USA’s Mr. Robot
Season 3, Episode 1: “eps3.0_power-saver-mode.h”
Directed & Written by Sam Esmail
* For a recap & review of the Season 2 finale, “eps2.9_pyth0n-pt2.p7z” – click here
* For a recap & review of the next episode, “eps3.1_undo.gz” – click here
Will we see Tyrell Wellick (Martin Wallström) help the Dark Army enact “Stage 2” finally? Or, will our friendly neighbourhood hacker Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek) be able to stop it after he was shot by his supposed friend?
We open on Irving (Bobby Cannavale) arguing with a woman at a fast-food joint called the Red Wheelbarrow about his punch card and its “faulty logic.” He’s a man of principle. He likes order. Quite the unique man.
He’s also been called up to Tyrell’s little HQ, to check on Elliot after the gunshot. Plenty of blood. There’s help on the way, so long as the young man survives. So, on appearance Irving looks like a used card salesman. When in fact he’s so much more, some sort of Dark Army operative, as he’s also given the name of Angela Moss (Portia Doubleday) over the phone by his contact.
Mr. Zhang a.k.a Whiterose (BD Wong) keeps an eye on everything, of course. While others around him believe Elliot and Wellick both are unstable, the man himself is more inclined to watch on with a bit of a curiosity. He speaks about the former Mr. Alderson (Christian Slater). As well as the value of having Elliot around: “His unadulterated, focused rage.” However, it only lasts as long as he’s needed. Then he can die for the Dark Army, “just like his father.”
Oh, my. So much intrigue in only 10 minutes.
When Elliot wakes he finds Angela waiting. He wants to know what’s been happening, realising that Tyrell is indeed alive. Likewise, he discovers the power he once held has dissipated; greatly. He hates Evil Corp, but he doesn’t want to see people die if their facility is blown up. At the same time, the “ever looming presence” that was his father doesn’t feel present anymore.
He goes back to his apartment and finds Darlene (Carly Chaikin), worried about him and where he’s been. He tells her about people outside, likely watching, listening. She fills him in on Cisco’s death. Afterwards, he explains Stage 2, what could happen, the backdoor they infiltrated into E.Corp in the beginning. But it also splits the brother and sister slightly, considering she didn’t know about the plan. All the same, Elliot isn’t well. It wasn’t technically him who did all this, it was the influence of Mr. Robot.
With the power reduce by brownouts, there’s no internet. So, it’s a family outing somewhere Darlene knows they can get access, in hopes Elliot might close the backdoor into E.Corp and stop the planned destruction. They head to a sort of club/internet lounge, a “hacker space.” They’ve got to be careful, though. Could be Dark Army lurking at every turn.
And they’re everywhere.
So is the FBI. Before anyone can get them, Irving picks them up in a cab. They go to talk about Stage 2, and Elliot leaves believing he’s finished it all. Darlene isn’t so sure, and their divide widens. Now, our hacker sees how he’s “fucked society.” Nice play on the fsociety’s original name.
The mental illness angle of Elliot’s character comes out vividly through Sam Esmail’s visuals and his writing. Here, we see a great inward v. outward sequence, as Elliot rants: “What if instead of fighting back we cave, give away our privacy for security, exchange dignity for safety, trade in revolution for repression? What if we choose weakness over strength?” And as he narrates onscreen, walking through a scene doing a theatrical aside, he goes into voice-over narration, too. Great techniques.
Also now we’re seeing Elliot come to grips with having made things worse somehow. People who brand this as a leftist show, and in many ways it is, it doesn’t pull the punches when it comes to exploring how revolution is messy, and it doesn’t always go well, for either side.
“They turned our dissent into intellectual property” – a timely line, right?
What does Elliot do from here? He goes to Angela, asking for her to get him a job at E.Corp. To help working from the inside out, to undo the hack, to restore civilisation so they can at least try rebuilding from a better standpoint. Right now, it’s all ruined. On top of that, our hacker asks his old friend to watch out for him, to make sure Mr. Robot doesn’t take over again.
