killed. He uploads his malware to destroy Whiterose's machine but is found by sandwich guy who takes him to see Whiterose. The two talk about their contrasting views and Whiterose kills herself, activating the machine and leaving Elliot with the choice of whether to let it activate or not. Elliot tries to stop it by playing a game but is engulfed in a flash. The episode resumes in a parallel universe where Elliot is the confident CEO of Allsafe and is slated to marry Angela tomorrow. He lands F Corp as a major client after a meeting with Tyrell. Elliot plans a surprise gift for Angela with his father. Upon returning home, Elliot encounters the hooded Elliot from the main universe.
The Good: This episode had an air of finality to it. It felt like we were building up to the final confrontation and closing out the story of the whole show in this episode. This started from early in the episode. We got to see the rest of Darlene and Elliot's conversation from the last episode, and their goodbye is as sweet as you would expect. I maintain that their relationship is the emotional crux of this show, and I've adored seeing how close they have become since season 1. After this moment, the episode delves into long music sequences as Elliot goes to the Washington Township Plant. These scenes are not strictly necessary, but they add to the atmosphere and sense of finality, creating a sense of spectacle. There are plenty more long, slow-paced scenes in this episode, and while they aren't the most dramatic, they create a unique feeling for this episode that I appreciate. This all built up to a meeting between Elliot and Whiterose. Whiterose did not go down in that final scene in "409 Conflict", and the cold open showed us that she was still prepared enough to murder every cop that raided her compound. The title drop in this episode is as gorgeous as ever, overlaid on top of the massacre in Whiterose's mansion. She ends up heading to the Plant where she leaves even more carnage in her wake. This episode has an interesting motif of dead bodies, as we have multiple wordless sequences where we see bodies everywhere. Once in the nuclear plant, Elliot finds everyone to be dead, and after he installs his malware, he's finally taken to meet Whiterose. Now this meeting is one I have been waiting to see for a long time. They have not interacted since season 1, and with their second meeting finally happening after such a long time, this feels monumental. The dialogue in this meeting does not disappoint. The scene goes for 11 minutes and this fateful confrontation is a highly satisfying philosophical debate that highlights the differences between these two characters. Elliot perfectly gets to showcase his development from season 1. From once having such a pessimistic worldview, Elliot has learned to appreciate the good in this world, and this is what he argues about to oppose Whiterose. Meanwhile, Whiterose fully believes that she's doing her best for humanity and that she's sacrificed everything for the betterment of the world. Evidently, this is not true, but she has deluded herself into believing it, and BD Wong's unhinged, emotional performance completely sells it. Whiterose is so passionate about her project that she quite literally gives up her own life for her cause. Her delusions are far too strong to be reasoned with, and it's quite tragic to see that this character who rose so high and accomplished so much did it for such a ridiculous cause that could never be true. But the ending of this episode turns that all on its head. Whiterose kills herself and we get a tense sequence as Elliot plays eXit to shutdown the machine (see: The Unknown). This is a typical suspense-heavy scene and it's very good, but what surprised me was the result. The machine seemingly does go off and we're thrust into a parallel universe where Elliot is living a happy "normal" life and everything is different. A few examples include Tyrell being a hoodie-wearing visionary, E Corp being replaced by F Corp, Elliot's father is still around, Angela is alive and slated to marry Elliot, and Darlene doesn't seem to exist. These final scenes are curious to watch, and they raise a ton of questions. They aren't very emotionally effective, but they have moved the story in a bold new direction that I wasn't expecting. I presume that the emotional impact will be coming in the two-part series finale, and I'm interested to find out what's going on and what this all means for Elliot. I was pleased to see the sandwich guy one final time. He's managed to become a fun character through a few sporadic experiences where he eats a sandwich, having no dialogue. This is how to make a memorable minor character. It was pleasantly surprising to get some answers on what Whiterose did when she spoke with Angela back in season 2. While I don't remember quite enough to fully understand every little detail of what was answered, I'm certain that the answers were there, and I'm excited to rewatch this show to see what I can put together about Whiterose. It was cool to see a lot of repeated elements in Elliot's meeting with Whiterose. A blank room with a fish swimming in the background, blocked faces, pieces of the character's childhood, and that mysterious eXit game all called back to Whiterose's meeting with Angela. The Bad: For all that this episode does right, it's not a next-level episode. I enjoyed seeing the parallel universe, but the sequence is more intriguing and mysterious than it is suspenseful and emotionally engaging. It's good set-up for whatever is going to happen in the final two episodes, but it isn't enough to stand out on its own in this episode. As of right now, all I have is a whole barrage of questions about the final sequence of the episode. I'm also concerned about how this parallel universe will affect my emotional engagement in the story. Having alternate versions of characters is always difficult because they do not feel like the same characters we know and love, and that can completely throw off emotional engagement by creating an uncanny valley effect. These characters look the same, yet they feel different. The final season of "Lost" was bogged down for similar reasons, and I am concerned that the series finale of "Mr. Robot" may suffer from spending too much time in a world that I am not invested in. The Unknown: What happened at the power plant? What was that flash? Was it Whiterose's machine activating? What did it do? Did it send Elliot to a different universe? Did it send everyone to a different universe? Did it even work? Why is the alternate universe Elliot so disoriented? Is this the same Elliot that we know, or is he a different one? Why is he getting these headaches? Why isn't anyone else getting the same feeling? What was that Earthquake? Was the hooded Elliot at the end of the episode our Elliot? How is he in this world? What will result from this interaction? Does Darlene not exist in this parallel universe? What did Whiterose show Angela? Did she put her in this alternate universe too? Or did she do something else with Angela? I recall the kid asking Angela similar questions from the eXit game. How does that all add up? Why did Whiterose kill herself and leave Elliot with the choice? Was she that confident that her machine would work? Was she that desperate after being defeated in "409 Conflict"? What did that eXit game accomplish? What was its purpose? Did Elliot shut down the machine by choosing to stay, or did he fail? Best Moment: Elliot and Whiterose's conversation was outstanding. Character of the Episode: Elliot. Conclusion: This was a bold, risky episode that pushed the final act of "Mr. Robot" in a direction that I was not expecting. It works very well, and I'm excited to see how the series finale resolves everything. Score: 70 Summary: Dom is not allowed to see her family since she has not been cleared. Terrified of the Dark Army, Dom forcefully checks out of the hospital and returns to her apartment. Darlene finds her and convinces her to go with her on a road trip. Darlene meets with Elliot who says he isn't going and will instead head to the Washington Township Plant. Darlene leaves with Dom, and Leon drives them. Along the way, Darlene releases the money from the Deus Group to everyone else in the world and convinces Dom to celebrate it. Dom reluctantly does. Dom agrees to go to Budapest with Darlene to escape the Dark army, but at the airport she runs into Irving who reveals that the Dark Army are not after them. Dom tells Darlene to believe in herself and go anyways, and heads back to see her family. Dom has a change of heart and runs back to the flight, but Darlene has a panic attack and goes to the bathroom. Darlene chooses not to get on the flight and Dom leaves for Budapest in a peaceful sleep.
The Good: Poor Dom has still found herself in a nightmare of a situation after all she's been through. The episode opens in a brutal scenario as Dom is isolated from her family, not trusted by the FBI, and still hunted by the Darm Army. It's a horrible nightmare for her, and the episode is smart to open on such a downer note to remind us that despite getting away safely, Dom still has to navigate the fallout of being a Dark Army mole. Starting on such a negative note allows the episode to stand out when it transforms into something much more uplifting. Darlene arrives to meet Dom, and with her she completely changes the tone of the episode. Darlene's appearance is a reminder that despite all of Dom's problems, they did win and that means that there is something to be happy about. Sure, Dom is on the run, but she gets to enjoy a roadtrip with Darlene and Leon after Darlene convinces her to join her and overcome her personal problems with commitment and loneliness. Darlene gets her to open up again in a good way, and it feels like Darlene is trying to atone for what she caused in Dom's life. Seeing them bond again over the course of this episode is lovely and heart-warming, and I was grinning ear to ear in the great scene where Darlene redistributes the Deus Group's money to the entire world. Sure, it's illegal and it definitely won't solve every problem in the world, but it's a moment of triumph where the top 1% of the top 1% were finally taken down a peg. Darlene realizes this and celebrates, and eventually Dom comes around to it too. These two characters also have their own personal journeys in this episode which are mirrored beautifully in an ending that parodies typical romcoms with the use of a Carly Rae Jepson song as Dom and Darlene both nearly have a cliche reunion at the airport. Having them barely miss each other and swap roles was a funny twist on the idea, but it also fit their own personal journeys. Darlene's journey was about learning to be happy with herself. She's always been one to be concerned about other people as we learned back in "404 Not Found", and that has had a great detriment on her mental health. But Darlene doesn't know what it's like to live for herself and she breaks down in the bathroom when dealing with the idea. But ultimately, she gets in control and makes a decision for her future, maintaining her own agency. On the other side we have Dom who has always been too afraid of making life-changing decisions and she always keeps a tight hold on what little she has in life without ever reaching for more. This has left her feeling lonely and unfulfilled, and she opens up in this episode about the insomnia she has as a result. This is why it's so beautiful to see Dom finally take a risk and go to Budapest. Even if Darlene is not going to come, Dom commits to forging a new life, and in doing this she finally reaches inner peace and she has what we can only assume is a deep and restful sleep during her flight. The tragic element of this ending is that both Darlene and Dom do not have each other in the end. But it is bittersweet because without each other they never would have been able to reach the level of self-actualization that they have at the end of the episode. They may not have each other in the end, but they still managed to forge a healthy future for themselves. I enjoyed the cameos of Leon and Irving greatly and how their interactions with Dom contrasted. Leon has totally forgotten about the barn and shrugs it off entirely. Meanwhile Irving immediately recognizes Dom and reflects on the incident with Santiago as "fun". These two are amusing to watch once more, and I thoroughly enjoyed what I can only assume will be their farewells. Leon's random insights are as enjoyable as ever, and Irving's quirkiness is a lot of fun. I'm glad that Irving finally finished his book, even though it's likely terrible. Who the hell names a book "Beach Towel"? The Bad: This episode feels too cheesy to an extent. While I get that parodying a romcom road trip was very much an intentional choice, it is too much of a departure from the norm for "Mr. Robot". The style, lighting, tone, and emotions are all starkly different in this episode. I usually like it when shows do this, but it felt like a step too far in this case because of how jarring it was. Following the biggest episode of the show that resolved most of the main plot, it was strange to halt the plot for a romcom story, especially when so close to the end of the show. I enjoyed the story that was told, but the eccentric choice did not entirely work for me. Furthermore, this episode felt like a come-down episode after 4 sublime intense episodes in a row. It told a nice story, but it felt like a rest-stop on the way to the real conclusion of the show. Irving's appearance at the airport was a bit too convenient for my liking. I'm surprised that he still knows so much about the Dark Army and that they aren't after Dom or Darlene. Furthermore, I'm confused that Dom would simply take his word for it. She should have no reason to trust Irving. Irving is here as a contrived way to get Dom to want to go back to her life at the airport, and it's such an unbelievable coincidence that I find it nearly impossible to buy. The Unknown: Is the Dark Army really not after Dom or Darlene? What are they doing then? Are they all protecting Whiterose? What is Elliot going to do at the Washington Township Plant? Is that it for Dom? Will she come back or is she going to start a new life? What is Darlene's next move? Will she reconnect with Elliot or go her own way? Best Moment: The ending sequence was beautifully done. It's such a cliché that Dom would run back and likely encounter Darlene, but I was really pleased with the twist that they missed each other and still ended up tragically alone in opposite positions of what they wanted. And despite being tragic, it's hopeful because in doing this both characters found their peace. I appreciate the subtlety in conveying Darlene and Dom's peace of mind through them both overcoming the personal problems they discussed (panic attacks and insomnia respectively). This ending was a wash of emotions that went through me, and it was a gorgeous experience. Character of the Episode: Darlene. Conclusion: This was an interesting episode. It's a great self-contained story that resolves the Dom/Darlene story perfectly, yet it feels so different and out-of-place compared to the rest of the show, so I have my reservations about it. All in all, it's a pretty good experience, but not quite the masterful standalone episode that it was trying to be. Score: 68 Summary: Mr. Robot speaks with young Elliot and Elliot's mother in Elliot's mind. In the real world, Mr. Robot meets with Darlene to prepare the hack since Elliot is unable. Mr. Robot speaks with price who gives him instructions to destroy Whiterose's machine afterwards. Price goes to the meet but Whiterose is the only one there and she has figured out he is working with Elliot. Darlene and Mr. Robot determine the real location of the meet and Darlene goes there to pull off the hack. Elliot remains near Price's location, suspecting that Whiterose is inside. Darlene records an fsociety video, doxxing the Deus Group meeting which results in all of them using their phones and getting their accounts compromised by Darlene. Price and Whiterose taunt each other until Mr. Robot calls. Mr. Robot speaks with Whiterose who tries to coerce him to her side. Elliot emerges after Angela is mentioned but he rejects Whiterose. Ellito manages to hack a satellite tower on top of the building and gets Whiterose's account. Darlene executes the hack and the Deus Group lose all their money. Whiterose is furious and Price taunts her. Whiterose kills him openly and has to go into hiding.
The Good: I loved so much about this episode. "Mr. Robot" always nails the hacking scenes, and this episode was the most enormous and satisfying hack so far as Elliot and Darlene bring about the destruction of the Deus Group. Since the first episode, Elliot has wanted to bring down "the top 1% of the top 1%" and he's never successfully been able to do it. Even the 5/9 attacks all played into the hands of the rich, and screwed over the lower class people, making it all a waste for Elliot. But now, Elliot has finally achieved his primary goal, and it is so satisfying to see it all happen. This moment is what we have been waiting for since the very first episode, and that long road filled with countless failures and defeats made this success feel so so sweet. I was actively cheering alongside Elliot and Darlene, a sign that this show completely invested me in its story and characters. I've been eager to see Whiterose taken down ever since the E Corp bombings and the moment did not disappoint. Whiterose was so pompous and overconfident as always, but the cracks started to show early in the episode, and were quickly exploited by Elliot and Darlene to bring about her downfall. It was immensely satisfying to see Whiterose taken down and I was grinning from ear to ear. BD Wong has quietly been brilliant in this role, but he outdid himself here in portraying Whiterose's almost childish rage when she realizes she has been defeated. Finally seeing her so scared, angry, and vulnerable was cathartic and it contributed a lot to this episode feeling so satisfying. Price was the star of this episode. Despite his aspirations to be the most powerful man in the room, the past couple of seasons have made it explicitly clear that Whiterose is a step above him. Despite his best efforts, Price is always going to be second to Whiterose and there's nothing he can do. Understanding this makes it unbelievably satisfying when Price eventually turns the tables on Whiterose. Throughout the episode, Price is a total blast as he gets drunk and taunts and trashes Whiterose whenever possible, taking advantage of her volatile nature. I especially got a good laugh at his "bad management" comment when Whiterose's assistant quit. Price has nothing to lose here and he decided to go down swinging at Whiterose to give himself some satisfaction. Their scenes throughout the episode are thoroughly enjoyable, well-acted, and well-written. Whiterose is still in charge as always, but Price does well to enjoy himself and get in whatever jabs he can. By the end, Price does die at Whiterose's hand, but true to what he had said back in season 2, he lost but ensured that he made Whiterose lose in the process. After Whiterose loses her money, Price's speech to rub everything in Whiterose's face and honour Angela was outstanding and one of the most satisfying monologues in the show. And as an added bonus, Price's scathing comments provoked Whiterose enough to kill him in public, condemning herself to her fate and ensuring that Price has the last laugh in the end. The character of Price received a perfect conclusion as he got to extract sweet vengeance on Whiterose while advocating for the ideals of his dead daughter in his final speech. I'll miss Michael Cristofer's brilliant voice and line delivery, but this was the perfect ending for Price. Elliot and Darlene are our heroes here and they have terrific moments throughout. Starting with Elliot, it's notable that he's absent for a sizeable portion of this episode. It's Mr. Robot in his shoes for much of this hack because Elliot is too emotionally damaged to do this hack. Mr. Robot does well and I enjoyed his interactions with Darlene greatly. But it's when Elliot returns that I really got emotionally invested. There's an excellent moment where Mr. Robot gets on a call with Whiterose and she attempts to manipulate him the same way that she did with Angela. And the moment she mentions Angela, there's a terrific cut to reveal that Elliot is suddenly there. He's not going to sit by idly as Whiterose talks about Angela. For a moment it seems like Elliot might go along with Whiterose's manipulations, but he rejects everything that she proposes, damning her ideals and everything she stands for. It's a moment of tremendous resolve for Elliot which feels natural after all that he's been through this season. Darlene having a major role in this hack was a brilliant decision. Darlene has wanted this even more than Elliot so it makes perfect sense that she gets to play such a significant role in gathering the details that Elliot needed for the hack. I was overjoyed by the return of fsociety in this episode, especially since the group has been absent for so long. Darlene's plan was genius, and it made perfect sense for her to do it to ensure that the Deus Group members all got on their phones to ensure that Darlene could get all of their account information. To end this section, I have to give a special mention to Mac Quayle's soundtrack in this episode. The music here was spectacular, utilizing a more retro 1980s style to create a truly cinematic experience with soundtracks that had never been used elsewhere in the show. The music elevated every single scene, raising the stakes, increasing the suspense, and contributing to the charismatic nature of this episode. Even in some of the most heated moments of drama, I found myself remarking at how incredible these tracks were. Mac Quayle has always done terrific work on this show but he outdid himself with this one and deserves a lot of credit. The Bad: I suppose it is a bit silly that the Deus Group people were all comically mean-spirited assholes. That was a bit much. Other than that, I have no issues with this. The Unknown: Interesting opening scene. Clearly Mr. Robot is hiding something from Elliot. What? How will Elliot destroy Whiterose's machine? What will Whiterose do now? Can she survive being doxxed? Where is she now? Is she going to die in this place? How is the world going to change now that the Deus Group has been revealed? Best Moment: The plan being a success is easily the most satisfying moment in the whole show. Whiterose has always been a step ahead and this is the first time that she's been outsmarted. Having the good guys finally score a real victory after 4 seasons of failures delivered the emotional highs that you would expect. Character of the Episode: Price Conclusion: This was another fantastic episode. The cinematic style, suspense, and thematic significance made it clear that this was the climax of the entire series and it was tremendously satisfying and gripping to watch. "Mr. Robot" continues to impress in its final stretch of episodes. Score: 81 Summary: Janice ties up Dom and Darlene. Darlene refuses to give up Elliot so Janice stabs Dom and leaves her to bleed out in 15 minutes if Darlene doesn't cooperate. Janice threatens to murder Dom's family and has her men round them up, so Darlene gives up Elliot's location. However, it only leads to his phone so Janice continues her threats. Janice is unable to reach her men and Dom reveals that she had contacted Deegan and allied with them. Janice calls Deegan and learns that her men died and he has Dom's family safe. Dom pulls out the knife and kills the guard next to her, and she shoots Janice. Darlene frees herself and runs away as per Dom's instructions as Dom places a phone call for help. Krista helps Elliot process the situation and they escape the apartment. Krista gives Elliot some advice and heads to a police station. Elliot processes what has happened and realizes that he was fighting back against his father and didn't simply hide from him. Mr. Robot returns with Elliot an hour away from the Deus Group meeting. Mr. Robot apologizes and helps Elliot deal with his trauma. Elliot hugs Mr. Robot and tells him he can't do the hack.
