In the ‘Mr. Robot’ recap, Darlene tries to wiggle free of the FBI, Elliot flickers back and forth with Mr. Robot and Phase 2 draws near…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
The focus on ‘Mr. Robot’ season 3 has definitely become more singular with a slow burn building towards the inevitable ‘Phase 2’ when the second part of the Five-Nine hack will be unleashed upon Evil Corp.
Unfortunately, Elliot Alderson is fighting against himself with one half of his personality trying to stop Evil Corp from crumbling with the other half doing everything in his power to bring them down.
It doesn’t help matters much that Elliot is being pulled in two different directions by the women in his life. On one side, his sister Darlene is trying to get inside knowledge from Elliot about the upcoming attack so she can use it to wiggle free of her obligation to the FBI.
On the other side is Angela Moss, Elliot’s oldest friend, who is now deep in bed with the Dark Army and seemingly the catalyst that continues to drive Mr. Robot towards the eventual annihilation of Evil Corp.
Meanwhile, Elliot’s brain is turning into mush because his emotional stability is all but shot and he’s now flickering back and forth between personalities with less predictable regularity. It all adds up to Elliot being torn apart while everybody operating around him is pulling the strings at the seam that may eventually see him completely unravel.
With that said, let’s recap the latest episode of ‘Mr. Robot’ titled ‘eps3.3_metadata.par2’….
Lies, Lies, Lies
Two weeks ago — prior to the episode spent with Tyrell Wellick — Elliot found out that his sister Darlene was hacking his computer and he planted a bug that allowed him to track back to her location to find out why exactly. What Elliot didn’t know, however, is that he was actually tracing Darlene back to the safe house where the FBI had her stashed while using her as an informant to bring down the Dark Army and stop this second phase of the Five-Nine hack.
Of course, Agent Dom DiPierro is panicking when she sees Elliot enter the apartment and then spots Darlene walking in from across the street.
Much like her brother, Darlene is starting to feel the weight of what she’s done press down upon her. On the subway, Darlene stops a pick pocket from stealing her wallet but she only asks for a photo back before handing the thief the rest of her belongings. Darlene says that it’s because she’s already stolen from everybody as a result of the Five-Nine hack so why shouldn’t she have something taken from her.
On her way into the apartment, Dom rushes outside and quickly tells Darlene in passing that Elliot is inside and that she needs to play it cool and not blow her cover.
When she gets inside, Elliot is confused and angry that she hacked his computer trying to find out information as well as a constant snapshot of whatever he’s doing on his desktop. Darlene explains it away by saying that Elliot transformed into Mr. Robot and hurt her one night recently and she was trying to track down what he’s been doing while her brother is asleep.
Of course, Elliot is upset that Mr. Robot is not only still appearing at random times but he’s hurting one of the only people left in this world that he still loves.
Elliot decides to ask for Darlene’s help in bringing down Mr. Robot and the remaining elements of the Five-Nine hack by having her stay at Shay’s old apartment where she will stay up all night and wait for Mr. Robot to appear. When he does, she will follow him to his ultimate destination and report back whatever she finds.
Little does Elliot know that he’s walking right into the FBI’s trap because finding Tyrell Wellick and bringing down the Dark Army is all they’ve ever wanted.
Remember, Remember the Month of September
At a meeting in the Red Wheelbarrow BBQ joint where Irving munches down on ribs for breakfast, he explains to Angela that plans are moving forward for ‘Phase 2’ to go down on September 29. That’s the date that Whiterose gave as an order and if there’s anything we know about her, she’s quite meticulous about the time.
Angela is still concerned about safety measures being put in place to ensure that no one will be inside the building when it explodes thus innocent people will not be killed. Irving assures her that all will be handled so no one dies, but it’s pretty clear that the Dark Army has no problem amassing a body count for their idea of the greater good.
Later that night with Darlene looking on from the next apartment over, Elliot leaves his place for a clandestine meeting with the Dark Army. Darlene gives chase as she’s now following Mr. Robot rather than her brother but she’s shocked when she spots him deep in conversation with Angela Moss.
