Mr. Robot: eps3.3_metadata.par2

"I never trusted his bug eyes."

Apologies for the absence. Let's return to the madness, shall we?

Picking up where 'Undo' left off, Mr. Robot discovers Darlene's safehouse, although, she is able to cover her involvement with the FBI and even manages to draw out Elliot. Despite all complexities between them, these two still love each other and want to work together to fix what they've broken. It's easier said then done, since Elliot is his own (and everyone else's, really) worst enemy and Darlene is eventually going to have to betray him to the FBI. Their alliance is very fragile, but it's the only hope we have.

Having already established how alike they are, Dom is just as conflicted about the bind she has put Darlene as she is the bind Darlene has her in. She's forced to put her trust in a flighty, unstable hacker chick who is usually out for herself and does things her own way, much to the chagrin of her superiors. It's quite a dilemma, but Darlene is Dom's only hope too. There's a chance Dom could take down Tyrell and the Dark Army altogether and Darlene could be granted immunity for her crimes, freeing her to travel to Budapest like Cisco suggested. But it means Darlene will lose her brother and Dom will have to live with ruining her life.

Elliot and Darlene plan to use Mr. Robot's new limitations to snuff out Tyrell and the Dark Army, so that they can end this once and for all before Stage 2 is initiated. We revisit the late Shayla Nico's apartment, now empty, where Darlene hides out. At night, Mr. Robot takes over and Darlene is able to follow him without his knowledge. She finds out that Angela is working with her brother's alter ego behind his back, only to lose track of them.

Then it looks like Elliot discovers Angela is working with Tyrell when Mr. Robot loses control at their new Dark Army hideout. Angela quickly sedates Elliot and sequesters him at her apartment, where she can manage him personally. For the longest time, Angela was the character whose role I was least certain of. She appears to still view herself as a moral person seeking the greater good, as displayed when she asks Irving to confirm that no one will be hurt when they eventually blow up Evil Corp's data facility. However, we also know that she often leans toward self-interest, a trait that seems to have corrupted her. She's so driven to take down Evil Corp that she's willing to betray her childhood best friend, a man who loves her, and becomes a devoted follower of the person who is truly responsible for her mother's death. Now she is almost as cold and calculating as Whiterose.

Personally, I think she's as in over her head as Tyrell. Speaking of Tyrell, he's never been more erratic than he is now, having fallen out of love with Elliot and believing he is no longer fit to lead this revolution. Irving, ever the trickster, is able to stroke his ego so that Tyrell takes the reins. His delusional godlike self-confidence, Tyrell plans to seriously escalate things to finally get Stage 2 underway. And whatever he's planning requires "the full force of the Dark Army." Oh, and, in order to keep him focused, Irving and the Dark Army are also going to great lengths to ensure Tyrell doesn't find out about the death of his wife, Joanna. He's already back to throwing temper tantrums, I can't imagine how he'll react when he learns the truth. Not that it matters, I guess. It's highly unlikely the Dark Army is going to let him live after he does what they require of him.

Anyway, Angela uses her weird connection to Philip Price to get Elliot fired, so as to prevent him from interfering with Stage 2 any further. I don't think that matters either. Her old friends Elliot and Darlene know of her deception now, and Mr. Robot, the key to getting everything she desires, is falling apart. As much of a pro as she's become, I don't see this working out for her in the end.

I know I've probably stated this before, but this has to be the most screwed up show I've come across. I don't even know how these characters can properly function with the level of neuroses and psychoses they are dealing with. Finding out is a truly enthralling experience, though.

Ones and Zeroes:

* Elliot explaining how metadata essentially tracks the movements and activities of everyone feeding into it through computers and smartphones was yet another moment that enlightens me to how little I know about these machines I and the rest of the world are constantly plugged into. Even though it isn't horror, this is one of the scariest shows I've seen. It makes me afraid of the very computer I'm using to type this. And still, I type away.

* The FBI apprehends Sasan Nouri, the man in the latest fsociety video. Dom is wary of this, since he clearly allowed himself to be captured and she suspects he is a Dark Army foot soldier. I'm betting this is part of Whiterose's plan to make fsociety the new ISIS, drawing attention away from the Dark Army.

* Angela tells Irving she's gotten good at SDR, confirming that she hasn't been followed. I'm not sure what SDR means. The only thing I can think of is Stop, Drop and Roll; perhaps it is slang for "losing the heat", which is slang for eluding law enforcement.

* Apparently, Whiterose showed both Angela and Irving something that accounts for their current loyalty to the Dark Army and their cause. They don't say what it is, but Irving's comments about how "anything is possible" only increases my belief that Whiterose's plan is to access or create some type of alternate universe. Though it makes me wonder how in the hell she was able to prove something like that.

* Darlene figures out that Dom is a closeted lesbian, and reveals that she had a bisexual phase in the past. I wonder if this is foreshadowing some type of deeper relationship between the two. Darlene is now occupying the home of Shayla, who was also bisexual. Maybe I'm reading too much into this...

* ... She doesn't occupy the apartment for long, packing up and leaving behind her Alderson family photo in Elliot's apartment as she goes.

Quotes:

Elliot: Darlene. It's me.
Darlene: Yeah, well, that's a pretty complicated statement coming from you.

Darlene: If I do follow him and find Tyrell and the Dark Army and shit goes down -- like, bad shit -- you'd get vengeance, right? Like, if I die or something, you'd kill whoever did it. And, obviously, I'd do the same for you. Like... like a vengeance pact.
Elliot: Is that even a thing?
Darlene: It can be our thing. You in?
Elliot: Fuck yeah. I'm in.
As sweet as this was, it seriously had me worried that Mr. Robot would kill Darlene. I don't have any trouble believing Elliot would kill himself out of vengeance against Mr. Robot, if that were the case.

Mr. Robot: Never appeal to a man's better nature. He may not have one.

Tyrell: (to Mr. Robot) You, as a person, make no sense. You're a liability.
He might as well have described himself. Tyrell calling Mr. Robot "crazy and unfit to lead this op", while not exactly wrong, is also hilariously hypocritical.

Feels like something big's coming up. To quote another twisted series, I am enchanted and terrified. Three out of four syringes of betrayal.

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