The Good: This episode focused on two different stories, one methodical and emotional, the other urgent and suspenseful. Both worked very well. The first is Elliot's story in the wake of the harsh truth he realized in the previous episode. I'm very pleased that "Mr. Robot" is exploring Elliot's struggle to deal with this instead of simply brushing past this reveal for more dramatic plot. This was a pivotal moment in Elliot's life, and the show is treating it as such. I appreciated that Elliot was so out of it that Krista had to be the one to step up and get Elliot out of the apartment after she had killed Vera. Elliot is so lost that he doesn't know what to do with himself anymore. It's sad to see, and I like that Krista was able to connect with this and assure Elliot that she will continue to be there for him as his therapist. After going through such an intense and emotional experience together, it's sensible that Krista would prefer to keep in touch with him in spite of their rough history. That's some good awareness of how real people act. The rest of Elliot's story continued to be a great exploration of Elliot's difficulty to move forward with his life. His visions of his younger self were mysterious (see: The Unknown), but are symbolic of his regret for letting the younger Elliot down, allowing his father to abuse him so significantly. You can tell that this is the hardest part for Elliot to come to terms with: he is angered that he didn't fight back and simply let his father have his way with him. But then Elliot learns that he wasn't just a victim and that he did fight back, taking his father's key and hiding it. The flashback at the start of the episode shows this nicely, and also connects nicely to the past. We have heard Elliot and Angela reminisce about running away from home before, but now we have a better idea of why Elliot was so eager to run from home. It wasn't that he wanted to explore, it was that he was terrified of staying at home. Anyways, Elliot is able to learn from his younger self that he did fight back, and this brings immediate relief to him. Enough relief that Elliot decides to get back to work on the hack, which is coming up rapidly. The episode could have simply had him move on here, and I'm sure that most people would not complain. But this episode goes the extra mile and shows that even after making his peace, it's still not enough for Elliot to handle this kind of trauma. Elliot brings back Mr. Robot at the end of the episode because he realizes that he won't be able to handle things alone. Their bond is stronger than ever in this final scene, and I really felt the emotion with Mr. Robot apologizing for what he's done after seeing Elliot in this condition, cementing that he really just wanted to be there for Elliot and that he's not another monster like Elliot's father was. The bond between the two feels emotional here on a level that we haven't seen since "eps2.4_m4ster-s1ave.aes". This allows Elliot to really open up and reveal that he finds himself unable to even do the hack because of what happened, which is a sad and realistic scene that explores the extent that trauma effects your day to day life. There is another fascinating layer to this conversation. Elliot remarks that if he hadn't gone through all of this pain, he wouldn't be the person he is, and he wouldn't have Mr. Robot. He doesn't know it, but Elliot has directly opposed Whiterose's entire worldview with this statement, a great reminder of why Elliot is our protagonist and Whiterose our antagonist, and what makes them so different from each other. Whereas Elliot's story is emotional and reflective, Dom and Darlene are wrapped up in an intense experience that had me at the edge of my seat. The main reason that this works so well is Janice. I have my concerns about her (see: The Bad), but as a whole I thought that she was fantastic in this role. She's such a despicable, capable, and evil villain that her presence raises the stakes enormously. She stabs Dom so suddenly and ruthlessly that my jaw dropped, and I fully believed that she would kill Dom's family in a heartbeat because that's just the kind of heartless person that she is. There was a really effective monologue by Janice which reflects how shockingly normal her sadism is. It was unsettling, it was creepy, and it certainly raised the stakes. Darlene's choice was fantastic to watch. She says she will never give up Elliot no matter what Janice does, and it is easy to believe that. But Janice's methods are so shockingly brutal and unexpected. I never expected that she would sacrifice her big asset Dom to get Darlene to cooperate, but Janice takes the gamble and it is horrifying when you realize that she would actually let Dom die. Having to force Darlene to choose between Elliot, who she loves, and Dom, who she feels immense guilt for hurting so badly, is brutal. It's a terrible situation and it is easy to relate to Darlene as she struggles through this. The most heartless moment happens when Darlene's information ends up being useless and Janice decides to murder Dom's family anyways. It's a hopeless moment that only works because of how bleak "406 Not Acceptable" was. I fully bought that Dom might suffer the ultimate price and even die brutally here because "Mr. Robot" has done that good of a job of raising the stakes and establishing that consequences happen in this world. I think that's what made me love the reveal that Dom had concocted a back-up plan to save her family all along. It was a much-needed injection of hope in an otherwise bleak episode, and the realization that Janice had been outsmarted, coupled with Dom's brutal and spectacular escape had me almost jumping out of me seat. This all felt so satisfying and cathartic, a just reward for Dom who has been suffering all season and had to use her resourcefulness to successfully break free. Ordinarily Deegan would feel like a plot device, a cheap way to solve Dom's problems, and I would be unsatisfied with skipping over how he magically killed so many men. But I actually think it was the right decision to save this moment as a surprise. If we had seen any more than the small hints we had received in previous episodes, the elation of Dom turning the tables on Janice wouldn't have been anywhere near as satisfying. I love the decision to keep Dom's plan under wraps, and I think that it significantly elevated the drama of this episode. The fallout of Vera's death was well done. Elliot and Krista managed to escape in a realistic way, and I greatly enjoyed how the goons reacted to Vera's death. Their insistence to come back inside anyways was sensible and human, and I got a laugh out of them deciding to steal Vera's cash before leaving the scene. Someone like Vera was never going to inspire much loyalty from his goons. The Bad: Nothing outright bad, I just have a few small gripes and thoughts. Janice was a great villain, but I can't help but feel that she was used simply to plug in the hole that Irving left due to Bobby Cannavale's unavailability. That's not a bad thing necessarily; I think that she filled his role well and managed to stand out as her own character. But I can't help but lose my immersion a bit when Janice is on screen since I view her as a replacement to Irving. Dom surviving for so long after being stabbed is a bit unrealistic. The 15 minute time limit seems very loosely adhered to. Are you telling me that Darlene was able to correct her phone, track down Elliot, and wait for Janice's men to find his phone and report back in less than 15 minutes? These little details did not quite add up. While Janice being so ruthless with Dom did add to the intensity, it wasn't the most efficient move in actuality to leave Dom to die in a way that nobody would be able to help her. The Unknown: Will the key have another role in the show outside of helping Elliot cope with what happened? Is the kid Elliot vision just a vision or artistic choice? Or is there something more to Elliot hallucinating a kid version of himself? Will Dom survive? She was looking in rough shape and surely it had been 15 minutes by the time she called for help. I hope that she does. How will Darlene feel about leaving Dom? I'm sure she won't be happy about it, but will it cause her further grief? I expect that we will see Darlene follow up on Dom at some point because there is certainly a conclusion to their relationship that we will need to see. Will Elliot be able to do the hack or is he going to back out? How will this affect Price during the meeting? What is going to happen during the meeting? Best Moment: Dom turning the tables on Janice was immensely satisfying, and a great end to that storyline. It feels good to see the good guys finally get something to go their way. Character of the Episode: Dom. Conclusion: To follow up on the show's best episode so far, we get a surprisingly intense and emotional episode that delivers in every way I had hoped it would. This wasn't exceptional like the last one by any means, but it's still an excellent episode. Score: 72 Summary: Vera brings Elliot into Krista's apartment and tells him why he came back and his proposition, but Elliot forces him to prove to her that Krista is alive. Vera takes him to Krista and tells him that he wants to talk with Mr. Robot. Vera threatens to rape Krista and Mr. Robot comes out. Mr. Robot negotiates with Vera and breaks down his business plan, forcing Vera to prove why Mr. Robot should help him. Mr. Robot agrees that if Vera lets Krista go, he will do a hack that results in Vera getting a lot of money. Elliot shows Vera the plan and tries to kill Vera with the gun in his bag, but the gun was emptied by Vera. Vera brings in Krista and threatens to kill her, but Elliot tells him he needs her. Vera realizes Krista helps Elliot and so he sits them down and forces a therapy session to happen. During this session, Krista helps Elliot remember the truth about the day he jumped out the window, with Elliot realizing that he created Mr. Robot to process that his dad molested him when he was a kid. Vera exploits Elliot's fragile mental state and tries to convince him that he's there to help him. It almost works but then Krista comes up behind Vera and stabs him, killing him.
The Good: This episode feels like a movie. More than that, it feels like an exceptionally well produced stage play set to film. Everything surrounding the production and presentation of this episode was superb, making this feel like a unique and special experience. The five act structure makes this feel like an old school play, and it's creative how the lighting, main ideas, and character dynamics shift significantly in every act. The five act structure isn't the only unique bit of direction that makes this feel like a play. The only time we switch scenes is in between acts, with no jump cuts to different rooms throughout the episode. Furthermore, this episode never shows us the fourth wall in the room. We only ever see three walls, making this feel like it was a stage production. For a show like Mr. Robot which is so often flamboyant with its camera movement, this is a major change in filmmaking style which is immediately noticeable. The technical aspects of this episode are truly astounding. On top of this, the episode utilizes music tremendously well to elevate its scenes, and the thunder sound effects create a really intense atmosphere. It's a bit cheesy, but somehow it works and fits perfectly with this episode. Lastly, I greatly enjoyed the extended credits sequence to start the episode, making things feel even more cinematic. Each of the five acts are impactful and enjoyable in different ways. The first act is much more brightly lit, and lighter in intensity compared to the rest of the episode. The colours pop, and the lighting doesn't yet create a sense of unease. This feels like a typical situation that Elliot has to work his way out of, and while the episode sets up the story, we get to enjoy his interactions with Vera. Vera is a blast in these scenes. Elliot Villar plays him to perfection, injecting humour, suspense, and unpredictability into every scene. I thoroughly enjoyed his story about why he came back to New York and his connection with his shaman. The story is both engrossing and funny due to Vera's eccentricity. The whole thing is somewhat ridiculous, but it fits in nicely with Vera's pretentious nature, and it works as a believable transformative experience for him. Elliot's cold reactions to Vera are in-line with how he should be reacting. Vera killed Shayla, and Elliot has not forgotten that. He's not trusting at all, and he makes it explicitly clear that he is concerned about Krista. These interactions are fun to watch, and they introduce the main concept of the episode nicely; Elliot's priority is to save Krista and get out of there, while Vera wants to recruit Elliot as his partner at any cost. The second act escalates things as Krista comes into the picture, and so does Mr. Robot. The highlight of this act is Mr. Robot negotiating with Vera, and systematically tearing down the absurdity of his "plan" which is just another pretentious and unrealistic vision. Mr. Robot identifies this, and you can tell that he relishes in using his logic and confidence to steal control of the conversation from Vera. Every line of dialogue adds to the scene, making it so fun to watch these two verbally spar with each other. Mr. Robot's obvious disdain for Vera, who he views as beneath him, is superb as he personally trashes Vera at every opportunity. His line about getting Vera into real estate is especially dismissive and funny. But while Mr. Robot is accurate about Vera being pretentious and short-sighted, he still has common sense, and that is enough for him to prevent Mr. Robot from walking all over him. Mr. Robot paints a picture for Vera, showcasing a reality where he has all the money in the world. This is Mr. Robot manipulating Vera based on his love for visionary storytelling. But Vera sees what Mr. Robot is doing, and he is not willing to let Krista go, recognizing that this means that Mr. Robot would have no reason to cooperate after that. Despite Mr. Robot's best efforts, it won't be this easy to defeat Vera. This leads into the brief third act, which sees Elliot actively try to kill Vera to get out of the situation. This sequence is tense and it ratchets up the tension continuously to build up to the enormous fourth act. The lighting has progressively gotten darker up until this point, and this feels like the breaking point in the story. Elliot draws his gun after a tense wait, and you get the sense that he might turn things around here. But the reveal that the bullets have been taken out was fantastic. Better yet, this proves that Vera is smarter than you would expect, because he predicted that Elliot would still try to kill him. This still ends up being a turning point, but not for the reasons we expected. Elliot's actions ramp up the risk of Vera losing faith in him, and Vera becomes capable of manipulating Elliot into cooperating with him and doing the climactic therapy with Krista that dominates act four. The way this act amps up the suspense and shifts the focus of the episode to its most important act was perfect. Act four was phenomenal television. This act sees the show at its darkest and most emotionally focused. The use of wide shots and frequent cutting early in the act reminds us of Vera's presence at every turn. Krista and Elliot try to engage in a session, but there is always the reminder of the situation which makes things feel fake. It is intentionally difficult to get into. But once Vera brings up what he read about Krista's suspicions, things take a darker turn. Suddenly, the situation does not matter, and all that matters is to find out what secret Krista and Mr. Robot are hiding about Elliot's upbringing. After four seasons, learning that there is still such a major secret that is being kept from Elliot feels like a betrayal, and the emotional significance of that overpowers the significance of Vera's threat. The episode knows this too. Once Elliot starts demanding answers, the shooting of the episode changes. This is as dark as the episode gets, and the camera starts to fixate on the faces of the characters, pulling away from the usual bombastic filming style. This style helps make things feel entirely personal. Vera is hardly focused on now, because we are a stand-in for him in this scene, mere bystanders to watch as Elliot realizes the horrifying truth about his father. The slow-burn nature of this sequence is astonishing and perfect. We realize the truth well before Elliot does, and we needed to. That Elliot is the last one to accept what happened to him is really important in making this realization so gutwrenching and heartbreaking. It took him a long time to accept this enormous change in how he viewed his father, and why wouldn't it? All this time Elliot, much like us, viewed his father as a rare shining light in his childhood. Revealing that to be a lie is devastating, and it hits hard. Rami Malek does an unbelievable job here, and his shock, horror, and despair is conveyed to perfection, allowing the horror of this reveal to land to full effect. Furthermore, this twist is so effective because it makes perfect sense. Previous scenes involving Elliot's father align perfectly with this reveal, as does Elliot's discomfort with physical touch. Not only is this a shocking twist as you go through the story, but the way that this twist recontextualizes past scenes improves the rewatchability of "Mr. Robot". The fifth act concludes this story, and it is completely unique from the rest. After a dark and chilling fourth act, the light starts to return for the fifth act. Elliot is suitably horrified and I'm impressed at how realistically this episode portrayed a character learning a truth that shatters their world. Nothing is important to Elliot anymore, and all he can think about is what just happened. Krista does not matter. Vera does not matter. The Dark Army does not matter. The only thing that matters is the intense struggle to handle this trauma that he just uncovered. And who is there to connect with Elliot and exploit his fragile mental state to further his own goals? Vera. Vera's speech to Elliot is both sweet and beautiful, yet terrifying and disgusting. He connects with Elliot perfectly, and it feels like he genuinely wants Elliot to process this trauma and get past it. Elliot Villar is fantastic here as he empathizes with Elliot and genuinely attempts to get Elliot through this. But then you remember that Vera is exploiting Elliot, and while he may be genuine, he's using Elliot's deeply buried pain for his own gain. It's pure emotional manipulation and it is uncomfortable to watch once you remember this. Vera's manipulations provide a wash of emotions, and the episode succeeds in making you think that he is about to succeed. But in a surprising and thankful twist, this is the end for Vera. Vera has finally connected with Elliot and gotten everything he wanted, but now he's dead. In a terrific twist, Krista takes her chance and chooses to stab Vera, poetically killing him with the same knife that killed Shayla. The moment is sudden and shocking, and it feels like a Pyrrhic victory as Krista has killed Vera, but at tremendous cost to Elliot's mental health. There is also a nice bit of irony in this moment. Vera has proven to be so street-smart at every turn. But his biggest flaw has been his obsession with spirituality and it costs him here. Vera gets so lost in his connection with Elliot that he forgets the basics. He is so quick to speak with Elliot that he forgets that he untied Krista, and he forgets that he sent his goons out of the apartment. Krista is allowed to roam free, and it's completely sensible that she murders Vera, being unable to stomach any more from this psychopath as he manipulates one of her clients. It's a brutal and effective ending to the show's most perfect episode. The Bad: Nothing. The Unknown: What will be the consequences of Elliot learning about his past trauma? How will this affect him going forward? Mr. Robot told him that he can't protect him anymore. Is this just temporary or is he going to be gone for good? Best Moment: Elliot finally realizing the truth about his past was fantastic. Rami Malek gave an astonishing performance that felt so real and made this moment hit incredibly hard. Character of the Episode: Elliot. Conclusion: This was incredible. A highly focused and personal experience that featured nail-biting suspense, top-notch acting, heavy emotional weight, and a stunning reveal that completely changes how we perceive Elliot, Mr. Robot, and this show as a whole. Simply outstanding television, and one of the greatest TV episodes that I have ever seen. Score: 89 Summary: Elliot and Darlene make up and prep for their next plans. Elliot meets with Leon and goes to see Olivia. He drugs her and blackmails her with sending in a drug test to get her to lose custody of her child if she doesn't comply with him and make a phone call. Olivia is horrified and eventually tries to kill herself, but Elliot gets her to make the phone call anyways. Olivia is disgusted by Elliot's actions. Vera is holding Krista and after threatening to kill Jason, he gets her to give up Elliot's personal file. Later, Krista calls Elliot telling him that she was kidnapped. Elliot decides to spring the trap and agrees to meet her, getting picked up by Vera's men in the process. Darlene is found by Dom but refuses to give up Elliot. Dom reports this to Janice who tells Dom to kill Darlene. Dom is unable to do it and knocks her out. When Darlene wakes up, Dom tells her to kill her but Darlene can't do it. Janice walks in and sees what Dom was trying to do.
The Good: This was a brutal episode. There were 3 storylines, and all dealt with characters in dark situations being forced to do terrible things to get what they want. The episode was a ruthless barrage of emotions and it was difficult to watch at a number of points. This is far from being a fun episode to watch, but it is remarkably good at showing us the overwhelming brutality in this world, which is what the episode was going for. Elliot's story is difficult to watch. Back in "403 Forbidden", the show did a terrific job of showing us the connection that formed between Olivia and Elliot. It was sweet, it was real, and it was exactly what Elliot needed. I totally bought into it. And now we get to see Elliot give up his soul as he goes back to Olivia's place, exploits her weakness by forcibly drugging her against her will, blackmailing her, and revealing that the connection they had was never real and that she meant absolutely nothing to him. This is a brutal gutpunch as Elliot takes this genuine connection and steps all over it, using it to accomplish his own personal goals with no regards to Olivia's wellbeing. He has sacrificed her life (almost literally) to further his agenda in the same way that the main villains of the show would, and it is deeply uncomfortable to watch. I want to root for Elliot. I've followed him for 4 seasons and I do like him. But what he has done here is so undeniably evil. We know it. Mr. Robot knows it, and is powerless to stop Elliot. Elliot knows it too, as he shoots us a brief sad look as he goes into Olivia's apartment, knowing full well that he's about to ruin this woman's life. This is the most evil we have seen Elliot, and Olivia saying he's an even scarier monster than those he is fighting is hard to dispute. We see Elliot consider it for a little bit too, realizing that he has undeniably gone too far in his quest for revenge, but struggles to face up to it. This was uncomfortable to watch, but stunningly effective at what it sets out to do. Dom and Darlene encounter one another for the first time since season 3, and their reunion lives up to its high stakes. Both characters are given fantastic moral conflicts to deal with. Dom is forced to contend with if she is able to murder Darlene for the sake of her family, with there also being the added possibility of her killing herself to be rid of all of this. Grace Gummer is phenomenal here, and she does a magnificent job of making us connect with Dom's struggle, understanding why this is such an agonizing choice for her. Darlene is fantastic too as she has to contemplate giving up Elliot to save her own life and to help Dom out, someone who Darlene has already screwed over in the past and feels guilty about. But she finds it impossible to give up her only family, and is left begging to try to stop Dom from killing her. Again, the performance by Carly Chaikin is incredible, and it adds so much to the drama. The constant swings as Darlene and Dom both struggle to come to terms with killing the other was effective and intense, adding to this episode's dark and brutal tone. Vera's return has been excellent so far. At this point in the story, it's clear that Vera has a role to play and I'm excited to see what that is. I've greatly enjoyed his return so far. Vera is intimidating, scary, and unpredictable; the perfect wildcard. He plays that role perfectly here as he works on Krista to help get information on Elliot. He terrifies her, intimidates her, makes her understand the situation, and gets her to open up a little bit as part of his own plan to get to Elliot. It's magnificent to watch, and the dialogue is written and acted to perfection. Vera carries a lot of personal emotional stakes for Elliot (he killed Shayla), so I am very excited to see how Elliot interacts with him and where this story goes. What really sold these three storylines was the acting. Everyone involved delivers outstanding performances to make us feel every little emotion that the characters are going through. All of the actors playing Elliot, Olivia, Dom, Darlene, Vera, and Krista are at the top of their game, elevating the experience of this episode. The Bad: Whiterose being so blindly obsessed with Elliot is the one bit of poor writing here. There is literally no reason that Elliot is allowed to live, considering the risk involved, but the show needs Whiterose to make a mistake so that she can be defeated. Hubris bringing about the villain's downfall is a trope as old as time, and it doesn't feel like it is being utilized in an organic way here. The Unknown: What is Janice going to do with Dom and Darlene now? Will they be able to get away from her? What does this mean for Dom's family? What will Vera find in Elliot's file? How will this affect his interactions with Elliot? How does Krista actually feel about Elliot? Surely Leon isn't only going to be used in this single scene. I'm certain that he's going to be showing up again in the future. When will he show up again, and why? Will Elliot call for his help when dealing with Vera? Best Moment: Again we are spoiled for choice. I'll give it to Dom trying to will herself to shoot Darlene. The conflict that both characters went through was compelling, and the performances were tremendous. Character of the Episode: Dom. Conclusion: This episode is dark, difficult to watch, and unstoppable in its brutality. Despite how uncomfortable it can be to watch, I can't deny that this was effective television that made me feel exactly what it was trying to make me feel. I felt for all of the characters involved and was horrified by much of what I saw. Because of that, I can say for certain that this is excellent television, certainly the best of the season so far. Score: 73 Summary: Tyrell knocks out the guy in the van, thinking that he's killed him. Elliot and Tyrell drive the van to a distant gas station to dispose of the body, but when they go inside, the man in the van drives away. Elliot and Tyrell walk through the forest as a shortcut, get lost, and face the reality that they are doomed. Elliot and Tyrell argue and then have a heart to heart. Tyrell agrees to help Elliot get back so he can at least warn Darlene to get away. Darlene goes to Elliot's apartment and sees that he's missing. She tracks his coordinates and tires to hotwire a car but is caught by a drunken man named Tobias. Darlene agrees to drive him home on the way. Darlene is frustrated by him but ends up opening up to him about her frustrations. Dom is lonely on Christmas Eve and tries to hook up with her online friend "HardOnHarry" and finds out she is a girl. Dom invites her over but she ends up being a Dark Army agent and tries to drown her. Dom wakes up, it was all a dream.
