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
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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