Mr. Robot S3E04

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There is a lot of division going on in Mr. Robot.

Let’s start with the family. Elliot confronts his sister about hacking him. In a clever move to keep her role with the FBI a secret, she tells him she had to because Mr. Robot has hurt her and she’s afraid of what he’s up to. Elliot at this point thinks Mr. Robot is gone (or dormant) so this new rattles him. With this knowledge, he invites Darlene into what he’s been doing.

This gives Darlene a new perspective. The FBI knows that Elliot has been working with Tyrell and now she knows that Elliot doesn’t know he’s been in contact with Tyrell. Elliot shows her the work he’s been doing to keep Stage 2 from happening and that prompts the question: If you have all this info, why haven’t you made an anonymous tip to the Feds? You can stop this and keep your hands clean. Elliot’s thoughts: I can’t leave behind what we’ve started. He feels responsible for what’s happened and wants to stop it himself. Privately, he’s still fascinated with the idea of the revolution.

Knowing that Mr. Robot is active makes Elliot’s life more complicated. There’s a whole countermeasure to what he’s been doing that he can’t account for. That’s a problem. He deduces that since he isn’t missing out on any time in the day, it Mr. Robot must be active when he sleeps. He wants Darlene to keep watch at night and follow him. He stations Darlene next door in Shayla’s still empty apartment (which could have some terrible foreshadowing meaning behind it).

So, this plan of espionage is how Darlene finds out Angela is involved with Mr. Robot.

Tyrell is beside himself in anger. Angela and Mr. Robot meet him in a secret location and they discuss how Irving, on behalf of Whiterose has made them commit to a time to destroy the E Corp records: September 29th. Oh, and Elliot has been thwarting the records being moved to the New York location, ruining their plan. Angela is confident they can get it all moved in time and Tyrell isn’t having it. He’s over his infatuation with Elliot, he’s nuts and is nothing but a problem now.

Mr. Robot throws his weight around at the effort does something to him. He loses control to Elliot and he now sees Angela and Tyrell together in the same room. Angela knocks out Elliot with an injection to buy some time.

Always the professional, Irving manages to calm Tyrell down and speak directly to his ego: Stick with us Tyrell, you were born to do this. Tyrell likes what he hears but has some new conditions in order to do the work. My kid, my wife and I are on a plane to the Ukraine the moment stage 2 is done. Tell my wife we’re leaving together soon. Irving, knowing that Joanna is dead, says sure thing.

Angela talks to Price about getting Elliot fired from his E Corp job in order to contain his anti-Stage 2 work. Angela and Price’s conversations have always been strange and this one is no exception. Angela wants to hide who Elliot is, so she tells him she needs Elliot gone for important reasons she doesn’t want to talk about. Through some awkward back and forth he agrees.

Angela returns to her kitchen with Mr. Robot in her kitchen. He’s panicking but she bets that she can explain away any concerns Elliot has when he comes back. Angela is doing her best to keep calm and forge ahead but a lot seems to be going wrong for her. Elliot might just go along with what Angela says just to appease her and then flee to Darlene.

Out of everyone, I’m worried about Darlene the most. Losing Cisco traumatized her in ways that can’t be fixed. She’s caught in the middle of her brother and the feds with no good way out. The walls have been closing in on her and there are few moves left for her to make. At best she can keep tabs on Elliot and try to steer him from doing anything worse (or getting killed). She straight up confesses to the hack on the subway to the girl that pickpockets her and the only thing she wants back is an old picture of her family. She regrets everything she’s done and wishes to go back in time to a simpler time. A sliver of time, no matter how brief, where she had a family that was intact. She leaves the picture in Elliot’s apartment.

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