The Good: I usually really enjoy episodes like these. While this one had a lot of flaws (see: The Bad), there was a lot that it did right. "Mr. Robot" is a plot-heavy show, but its heart lies in its characters. Thus, an episode that puts away all of the plot to focus on every character's quest to find purpose and find their own happiness will be a memorable experience. Elliot, Tyrell, Darlene, and Dom all get a thorough exploration in this episode as they try to deal with the many struggles in their life. Elliot and Tyrell's trip to the woods was a lot of fun. There was some ridiculousness here (see: The Bad), but the episode has a good premise to send them out into the wild. It starts off as humorous with Tyrell immediately knocking out the man in the van, and remains humourous with the poor talkative lady at the gas station who strikes up conversation with the wrong people. I really got a lot of laughs out of this lady and Elliot and Tyrell's continued frustration with her. Following this, Elliot and Tyrell go on their trip through the woods which served as a perfect setting to explore their relationship with each other. Their interactions are enjoyable to watch and well-acted. Their argument was sad and powerful, especially for Tyrell who is forced to understand and accept that Elliot will never feel much more than contempt for him. But there is a part of Elliot that does care about Tyrell, and that part is Mr. Robot. A lovely touch is how Elliot walks away from Tyrell, but Mr. Robot is unable to leave him. Elliot may not care for Tyrell, but Mr. Robot has a strange sort of bond with him after their many interactions over the past few seasons. And Elliot recognizes that part of him, and finds himself unable to leave Tyrell behind to die. Tyrell is annoying, he's sloppy, he's dangerous. But Elliot has that spot of fondness for him because, as he says, Tyrell is about the only person in the world that actually likes Elliot, and that little bit of human connection means that Elliot cannot leave him behind. This was a beautiful exploration of their relationship and why its been such a compelling part of the show. Another key emotional aspect of this storyline is Tyrell finding peace in his failure of a life and ultimately dying. Tyrell is the star of this episode for sure. While the past few episodes have done a poor job of showing his struggles (see: The Bad), this episode makes it clear what Tyrell has been going through without his family. He fought hard against his own insecurity to rise to power, but the cost was everything that he loved. He has the power, but he no longer has the family that motivated him to get power to begin with. Tyrell is adrift, he's lost his purpose, and he doesn't know what to do with his life. Elliot is all he has left now, and Tyrell has to make peace with the fact that despite all that he does, he's never going to have anything more than a passive friendship with Elliot anyways. On this walk, Tyrell comes to terms with his life, how little it has amounted to, and how little he has left to live for. It's depressing, it's powerful, and it's relatable. And all the while the wolves/coyotes howl in the background, telling Tyrell that death is calling for him. Tyrell knows he is doomed, and that's why he spends so much time in this episode contemplating life and his own worth. Tyrell's mind is explored beautifully, and when he decides to give up, you understand exactly why. But surprisingly, Elliot is able to pull Tyrell back. Elliot has always been one to shut himself off from reality, but in hearing Tyrell's plight, he accepts that they are more than likely going to die. But Elliot wants to do just one thing; not destroy E Corp or pull off any crazy hack, but to warn his sister so that she can get away. And it's in this task that Tyrell finds one last purpose in his life. He's no longer being a selfish, insecure, power-hungry prick, and in this one moment he decides to keep going for a purely selfless reason: to help Elliot call his sister. It's a great moment of redemption for Tyrell, and though he ends up going to his death, there is a sense of acceptance in Tyrell's actions. His death is sad, but the way that the character is written in this episode makes the death fit him. He could have tried to prolong his own life, but he tells Elliot to go, and ends up taking a short, peaceful walk through the forest to meet his fate. There's a lot of beauty to this sequence, and it feels like Tyrell did become fulfilled as a person in his final moments. Darlene's inner conflict is also explored nicely here. The first scene with her is a lot of fun as she viciously rants at Elliot in a way that only she can. It's a nice touch that she deletes the voicemail because of course she doesn't wish that Elliot is dead. That's a nice way to highlight that Darlene is mad at Elliot, but she still loves him because he is all that she has. The rest of the episode explores this idea further as Darlene manages to form a hilarious connection with the drunken Tobias. Tobias was terrific in the role, and I got some good laughs out of him. I laughed at the reveal that Tobias' dark backstory with his dead wife, morbid statements, and addiction problems was a misdirection and that everything was totally fine. It was just that Darlene was in such pain that she easily read Tobias' problems as more serious than they are. Tobias served as a wonderful way for Darlene to let out her fears, pains, and guilt, and his final words for Darlene were an affecting way to conclude her story for the episode. Dom's story is short and flawed, but it's an effective way to show us how broken she feels. She's as lonely as ever, masturbating to Darlene's interrogation, which tells us that she did actually connect with Darlene in spite of all that has happened. She spends her Christmas Eve alone in her room, hiding from the family that she can no longer protect. Even her dreams aren't safe anymore as she finds her own sense of freedom and happiness attacked by the Dark Army. The Bad: This episode is very similar to "eps3.7_dont-delete-me.ko", but this one fails to have that same impact. I don't think that stalling the plot to have this character-based experience was necessary like it was in season 3. Season 3 had to show how Elliot would cope with the E Corp bombings and "eps3.7_dont-delete-me.ko" was dedicated to showing that. This episode doesn't have that same sense of purpose and necessity that demanded it exist. Because of that, no matter how artful or emotional this episode is, it will not hit the same level of exceptional television. And unfortunately for this episode, it is very imperfect. The entire premise of this episode is based off of characters making incompetent decisions, and coincidences. Having 1 or 2 of these bits of sloppiness can be overlooked, but when it's repeated then it becomes a major problem. And it is repeated over and over in this episode. Tyrell's inexplicable inability to shut up at the end of the episode is followed up by Tyrell and Elliot's laughable refusal to check if the man in the van was dead. That should be the first thing they do! And if he's not dead, then tie him up. Then after that, the two of them both go into the gas station for some reason, allowing the other man in the van plenty of time to drive away. There are two of them, why not have someone wait in the van? Especially when Tyrell is so easily recognizable, wouldn't you want to keep him away from unnecessary interactions with people as much as possible? As for coincidences, isn't it lucky that the guy in the van just happened to smash into a deer? That was a convenient solution to Elliot and Tyrell's problems. Furthermore, he conveniently manages to shoot Tyrell from an angle where he never would have hit him, allowing the show to write off the character with ease (more on this later). And in other storylines, Darlene happens to steal the one car that is exactly like Tobias', and he happens to be the one person who lives upstate which is where Darlene is heading. Furthermore, why was Tobias on his own anyways? Surely he had arranged for someone to drive him home rather than Darlene. As mentioned above, Tyrell's death was emotionally satisfying from a character writing perspective. But it can't help but feel like an enormous anticlimax. Tyrell was presented as a major, important character in season 1 and I can't help but feel that he has been misused since then, and his death here feels completely underwhelming. The end of season 3 set up an interesting storyline for Tyrell with him being in that higher-up position that he always dreamed of. This was a good idea because it gave us a prime opportunity to explore Tyrell's character and to see how he adapts to life following the loss of his family, also allowing him a good way to keep working with Elliot. But this season hardly showed Tyrell at all and we got no sense of how he was adapting and what his role in the show was. That's a huge underutilization of one of the most interesting characters. And now the show decides to finally give him some time to express himself only to rush his story arc by giving him sudden closure that has zero relevance to the plot, and then he dies. What a waste of a potentially interesting storyline for Tyrell. It feels like the writers did not know what to do with Tyrell, so instead of concluding his character arc meaningfully, they gave him a send off and killed him off. This show really struggles with killing characters. Tyrell joins Joanna and Angela as another major character who still had much left to offer the story, but was given a rushed and unsatisfying end that left an awful taste in my mouth. Tyrell deserved a better and more significant ending than this. Dom's dream reveal felt cheap. Her dream scenes were intercut with the rest of the episode, so it feels like the show was lying to us specifically to misdirect us. The Unknown: Did the man get around to sending Elliot and Tyrell's conversation to the Dark Army? What did Tyrell see in the forest at the end? Was it something important or was it just a visualization of death? Best Moment: Elliot and Tyrell's argument in the snow was powerful and effective. Character of the Episode: Tyrell. Conclusion: Episodes like these are where my scoring system is never entirely accurate. For me, this was the single most polarizing episode of the show. There were aspects that I loved and aspects that I hated. It's difficult because I got more enjoyment out of this episode than any other this season, but also more frustration. Mixed feelings would be putting it lightly. As for my thoughts on season 4 so far, I've enjoyed it but the grievous mishandling of Angela and Tyrell has left a bad taste in my mouth. Score: 65 Summary: Flashbacks show Whiterose trying to become ambassador to USA. He is with a lover who wants to live in USA where their relationship will be allowed. Whiterose gets a higher promotion instead but this means that they have to remain in China. Distraught, his lover kills himself. In the present, Whiterose suspects Elliot and Price are working together but arranges the Deus meeting anyways, intending on making Tyrell the next CEO. Darlene tells Elliot that Susan's contact is Olivia, but after getting this information they fight when Elliot doesn't let her work with him. Elliot breaks into her house and discovers that he needs her USB key that she has on her. Elliot tracks her down to a bar where she has been stood up and tries to sweet-talk her to get the USB, but they end up forming a genuine emotional connection. Elliot texts the USB code to Darlene and heads home but notes he is being followed. He gets home where Tyrell is waiting for him with news that he is going to be CEO. Vera is watching Elliot and takes note when he visits Krista.
The Good: Mr. Robot and Elliot remain the beating heart of this show. I thoroughly enjoy seeing how their dynamic alters every season. After a 3-season rollercoaster ride of situations for these two, we now find ourselves at a place where Elliot and Mr. Robot's roles are reversed. Now it's Mr. Robot who is talking to us and who is trying to pull Elliot back from executing a ruthless plan. The story has developed organically to get to this point, and I'm enjoying this new dynamic where Mr. Robot intervenes to ensure that Elliot does not go too far in his quest for revenge. And Mr. Robot's intervention led to Elliot finally making another meaningful human connection with Olivia. They connect at a bar in hilarious fashion (see: Best Moment) with Elliot being his socially awkward self, and Olivia connects with a lot of what he feels and struggles with. Their heart to heart near the end of the episode was a terrific scene, helping Elliot feel less alone and reminding him of his own humanity. Some nice touches included Elliot mentioning his promise to Mohammed, and Olivia revealing that her bottle of oxycontin is just a reminder. The latter especially was nice because it meant that Elliot's brutal plan of blackmailing Olivia actually would not have worked, and that Elliot making this connection was the only way that his plan would have worked. It's nice to see that in a cruel world, sometimes it is still the right move to do the more humane thing. Elliot's moment with Krista was sad. Elliot has been reliant on her for much of the show's run and they had developed to have a good relationship last season. But now that she knows what she knows about him, their relationship has been fractured, and it is brutal to see Krista shouting so viciously at Elliot, who had just wanted to thank her. This scene hurts, but it also appears to have significant plot relevance as it ties back in with Vera. Vera's scene was a good catch-up to see what he's been up to. He isn't a threat (yet) but he is setting up his own goals which I bet will interfere with Elliot's plan at the most inconvenient time. I enjoyed the scene where Vera murders his guy for being incompetent in terms of reading people. Vera is a wonderful, unpredictable personality and I'm happy that he's back in the show. I really like how this season has been visually conveying the Elliot/Mr. Robot dynamic. With both of them on screen together at all times (often 1 in the foreground and the other in the background), you never know when the other is going to intervene and take over. Sure, it might not logistically make sense when Elliot and Mr. Robot are doing different things, but I'm reading this as an artistic liberty, not an actual depiction of what is happening. Obviously Elliot would be doing both tasks in his own time. I think the small suspension of disbelief is worth it to get such creative filmmaking. Whiterose's backstory opened the episode. I had my problems with it (see: The Bad), but it was nicely visualized. The sequence was stylistic and it told a sensible story that explained some of Whiterose's behaviours. She is likely looking to make a parallel world where she would be able to spend all of her life with her lover, a man that she likely projected onto her many other paramours that she has had over the years. Further, this sudden death is likely why Whiterose picked up her obsession with time (an obsession that her lover also had), understanding that every second she has is precious. The funeral flowers Whiterose picked out for her lover was a cool origin for the Whiterose name. The Bad: While I liked Whiterose's backstory and I think it makes sense, it can't help but feel anticlimactic and underdeveloped. Whiterose isn't just some villain with a sob story, she is a massive powerful world figure, and surely there is more to the creation of this urban legend than just the story of a lover killing himself. I wish that Whiterose's backstory had spent more time on the struggles that a transgender person in China would have to endure. That would have been much more illuminating on her character than what we actually got. Plus it's much more original than the story of a loved one dying causing a character to become evil, which is an overused trope. Tyrell looked like such an idiot at the end of the episode. Sure he isn't the smartest character in the show, but he's certainly intelligent enough to understand that Elliot shushing him means that something is up and that he should not reveal his confidential plan. If this moment is how Elliot's plan gets busted by the Dark Army, I will be very frustrated. Tyrell is unhinged with a god complex, he has never been written as this stupid. The Unknown: Is Vera turning his eyes onto Krista now? That can't be good. What is he going to do with her? He wants to partner up with Elliot. How does he plan to get Elliot to accept? Will Elliot accept? Why did the episode spend so much time on Olivia? I imagine that he role in the show is far from over considering how important she was here. Now that Elliot has a connection with her, will he endanger his plan by remaining close to her? Will he be able to screw her over, knowing that the Dark Army will likely kill her if he does? Who is following Elliot? Is it actually the Dark Army or is it someone else? Have they bugged the apartment? Did they hear what Tyrell told him? What does this mean for Tyrell's new position and Elliot's plan? Best Moment: Elliot being incredibly awkward while talking with Olivia in the bar was hilarious. The best part was that I somehow did buy into it actually being enough to charm her despite how ridiculous it all was. Character of the Episode: Elliot. Conclusion: Another solid episode as season 4 lays its foundations. Score: 66 Summary: Price tells Elliot how Whiterose rose to power. Elliot makes a deal with Price and asks him to arrange a meeting between the Deus group members. Price tells Elliot he had a contact named Susan Jacobs. Price leaves but Mr. Robot is confident that he will work with them. Price meets with Whiterose and announces he is going to resign. The Deus group will meet to assign a successor. Elliot looks into Susan Jacobs but is interrupted when Darlene calls him to say their mother died. Elliot wants to move on quickly but Darlene wants to process her guilt. Darlene and Elliot argue but eventually they make peace with each other and also process Angela's death together. Darlene tells Elliot that she killed Susan Jacobs and forces herself into Elliot's plan to take down the Dark Army. Darlene tells Elliot about Vera, and he realizes that since both he and Mr. Robot didn't know, that he must have a third personality somewhere. Dom tells the FBI that Santiago was a cartel double agent. She tells Janice that she's 99.9% sure that the agent interviewing her bought the story, but Janice kills him to be safe anyways.
The Good: It's great to see Price and Elliot team up against Whiterose. Price seemed like he was going to be a major villain for much of the series, but in the end he's become something of a good guy simply by comparison to Whiterose. Sure, he's despicable and corrupt, but he's the lesser evil when compared to Whiterose. We get a great expositional speech that was artfully directed, which revealed Whiterose's rise to power. This was a good way to start the episode, emphasizing the importance of taking down Whiterose and how difficult that would be. The following scenes between Elliot/Price and Price/Whiterose were well written and well acted, setting up Elliot's plan to take down Whiterose. Much of the meat of the episode came from Elliot and Darlene's relationship. As Mr. Robot has said, Elliot's been very detached in his hunt for vengeance and nobody notices that more than Darlene. When their mother dies, neither of them really care, but Darlene is upset because Elliot no longer seems to be there for her. We know he's trying to protect her, but shutting himself off from her is not good for either of them and I'm glad that the episode slowly built towards Darlene getting Elliot to open up to her again. These two have a great relationship and I want to see them on good terms with each other. Unfortunately for Elliot, by opening up to Darlene he has endangered her once again, but putting Darlene in danger was never his call. Elliot is forced to accept that he can't fight this battle alone, and that he needs to let go of his instinct to protect Darlene. Furthermore, there is a lovely message about grief in this episode. The death of Elliot and Darlene's mother is used to parallel Angela's death, giving them the chance to grieve and be there to help each other through such a difficult time. The episode's biggest surprise came towards the end when we learn that Elliot has a third personality that is completely unaccounted for. This reveal came out of nowhere and was absolutely effective. It changes the story and adds a new exciting mystery and sense of uncertainty in Elliot. I wonder how much we have seen this third personality in the past (see: The Unknown). This twist is exciting and I'm curious to see where it goes. Dom's story continues to advance in an interesting way. Her interview with Agent Horton was engaging. For a little bit I was concerned that she was about to turn on the Dark Army and face the consequences, but the show faked me out by revealing that Dom was following the plan all along. The drama worked here, and I completely fell for it, only to be delighted at how good Dom's acting was with her family's lives on the line. But despite all of her hard work, she ends up facing a bitter realization when Janice murders Horton anyways all because Dom was only 99.9% sure, a sad moment. The Dark Army are proving to be extremely despicable, and things like this make it much easier to root for their downfall. The Bad: Elliot hunting for Susan Jacobs isn't as interesting as the show thinks it is because we know she is dead. It's hard to care too much about the drama of Elliot finding out that Darlene killed her because Elliot has already done far worse things than what Darlene did here. This episode feels like set-up and there isn't a whole lot going on here. Even the big twist doesn't really have much impact on the characters, and it feels like it is setting up for an exciting reveal down the line. Elliot and Mr. Robot discerning a third personality is surprising, but it doesn't impact the story too much. I have no problem with slow set-up episodes like this one, but set-up episodes aren't going to score as highly due to their nature. The Unknown: What was in Elliot's mother's safe deposit box? Will that be important? Will Whiterose realize that Price is working with Elliot? Why is it such a big deal that Price is resigning? Wasn't his career supposed to be finished by the E Corp bombings? Or did he have a bit more time before being sacked? I can't quite remember the details. Very interesting ending scene. That's the same room where Tyrell extended his offer to Elliot. Is this meant to be a visualization of Elliot's mind? Is that a younger Elliot and his mother? Why are they there? What does this mean? This was a trippy, confusing ending to the episode. I'm intrigued to learn more about what exactly is going on here. Who is Elliot's third personality? Have we seen them before? I imagine we must have, or this will feel like too convenient of a plot twist. I'm sure that Sam Esmail has laid hints in previous episodes about this. Best Moment: Elliot and Darlene listening to the walkman tape together. Such a sad moment of bonding between these two. Elliot and Darlene have the best relationship in the show by far. Character of the Episode: Elliot. Conclusion: This was a much better effort. This episode nicely examined both Elliot and Darlene, and gave us an effective twist to conclude the episode on top of that. This is solid set-up for the rest of the season. Score: 66 Summary: Angela says she will go after Whiterose to Price's dismay. The Dark Army executes her. A several month timeskip happens. Elliot hacks Freddie, who is an attorney for the Dark Army and he learns about the bank that funds them. He investigates John Garcin, Fred's contact, but it's a honeypot. Elliot is captured by the Dark Army and left for dead but Price saves him. Darlene has turned to cocaine to process her grief over Angela, but she is in denial about her death. Dom is a mess living with her mother. Dom is set up with Janice but it turns out that Janice works for the Dark Army and threatens Dom to finish the Santiago case or she will kill her mother. Tyrell works as E Corp's CTO but gets no joy out of it.