Darlene never pegged Angela as the type to get into bed (metaphorically speaking) with Mr. Robot but that’s exactly what she’s seeing as the two of them talk for a while before grabbing a cab to an unknown destination. Darlene can’t give chase this time but she’s definitely learned some valuable information.
Meanwhile at the meeting, Angela reveals that she spotted Elliot working on diverting the paper copies of the files deleted during the Five-Nine hack on his computer at Evil Corp. Ever since he was hired, Elliot has been quietly diverting all of the paper records to ensure none of them would actually end up in that building in New York that the Dark Army planned to level with explosives.
Once Angela found out, she cut off his access but that still puts them into a bind as Whiterose has set the deadline for September 29 and they still have a lot of work to undo what Elliot just did to slow them down. Tyrell is livid at the man he once called a God, who is now unmaking everything they’ve worked to accomplish.
Mr. Robot lashes out and grabs Tyrell by the throat after getting sick of hearing his ranting and raving. Unfortunately in that second, Mr. Robot begins to flicker away as Elliot retakes his body. As Elliot wakes up from this personality slumber, he looks around the room and sees Tyrell and Angela standing together. A second later, Angela injects him with some kind of drug that renders him unconscious but it all might be too late.
Elliot now knows that Angela is working with Tyrell and he’s also seen the location of their secret hideout where they plan to enact ‘Phase 2’.
Everything Means Nothing to Me
Following a very close call the night before, Angela sits in her apartment to talk with Mr. Robot, who is now very much awake and back in control. He’s obviously shaken that Elliot was able to flicker back into existence but more troubling is that he saw Tyrell with Angela and he’s seen the secret hideout.
Angela reassures Mr. Robot that she’s got everything under control.
If Elliot remembers anything from his transformation, Angela will figure out how to explain it away. She suggests that Mr. Robot stay with her over the weekend just in case. To help further her cause, Angela calls in a favor to Phillip Price to fire Elliot from his job at Evil Corp with no explanation given. Price agrees, which inadvertently may help bring his entire company down around him.
Angela then receives a text from Irving that says plans are set for the September 29 attack.
See back at the secret hideout, Tyrell is still ranting and raving about his fractured relationship with Elliot after finding out that his deity is actually suffering from a split personality. To get back in control of the situation, Tyrell says he knows a way to get all the files from Evil Corp back into the building in New York City, but it’s going to require a promise from the Dark Army that if he gets this done, they will repay him with a specific request.
Tyrell wants to be flown alongside his wife and child to the Ukraine where they will relocate permanently after Phase 2 has been enacted. See, Tyrell doesn’t know yet that his wife has been killed and his baby sent into social services. Clearly the Dark Army has no desire to tell him this news either. In fact, Irving smiles and agrees to Tyrell’s demands, which all but signs his death warrant that once his usefulness has run out that he will be killed.
Finally, Darlene meets with Agent DiPierro, who is pressing her for information about her reconciliation with Elliot after their reunion at her safe house apartment. Darlene is evasive and instead asks Dom about her personal life in a “getting to know you” moment that is rather uncomfortable for the rather private FBI agent. The diversion works, however, as Dom reluctantly gives out some information about herself while Darlene reveals next to nothing.
Following the meeting, Darlene returns to her makeshift apartment next door to her brother, packs up a bag and then leaves the photo behind that she took from her wallet in the encounter with the pick pocket. The Polaroid photo features the Alderson family at a much happier time in their lives. She leaves the photo on Elliot’s mantle as she leaves — maybe for good this time.
Darlene has been conflicted all season long about saving her own ass by working with the FBI while simultaneously betraying her brother. Perhaps this latest encounter where she finally reconnected with Elliot was enough for Darlene to say no more.
She’s leaving for parts unknown because nowhere is still better than the place she’s been trapped for the last few weeks.
‘Mr. Robot’ returns with a brand new episode next Wednesday night on the USA Network.
