Power Saver Mode

Last season ended on a cliff hanger with Elliot shot and the season 3 premiere wastes no time in moving forward.

Some realizations come quick and a fundamental pivot has happened.

First, Tyrell is real. Elliot was wrong. In a power move to take control of his own mind, Elliot had challenged what he thought was a mental projection. That was a real gun and a real Tyrell. This leaves Elliot bleeding out of the floor and we’re introduced to a fixer for the Dark Army: Irving.

Now the Dark Army made some big moves last season. Darlene is scared to death as they put the pinch on f society with deadly actions. She couldn’t find Elliot for days and has basically crawled into a shell.

Irving comes to Tyrell’s SOS and saves Elliot’s life. They sweep the base of operations clean, Tyrell is who knows where now and Elliot comes to in Angela’s apartment. Elliot has a lot to process. He doesn’t feel Mr. Robot anymore. Maybe the shot killed him. But he was wrong about everything to do with f society. He knows what Stage 2 is (his own plan made without his knowledge) and Tyrell stopped him from shutting down the plan. Everything he wanted to do with f society was a mistake, it made everything worse and he can’t blame anything but himself. He has to do what he can to fix it. He has to shut down the backdoor to E Corps recovery effort so the Dark Army can’t destroy it all. He needs Angela’s help to get him a job at E Corp. Elliot has committed himself to being a white hat.

White Rose has other plans and her right-hand man (I guess that’s what he is) is annoyed. Tyrell and Elliot are unstable and he doesn’t understand why White Rose wants to keep working with them to finish Stage 2. He’s “more than capable” of doing it. White Rose is convinced she’s right, she just needs to keep Elliot’s rage focused on the task she wants him to do. And she has help.

In the gadzooks moment, Angela has turned. The Dark Army stopped her from going to the FBI. Angela has listened to what Whiterose has told her and is in her pocket. Mr. Robot isn’t gone and Angela can tell when it’s him and when it’s Elliot. Elliot has no idea Mr. Robot is autonomous again. Angela plays along with Elliot leading him where Whiterose wants and works with Mr. Robot when he shows up. Elliot may be a white hat but his other half is a committed black hat and he has no clue. It looks like Irving is her contact/handler/liaison to the Dark Army and Mr. Robot knows Irving. The scene with Angela is talking to Mr. Robot on the subway is nuts on so many levels. “How can you tell when it’s me or him?” “Your eyes are different. You don’t look away.”

This is straight up spy stuff and I love it. Irving first meets Elliot (conscious Elliot) and Darlene by getting them out of a bind and tries to get Elliot to go along with Stage 2. White hat Elliot says no and Elliot sneaks off with Darlene to close the backdoor in a hidden hacker party. He manages to do it but gets cut off by Whiterose’s men. So it’s a win for Elliot and a point of contention for Mr. Robot when he finds out. Mr. Robot is furious that Elliot will be pushing back on everything he tries to do with Stage 2.

Interesting realization: Elliot doesn’t know about Mr. Robot but the reverse isn’t true. But when one personality is in charge, the other one doesn’t know what they are doing. It’s a complete mind split with independent thoughts, memories, and actions. Now, how long until Elliot figures out what’s happening. I don’t think Elliot is blacking out when Mr. Robot takes control so it won’t be obvious to him. The first time we see Mr. Robot in the episode is when Elliot goes to sleep in Angela’s apartment.

Fascinating start, I can’t wait for more.