The Good: I enjoyed everything involving Elliot in this episode. We got a neat reference to "eps1.0_hellofriend.mov" as we open with Elliot hacking someone who has done some very bad things, and hangs the threat over them while getting them to cooperate. But where Elliot was simply following his internal justice in the series pilot, now he is actively working to bring down the Dark Army. Elliot's hack of Freddie is dramatic and exciting to watch, since we know the stakes are high and that Elliot needs whatever victory he can. The sequence is tense and reminiscent of season 1, only this time it ends with Elliot slipping up by allowing Freddie to realize that he has literally no reason to help Elliot and so he kills himself. It's a bleak ending, highlighting the darkness that has taken over this how. The rest of Elliot's story is solid. He's revenge-driven now, and he has stopped talking to us and Mr. Robot to push forwards in his revenge. But he's so driven that he's no longer listening to common sense. Mr. Robot warns him time and time again of the risks, but Elliot no longer cares about them, and his recklessness leads him into a honeypot and almost to his death. The scenes at the hotel were very engaging. From the lobby alone, something doesn't feel right, and the episode wonderfully builds that tension when Mr. Robot points out the quiet. Except for us it isn't quiet; there's a noticeable ticking noise that goes and goes, telling us that something is about to happen. The whole sequence masterfully builds tension up until the honeypot reveal, and the pay-off is brilliant as Elliot gets kidnapped to Bob Marley. It works surprisingly well. Dom has some good scenes too. She has moved in with her mother and is terrified and paranoid that the Dark Army may be coming for her and her family. It's a shock to see Dom like this when she was so cool and collected in previous seasons. The scene with Janice is superb. She seemed so innocuous that I was completely caught off guard when she ended up being a Dark Army worker. Dom is not just paranoid, the walls really are closing in around her. I'm excited to see what's next for her. Darlene is another character who is falling apart. Following Dom's brutal speech to her and Angela's death, she is a total mess. It's painful to see Darlene like this, and her inability to process Angela's death is very sad. Elliot trying to protect her in his own misguided way is sad, and it hurts to see so many of the main characters starting this season in such a place of pain. Tyrell gets the short end of the stick here, but his scene does well to convey how empty his lifestyle is. I'm curious to find out how he's working with Elliot and what their plan is. The Bad: This episode had one enormous misstep and that was killing Angela off in the opening scene. First off, what the hell was that? This is one of the main characters of the whole series, someone we have followed for 3 seasons through good and bad storylines, someone who had important relationships with other characters, and someone who had an engaging character arc going on. And she just dies in an incredibly unceremonious way, her death only serving to further the character arcs of other characters. Hell, the moment where she dies doesn't even belong to her, it's focused on Price. So again I have to say, what the hell was that? That was incredibly underwhelming and it feels like Joanna's death come again, only far worse because we have spent far more time with Angela, and there have been multiple seasons of somewhat frustrating storytelling with her character to get to this point. I was curious to see what the pay-off was to justify all of the time we have spent with her, and we get absolutely nothing. What a disappointment. Not only was her death completely flat and lacking emotion and finality, but it was an anticlimax that made me question her entire existence. Was she even necessary? I struggle to believe that killing Angela here was the plan. If it was, why not do it in the previous episode? It's so abrupt to have her die at the start of this episode, and it was clearly retconned. Price's conversation with her was never motivated by trying to save her from Whiterose, it was from a father intervening to help her daughter recover, changing the dynamics of a key relationship. There wasn't a hint of finality to it! What's worse is that Angela and Elliot's relationship never went anywhere in the end. I can't believe that after their terrific scene in "eps3.7_dont-delete-me.ko", there was nothing planned to follow up on it. I have so many reasons to despise Angela's death, and I find it appalling that a main character was given such a sloppy send-off. I do wonder if there was some backstage trouble that led to Portia Doubleday leaving the show, because there's no way that this was part of the main plan. I'll miss Angela, and I'm disheartened by how terrible her conclusion was. I've always been vocal that I do not like timeskips. They feel like a cheap way to avoid showing us the consequences of major events, and that makes the ensuing story less enjoyable to catch up with. That was very much the case here. All of the events that ended last season had exciting potential to have some interesting after-effects. This includes Angela recovering with Price (so much for that), Elliot undoing the hack causing huge changes in society, and Dom returning to her job and covering up what happened to her and Santiago. None of these stories were addressed adequately in this episode, and that was very disappointing. The Unknown: Why wasn't Price able to save Angela? Couldn't he have intervened further to prevent Whiterose from killing her? Why did Price save Elliot? Why was he with the three men who left Elliot for dead? Was this all planned in advance? Why drug Elliot if they were just going to save him immediately afterwards? Is Price here on Whiterose's terms or is he here on his own to ally with Elliot? Why is he here? Where is Darlene's story heading? What will be the result of her meltdowns? What happened when she met Vera last season? We don't get any follow-up to that. Who is Janice? How will Dom contend with her? What does Dom have to do to resolve the Santiago case? Best Moment: Not too much stands out. I'll give it to the reveal that Janice was Dark Army, and her chilling threats to Dom. It caught me entirely off guard. Character of the Episode: Elliot. Conclusion: For the most part, this was a decent premiere that set the stage for season 4. It's just that there was one huge problem in the handling of Angela's character, which was the same thing that was done with Joanna in the last season, only way, way worse. This one problem hurts this episode significantly. Hopefully this is just a single mistake, and the rest of the season won't make any other big mistakes. Score: 57 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 Summary: A flashback shows E Corp hiring Allstate. Price takes notice of Angela, and while Allsafe weren't very impressive, Price hires them anyways. In the present, Tyrell returns to his house and grieves his losses. He is visited by Mr. Robot and the two argue. Tyrell starts beating him up but the doorbell rings. It's Price and he promotes Tyrell to CTO but tells Tyrell he will be a pawn. Tyrell is frustrated and allies with Mr. Robot again. Mr. Robot learns that the Dark Army control the FBI and leaves a message for Elliot. Elliot arranges a meet with Whiterose for "stage 3". He tasks Darlene with getting access to Romero's old files which are possessed by the FBI. Darlene attempts this through seducing Dom but she is caught and taken in for interrogation where she reveals Elliot's plan to undo 5/9. Santiago shuts it down and takes Dom off the case. Elliot meets with Grant, Whiterose's right hand, and they take Elliot's files on stage 3. Whiterose is frustrated that her project shipping to Congo has been delayed. Grant informs her about Elliot and they have determined that he is laying a trap for them. Angela continues to spiral and loses faith in Elliot. She wanders the streets and is picked up in a white van.
The Good: It isn't "Mr. Robot" if the show doesn't mess with the chronology a little bit. We start with Elliot disoriented and reading a message from Mr. Robot about the FBI, and we spend the rest of the episode catching up on what Mr. Robot did while Elliot executes his plan. I'm not sure that messing with the chronology was necessary here, but I did enjoy the way that the episode was put together. The story catching up with Mr. Robot was the most interesting to me. He goes to visit the grieving Tyrell in his house, and their confrontation is excellent. With Tyrell unleashing a mass terrorist attack against Mr. Robot's will, tensions were high between them, and I loved how the scene slowly escalated into Tyrell pulling out the gloves (a lovely nod to season 1) and beating down Mr. Robot. But their conflict was interrupted by the arrival of Price, who installs Tyrell as a pawn at E Corp. The moment is an excellent revelation for Tyrell who finally gets everything he has been fighting for since season 1, but is faced with the cold realization that he's only being used by people with more power. There's an excellent moment when Tyrell thinks he has found some leverage but Price breaks down that Tyrell is nothing, saying "I'm not out of moves, you're not worth one". Mr. Robot also gets some lip from Price who gives him a reality check about how sloppy his revolution was since he didn't take any control or lead in any way. The dissection of Mr. Robot and Elliot is superb, and I really enjoyed what was accomplished in these scenes. Elliot's attempt to get through to the Dark Army involves a plan with himself meeting Whiterose, and Darlene getting access into the FBI via Dom. Both plans are engaging to watch. Elliot's work gets him into contact with Leon again (fun cameo as always), and he ends up meeting Grant instead of Whiterose. His plan is a success and there's a bit of hopeful optimism when Elliot succeeds. Or at least there would have been, but Darlene's failure tips off the Dark Army and they are after Elliot now. Darlene's failure is certainly disappointing, but she tried her level best to outsmart Dom. Unfortunately, Dom is too good and while her loneliness does allow Darlene to seduce here, it also results in Dom being highly paranoid and suspicious of her. It is both personally and professionally disappointing for Dom that Darlene tried to use her, and you can't help but feel bad for both parties. Darlene's failure leads to her admitting to what she's doing in front of the compromised agent Santiago, which is a sad bit of irony. Elliot had Darlene not confide in Dom because he didn't trust the FBI, but Dom was the one person that Darlene could have safely gone to. But now that chance has been wasted, and Darlene has screwed up enormously. Let's hope that she hasn't gotten Elliot killed with her weak plan. Whiterose melting down was a surprising scene, but it's great to see that "Mr. Robot" isn't beyond making its most successful characters face consequences. Whiterose executed her plan sublimely, but the plan itself interfered with Whiterose's personal goals. It's great to see her frustrated by the delays as she falls victim to time once more. The last scene provided an interesting dynamic for her relationship with Grant that I'm curious to learn more about. I love that the opening flashback helped explain why a massive corporation like E Corp was with a company like Allsafe which always seemed to be slightly incompetent. It has nothing to do with Gideon or the company's abilities, instead it was all because one person in power had a hunch (see: The Unknown). It's very fitting with the themes of the show. The Bad: Angela has been frustrating in the last few episodes. She seems to have fully descended into madness and it does not feel earned at all. This goes all the way back to my frustrations with season 2 because we never knew what Whiterose told Angela that led to her becoming such a firm believer. To add to the irritation, Angela herself also refuses to reveal anything, which continues to frustrate. After last episodes terrific Elliot/Angela scene, I had expected that the character could have started to recover by reconnecting with Elliot. But she immediately goes back to not trusting him, which was a disappointing follow-up to such an emotionally powerful scene. The Unknown: It seems that Price bought Allsafe specifically because of Angela. Why? How did he know about her beforehand? Why has he been so interested in her? There are a lot of questions here. Perhaps he knew about her through her mother? Was he aware of her similarly to how Whiterose has been aware of Elliot for a long time? What is Price's plan for Tyrell? Will it work out for him? How will Mr. Robot and Tyrell try to turn things around on Price? Why did the Dark Army allow Elliot to hack them? Have they laid a trap for him? How are they going to try to kill him? Did Darlene really betray Elliot by trusting the FBI? Or has this been planned? Is Dom going to go after Santiago now? Surely she knows about him. How will Irving handle the situation with Darlene? Is he going to try to kill her? Where is Angela being taken? Who picked her up? Whiterose? Price? Why was her dad calling her? Best Moment: Price speaking with Mr. Robot and Tyrell was engaging. It was very well-written with lots of interesting details, and all three characters were given a thorough examination by each other. Character of the Episode: Mr. Robot. Conclusion: This was a good episode of table-setting before the season finale. There were some good storylines and interesting scenes which furthered the plot and character arcs. This is certainly a step down from the last four incredible episodes, but it's still good stuff. Score: 66 Summary: A flashback shows Elliot's father dying at the movie theatre. Elliot goes to watch the movie anyways and creates Mr. Robot. In the present, Elliot despairs in his apartment for weeks and ultimately wipes down everything and gets rid of the Mr. Robot jacket. Darlene visits and tells him that Angela is breaking down but he doesn't care. Darlene wants to help him but Elliot says he needs time. Elliot buys a ton of morphine from a drug dealer, intending to kill himself. He tries to pay respects to Mobley but his brother isn't doing anything for Mobley. Elliot visits Trenton's family, pays his respects and then goes to Coney island to die. But Trenton's brother Mohammed has followed him and won't leave him alone, so Elliot tries to take care of him. Elliot ends up taking him to the movies, but Mohammed leaves partway through. Elliot finds him at a mosque and they argue with each other. But after, Elliot sits next to him and they talk about Trenton and Mohammed reveals his guilt over Trenton leaving. Elliot says it is his fault. Elliot takes Mohammed home and Mohammed gives him a lollipop. Elliot finds his resolve renewed and goes back to Mobley's brother, demanding that he hold a funeral for Mobley. He also gets rid of his morphine. Elliot then visits Angela and they share a moment together. Elliot goes back home, retrieves the Mr. Robot jacket and gets back to his computer where he sees an email from Trenton.
The Good: Themes of suicide are always a tricky topic to hit in a TV show, but this episode nailed it. The topic was given respect, and the narration connecting it to deletion of a file provided an interesting simplification of the theme. I appreciated the way that depression was examined in this episode, realistically showcasing what it is like for people when they lose the will to live, making it feel like they have nothing. Elliot was in this state, and Rami Malek portrayed it fantastically. Perhaps even better than how this episode conveyed depression was how effectively this episode conveyed what it feels like to come back from depression. That sense of triumph, satisfaction, and self-belief is overpowering after it has been absent for so long, and the end of the episode perfectly captured this feeling and has mentally prepared Elliot to keep fighting even after his latest failures. The episode starts with another interesting flashback to fill in Elliot's childhood. This one is really important as it showcases two huge events that were surprisingly linked: Elliot's father's death, and the origin of Mr. Robot. The death of Elliot's father is an impactful moment, especially because Elliot's final words to him are telling him that he does not forgive him. The scene is brutal and sad, and the way Elliot processed his father's death was equally heartbreaking. Rather than stick around or express any emotions, Elliot simply went to watch the movie anyways, and created Mr. Robot to help cure himself of the loneliness he feels without his father around. It seems that Elliot's disorder stemmed from his struggle to process the death of his father. In the present, Elliot is similarly lost when processing his role in the execution of stage 2. He's locked himself away in his apartment, but this time he can't rely on Mr. Robot to help him handle his loneliness. Darlene visits him early in the episode, Elliot's most meaningful connection. But even Darlene can't save Elliot from himself. Their scene is touching and their relationship is one of the strong points of the show, but Elliot is closed off here. He refuses Darlene at every turn, continues to hold Angela accountable, and is unable to find any sense of purpose for himself. Darlene sees it but she is powerless to stop him. Even the ones closest to Elliot are unable to pull him out of despair. And so Elliot decides he is going to kill himself. The episode takes a somber and melancholy turn and the directing reflects it. Elliot's choice feels final, helped by little details like him getting rid of the Mr. Robot jacket, and the inclusion of a gorgeous piece of music that captures Elliot's mental state perfectly. There is some magnificent filmmaking here, making this episode feel much more cinematic and emotional. Elliot's final hours sees him try to pay respects to the families of Mobley and Trenton with mixed results. It's sad to see how much the Dark Army's actions have affected these families. Mobley's family hates him now and views him as irredeemable, while Trenton's family is lost and confused, ready to move away and leave behind the country that has been so terrible to them. After paying his respects and being once again reminded of the cruel nature of the world, Elliot decides that it's time to end it all. But what stops him is surprising. Trenton's brother Mohammed heard Elliot talking about his sister, and so he followed him, looking to find someone else who might understand how he feels. It's unexpected, and Elliot's put off by now having this annoying kid to watch over. Their interactions are funny, but they feel realistic. Mohammed acts like a kid would typically act when dealing with Elliot. He lies to get his way, asks questions over and over again, and refuses to cooperate. It's delightful to watch Elliot bond with this kid as he slowly rediscovers his will to live. A nice touch is that this story takes place on Back to the Future day, a day that Elliot would doubtless have always looked forward to, but he forgot it was even happening. By taking Mohammed to the movies, Elliot is reminded of some of the smaller delights in life, and he gets some enjoyment out of discussing his passions with this kid. Finally, after lots of stalling, Elliot and Mohammed are able to open up to each other when they get to the mosque. They briefly argue to let out their frustrations, but right after they are able to come clean about everything. Mohammed brings up his guilt, and Elliot consoles him by revealing his own role in Trenton's death. They both open up to each other, and in doing this, Elliot forms an unexpected meaningful connection that reminds him of the virtues of life. Mohammed certainly doesn't know it, but he saved Elliot's life by simply caring enough to show him some attention. The moment near the end of the episode when Mohammed gives a lollipop to an emotional Elliot is a beautiful climax to this storyline, perfectly conveying the emotions of coming back from depression. This story was beautifully written, beautifully executed, and ends up being one of the most emotional parts of the series so far. The end of the episode shows us what Elliot can do now that he is coming back from the brink. There is another terrific music choice with "In Time" to herald Elliot's return as he goes around doing the things that we expect Elliot to do. He addresses the disrespect by Mobley's brother by hacking him to ensure that he gives Mobley the funeral that he deserves. This is reminiscent of the very first time we see Elliot when he hacks a pedophile to do justice, and it's symbolic of a rebirth of sorts for Elliot. It's great to see him taking actions to make a difference in the world once more. Furthermore, we get an outstanding moment between Elliot and Angela. Elliot's choice to forgive her is one that you can't help but feel happy about. Angela has made bad decisions, but so has Elliot. They are both down and hurting, and they needed each other more than ever so I was very happy to see Elliot decide to stay by her door and talk to her, especially since Angela wasn't ready to see him just yet. Their moment together is incredibly sad, hopeful, and, again, beautiful. Beautiful really is the way to describe this episode. The Bad: Nothing I would call bad. I suppose that a little kid helping an adult overcome their problems is a trope, but its usage is warranted here, and a powerful message is told through this story. It's not an issue for me. The Unknown: How is Elliot going to work to undo the hack? I took a look at Trenton's email thoroughly, but I certainly don't have the computer knowledge to know exactly what she's talking about. What's Elliot's next move going to be? Best Moment: Again we are spoiled for choice. Mohammed giving Elliot that lollipop probably clinches it for me. So emotionally powerful, and it perfectly conveys the idea that all it takes to be saved from yourself is an act of kindness and connection from anyone out there in the world. You can find purpose and meaning from the most unexpected of places. Character of the Episode: Elliot. Conclusion: A beautiful experience. This episode didn't do much for the plot, but it provided a tremendous examination of depression and suicide while examining the character of Elliot as he handles the despair of everything that just happened in the world. This was such an emotionally charged and powerful episode, and it succeeded at everything that it tried to do. Score: 83 Summary: Leon has killed Mobley's friend and is holding Mobley and Trenton hostage. He takes them out into the desert to bury him and Mobley and Trenton try to escape but crash. Leon takes them to a house where Whiterose's right hand man awaits them. He sets up a scenario to make it look like Trenton and Mobley were the leaders of fsociety, and he promptly kills them to make it look like suicide. The FBI has captured Tyrell who offers a deal to lead them to 2 fsociety operatives who kept him captive. Dom doesn't buy it but Santiago makes it happen. He also informs Tyrell of Joanna's death and threatens him into sticking to the plan. The FBI get the names of Mobley and Trenton from Tyrell and they track them to a house where they find them dead. Elliot panics upon seeing the news and goes to Krista but can't bring himself to face what happened. Mr. Robot comes out and all but admits to Krista that he was the architect of 5/9 while venting. Krista is bound by confidentiality and is unable to tell anyone about this. Upset, Mr. Robot confronts Irving who shows him a rich party happening on the same day. He tells Mr. Robot that his revolution was only allowed to happen because it was paid for by the top 1%. Angela is shell-shocked about the explosions and tells herself that she can rewind time and everyone will be okay. Price is angry at Whiterose who has ensured that Price will be fired. She reveals that she lied to Angela to ensure she stops being a problem, and that she turned on Price because she has to ask him twice.