That night, dad does show up. Is Angela taking advantage? Certainly seems that way. And that’s troubling. She’s one of the most unpredictable characters of the series, which is always interesting. However, she’s manipulative right now, telling Mr. Robot things he didn’t know Elliot’s been doing. Shit, this sets up a very compelling plot for Season 3. All of a sudden I can’t help resent Angela a bit, doing this to someone she considers a close friend, someone mentally ill. That’s ugly.
They go meet Irving. Discussing things moving along. The guy doesn’t know all about how things with Elliot and Mr. Robot work, so it’s questionable at first. Soon enough this changes. And who else is there? Tyrell. He feels terrible for having shot his friend. But Mr. Robot understands, for the most part. We see how they’re all manipulating this young, mentally ill hacker to their own ends. Under the guise of friendship. The only one who seems outwardly emotionally affected is Tyrell; that in itself is kind of… creepy. Angela kids herself that she’s actually talking to two different people, and that it’s all for the greater good. In certain ways, she’s as ill as him.
Perfect opener to Season 3. Just a spectacular way to begin, as always. Dig how Mr. Robot finds ways to refresh itself, recharging every so often, in the middle of a season and at the end, too. Esmail’s a genius. This show is a work of art.“eps3.1_undo.gz” next week.
Terry Colby (Bruce Altman) and Phillip Price (Michael Cristofer) meet, the latter namedropping Trump as a “cocksucker” about the run for President; he’s got dirt, too bad he isn’t real. The two high and mighty bourgeois men discuss all sorts of international things, specifically Africa, China, Obama. Phillip also wants Terry to help him out, a favour for which he’d be eternally grateful. Beneath it all is a question of power, why people like Price seek it.
Elsewhere, Cisco (Michael Drayer) has dragged Vincent (Anthony Jennings), bruised inside and out, back to Darlene (Carly Chaikin). She won’t call an ambulance for him. She’s becoming ruthless, too. She’ll let this man die rather than help him, so Cisco tells her to “wake the fuck up.” But will she?
Afterwards on the subway, Elliot meets Angela Moss (Portia Doubleday). She wants to know why he started fsociety. She wants answers, after the FBI’s been to her home, her life is starting to uproot from what she once knew. She’s ready to confess to what she’s done, but she won’t talk about anyone else. Regardless, everything will change. Before he leaves the subway, they kiss. Once he’s gone, two people arrive for Angela on the train.
A-ma-zing. Nothing else to say. One of my favourite episodes yet.
Last we left Elliot (Rami Malek) he was hacking into the FBI, as he’s working on the computer and website issues for Ray (Craig Robinson). “I live for this shit,” he tells us as he hacks away at the armour the federal government has setup. We hear more of his past; when he was eleven, he hacked into the municipal government in his town, controlling everything.
Then there’s Joanna (Stephanie Corneliussen), her contact continually getting paranoid, believing the feds are tapping his phone, watching his place, all the usual. She seems to be getting tired of him. Although she plays it off with a straight face and assurances. But, I wonder… a little later, we discover she’s absolutely tired of him. She takes care of that, quick. Once and for all.
Mr. Zhang and Dom get talking at a reception, as she’s poking around. They briefly chat with a bunch of ticking clocks surrounding them. “Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more,” (Macbeth Act V Scene V) he quotes. Clocks, time, they signal mortality. Another tick is another sec towards death, ultimately. Pleasantly morbid, beautifully depressing. Dom winds up telling Zhang about her personal reasons for joining the FBI. Well, she tells him a story, maybe not the real one. He comes close to revealing himself, as well. Stopping short at showing her a closet filled with the finest dresses, claiming they belong to his sister.
Sometimes Mr. Robot can verge on scary, not just existential fear but straight up, real life terror. This is one of those episodes, feeling steeped in horrific things. The ending, especially. Cannot wait for more.
Mobley (Azhar Khan) and Romero (Ron Cephas Jones) keep up the good fight for fsociety. We hear the oral history of their little arcade, from Romero, and the origin of fsociety’s name comes from the corporation title, “Fun Society Amusement, LLC.” A long, weird, ugly history. Out of which is now growing something good, or at least aimed at the intention of good. All boils down to this being the perfect place to do some hacking. Romero wants to sell the place off, under the radar. He doesn’t want to go back to jail, though. He doesn’t want to be involved. Although Mobley talks a good game.
