Mr. Robot “eps3.8_stage3.torrent” Review- Stage Three

Man, did I choose the wrong week to go on vacation, huh? I’m sorry Geeklings, I really wanted to be here last week to break down what was a beautiful episode of Mr. Robot, and perhaps one of my favorite episodes of television for the year, but I was getting some much needed R&R. But if you want my thoughts you can explore my Twitter page (@iamgeek32) as I had plenty of them as the episode aired. The good news though is I’m back this week and we’ve got a lot to cover so let’s start talking friends.

In the wake of last week’s amazing episode, we have a rejuvenated Elliot who is willing to take charge and change the world again. The irony is the world Elliot is looking to shape is the very one he was revolting against in the first place. Elliot comes to the conclusion, much sooner than Mr. Robot who needed Phillip Price to point this out, that there is no such thing as a revolution against major corporations. 5/9 was only allowed to happen because it was allowed to happen by corporations. Think about it, the Dark Army is no better than E Corp. They seemingly have their hand in everything, secretly running the world behind the curtain. Using them to help push 5/9 forward is no different than if 5/9 had been backed by E Corp itself… which it kind of was if you believe Price. Elliot’s epiphany, guided by Trenton’s email on how to possibly reverse 5/9,  allows us to see an Elliot we haven’t seen since season one. Motivated. Inspired. Looking to change the world. We watched as Trenton’s brother helped rescue Elliot from the pits of despair, preventing Elliot’s suicide, and giving him new purpose. It’s Trenton’s email, explaining that Romero’s decrypted keys are what could reverse 5/9, that gives Elliot drive.

It’s easy to believe that all is lost in this new world created by the Dark Army’s Stage Two. We’ve seen that there is now a heavy military presence in New York, curfews, and even detention camps. The world and Elliot are in a dark place after the 71 but we were left with something we haven’t seen in awhile on Mr. Robot… hope. The hope that maybe this can be turned around. That maybe, just maybe, that 5/9 and Stage Two are events that can be reversed. Elliot believes that it can be and for now that’s the only belief that we need. If Elliot thinks it’s possible then it’s possible. But first, a number of things need to come together, and we watched last night as the board was set for Stage Three. A Stage that is Elliot’s and Elliot’s alone.

I’ve been saying for awhile that in order for Elliot to take down the Dark Army, and Whiterose, that we would need an Avengers style team up to happen. This is clearly not something he’s able to do on his own. The Dark Army is too large to be taken down by one man. But if we were able to combine the powers of Darlene, Tyrell Wellick, Philip Price, Dom, Mr. Robot, and maybe even Angela (although homegirl has lost it), then maybe there’s a chance. Last night we saw as the pieces started to kind of fall in place for this supergroup. Tyrell Wellick, the new head of E Corp thanks to the Dark Army, met with Philip Price and Mr. Robot so he could argue that he is no puppet. This promotion isn’t a reward for Wellick. We know that Stage Two went down to rid E Corp of Phillip Price. Whiterose is now replacing Price with someone she knows she can control… Tyrell. Tyrell, after all he’s been through, still seems unable to see this. Just as Mr. Robot is unable to grasp that his revolution was never his. Here are two characters that need to put the puzzle together a little faster. Think of the asset Wellick could be on the inside of E Corp? Think of the asset Mr. Robot could be joining Elliot’s new revolution. A revolution with a leader, in Elliot, opposed to the lone wolf, Mr. Robot.

With Romero’s computer in FBI custody, Darlene becomes the natural gateway with her connection to Dom. Here was one of the only problems I’ve had with this season as super cop Dom allows herself to get drunk and seduced by Darlene in what I thought was a very uncharacteristic move. Dom seems to be so ahead of everything that I was surprised to see that she didn’t see what Darlene was up to. I give a lot of credit to Grace Gummer’s performance here as she really sold the vulnerability and loneliness of Dom. Here is a character who is married to the job but also wants to be happy but doesn’t know how to explore finding it. The alcohol loosens her up but there was also a sense of trust thrown into Darlene by a character who allowed her loneliness to outweigh her intelligence. At least for a little bit. As Darlene tries open Dom’s safe up in the middle of the night, to get Dom’s FBI access card, she gets busted and brought over to the FBI for immediate questioning and charges. Did anyone else’s heartbreak for Dom here? I just hated seeing her used like that when she so desperately wanted to feel something real.

I felt that Darlene redeems herself while in custody as she tells Dom, and that rat Santigo, everything about Romero’s keys and the ability to reverse 5/9. Darlene even volunteers to decrypt everything under FBI supervision. The only problem is Santigo went running to Irving and now the Dark Army knows that there’s a possible 5/9 Hack reversal out there. I admired what Darlene was doing here but this could be a major hang up to taking the Dark Army down. I have little doubt that Dom is now suspecting Santigo of something and fully expect her to save Darlene’s life next week. I’ve got a feeling Irving is sending the troops to the station for a hit job and we know that Dom has some talent in gunfights. Here’s hoping that she’s able to save Darlene because I’ve got a bad feeling. Maybe they can save some sort of a friendship too because I wasn’t a fan of watching Dom getting played like that. Don’t you hurt Dom, Darlene!

Meanwhile, Elliot took on the Dark Army head on claiming that he had a Stage Three planned which wasn’t in the original blueprints. He demands a meeting with Whiterose but gets her advisor, lover (?), Grant instead who quickly dismisses Elliot. Not before Elliot is able to transfer some hacking software on to a Dark Army USB so he can infiltrate them hacker style. If you think that a super badass organization like the Dark Army is too smart to fall for something like this then you’d be right. Grant and Whiterose piece together that Elliot is looking to destroy the Dark Army and that it might be time for him to die for the cause like his father.  Not before Whiterose threw a fit over the fact that the factory has not be moved to the Congo yet. Correct me if I’m wrong but this seems like the first real time we’ve seen Whiterose lose her cool like this. If nothing else it shows that she’s not invincible and could be the first crack in what has seemed like flawless armor.

Oh! Somewhere in this episode, Angela went crazy. The type of crazy where she started talking to her fish as she roamed the streets of New York with a number of her belongings. And was eventually asked to get into a white van by a bunch of random dudes who could be FBI or could be Dark Army or something.

There you have it Geeklings. The board is set for what seems to be a super intense season finale next week. What do you think is going to happen? Will Elliot’s plan against the Dark Army actually work? Is Darlene doomed? What’s the deal with Angela? And where and when does Mr. Robot fall into all of this? Sound off in the comments below. If you’d like to talk more Mr. Robot with me then you can find me on Twitter @iamgeek32. See you all next week. Remember to question everything.

Images from USA

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