The Good: The three words that I will use to describe this episode are emotional, devastating, and terrific. This was a harrowing and bleak experience as every single character went through some sort of mental trauma and the fallout of the attacks made things worse for every single character. That is, every single character except Whiterose. Among a world filled with chaos where everything is terrible, one person reigns supreme and that is the single most evil and sadistic character in this universe. This is a dominating win from the bad guys, and the episode does not shy away from examining how terrible this is for everyone else involved. Let's start with Elliot who had just learned about the attacks at the end of the previous episode. Poor Elliot can't handle what he has learned. Even though he isn't directly responsible for what happened, he is wracked with guilt for the role he played. This is shown to us in a fantastic way through Elliot's breakdown at Krista's house, with Elliot being unable to say what he has done as the audio and video crackles and makes it clear how overwhelmed Elliot feels. This was outstanding stuff, brutally effective and scary. Then we get to see Mr. Robot come out and he takes over the rest of the episode from Elliot. Mr. Robot has always been the force that we root for Elliot to overcome and yet that changes here because he's been played every bit as much as Elliot has. His rant to Krista is great. In this moment, he loses the ability to control what he says because of his need to vent. He was the mastermind behind fsociety, but now he has to watch as the organization and revolution he created gets morphed into something completely different, abandoning the morals that he followed. From being a noble revolution against the top 1%, fsociety is just another pawn for the top 1% committing terrorist attacks and murdering innocents. Mr. Robot is rightfully angry about this and goes straight to Irving to protest what's been done. And it's here that Irving tells him the sad, terrible truth: Elliot and Mr. Robot were always just pawns. He wasn't an architect for anything. The only reason his revolution happened was because the top 1% allowed it to happen and even funded it. This revelation is horrifying for Mr. Robot and it's horrifying for us. This is Irving bleakly telling us that it's all meaningless, because no matter what happens, you cannot take down the people sitting at the top. No economic crisis, dead bodies in the bathroom, or terrorist attacks around the country are capable of stopping them, so what can be done. Irving has the energy of somebody who has given up on changing society and has simply accepted his small, overlooked role in everything. But for Mr. Robot who was a revolutionary with enormous goals, this moment signifies a realization that he will never succeed in his goal, and that his entire purpose was doomed to only make things worse from the start. It's bleak, it's sad, it's hopeless, emotions that this episode does a fantastic job of making you feel. Another character thrown in a hopeless scenario is Tyrell. Tyrell has been strictly loyal to the Dark Army in spite of everything. We have seen the extent of his sacrifice. He avoided his family, he shot Elliot, he changed his plans accordingly, and now he's let himself be arrested and framed two innocent people for everything. Tyrell worked hard and loyally, and this episode we see how he is rewarded: a stoic FBI agent who doesn't even like him tells him that his wife died and was cheating on him, and threatens to ensure a terrible life for his son if Tyrell doesn't continue to comply with everything the Dark Army asks of him. This scene is outstanding and Martin Wallstrom's acting is unbelievable. He conveys Tyrell's pain so well that you can't help but feel for this sociopath as he realizes that he has lost everything to the Dark Army and now has to keep working for them while having nothing to live for. The scene is perhaps the most painful of the episode due to the extent of Tyrell's grief and the heartless brutality of Santiago's words. Speaking of Santiago, he had a pretty good episode. He continues to be humanized a little bit through his calls with his mother, and I'm curious to learn more about his personal situation and why he is working for the Dark Army. I'm pleased that the character is being expanded upon so that he is more than just a 2-dimensional villain. Revealing that Santiago is a double agent was a good call because all of his scenes with Dom contain more tension. We know that Santiago is working to further the Dark Army's agenda, so it's easy to root for Dom to overcome his influence, though she fails every time. This episode utilized their story perfectly as Santiago does just enough to remain credible despite actively sabotaging the FBI's operation. They end up capturing Mobley and Trenton at the end of the episode but naturally Dom doesn't believe it. She has interrogated Mobley and she knows that he is not leadership material. He has been framed, Dom knows it, Santiago knows it, and I suspect that Dom is starting to realize that Santiago's string of poor decisions is not just coincidence. The interplay between these characters and the slow realization that Dom is having is engaging to watch, and it leads to a tremendously satisfying moment at the end of the episode. Santiago congratulates Dom for a successful capture, but Dom isn't having it. She knows better, and she's not buying into Santiago's plan. She rushes off to investigate on her own and confirms that the Dark Army is responsible for this. The final moments of the episode are fantastic and perfectly sum up the purpose of this episode. Dom knows that Whiterose did this, but the entire world remains clueless. She is one person caught in a storm without anybody to trust. She feels powerless, and she faces the harsh realization that Whiterose is "actually going to get away with this". A bleak, depressing message to conclude the episode, letting us know that Whiterose has won and that she will not be facing repercussions from what she did. Whiterose's scenes with Price are thrilling in this episode. From being frustratingly vague in seasons 1 and 2, this relationship has evolved into being one of the most captivating and exciting things to watch. The show is also making an effort to explain what exactly was going on between the two characters in season 2. We get some nice reveals that Whiterose installed Price to obey her, that Price's only job was to take care of Angela, and that Whiterose lied to Angela to prevent her from interfering with his plans (more on this in a bit). It clears up a lot of mystery, while also reinforcing the villainy of Whiterose as she reveals her petty reasoning for screwing over Price entirely: she had to ask him twice. It's awful, it's frustrating and it ensures that we feel a sense of hopelessness as this terrible, terrible person continues to succeed without any sort of consequences. Michael Cristofer continues to be a stand-out performer in this show. His rage upon realizing that he was played by Whiterose is fantastic, and you can't help but feel for him as he has been screwed by a character who is proving to be the absolute worst in the entire show. We know that Price wants to be the most powerful man in the room, so being thoroughly outplayed by Whiterose must be an awful feeling for him. I wonder if "Mr. Robot" will attempt to humanize Price further and even get us to sympathize more with him. Angela did not have very many scenes in this episode, but you can't help but feel for her. She is in a deluded state, replaying the building collapses over and over again. Once more, she is echoing whatever belief that Whiterose instilled in her, hopeful that everything can be undone. But she sounds more and more insane with each thing she says. It only gets worse when we learn that Whiterose was likely lying about everything, and that the cause Angela is so invested in is likely nonexistent. It's a brutal reveal because we have seen how much Angela has been affected by everything. It's terrible to see Angela in an almost catatonic state as a result of all she has been through. She was once the optimistic moral compass of the show, and look where she is now. It's very sad. Mobley and Trenton's story is the main focus of the episode, and I enjoyed it a lot. Leon's presence thankfully injects some comedy into this bleak episode to ensure that it isn't an entirely miserable experience. Leon's constant TV show references are as fun as ever as he takes on "Frasier" and "Knight Rider" in this episode. I haven't seen either, but I appreciate that the episode's intro was done to the "Knight Rider" theme song, a funny reference. Leon continues to pull out some great lines like "that's no way to treat a caddy" and a funny reference to "eps2.5_h4ndshake.sme" when he refers to where his knife has been. While Leon is funny and charming, Mobley and Trenton feel very real in their efforts to escape. Their banter is a lot of fun, making me wish that we had seen more of them up until now. In the end, their fate ends up being a sad one. We are hopeful that they can at least get away safe in spite of all the horror that has happened in this episode. Even though they aren't the deepest characters, we understand that they simply wanted to get away and that they were in over their head. These emotions are relatable and it ensures that we are invested in their plight. In an episode where everything is going terribly, we would at least liek to see these two minor characters get out alive. But of course, the cherry on top is that it doesn't happen. The Dark Army lead Trenton and Mobley away and it slowly becomes clear that the plan is to murder them and frame them for everything, which is such a tragic fate considering that they weren't very invested in the revolution anyways. The FBI raid is intercut with the Dark Army preparing their deaths, and it leads us to hope against hope that somehow they can get there in time and save Trenton and Mobley, and perhaps uncover the truth about the Dark Army. But of course, in a clever editing trick, we are seeing two different timelines and by the time the FBI enter the building, it's much too late. Trenton and Mobley are dead, and framed for one of the world's biggest crimes, a crime that they weren't even involved in. One final gutpunch to conclude an episode filled with them. The Bad: It's mostly little things that detracted from some of this. I still find it tough to connect with Angela's delusions because we didn't see what made her like this. Whiterose and Price arguing loudly and openly in public should surely be a bad idea. They wouldn't want anyone else to hear what they are up to. Mobley and Trenton's deaths were sad and impactful, but they could have hit so much harder if these two were developed and explored properly in the previous seasons. They hardly felt like characters by the time of their deaths. The Unknown: Why did Leon kill Mobley's roommate? What will Krista do with her information about Elliot? How will her relationship with him change? Will Tyrell remain loyal to the Dark Army after what has happened? I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Dom finds some proof on Santiago. Does she already suspect that he's compromised? Why is Santiago so frustrated? Is he a double agent by choice or is he being forced by the Dark Army to be a double agent? What is on Trenton's email? Who did she send it to? Darlene? How long does Price have left at E Corp? Will he attempt to get back at Whiterose somehow? Who will he select to be his replacement? Is Angela proposing that Whiterose is attempting time travel? Judging by Whiterose's later conversation with Price, it sounds like everything she told Angela was a lie to manipulate her. How will Elliot process what happens when he emerges again? Best Moment: We are really spoiled for choice here. I'll go with Irving's speech to Mr. Robot for its thematic significance combined with that sense of bleakness that permeated the entire episode. Character of the Episode: Whiterose. This was her victory, through and through. Conclusion: Despite not being as intense as the last two episodes, this was even better. This episode examined Whiterose's victory to perfection, created a devastating and upsetting episode that makes it explicitly clear how hopeless everything is. These emotions were perfectly realized and this episode hits hard in a way that very few episodes of television can. Simply fantastic stuff as "Mr. Robot" continues to tell an incredible story in season 3. Score: 85 Summary: Flashbacks show Angela at a party for her mother who is going to die soon from cancer. Elliot's father speaks with her and she goes to talk with her mother. In the present, Elliot confronts Angela about what she did and Angela gets him to leave by reminding him that he's been fired and isn't allowed in the building. Elliot goes to the Recovery building to stop stage 2, but Mr. Robot fights him for control and forces him to backtrack whenever he takes over. Elliot continually fights Mr. Robot in an attempt to reach the battery room to prevent an explosion from happening. He is able to communicate that there aren't any paper records in the building and Mr. Robot ceases after realizing it's true. Elliot prevents an explosion and leaves satisfied, but he realizes that the Dark Army instead bombed the 71 other E Corp buildings where he distributed the records. Darlene tells Dom that Tyrell is in the Red Wheelbarrow, and she goes to Santiago to turn in Tyrell. Santiago says to be cautious and warns Irving they have been found. Dom and Norm go investigate the Red Wheelbarrow anyways but find nobody there. Irving gives Tyrell instructions on what to do next. When Dom goes outside, Tyrell runs around screaming to stop "the attack" and he is arrested. Angela returns home and finds Darlene who tries to convince her to stop what she's doing. They both receive notifications of the attack and are shocked. Whiterose and Price speak at a party and Price is later given news of the attack.
The Good: Angela's flashback was an effective way to start the episode. We haven't delved too far into her upbringing, so it's good to see how the events of the past have shaped who she is. To start, the casting choice for young Angela was picture perfect. I immediately knew I was looking at young Angela without needing a word of dialogue. The opening scene was interesting because it paralleled Angela's mother's words to her with Angela's current belief that she can prevent her death by following Whiterose. It's a curious connection that helps us understand why Angela would have been susceptible to whatever it was that Whiterose told her. There's also a great scene with Elliot's father, reminding us how capable of a parent he was as he sees Angela feeling sad and alone and goes over to help her out which simultaneously looking out for Elliot. I found these scenes to be surprisingly emotional and impactful, complete with an excellent soundtrack and memorable lighting scheme that helped give this scene an almost heavenly feel to symbolize that we are celebrating a character's death. But immediately after this lovely flashback, the episode launches into another thrilling and intense experience. We start in the midst of a terrific dramatic confrontation between a betrayed Elliot and Angela who is trying her best to defend her actions to ease her own inner conflict. Their argument is brilliantly written and the acting is top-notch. It's a huge turning point in their relationship that lives up to being a monumental moment. We don't even get to see a proper resolution because Angela runs away from their debate, retreating into her cold business personality to get Elliot away from her in an attempt to keep believing the illusion that she is doing the right thing for the betterment of the world. But the rest of the episode makes it clear that she doesn't believe this anymore. She's like a ghost as she echoes her belief that nobody will die when she faces down a thief with a gun later in the episode. Having just listened to how much the 5/9 hack has affected the lives of two senior ladies on the subway, Angela falls into guilt, so much so that in this moment you suspect that she may have even welcomed being shot to get away from the guilt she feels. Then in the final moments of the episode she is confronted by Darlene, who knows her well enough to want to give her another chance. But once again Angela hides away from the truth, until reality checks in for both of them with a simple phone notification. Angela has been handled much better this season, and once you get over how sudden her character change is, there is a great story being told with her. Elliot's efforts to stop stage 2 are highly dramatic. The episode makes it crystal clear what Elliot's goal is and why. He is going to stop stage 2 and save the lives of the many and prevent the Dark Army for blowing up society into being even worse than it has already been in the past couple seasons. It's easy to root for him, and the episode does a terrific job of giving him setbacks that originate within his own mind. It's dramatic to see him working hard at a solution that may work only to be forcibly shoved away by Mr. Robot who emerges to make him lose time. It's disorienting, and every time Mr. Robot takes over, you can feel the suspense rising as the explosion gets closed and closer to going off. We eventually make our way to one of the episode's most creative and most "Fight Club" sequences when Elliot is physically fighting himself while walking down a hallway. It's equal parts dramatic and hilarious, especially when a random worker walks past Elliot as he continues to harm himself while heading down that hallway. The build-up is suspenseful, the comedy is nicely integrated, and there's a nice bit of exploration of Elliot's relationship with Mr. Robot as he uses messages to try to talk some sense into him. All of it leads to a great climax where Mr. Robot realizes that his plan isn't going to work so he allows Elliot to save everyone in the building and stop the explosion. This worked pretty well, and it was a relief to realize that Elliot succeeded and stopped the attack. But the relief feels hollow and you can't help but escape that sense of dread that something is not quite right. Whether it's Tyrell screaming to stop the attack, or Angela and Darlene getting mysterious notifications, you get the sense that something big is about to happen. The dread comes from the fact that Elliot has not clued in and believes that he has won. It's a slow and scary moment when Elliot realizes that something has gone wrong and we are hit with a stunning reveal that Elliot's interventions ultimately made things worse as Tyrell attacked 71 different E Corp buildings instead, executing the plan flawlessly while murdering thousands. This moment is outstanding and the realization hits like a truck when you learn that Elliot failed and that the Dark Army may have just successfully ended E Corp. This is a monumental moment and it absolutely feels like it. Kudos to Sam Esmail for telling this story well enough that we understand the consequences of this scene. We also get a strong storyline as the FBI close in on Tyrell. Darlene relays intel from Elliot to Dom and they work on stopping the Dark Army. But unfortunately they have to go through Santiago, and knowing that he is a traitor raises the suspense massively. We know that Santiago is actively working against Dom and Norm and we hope that they can find a way to prove him wrong. This helps make them going rogue feel like such a satisfying moment. It's not just a bold and rash decision, it's the only move that can stop Tyrell and the Dark Army, so we can celebrate when Norm and Dom feign asking each other to go get food. The suspense picks up as Dom's investigation begins while we are shown scenes of Irving and Tyrell packing up to leave. There is a whole load of tension as we await to see if Dom can make it in time, and there's even some extra tension in Irving giving Tyrell the letter because we know that Tyrell learning about Joanna's death is a bomb that is waiting to drop on him. Cutting these scenes together added to the suspense, and it led to an interesting and exciting moment later in the episode as Tyrell is arrested, presumably on the Dark Army's orders (see: The Unknown), and Dom is still struggling to put the pieces together on how this all adds up. What made all of these storylines so effective and so intense was the choice to splice them together and frequently cut from scene to scene, creating an enormous sense of tension. It's a trick similar to "eps2.8_h1dden-pr0cess.axx" which made the ending of that episode so heart-poundingly thrilling. The tension rises exponentially through the episode, and all of the already exhilarating storylines that I discussed above were elevated to a whole new level of tension. Furthermore, the return to regular pacing when cutting between scenes at the end of the episode helped create that false sense of security that made the ending twist hit even harder. I appreciate that Santiago was humanized in this episode through an excellent call with his mother (see: The Unknown). It's great to see the minor characters in this show proving to us that they have some extra depth. The Bad: Nothing I would call outright bad, but I do have some reasons for not scoring this above an 80. Despite being an astonishingly intense experience, I did not feel personally invested with the characters as much as I would in a top-tier episode. A consequence of the rapid cutting between scenes is that each individual character feels more disconnected from myself, and that hurts my investment in the individual storylines even if the episode as a whole remains intense. I know it's a strange complaint, and it's tough to put into words why it affected me, but this problem meant that this episode did not hit the same highs as "eps3.4_runtime-err0r.roo". The Unknown: Who is Angela mother's anonymous benefactor? How will this character play a role in the story? Will Angela come to realize that she's fighting for the wrong cause here? It's hard to justify blowing up 71 buildings and killing thousands no matter what you believe. Did Mr. Robot do anything else while he was in control of Elliot's body? What were Tyrell's instructions? Is the Dark Army making it look like Tyrell was a hostage while someone else was doing this attack? Who are they going to blame if not Tyrell? Did Tyrell end up finding out that Joanna died? Why did Santiago tell his mother to stay home? Was it to make sure she doesn't get caught in the explosions? How much did he know about what was happening? How does he feel about it? How are these explosions going to affect the futures of E Corp and the world at large? How is Price going to handle what just happened? Best Moment: The twist reveal at the end completely caught me off guard. What a brilliant way to end the episode, sharply switching our emotional state from relief to dread as we realize the scope of what just happened. Even though we didn't see it happen ourselves, it's easy to understand that this is a monumental event that could potentially change everything. Character of the Episode: Elliot. Conclusion: Another fantastic and suspenseful episode that completely changed everything. The twist at the end was a brilliant piece of work and I'm excited to explore the fallout of stage 2's success. Season 3 has been firing on all cylinders so far, and it is well on its way to being a terrific season of television. Score: 78 Summary: Elliot arrives to work but is confused and has no memory of the past few days. The news reveals that it is the day of the Congo vote. Elliot goes to log in and realizes his account has been locked. Samar tells him someone is going to be fired and Elliot realizes it's him. He realizes that stage 2 is happening and evades security in an attempt to find a terminal to work. He is found and escapes into an elevator. He accepts it is too late and changes focus to evacuating the building. After being escorted out through the mass protests, he is met by Darlene who reveals she has been working with the FBI and that Angela has been working with Mr. Robot. The protest turns into a riot and the mob attacks the E Corp building. Angela gets instructions from Irving to find Elliot, but in the chaos she knows she won't find him. Angela goes to the security room and does the hack herself. She is spotted there by Lydia and reports to Irving who says he will take care of her. Angela manages to escape from the rioters by wearing an fsociety mask. She returns to her office where Elliot is waiting for her.