“Panic. Here it comes again.”
I worry a bit about Angela (Carly Chaikin), who’s meeting Phillip Price (Michael Cristofer) for dinner on a Saturday night. Seems sort of, questionable? Until arriving to find him there with a couple of her colleagues, Sol and Jim. She looks disappointed somehow, though she ought to be happy. Maybe she’s finally being taken seriously.
Lord, I’m in love with this TV series! Great writing, fantastic themes being illustrated in ways we’ve not seen before. As much a show about mental illness as it is about hacking. Can’t wait to watch more. Haven’t even finished Season 2, already dying for Season 3.
CTO Scott Knowles (Brian Stokes Mitchell) is out in public, a big crowd, delivering the ransom money. Soon, a bike messenger shows up with a bag for him. Inside Scott finds one of the fsociety masks. He receives a call, “ten seconds” to do as he’s told or else everything’s finished. He’s informed to take out the money, wearing the mask, and then burn it in a pile as everyone watches on.
Phillip Price (Michael Cristofer) is finding business incredibly difficult, more and more. “The Big Three” are taking it hard, so everyone else is doing worse. Price has the FBI up in his grill constantly. Worse, he’s being asked to resign. He decides to go on an FDR-Great Depression rant, the nature of the American “business model” built on a con.
Angela Moss (Portia Doubleday) is continuing to keep her head above water, just barely. But she is forever stuck with the choices she’s made, the ones she keeps on making. Who knows if she’ll redeem herself, or if she’ll wallow in the mire of unethical businesses while the people she knows, from Elliot to Darlene, exist on the fringes.
Great episode to follow-up the Season 2 premiere. Continually mysterious, weird, intense, unsettling. One of the best TV series’ in the past 15 years, hands down.
We start on the fsociety mask, of course underneath is Tyrell Wellick (Martin Wallström), as many of us suspected. And the whole time he was recording that video, Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek) was right there with him. So, what happened to Tyrell afterwards? Did our boy use the gun he hid in the popcorn machine ages ago on him? I’m not so sure.
The Wall Street bull is having its nuts cut off, fsociety sending that figurative message to the elites that they’ve neutered them. A clever gesture.
Seems the hack has made things a bit worse than better. People had their debt wiped out, though now the banks can’t verify how much people paid, if they did at all, their systems are all out of whack. And it’s getting worse. By worse, it’s Darlene hoping to make things better, to affect genuine change.
Damn. A very intense, mysterious opener that has me curious about what’ll happen to Scott, where Darlene is headed, and most of all how Elliot’s going to keep coping with dad.
I love how Mr. Mercedes opens almost every episode with Bill Hodges (Brendan Gleeson) waking to his house in shambles, liquor bottles and dirty dishes and open peanut packages, he’s a mess himself. And it’s so similar to EVERY OTHER OPENING that you actually question if you’re watching the correct episode. Genius, as we’re literally put in the shoes of Bill, retired, semi-washed up, and unsure of what day it is ultimately. Really excellent, simple technique that works wonders.
Flashback to Pete Dixon (Scott Lawrence) and Bill interviewing Olivia after the Mercedes massacre. Of course the police believe she was involved, at least Pete. She feels terrible for what happened, though it isn’t HER fault some psychopath stole the car. Sure, her keys were left in the ignition, supposedly. Doesn’t mean she’s culpable. Plus, knowing Brady’s computer expertise? He likely hacked the vehicle, using Olivia as a scapegoat, another way to fulfil his sick fantasies.
“Our poisons are our pleasures”
At home, Deb is having flashbacks. She sees her dead son, crawling around the fire truck; the one Brady plays with nowadays. She sees the cut in his throat for the attempted tracheotomy. And this pushes her to the freezer, for a bottle of vodka.
Another fantastic episode. One of my favourites yet, because we’re seeing more of Brady, his psychopathy expanding and becoming all-encompassing. There’s growth to Bill, as well. He and Janey closer and closer all the time.