The Good: It took me about 10 minutes to realize that this entire episode would be done in a single free-flowing camera shot. Or at least, with the illusion of a single shot, but whatever cuts there are were expertly hidden away to create a phenomenal, highly personalized real-time experience within the E Corp building. I can't understate how unbelievably impressive this episode is from a technical standpoint. The skill needed to execute something like this is unbelievable, and to even consider doing this requires some remarkable creativity and vision. I have to give points to this episode for pulling this off so perfectly. Not once did the style of this episode take away from the drama and the suspense, and it was a really inspired decision, contributing to this being such a brutally tense and suspenseful experience. And what a tense experience it was. From the opening minutes, things were suspenseful and I was on the edge of my seat. Elliot started the episode disoriented, but through a well placed bit of news we were told that it was the day of the Congo vote, meaning that it was the day of stage 2. Establishing this immediately ratcheted up the tension. Elliot was way behind on knowledge and so the first few minutes got their tension from us waiting for Elliot to catch up and realize what was happening. And from then on the episode grabbed on and never let go. From Elliot escaping security, to Darlene revealing the truth, to the pure chaos of the riot, and finally to Angela's suspenseful mission. This was non-stop suspense and I was on the very edge of my seat watching it the entire time. The episode is divided into three distinct parts, and all of them are great. The first focuses on Elliot getting his bearings and realizing what is happening. This sequence is terrific and highly engaging. Elliot is completely disoriented upon returning to his own consciousness and the episode does a splendid job of showing this through moments like the glitching effects and Elliot's brief rant to Samar, who provides lots of laughs early in the episode. But the entire sequence is shrouded in suspense because we know that it's the day of stage 2 and that Elliot's preparations have been overcome. It is a long and tense wait for Elliot to catch up with us and realize that stage 2 is underway, he has been fired, and that there is nothing he can do to stop it. The entire experience is fantastic and dripping with suspense once Elliot realizes what is going on. His attempts to escape are a joy. There's a brilliant moment where he tries to prey on an older lady only to discover that she's unexpectedly tech-savvy, forcing him to instead use intimidation to get a younger care-free guy off of his terminal. But the results are devastating for him, and his attempt to escape leads to him hiding and stalling within a conference room in a terrific scene that forces Elliot to confront his own social anxiety for self preservation. Rami Malek conveys this beautifully and elevates the scene further. Following this, we are treated to another excellent scene as Elliot's mind form a sort of "fake" Mr. Robot with almost perfect accuracy, which is sensible because Mr. Robot is part of him. And here we get a nice connection to "eps1.5_br4ve-trave1er..asf" as Mr. Robot plays the same role of telling Elliot that resistance is futile and that it is too late; he can't stop stage 2 no matter how he tries, so what he should focus on is minimizing the damage. The show portrays the gradual acceptance of defeat perfectly and it is impactful. With that, the episode shifts into the second part as Elliot steps outside and we are greeted to a protest far more intense than any we have seen in the show so far. I have to applaud the writers for turning these protests into a major plot point following a season and a half of them happening. Set-up that goes unnoticed followed by a pay-off is always so satisfying. Anyways, once we're outside we get greeted by Darlene who immediately changes everything by revealing all to Elliot. I was caught off guard by this, but I'm pleased that this wasn't stretched out. Elliot's entire world is turned upside down by Darlene's reveal, and suddenly he is unable to trust her and Angela, his two closest confidants. The moment lands well and works perfectly as an emotional hit in the midst of this chaotic episode. But the emotional slowdown is short-lived as we are immediately thrust back into chaos as the protest turns into a riot as several people invade and vandalize the E Corp building. It's a shocking moment that wonderfully pays off of the growing tensions in the community following 5/9, and the single-take is especially impressive here as we witness the sheer chaos in its full glory. At least that's what it seems at first until we get a fantastic reveal that the riot is a sham, just a distraction organized by the Dark Army to ensure that stage 2 goes through. This caught me completely off guard and did a terrific fob of reinforcing the themes of the show. Free will and power to the people is always an illusion; nothing can get done without somebody in the top 1% justifying it. This is further explored when you remember that all of this chaos and death does not actually have a greater purpose to it; Whiterose didn't need to execute stage 2, she did it only to punish Price because of a wounded ego. The middle and lower class people will always face the worst consequences while the top 1% indulge themselves in their petty power struggles. The riot also serves as a perfect transition to Angela, who now has the difficult task of executing the plan for stage 2 under enormous amounts of pressure as she endangers her life by walking around the destruction in the E Corp building. The scenes with Angela are ridiculously intense as she goes from bad situation to bad situation, relying on her resourcefulness and terrible lies to help get her through. She quickly realizes that using Elliot is not an option and that she will have to do it all herself. And accomplishing this task comes at the cost of her soul, and Angela knows it. She can remind Irving about the evacuation all she wants, but she knows deep down that he is doing nothing to save the people. I'm sure that a part of her is already accepting it. After all, in her scramble to make it out unscathed she gets lives put on her conscience. She calls over the rioters to the security guard, knowing full well that they will kill him, and she informs Irving about Lydia, knowing full well that "taking care of her" means that she is going to die. Angela's actions have a big cost, and we can see at the end of the episode that it weighs on her (see: Best Moment). There are some lovely little details in Angela's story. You can see that her deflecting skill is getting better, especially when she makes a joke to the security guard in the elevator. The pepperspray moment is intense and you can't help but feel the pain for Angela as she has to put on that mask covered in pepperspray to get out safely. Furthermore, Angela wearing the mask is a lovely bit of symbolism. Even though she isn't officially part of fsociety, she may as well be with all of the work she is doing to further their goals. The Bad: I have one problem with this and it is that I was unsure if I should be rooting for the success of stage 2 or not. I felt that I shouldn't because the Dark Army is surely bad news, but with so many characters on different sides I felt confused. When following Elliot, I was sure that I would be rooting for him to stop it. But then when the episode switched to Angela, I wanted to root for her to survive and succeed, but I was unsure if I should be supporting her because her actions were to promote stage 2's success. It was a strange change in my own morality to root for Angela, and that created some uncomfortable discontent within myself when I was watching, and I don't think that it was intentional and it did weaken the experience for me a bit. The Unknown: Who was the German man at the start? What did he say? What caused Elliot to glitch? Did Angela and Mr. Robot set this up somehow? What else happened on Elliot's missing weekend? What did he do to prepare stage 2? Did Angela execute everything correctly? Or did she miss something? Are there any loose ends that she may have left behind? What's in the package that Angela was given? Was it really just food, or did she receive something more important? What did Elliot do while Angela was working on stage 2? Did he successfully evacuate the building? I strongly doubt that Irving actually did evacuate the building, but maybe he was aware of Elliot's actions? Will stage 2 be successful? I suppose we're going to see in the next episode. What will Elliot say to Angela? How will their relationship be affected by what happened? How did Elliot get back into E Corp through all of the chaos? Best Moment: Angela completes her task and gives the package to the Dark Army operative who always seems to be eating something. In return she receives a package in a Red Wheelbarrow bag. What's in this package is anyone's guess, but I think it would be a wonderfully fitting twist if it really is just a meal. Angela has risked it all and potentially is now responsible for the deaths of dozens, even hundreds, of people. And all she gets is a fast food meal from the higher-ups, because this kind of carnage means nothing to them. Regardless of what's in the bag, what comes next is brilliant. In the final tracking shot of the episode, Angela heads back to her office and she starts to break down. She can't hold in her emotions anymore, and I can only assume that she is really contemplating the weight of what she's done. She has gone past every boundary and broken down every moral barrier, and for a cause that she is starting to feel increasingly uncertain about. Is it worth all the chaos and death for whatever it is that Whiterose has shown her? It's a fantastic moment that more than delivers. And at the end of her walk, Angela already seems to be facing her reckoning: Elliot is waiting for her, his anger and disappointment clear as day. It's a perfect place to conclude the episode. Character of the Episode: Angela. Conclusion: A magnificent episode. The technical prowess is what everyone will be talking about, and it is astonishingly impressive, but let's not let that hide the fact that this was an anxiety-inducing, tense experience as the ever-building plot of "Mr. Robot" reached a thrilling climax. I can't wait for the next episode. Score: 82 Summary: Darlene returns to her apartment and Dom informs her that Elliot is there. Darlene covers her tracks as a precaution rather than informing on him and Elliot believes it. Elliot gets close with her again and Darlene convinces him to work against stage 2. They make a deal that Darlene will follow him to Tyrell when he becomes Mr. Robot. Later that night, Mr. Robot meets with Angela and Darlene sees. They leave in a taxi and Darlene can't follow. They meet with Tyrell and they all realize that Elliot has been causing shipping delays and other problems. Tyrell is furious but Angela tries to calm him down. Mr. Robot glitches back to Elliot so Angela sedates him and moves him to her house. Angela calls Price to get Elliot fired from E Corp. Tyrell speaks with Irving about Elliot and their setback, and Irving tells him the deadline can't be moved and that Tyrell has to find a way. Irving eventually convinces Tyrell to keep working and take control himself. Darlene meets with Dom and tells her she has a plan, but has to proceed without a wire. The FBI bust the man who made the fsociety video, but they get nothing from him.
The Good: Darlene's guilt is a primary focus of this episode and it explored in a brilliant way. From the opening scene, the episode makes it clear that we are getting a personal look into Darlene's head. She comes off as almost tragic in her opening scene as she allows the pickpocket to steal from her because she feels such guilt for all that she has taken away from the middle and lower class people as a result of 5/9. The only thing that she believes is worth saving is a polaroid, the significance of which we don't find out until later. The rest of the episode plays up this idea of guilt with some lovely touches. Elliot lets her into Shayla's apartment, reminding us that both of them have a shared connection of losing a loved one too soon. It's clear that Darlene is thinking of Cisco here because of a subtle scene where we see her searching up Budapest trips, which is what Cisco wanted. Then, towards the end of the episode we finally pay off of the polaroid. It's not a picture of Cisco or anything like that, but it is a picture of her family, highlighting what Darlene values the most: her relationship with Elliot. This makes it even more heartbreaking when we learn about the extent of Darlene's situation in that final scene with Dom. She is desperate for some sort of ordinary social interaction without any guilt, but Dom can't even offer her that as even when they do talk Darlene is reminded of Cisco's death. With everything being so full of despair, Darlene opens up to Dom about everything and we realize the extent of her problems. If she doesn't help the FBI, she is going to jail and losing out on her whole life. But if she does help them, she's going to lose the one thing that's keeping her tethered, the one thing that she values most: her family. It's a truly awful situation to be put in, and it's no wonder that Darlene spends the episode so depressed when you consider the no-win scenario she is currently in. I can't imagine any way out for her right now where she gets a happy ending, and that is devastating. What makes it hurt all the more is that Darlene's scenes with Elliot are a great reflection of their relationship. All of their scenes share a warm sibling bond that is mostly unspoken but you can very much feel it when they are together. That little bit of care and love they have for each other is noticeable, no matter the situation. Even at the start of the episode when they are arguing, the main conflict is not about what happened and why. It's about their bond, about Elliot feeling betrayed that his own sister hacked him, and about Darlene being concerned about him cutting her out. Once they start opening up to each other afterwards, it feels like they genuinely want to help each other and be good familial support. It's very sweet and the emotion is there throughout the episode. Darlene feels genuine when she tries to get Elliot to turn against Tyrell and co. And that's because she is. She could easily turn Elliot in with everyone else, but she clearly wishes for him to join her so that the FBI would likely be lenient with him, like they have been with her. Meanwhile Elliot's anger against Darlene entirely dissipated when he is faced with the horrifying reveal that he hurt her when he was Mr. Robot, and his regret is immediately evident and it leads to the episode's best scene (see: Best Moment). The plot-oriented scenes with the other characters are good too. It's great to see how Tyrell's mental state has changed further following the reveal that Elliot has multiple personalities. His newfound faith was shaken and it results in more angry temper tantrums from one of the show's most unhinged characters. And once again, it's up to Irving to handle him and he gives him the brutal bit of reassurance that he will see his wife after his work in complete, knowing full well that it's a lie. This brings up some interesting questions (see: The Unknown), while simultaneously reminding us how remorseless and cruel Irving can be. Angela has a strong episode. It's honestly frightening how she changes from cold-hearted business to being sweet and friendly when Elliot began to emerge in place of Mr. Robot. She's become a cold operator under Whiterose's service and I am saddened to see her like this. She has also gotten better at hiding her emotions, like when she discovered that Elliot was up to something in E Corp, which by the way was a hilarious moment as Elliot cooked up an awful lie. The Bad: Elliot saying that he wanted to follow through with stage 2 deep down does make sense, but it feels like it came out of nowhere and is unsatisfying. If he wanted it to be followed through, then why would he work so hard on delaying shipments and everything? This seems like a hamfisted explanation to address the big plot hole of why Elliot wouldn't just go to the FBI with an anonymous tip to stop the plan, which seems like an easy solution. I feel like the show could have come up with a much more realistic and effective reason for Elliot to not do this but rearranging aspects of the story, like perhaps establishing that ratting to the FBI would almost certainly result in Elliot's death or something along those lines. The Unknown: Who is the guy on the inside that the Dark Army is going to use? What did Whiterose show Irving and Angela? We have seen how it changed Angela, but how did it effect Irving? Irving is a very strange character, and I wonder what his actual story is. Who is the man that the FBI busted for the fsociety video? He seemingly wanted to be busted, proven by him grabbing the mask and by how easy it was for the FBI to track him. Why did he want to be busted? What is he doing? Who is he working for? Is he Dark Army? He seemed to have a slight reaction when Dom mentioned Whiterose. Is Irving actually arranging an emergency evacuation of the building? I don't buy it. We saw him coldly lie to Tyrell about going to Ukraine with his family, so I suspect he was lying with Angela too. This also brings up the question of what the Dark Army will do with them once the work is done. Will all of Elliot, Tyrell, and Angela be killed after the plan is executed? Is Price aware the Angela is compromised and that Elliot is involved with her operation? Whiterose revealed to Price that he got through to Angela, so it's entirely possible that Price has figured that Angela is no longer his agent. Does this mean that Price will not fire Elliot? How much will Elliot remember when he wakes up? Will he realize that Angela has betrayed him? Will he even remember at all or think it was all a dream? Best Moment: Elliot saying "whatever he does, it's not me" to Darlene was really sad. This episode gorgeously examined this relationship and how much Elliot and Darlene mean to each other. Elliot's apology to her and his wistful acceptance that he may not be able to control her had power to it. But perhaps even more effective was Darlene's simple "I know". Even though we know Darlene is working against him and that Mr. Robot did manhandle her two episodes ago, Darlene absolving him felt like it came out of a place of true familial love. These two have a wonderful sibling relationship. Character of the Episode: Darlene. This was her episode. Conclusion: This was mostly simple set-up, but elevated by the emphasis on Darlene's internal struggle. Another good episode as the plot continues to heat up. Score: 66 Summary: Flashbacks show that Elliot tried to kill Tyrell in the arcade but the gun jammed. Tyrell takes it as a sign of fate and Elliot thinks he's crazy. Irving and the Dark Army show up while they work on stage 2, revealing that Tyrell has been exposed for the hack. Irving takes him to a safe location and Tyrell remains out of contact with Joanna and his son. Tyrell is questioned by the Dark Army and they determine him trustworthy due to his loyalty to Elliot. Tyrell stays there alone, waiting for Elliot to get out of prison, doing his job. After missing Joanna for some time, Tyrell tries to sneak out but is caught by a cop. The cop calls the FBI but is killed by Santiago, who is working for the Dark Army. Irving speaks with Tyrell and fakes a story to relate to him and restore his resolve. Eventually, Elliot is freed and Tyrell is taken to a hotel where he waits to meet with him. After Elliot is shot, Angela tells Tyrell about his multiple personalities. Another flashback shows Whiterose is allied with Frank Cody and intends to bring Trump into power.
The Good: I don't think that the story of what happened during the 3 days needed an entire flashback episode to be explained, but Sam Esmail ran with an idea and created a thorough and satisfying character exploration of Tyrell. I enjoyed Tyrell a lot in season 1 and was disappointed that he barely featured in season 2. But this episode satisfied the entirety of the time he was missing and explored the character's more emotional side, recontextualizing the events that we saw in season 2. Tyrell is such a loose cannon. He's insane, unpredictable, and unhinged, with a strange new religious side and an obsession with Elliot, whom he apparently loves. Martin Wallstrom brings these aspects of the character to life tremendously well, and he's thrilling to watch. Tyrell gets a lot of fantastic moments throughout the episode. His near-breakdown with Elliot during the hack did a terrific job of bringing his obsession with god, fate, and destiny to light, an aspect of his character that was suggested in prior episodes. It was an exciting scene that was acted to perfection. I also thoroughly enjoyed his interrogation (see: Best Moment), which dived into Tyrell's natural reflex to hide from the truth by lying. His relationship with Elliot is also recontextualized nicely by showing us Tyrell's perspective. Where we thought that Tyrell's scenes in Elliot from season 2 were from a man who knew everything, we now realize that Tyrell did not know everything and was simply excited to be back with Elliot again. His confidence, sleek persona, and charm is all just to make himself look more desirable to Elliot; in truth he did not know much more than Elliot about anything! This was a surprise, and I appreciate that Tyrell's plot-heavy scenes in season 2 have been given an emotional context, retroactively making them better. Tyrell's phone call with Elliot is turned into a moment of ecstasy as Tyrell finally reconnects with him, only to be disappointed that Elliot sounds so confused and different. Additionally, the events of the season 2 finale also have more emotion to them, as we can only imagine how heartbroken Tyrell is that Elliot doesn't seem to care for the plan they created together, the plan that Tyrell had waited so long to resume. Another aspect of Tyrell that gets explored is his family life. Tyrell is motivated by the idea of coming back to Joanna and his son, but as time goes on, he gets hurt by the distance and the troubling news that suggests that Joanna is divorcing him. It's clear how much this affects Tyrell, who we know wants nothing more than to return to her. His attempted escape makes unfortunate sense, and as expected, it goes badly almost immediately. This leads into a terrific scene where Irving decides to relate with Tyrell to keep his resolve going. Irving delivers a terrific speech about his own family life, which has such an air of tragedy to it. Irving tells a good story and connects to Tyrell's heart, making it clear that Tyrell is forcing himself through this to make his return all the more sweeter. But of course we know that Tyrell is not going to have a family to return to, which adds a strong sense of tragedy to the scene. Further, we also get a reveal that caught me almost entirely off guard: Irving was lying the entire time! This caught me totally off guard and further characterizes Irving nicely; he's a man who does and says what he needs to, no matter if it is true or not. He does his job, and it is as simple as that. Here's someone who has nothing other than the work he does, and I think that's a good set-up for a character to be expanded upon. I enjoyed how this episode pulled back the curtain on him. This episode did well to answer a lot of the questions we had about the 3 days, finally closing out the mystery and fully catching us up with the narrative and characters. Now instead of looking backwards, we can finally push forwards with a new story. So many loose ends were answered: the bullet in the arcade, what Elliot and Tyrell's arrangement with the Dark Army was, where Tyrell was all this time, what he was doing, what happened to the femtocell, how Tyrell's phone call to Elliot came to be, and confirming that it was Whiterose who arranged the shootout in China at the FBI hotel. There was a lot of ground covered, and a lot was cleared up. And for good measure, we also got a significant reveal that Santiago was a Dark Army agent. This caught me off guard, yet it makes so much sense with how difficult he was during Dom's investigation. It has now clicked with me that he knew about the impending shootout in China, and that he was likely the one who informed the Dark Army on Cisco's location so that they could kill him. That's great foresight by the writers, and I'm sure that rewatching season 2 will be much more rewarding now that we know more about Santiago. I enjoyed a lot of little things. We had some welcome cameos from Leon and Cisco. Leon is a free spirit and is fun to watch every time he appears. Meanwhile Cisco's scenes were more tragic in nature, furthering that he has long been doomed by his association with Darlene and the Dark Army. I also enjoyed the brief scene with Whiterose. Frank being a Dark Army associate is a good reveal, and I liked the small moment where Whiterose chuckles about Elliot stealing Michael's dog. The Trump scene is a fun connection to real world politics, and while it's a bit cheesy, I don't think it takes away from the episode. The intro sequence referencing the opening of "The Shining" was a nice touch. The Bad: The only issue I take with this episode is a question of its necessity. This was a good experience, and it was satisfying to finally catch up on everything. But did we need an entire episode dedicated to the past in a season that has been making such big moves to propel the plot forwards? I'm not entirely sure that we did. Perhaps there was a better way to tell this story, maybe even throughout season 2 to help make that season feel more satisfying. This episode feels like it is slowing the momentum of season 3 because it feels like it is much more connected with the plot of season 2. The Unknown: Why does Tyrell love Elliot so much? This is seeming like an obsession more than anything else. Why is Tyrell afraid of becoming his father? What was his father like? It seems that Angela told Tyrell about Elliot's multiple personalities. How will this affect their relationship and Tyrell's obsession? I suspect that Tyrell is "in love" with Mr. Robot rather than Elliot. Is Whiterose going to help Trump rise to power? How will this affect the story of the show? What will come from Frank Cody being a servant of the Dark Army? What happened when Elliot woke up with Tyrell and Angela? This was clearly Mr. Robot. What did he say? What was he told? Why is Santiago working with the Dark Army? What does he expect to get from them? Will he be found out by Dom? Best Moment: Mr. Williams questioning Tyrell. The editing was outstanding, and the show did a tremendous job of making us feel the intense pressure in Tyrell's mind that led to him breaking. Character of the Episode: Tyrell. Conclusion: This episode wasn't an essential experience, but it was a strong episode that filled in blanks, offered up some twists, and explored Tyrell in a unique way. Another great episode for season 3, which is off to a great start. Score: 69 Summary: Elliot gets a job at E Corp and works on preventing stage 2. He appeals to the management to make digital records and works to sneakily move paper records across multiple facilities. He is successful but finds himself falling into loneliness and he opens up further to Krista. Darlene meets with Elliot and they spend a night together. However, Darlene is working for the FBI and puts something on his monitor. Mr. Robot notices this and harasses Darlene as she leaves. The next day, Elliot brings out Mr. Robot to speak with Krista, and from her he is able to discern some details about what Darlene did. At home, Elliot sends an email on his computer. The FBI notice this but it is a trap and Elliot traces them to Darlene's safehouse and he arrives there with Dom and another agent in the building. Scott has been charged for Sharon's murder and Joanna gets away from Derek now that she's done with him. But Derek isn't happy and he shoots Mr. Sutherland and kills Joanna. Mr. Sutherland kills him and passes out. Price is angry that China hasn't accepted Ecoin as currency and remains fixed on bitcoin. He speaks with Whiterose and tries to threaten her into working with him, but Whiterose reveals he has spoken to Angela and holds control. Whiterose tells one of her men to go through with stage 2 despite the Congo deal likely being a success specifically to get back at Price.
The Good: The opening sequence is everything that I love about this show and its ambitious filmmaking style. It's in times like these that Elliot's narration works wonders. His dialogue allows us to understand what he's doing and why, and with the exposition out of the way, the visuals can focus on showing the story in as aesthetically pleasing of a way as possible and it's glorious. The day-to-day repetition is executed to perfection with the use of visual motifs, and there's a lot of fun to be had as Elliot works and works before finally getting his plan through to management to make digital records of everything. It's a blast to see Elliot hacking regularly again, especially as he hilariously brings down one incompetent manager after the other. This sequence does a great job of showing how Elliot's opinion of E Corp has changed. He knows that there are villains in the company, but the company itself is misunderstood. The development is shown to us magnificently through Elliot no longer referring to it as "Evil Corp", a nice way to show us how he has grown. This sequence is used perfectly as a backdrop to explore Elliot's character in interesting ways. Surprisingly, Elliot's dedication to his new work has resulted in him falling back into the crushing loneliness that was ruling his life back in season 1. And with Mr. Robot gone, he's feeling it worse than ever. This is such a fascinating bit of character exploration. Elliot is working hard and doing big things for the world, but the constant repetition and the lack of socialization compared to when he was working with fsociety has resulted in him struggling to maintain his mental health. There is a lovely idea being explored here that no matter how important your work is, you will still feel that loneliness if you aren't interacting with other people. This leads to Elliot finding that interaction in surprising places. He opens up with Krista essentially for the first time, and tells her about his father shoving him out of the window for the first time. It's a major bit of trust that Elliot is putting into Krista, showing us that he is looking to satiate his loneliness by talking with her. Elliot sharing the snowman story is really sweet, and it's something that we know he would not have done back in season 1. It feels good to see Elliot taking steps to open up and take care of his own mental health, and I can't help but smile. The episode's big conflict comes from Darlene. Elliot's loneliness leads to him meeting with Darlene and inviting her over for the night. Darlene is ready to leave and ditch the FBI, but she gets a final chance here to get information from Elliot. And unfortunately, she has to betray his trust to do so, and it is a sad moment when she realizes that she's preying on him to get what she needs. But the sadness is short-lived and the tension ratchets up when Mr. Robot wakes up and confronts Darlene, threatening her and scaring her. It's a great scene and creates a unique bit of tension as Mr. Robot knows something and can't tell Elliot, and the suspense comes from us wondering if Elliot can somehow find out about what Darlene did. The solution that the show comes up with is genius. Elliot manually brings out Mr. Robot, and he has Krista speak with him to get information to pass on to Elliot. Their scene is fantastic, the sudden change in demeanour to Mr. Robot is unsettling and you can only imagine what Krista is thinking as she interacts with this presence that is in every way the complete opposite of Elliot. The scenes with Price and Whiterose are much better than what we got in season 2 because now we have a clearer idea of who they are and what they are after. They are playing a power game with each other, and while they are technically working together, each man is operating with the intent of besting the other and gaining more power. Their dealings are gripping to watch in this episode, and I enjoyed the veiled threats that they threw at each other in an attempt to get what they want. Right now it appears that Whiterose has the advantage as Price needs her more than she needs Price. Price tried his best to turn the tables on her, but it was never going to work and it resulted in Whiterose revealing that she has taken Angela to her own side as a bit of extra leverage. It's a terrific moment that puts Price in his place. He has much more work to do if he is to be the more powerful person in the room with Whiterose. Unfortunately it seems that Price's play in this episode completely backfired, as Whiterose's pride was wounded and she now wants to teach him a lesson through stage 2. I'm excited to see where this power struggle goes next. I enjoyed some little things in this episode. The ending cliffhanger is really good, and the twist that Elliot tracked down the FBI makes perfect sense and is a terrific dramatic reveal. I always like seeing the FBI be competent, so I was happy that they tapped into Elliot's phone call with Tyrell from early in season 2. Flipper's return was welcome. I'm happy to see her and I'm sure that she's going to play a role in helping Elliot with his loneliness. I was also pleased to see Michael's frustration at Elliot somehow managing to get out of jail, which is in character. The Bad: Joanna's death was a total disappointment and a misuse of one of the show's most intriguing characters. Joanna grabbed my interest in season 1 with her chilling ability to stay calm and read people, but we never saw her do much after that, and we did not learn much about her. This made her storyline in season 2 quite tedious and uninteresting, and I never got into it. But surely there was a plan in place for her right? Nope. She returns this just to be given perhaps the most underwhelming and stupid deaths of a main character in a TV show, cementing that all of the time spent on this character was useless. Derek was always meant to be a stepping stone for her; the characters never took her seriously and neither did I. It sends a cool message that he is the one to kill her, but it's also one of the most anticlimactic and underwhelming ways to conclude this character's story. Surely he knew too much to be left alive. Mr. Sutherland should have killed him on the spot, and it's ridiculous that they would not think that he would try to go after Joanna. Furthermore, it's hard to understand why Joanna's major role in the story was so necessary. She got Scott fired from his position and immediately died. Was that her only purpose? To remove Scott who is not an important character? It's not like Tyrell, the most wanted man on the planet, is going to be going for Scott's position. So what was the point of it all? I can't seem to think of any reason that we needed this Joanna storyline, so I have to look back on her entire arc as a waste of time that failed to capitalize on any of the potential it had. What a waste of a character who I was looking forward to seeing more of. Darlene says that she only ever did fsociety to be closer with Elliot, which is clearly a major retcon. If she was only doing this for Elliot, why has she been so fanatical about fsociety's goals in previous seasons? Why did she keep the group going last season with such passion when Elliot was in prison? Nothing adds up when the explanation is that she only did everything to be close to Elliot. I get what the writers are trying to do in building up this relationship, but this statement from Darlene is outright untrue, a rare piece of sloppy writing. The Unknown: What made Elliot think of the snowman story and tell it to Krista? Was it his underlying loneliness or something else? Who made the new fsociety video? Is it real or is it misleading in some way? Did Elliot make it? Why is the Congo vote so important for Whiterose? What does she get out of it? Why would its success be sufficient for her to back out of the attack on E Corp? How will this currency war be resolved? Will Whiterose wait to help Price until after she succeeds? Or will she allow things to get worse for him? What is Elliot going to find by reverse tracing the FBI? Will the FBI meet with him or bring him in? Will he meet Dom? How will this change things going forwards? How will Tyrell react to Joanna's death? What will happen with his son? Best Moment: The opening montage was masterful. I was delighted watching the whole thing. Character of the Episode: Elliot. Conclusion: Season 3 is picking up the pace and the drama and I'm loving it. Much of this episode continued what I liked about the season premiere, with the only thing holding it back being the awful ending to Joanna's storyline. That hurts the score, but otherwise this was another great episode. Score: 67 Summary: Irving is a fixer who works for the Dark Army. He is called by Tyrell and saves Elliot. Power goes out in the city. Later, Elliot wakes up with Angela who confirms everything that happened to him. Elliot goes back to his apartment and meets with Darlene. He tells her about stage 2 and tells her that he wants to stop it by blocking the backdoor. Darlene takes Elliot to a hacker tournament to use the internet there, since the city is blacked out. Elliot closes the backdoor, but he and Darlene are picked up by the Dark Army who take them to Irving. Elliot tells him he is backing out of the deal and Irving accepts. Elliot returns to Angela and asks for a job at E Corp. He also asks Angela to watch him and make sure he isn't Mr. Robot. He kisses her again but Angela says it is a mistake. Elliot stays the night. Mr. Robot wakes up at night and Angela meets with him, taking him to Irving to get stage 2 back underway. Mr. Robot is taken to where Tyrell is being kept. Later, Mr. Robot speaks with Angela who reveals why she is okay to betray Elliot like this. Power returns to the city.
The Good: This was an immediate improvement on season 2. The biggest notable change for me was the removal of the frustrating teasing that made season 2 so convoluted. This episode was very open with us about everything, and that immediately played dividends, in ways that I will describe below. Where season 2 left us in the dark and created drama from us questioning what was happening, season 3 returns to more conventional storytelling and it works wonderfully. Every character's motivations are immediately cleared up. Elliot gets a lengthy speech to establish that he has taken a completely 180 from his viewpoint in the pilot; he no longer believes in the revolution he created. We finally understand what Angela is doing for once and why: she's now working with Whiterose and the Dark Army in order to create a reality where her mother never died, a natural change in direction from the revenge she was seeking in season 1. Now these sound like very basic ways to tell a story, and they are. But you have to understand that in season 2, the reveal of this information would have been teased for episodes and it would never be told to us outright. Seeing the show step back to basics and address character motivations, relationships, and plot details is so refreshing and it's a sign that Sam Esmail's ambition can now work alongside the story rather than working against it. I'm overjoyed that season 3 is immediately correcting the biggest problem I had with season 2. Now let's dive into more specifics, because it is much more exciting to talk about "Mr. Robot" now that I have substance to appreciate instead of simply grasping at straws in the hopes that I am comprehending the story. I loved the opening sequence of the episode. We start at The Red Wheelbarrow, which was mentioned on a flyer in the season 2 finale, and we soon learn that it's a meeting hub of sorts for the Dark Army. Here we meet Irving, played wonderfully by Bobby Cannavale. Unlike with Dom in season 2, "Mr. Robot" nails the introduction of this character. He charms us immediately, and through a clever interaction at the restaurant we know everything we need to know about his personality, and we immediately also figure out that he's a fixer working for the Dark Army because he is called by Tyrell to help save Elliot. And that's it, no smoke and mirrors, no needless mystery, no needless confusion. We are introduced to a new character, we learn who he is and what he does, and we learn why he is essential to the plot in quick time. It's perfectly paced, entertaining to watch, and makes the most out of Sam Esmail's unique directorial style without falling into the trappings of season 2. I hate to keep harping on season 2 over and over again since it's not like I utterly hated the season, but I feel that it is necessary to properly convey what a step up this episode felt like. Whiterose is another character who gets a fantastic bit of clearing up to start the season. She's only here in one scene, but the scene does a terrific job of finally clearing up that messy mystery that season 2 introduced and completely failed to turn into a compelling narrative. This single scene completely cleans up the mess that was left behind and tells us exactly what is important. It would seem that Whiterose's project at the Washington Township Plant will have something to do with time or even a parallel universe (see: The Unknown), and that is a much more fascinating bit of detail to ponder on than simply thinking "oh I wonder what Whiterose is doing". The mystery has been streamlined in a way that it is now far more effective. Furthermore, Whiterose even goes as far as to connect this to Elliot and his father, letting us know why we should care about this - it is directly linked with the main character! Plus, we get another added detail that Whiterose will be looking to kill Elliot when she is done with him, adding in a sense of danger as well. The sense of danger is important because it creates a level of suspense that makes it much more interesting to explore this story. Again, it's so great to see "Mr. Robot" adhering to the basic rules of writing a story, and the show thrives as a result. As for Elliot, I really enjoyed his story in this episode. Upon waking up, season 3 is quick to resolve the messiness of season 2 and push forwards, which I think is the right decision. Elliot starts to ponder the existential questions of last season in terms of being in control and whether Tyrell is real or not. But Angela immediately confirms what's what for Elliot, and from there, there's no looking back. We finally get to see Elliot on a mission, fully understanding himself and what he wants. There's an excellent sequence in the middle of the episode that sees Elliot launch into a rant in his own head about what he needs to do. The scene is shot masterfully, and it conveys what this character feels with perfection. Elliot's opinions have changed sharply since his hate-filled rant in the pilot, and season 3 needed to address just how much he has grown after the 5/9 hack. He still hates the rich people at the top, but he no longer believes that his revolution accomplished anything. The only thing he did was create a world of chaos that is incredibly hard on the average person, but is a world of opportunity for the high-ranking businesses. I appreciate the show addressing this idea and I think that the question of if 5/9 was a good idea or not is a brilliant one to explore this season. It's wonderful to see Elliot spend time with Angela and Darlene in this episode since we haven't seen a whole lot of developing character relationships last season. This has immediately changed and we are given some exciting stuff to start off with. Elliot and Darlene catch up and he takes her along to help him stop stage 2. Their interactions are a lot of fun, and I like that Darlene is grateful for him and willing to help, but still cold and angry since Elliot, in his haste, ends up ignoring her emotions following Cisco's death at several points in the episode. There's also the added intrigue of if Darlene is an FBI informant and if Elliot knows this, which added another layer to their interactions (see: The Unknown). Things with Angela are just as interesting. Finally the show is pulling the trigger on bringing Elliot and Angela closer together and it is working so far. Their friendship is beautiful and effective, and it's nice to see it develop further. It's sensible that Elliot trusts Angela to keep him in check to help them reverse 5/9. What I was not expecting was the fantastic twist that Angela is betraying Elliot by working directly for Whiterose, and she is willing to lie to him and deceive him to accomplish her goals. Her scenes with Mr. Robot are terrific. Vulnerable and emotional Angela is gone, and the hardened businesswoman Angela emerges when she deals with Mr. Robot. I love this added depth to Angela, and it makes good use of the different aspects of her personality that were developed, albeit messily, throughout season 2. More than the plot reveals and the set-up, I loved Angela's conversation with Mr. Robot on the way back home. I'm sure I'm sounding like a broken record by now, but it feels so good that this episode didn't leave us with mystery as to why Angela is working with Whiterose and why she is willing to turn on Elliot. We get a lengthy bit of conversation as Angela reveals what she is fighting for, why she is fighting for it, and why she is willing to work with Mr. Robot and betray Elliot. It's a bit expository, but it just feels so good to know for certain what is going on inside of Angela's head for once. Furthermore, I thought that this scene did a terrific job of explaining why Angela was hesitant to get together with Elliot. Elliot's explanation of Angela not wanting to be with people who love her reeked of typical poor writing of female characters at first. But that's not the case, and I was pleased to realize that this was just Elliot's incorrect interpretation, which makes sense considering his poor social skills. Instead we are shown that Angela is likely hesitant and crying because she would feel awful getting emotionally involved in a relationship with someone who she is openly stabbing in the back. I feel for her conflict here, and I found this to be very compelling. Some small things were also great. I enjoyed the idea that the entire episode took place in New York with power out. That gave the whole episode a darkly effective tone. Elliot's mute button on life was a clever bit of filmmaking stemming from a relatable desire for quiet. I was captivated by Darlene's panic attack upon seeing the Dark Army. It's great to see the detail that Darlene has lost her ability to keep cool as a result of PTSD after watching Cisco's death. The Bad: Nothing I would call bad. This was very consistent. The Unknown: Ir Irving just a fixer for the Dark Army or is there more to his role in the show? How does he already know Elliot and Tyrell? Why did they interact with him before? Could he have been the one that organized Tyrell's hiding? Is this location the place where Tyrell has been staying this whole time? Whiterose apparently had Elliot's father working for her. Why? For what? Does this have something to do with the secret project at the Washington Township Plant? Whiterose was observing a strange scientific structure at the plant. Is this her project? Is this a particle collider? That's my immediate thought upon seeing it. What is Whiterose doing with it? Does this have something to do with undoing everything, like Angela suggested later in the episode? Is Whiterose trying to manipulate time? Also, I noticed a lengthy bit of dialogue on parallel universes while we were at the Washington Township Plant with this mysterious structure. This hearkens back to Whiterose's discussion with Dom where she ponders on what a world without 5/9 would look like. That seems to be a clear indicator that Whiterose is actively looking to possibly create a parallel universe where 5/9 never happened. Is this the case here? Is Darlene an FBI informant? We never saw what became of her after Dom showed her everything. I suspect that this is because she caved in. Her behaviour in this episode matches an informant. She continually asks Elliot for further details, suggesting that she might have a wire. Elliot claiming that stage 2 wasn't his idea could very well have saved him since we know that the FBI is waiting like a python to get the ringleader. Who did Darlene call on the phone? I suspect that she may have called in the FBI agents that Irving had to shake in the ensuing scene. Elliot says that Angela is the only one he can trust right now. Does this mean that he doesn't trust Darlene? Is he suspecting that she has been compromised? How are the Dark Army still going to pull off stage 2 with the backdoor closed? Will Elliot find out that Angela is deceiving him? What does Angela have to do to help accomplish Whiterose's plan? Why is it so important to Whiterose that stage 2 happens? Best Moment: While this was consistent, not much stood out about this episode. I'll go with Darlene's panic attack at the hacker tournament. Character of the Episode: Angela. Conclusion: This was a great season premier. There is a marked change from season 2 in the pacing and structure of the show, and I hope that means that we are moving past the mistakes of last season to tell a worthwhile story. While there is nothing Earth-shattering about this episode, I'm feeling excited, and I hope that season 3 continues this momentum and grabs a hold of the opportunity to tell a worthwhile story. Score: 68 Summary: A flashback shows a meeting between Elliot and Tyrell before 5/9. In the present, Tyrell takes Elliot to the location where he has been working and reveals what the stage 2 plan is: to blow up the E Corp building and destroy all of their paper records. Elliot is not happy about this but Mr. Robot tries to convince him to allow it. Elliot threatens to shut it all down so Tyrell pulls out a gun and threatens to shoot him. Elliot thinks that Tyrell is a part of himself too, but Tyrell shoots Elliot and he collapses. Afterwards, he calls Angela who says she will come over. Dom and Santiago interrogate Darlene but she doesn't give them anything. Dom convinces Santiago to do her strategy. She takes Darlene and shows her that the FBI have figured out literally everybody in the fsociety operation, they are only waiting to find the leader before they bring everyone in. Joanna visits Scott, who is responsible for the phone and gifts. He reveals his grief to her and she goads him by saying his wife and unborn child deserved their deaths. Scott violently beats Joanna. Joanna asks Derek to testify against Scott to suggest that he murdered Sharon to get revenge. Mobley and Trenton have started a new life with new identities, but they are approached by Leon.
The Good: Dom's interrogation of Darlene was great to watch. Darlene is suitably broken up after what happened to Cisco and I was compelled by her flat, lifeless responses to the FBI, refusing to cooperate with them. I was pleased that she was fully aware of the FBI's tricks and used her wit to stay a slight step ahead of them. But it was all just an illusion in the end. Dom knew that they had the advantage, and she used that superbly to deliver a crushing blow to her confidence at the end of the episode. The scene built beautifully with a tremendous shot of Dom taking Darlene through the FBI building, letting us know that what was about to happen was going to be big. And it was. The reveal that the FBI knew everything, and likely had known everything for a long time, was spectacular. It made perfect sense considering how incompetent fsociety had been up to this point, and I appreciate that the show was above dumbing down the FBI to make the plot more plausible. Elliot's story was interesting and exciting. Finally we received some answers on what exactly was going on. Not everything (see: The Unknown), but a lot was revealed, especially about stage 2. This was good stuff as it finally pulled back the curtain on what has been happening, and Elliot's shocked and horrified reaction made a lot of sense. The episode does a terrific job of building up the mystery of Tyrell's presence. Is he dead or is he actually there? This question permeates the entire episode, going through our mind and going through Elliot's mind. There's no clear answer either because you can make a case for either option so there is tension involved in finding out if Tyrell is real or not. The closing moments with Elliot standing up to Tyrell as he holds the gun were tense and exciting, and it culminated in what was initially a pretty shocking moment when Tyrell shoots Elliot. Quickly you realize that Elliot is not going to die, but the moment still has that gripping impact. I was pleased with how this story was handled, and I am glad that the show went with keeping Tyrell alive in the end. He's such a fun character to follow so I'm pleased that I can look forward to seeing more of him next season. I did like Scott and Joanna's scene as its own thing. It was very well acted, and it did make a lot of sense that Scott would go after Joanna in an effort to find some purpose in his home life. His monologue on having gained and lost everything at once was genuinely heartbreaking, which greatly surprised me. "Mr. Robot" hasn't typically afforded much sympathy for the upper class so I was pleased to see this humanizing moment for Scott. I even expected for a second that Joanna might sympathize with him a bit, but of course I was wrong and given a bit of a rude awakening as Joanna says the absolute most vicious thing that someone in her position could have said. It's a fantastic moment and Scott's rampage afterwards is completely understandable. You get the sense that this was her plan all along and that she will make him pay for doing this. The Bad: After an extended 12 episode season that really pushed the boundaries of my patience, I can't believe that we still don't know what happened in the 3 days that Elliot blacked out back in the season 1 finale. I figured that uncovering this time period would be the focus of this second season, and yet here we are at the end of season 2 and we still haven't explored what happened in those 3 days. That would be okay if we had a sufficient amount of plot development in this season, but that did not happen. I can't help but feel a little bit robbed that more answers did not accompany Tyrell's return. Joanna and Scott's scene was really good but I have to question its importance. We spent a lot of time with Joanna this season but she was so disconnected with everything else happening with the story. I figured that she would be connected with Tyrell's disappearance, but it turns out that she apparently wasn't. I really like Joanna as a character and what she brings to the table, but she felt kind of pointless this season. This felt a little flat as a finale because not a whole lot of substance happened. Joanna was a tertiary part of this season's story, yet she received a ton of screentime in this episode. And key players like Price and Whiterose were entirely absent, while Angela, one of the main characters, hardly appeared at all. This wasn't the climax that this season needed to justify such a slow season filled with teasing. Instead it looks like the pay-off is going to be saved for next season. I wouldn't be surprised if the show lost a lot of fans between seasons because of this choice. The Unknown: What was Tyrell's father like? Why does Tyrell want so desperately to not be like him? Will Tyrell follow through with the plan for stage 2? What will result from the destruction of the E Corp building? Why did he call Angela after shooting Elliot? Was that planned? How are they going to save him? I'm sure he won't die. How is Angela aware of the plan? Did Whiterose tell her about it? Why is she playing such a key role? Tyrell says that he hasn't been living in this building the entire time. Where has he been staying then? What else has he been up to? Who has been hiding him? We also still don't know what exactly happened during the three days. What other details are there to uncover? What happened after Elliot grabbed the gun to shoot Tyrell? A bullet was fired, so how is Tyrell still alive? He doesn't seem to acknowledge that Elliot made an attempt on his life. Tyrell does exist right? The gunshot seemed to confirm that, but you never know with this show. I thought they had confirmed his death many episodes ago, but clearly not. Is Derek going to testify against Scott? Did Joanna plan for this to happen? Was she goading him into attacking her to make this seem legitimate? What does Joanna have to gain by ruining Scott's reputation? Is she hoping to open up the position of CTO for Tyrell again? So if Scott was sending all the gifts, does this mean that Joanna is unaware of what's been going on with Tyrell? That doesn't really make sense with how much she has known in previous episodes. It doesn't explain the deal with Kareem either. How much does she know about Tyrell? What role does she play in all of this? Did Mobley and Trenton escape on their own to forge a new life? So it wasn't the Dark Army that got to them? What did Trenton uncover about undoing the hack? Will they act on this? Why has Leon tracked them down? If the FBI know everything, does this mean that they have someone following Elliot? Could they have tracked him to the building that he is in with Tyrell? I really hope so, any other outcome will make them look sloppy. Best Moment: Dom revealing the FBI's intelligence to Darlene. Character of the Episode: Dom. Conclusion: This ended up being a mixed bag of a season finale. The scenes individually were well done and there was good storytelling here, but this failed to be the massive pay-off that we needed to justify the tedious slog that this season was. As you can expect, my opinion on season 2 is not great. The earlier episodes were slow paced but they had a solid story of Elliot learning to accept Mr. Robot, and I was patient enough to wait for the bigger pay-offs later. But those pay-offs never came, and looking back on season 2, it was quite a waste of time. So many of the storylines were dragged out, unnecessary, and needlessly confusing. I wish that we had been given a more straightforward narrative to latch onto as it would have been easier to tell a compelling story in that scenario. But "Mr. Robot" didn't do that, and as the season escalated, the story fell into nonsensical shenanigans, pointless plot twists, soap opera cliffhangers, and frustrating teases. This show is damn lucky that the production value is top-quality, because if it wasn't then this show would likely be borderline unwatchable this season. The good production, good performances, and creativity is what is saving this show right now, because otherwise season 2 was a typical sophomore slump. There is still potential here; I did really enjoy season 1. "Mr. Robot" just needs to remember what season 1's strengths were, and it needs to learn from season 2's mistakes. Score: 59 Summary: Elliot tries a new strategy of lucid dreaming which allows him to be present when Mr. Robot starts acting. He follows Mr. Robot to a cab and regains control. In the cab he meets Tyrell. Dom tries to keep working on the case but Santiago sends her home. Dom feels lonely and interacts with Alexa. Price negotiates with Jack to make Ecoin a major new form of currency. Angela is taken to a mysterious house where she is met by Whiterose who asks for her belief.
The Good: I like that Elliot came up with a way to be present when Mr. Robot took over. We needed a way for Elliot to finally see and understand what his alter ego was doing, and this was an effective way of accomplishing that. Elliot used a lucid dreaming strategy to finally make himself present, and it worked! It was engaging to watch because Mr. Robot's nocturnal activities are hugely important to the plot, making this whole sequence feel like a big deal. And naturally, it led to Tyrell finally making his return. Dom has some good scenes here. Her debate with Santiago made a lot of sense. Of course we know that Dom is right about everything, but Santiago gives some valid and understandable reasons as to why he can't simply let her do what she knows is right. It's sad, but it's the way of the world and I suspect that Santiago's decisions will have major consequences. Dom's moment at home talking with Alexa was very sad, and illuminated how dependent she is on her job. I have grown to care about her through the season and I genuinely hope that she finds satisfaction in her personal life. Price's scene with Jack was very good. Finally we get to see exactly what his Ecoin plan was: Price wants to be the man in control of currency in America. That's a big move, and Price details perfectly to Jack why it is necessary, and even gives Jack the illusion of power by offering him complete access to regulate it, which I'm sure is either empty words or not the complete truth. Price is so great to watch, and it's satisfying to finally see what his mysterious Ecoin plan was all about. The Bad: A lot was problematic about this episode. The biggest disappointment for me was Angela's storyline. She had the most screentime this episode and it all felt so wasteful. She spends a really long time being questioned by a kid at an ancient-looking terminal in preparation for her meeting with Whiterose. This scene is weird, creepy, and raises a lot of questions. Ordinarily, I would find this fascinating and it would captivate my imagination. But with how cheap this season has been with a lot of its storytelling, I find myself wondering if there even is an explanation for this stuff. Is this stuff just being done for the sake of being "cool" and "innovative"? Is it just being done to mimic David Fincher? I don't talk much about the "Fight Club" parallels in this show (they don't particularly bother or captivate me), but I can't help but wonder if Sam Esmail thinks that these filmmaking tricks are more important than the story. When it was clear that there wouldn't be a deeper explanation of what happened here, I wondered what the point of it all was. I think that these scenes were only weird for the sake of being weird. Once you realize that things are meaningless, something that may seem fascinating on the surface immediately becomes frustrating, an emotion that I'm feeling all too much with this second season. Angela's conversation with Whiterose fell flat too. For a character who is so obsessed with being time-efficient, Whiterose sure does spend a whole lot of time saying nothing of note. This conversation was an exercise of patience for me. After the vague waste of time that was Angela's time with the kid, I was hoping that this conversation would get a move on and give us some substance. Perhaps some character development? Information on the plot? Introduce an interesting new relationship? But alas, that did not happen. Instead, we just got a lot of vague philosophical statements from Whiterose who hinted at some potentially major reveals, but then immediately changed subjects. Sure this stuff could be interesting to theorize about, but when we have had 11 episodes of this stuff, I am exhausted and craving some actual story. Then we skipped the end of the conversation and caught up with Angela later, only to find out that the interesting character development I was hoping for had happened off screen. To that I have to simply say "ugh". I am baffled that this show continues to have Angela go through such major changes off screen. I've been complaining all season about how much this disconnects me from her, and it happened again! This is the epitome of not learning from your mistakes. And why did we miss this important character development? So that Sam Esmail can continue to withhold important information about the plot to manufacture "drama" in a completely ineffective way. Good drama requires a compelling story and characters, and so this approach hasn't worked and after 11 episodes of being jerked around this season, I am absolutely sick of it. Whiterose is so concerned about time and yet she's a smoker? She is aware that smoking will actively decrease her lifespan right? What may have seemed like a cool character quirk is actually completely against the very nature of the character. Elliot's lucid dream strategy is smart, but it raises one huge question: why on Earth didn't he try this before? Especially when he was in prison and he knew that Mr. Robot was still controlling him? It came right out of nowhere, which doesn't quite make sense. The Tyrell reveal at the end was a long time coming, but it honestly fell a bit flat. There wasn't much emotion or shock to his return. The only thing I could think was "well it's about time". I suppose that's a consequence of how much the show has slowed down this season. Regardless of that, I'm still frustrated that he showed up and didn't do or say anything. Instead he's used as a cliffhanger for the next episode. With how recent episodes have annoyed me with cliffhangers, I'm not as patient about this choice as I would ordinarily be. Please "Mr. Robot", can I have some story in place of this constant teasing? Speaking of cliffhangers, I can't believe that we weren't even told who died at the shoot-out from the previous episode. In a season that has withheld answers for way too long, this is hitting a new low. After such a monumental event happened, surely we would see some follow-up right? Apparently not. We still don't know if Darlene or Cisco are alive or dead, and I can't fathom any reason for keeping this secret other than to purposefully annoy the audience under the name of "suspense". Its the same old stupid decison-making that I've been vocal about throughout this review. And this isn't even the only example of a cliffhanger not being followed up on. We get a scene with Joanna and Mr. Sutherland in this episode, and it tells us absolutely nothing. It's just another tease of what this address is. Why was this scene even necessary? And as a final nail in the coffin, I'll serve up a reminder that we still do not know what happened to Trenton and Mobley after we were left on a cliffhanger 3 episodes ago. The frustration has been endless this season. Dom's scenes were pretty good, but I have to question having such a lengthy character-building scene so late in the season. Surely this scene would have been better off in one of the earlier episodes. The Unknown: Who are the FBI interviewing? Is it Darlene? Joanna says that the address is Tyrell's biggest gift to her. Why? Who was the little girl? Was she beaten or not? How did Whiterose recruit her? Why did Whiterose put Angela through this confusingly tedious test? Did Whiterose reveal that the Washington Township Plant leak was intentional? Why would she intentionally do this? How did Angela's conversation with Whiterose conclude? Why did Angela visit her lawyer after? She seems much more sinister now. Is she working with Whiterose now? Why? Where was the cab supposed to take Elliot and Tyrell? Is Tyrell actually there? He voice sounds strangely different. Where has Tyrell been this whole time? Why reveal himself now? Has he been regularly speaking with Mr. Robot all this time? Best Moment: Price negotiating with Jack. No matter what the scenario, Michael Cristofer always steals the show playing Price. Character of the Episode: Price. Conclusion: There were some good aspects here, but this first part of the season finale offered more of the same cheap tricks that have ruined much of this season so far. It has been a frustrating ride so far and the pressure is on the next episode to offer enough of a pay off to make this journey worth it. At this point my patient is running out. Score: 45 Summary: Colby asks Price what his goals are and he reveals that he wants to be the most powerful man in the world. Joanna meets with Elliot and tasks him with tracing the phone that she was given by (presumably) Tyrell. Elliot gets new hardware and finds an address which he gives to Mr. Sutherland. Elliot is messaged by Angela and he meets with her. Angela tells him she is going to confess about the femtocell and they share a moment together and kiss. Elliot leaves and Angela is confronted by some people. Cisco tells Darlene that he found Vincent who is badly injured and in danger of dying. Darlene contemplates letting him die but Cisco stops her and they take him to a hospital. Cisco is ID'd at Susan's house and Dom tracks him down to the hospital. The FBI put Cisco's face on a BOLO. Dom tracks down Darlene and Cisco to a nearby restaurant and goes inside to talk to them. A Dark Army gunner arrives and shoots down the restaurant before shooting himself.
The Good: I appreciate this episode for rectifying much of what made the previous episode so frustrating. There are still problems (see: The Bad), but I got a lot more value from this episode. Fromt he opening scene, this promised to be a much stronger episode. We open up with a conversation between Colby and Price, and the show uses this scene as a way to tell us more about Price, telling us precisely what his goals, motivation, and character is through a magnificent speech that was thoughtfully shot, starting by making Price look small at the edge of the frame and ending with him dominating the scene. The shot nicely fits what we learn about him: he is driven purely by power. His goal is to be the most powerful man in the world because he wants to always be the one in control no matter what the scenario. He desires this because he is greedy, prideful, and ambitious. I've long awaited a scene in "Mr. Robot" that explicitly tells us things about a character, allowing us to better understand them in the future. We finally got something like that in this opening scene. We also learn more about Joanna as she tells Elliot what she sees in Tyrell. Her story about their first date is horrifying and problematic in a lot of ways, but it impressively humanizes Joanna. We understand now that Joanna is someone who enjoys feeling like she has power. She loves Tyrell not because of who he is but because he is willing to do so much for her, and puts in the effort to make her happy through material goods. He makes her feel like a queen, and that sense of power is a driving force for her. It's curious how desire for power seems to be a driving force for so many characters in this show, and I really like this thematic consistency. Like Price, Joanna was one of those characters who desperately needed more humanizing and we finally got that here. It's a shame that we didn't learn more about her earlier, as some of her earlier scenes in this season may have been more impactful. Joanna's scene with Elliot was good. It was a natural continuation of their interaction back in the season 1 finale, and I appreciate how terrified Elliot is of her, simply because she is so good at reading social cues, unlike Elliot who struggles in just about every social situation. Their conversation sets up an engaging storyline as Elliot tracks down the phone with the implication being that Tyrell is on the other end and he will be found. Though we don't get a good resolution (see: The Bad), it was an engaging storyline with a sense of importance. I adored the long-take in Elliot's apartment where he asked us to see if there was anything in there that Mr. Robot may have wanted to retrieve. The unique way that Elliot talks to us directly is one of the most creative aspects of the show. Cisco snapping at Darlene felt earned and it's good that he prevented her from slipping further into cruelty and pain. Both characters were really good in this episode. Cisco showed that he had a moral side and seemed to genuinely care for Darlene. Darlene continues to develop wonderfully as she comes to reality and accepts that she hasn't been in control of things at all and that she's in over her head. Her monologue to Cisco about her desire to feel "special" felt very real, and it connected nicely to a story from her past that helps us understand Darlene's motivations. She wants people to notice her because she wants to feel important. This was conveyed beautifully, and is yet another case of a character's goals, motives, and personality being given to us forthright. Following these good character moments, we are treated to a terrific final 10 minutes of the episode. The whole sequence is almost unbearably tense and leaves us on edge. There is a promise that something big is about to happen. The show cuts rapidly between Elliot/Angela, Darlene/Cisco, and Dom which builds tension alongside a repeated music score that plays nonstop for all 10 minutes. The drama escalates perfectly. Dom's investigation is gripping, and it takes her closer and closer to Cisco, ratcheting up the suspense as we know that Darlene is with her and if Dom finds them, it's really bad for them both. But with Cisco's face up on the news, the Dark Army also remains a major threat. Meanwhile at the same time, we learn that Angela is ready to give herself up and confess about the femtocell. Elliot talks to her and they share a nice moment as they kiss, which felt like a long time coming. It's good to see their storylines cross over once again, and I'm curious how this interaction will affect the characters in the future. It was a strange choice to integrate these scenes in the tense final 10 minutes, but it creates a unique sense of heart-pounding dread when they kiss. I think that worked very well. The whole sequence builds and builds to that fantastic shoot-out at the end, a dramatic moment that satisfied all of the build-up (see: Best Moment) The Bad: Once again, there are a few frustrating cliffhangers in this episode. "Mr. Robot" is relying too heavily on these little tricks to keep things dramatic and it is frustrating. Mr. Sutherland offers Elliot no answers about the address for the phone, which leaves us wondering what the address is. Angela is confronted by 2 mystery people but again we don't know who. We aren't told who was killed in the shootout at the end of the episode, which feels like a copout. It's consistently frustrating that every episode ends on these needless cliffhangers when giving us straightforward answers would work much better. It would be more dramatically effective if we knew where Mr. Sutherland was going, if we knew who Angela just got confronted by, and if we knew who died or did not die at the end of the episode. These cliffhangers are not needed and take away from the story. As tense and exciting as this was, "Mr. Robot" needs to deliver a lot more in these final episodes of season two to be satisfying. This episode is a step in the right direction, but with the amount of meaningless shocks and confusion that has been thrown out this season, my faith in the show is shaken. This two part finale needs to really deliver and end this season on a high. The Unknown: Who are the people that Price deems are more powerful than him? Is Price giving Congo to China as a gift of sorts to Whiterose? Why is it so important that this happens? How did Vincent get those injuries? What happened to the others that he was supposed to meet with? Did Tyrell call Joanna and Elliot on the phone? Or is it someone else? What is at the address that Elliot tracked down? Who owns this phone? Is Tyrell actually still alive? Why did Mr. Robot vanish when Joanna's phone rang? Is he hiding something? Is there something in Elliot's apartment that Mr. Robot needed? Did Mr. Robot lie about Tyrell being dead? Is Angela going to go through with confessing what she did? We still don't know what the Dark Army-modified femtocell is for. Who were the people that confronted her on the subway? Who died at the shootout? We see that Dom is covered in blood so was it Darlene or Cisco? Or both? I suspect that Cisco died and Darlene did not. How did the Dark Army know where Cisco was to send assassins to kill him? Did they trace his phone somehow? How do they have people available in America to do their bidding? How far does their reach go? Best Moment: The shootout at the end was spectacular. The stylish filmmaking choices of Sam Esmail were on full display here. The final two minutes feature a single static camera shot focusing on the restaurant from across the street. We see Dom enter and start talking with Darlene and Cisco, before suddenly a bike pulls up and in comes a man with a gun. In an extraordinary bit of detail, the crosswalk counts down to zero and right then the shooter unloads on the restaurant, before taking a hit and shooting himself in the head as the cops arrive. It's a brilliant sequence shot in such an audaciously perfect way. Simply brilliant stuff. Character of the Episode: Darlene. Conclusion: A big improvement on the previous episode. While there are still flaws here, the final ten minutes are incredibly tense and this feels like a major episode for the show. Score: 67 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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