Mr. Robot hacked its way back onto TV screens Wednesday, returning us to a world tilted off its axis by fsociety’s anti-corporate revolution, and into the fractured psyche of its architect, Elliot Alderson. The Season 3 premiere is a strong comeback for Mr. Robot, complete with all the familiar (yet still disconcerting) elements that have come to define the show.
Picking up where Season 2 left off, Elliot has been shot by Tyrell Wellick. To save his life, Wellick calls Irving, an enigmatic fixer for the Dark Army, played by Bobby Cannavale in the episode’s standout performance. Elliot awakens a week later, his alter-ego Mr. Robot seemingly excised from his mind. A massive blackout grips New York City as Elliot rushes to stop “Phase 2,” Mr. Robot and the Dark Army’s plan to destroy the building housing all of E Corp’s physical records. Now seeing his revolution as misguided, Elliot convinces the Dark Army to call off Phase 2, or so he believes. The end of the episode reveals that Mr. Robot is alive and well, taking control while Elliot sleeps and continuing to work towards E Corp’s destruction alongside Angela Moss and the Dark Army.
The blackout provides the perfect backdrop for Elliot’s frantic attempt to halt Phase 2. The darkness throws New York into chaos and reveals the city’s seedy underbelly, placing Elliot firmly in his element. He operates best in this bleak mirror of the daylight world, where paranoia places threats in every darkened corner and a simple black hoodie allows him to fade into complete anonymity. If this were another show, the power returning at the episode’s conclusion might signal good things on the horizon. But given Elliot’s preference for darkness, and set against Mr. Robot and Angela conspiring in secret, the lights coming back on seems more like an ill omen than a symbol of hope.
Mr. Robot has always had political overtones – fsociety is a fictionalized version of “hacktivist” group Anonymous, and espouses a similar anarchic, anti-capitalist philosophy. But this episode in particular took on real-world politics in a way the show hasn’t attempted before. In the premiere’s most powerful scene, Elliot’s mind races as he comes to grips with the realization that his revolution has failed to rectify the ills of capitalism. “5/9 didn’t get rid of the invisible hand,” he says. “It turned it into a fist that punched us in the dick.” Encrypting E Corp’s data has only created chaos. Chaos that Elliot fears will pave the way for terrifying demagogues to take power by preying upon people’s fears.
Using actual footage of U.S. President Donald Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, Mr. Robot positions their rise to power as a terrifying potential future (the show is set in 2015) caused by Elliot’s actions. Images depicting police brutality against protesters, the U.S. Muslim ban, and the border wall paint a picture of a society that he fears will “give away our privacy for security, exchange dignity for safety, trade revolution for repression…choose weakness over strength.”
If this comes to pass, he’s to blame. “This is what they wanted all along,” he says. “For us to buy into our worst selves. And I just made it easier for them. I didn’t start a revolution. I just made us docile enough for their slaughtering.” The show’s political leanings have never been clearer. Our reality is Elliot’s nightmare. If Mr. Robot didn’t sit well with conservatives before, this episode may be the last they watch. But that’s their loss. This show has something powerful to say. Taking a political stand, however alienating it might be for some, contextualizes Mr. Robot’s message within the framework of the very real fears that exist in our world today.
As usual, this scene has Elliot speaking directly to the viewer, his thoughts more a conversation with us than an inner monologue. It appears that he’s quickly walking down the street, while in reality we’re just seeing what’s in his head. Elliot always shows us reality through the lens of his own perception, like when he puts a mute button on life (and on our screens), tuning out everything but his thoughts. The show creates conflict between what we see, what Elliot sees, and “reality.” Even when Elliot isn’t the narrator, we can’t trust what we’re shown. Angela speaks to Mr. Robot himself – can she somehow see him in the form of Elliot’s father like Elliot does? No, but the show presents him that way, providing clarity for us as to who’s in control, but creating confusion in the dissonance between what we see and what Angela does.
Viewers like myself who watched the show live were treated to an advertisement for Ecoin, E Corp’s digital currency, during one of the show’s commercial breaks. E Corp’s ubiquity extends even beyond the confines of the show, further blurring the line between our world and the world of Mr. Robot. In an amusing but telling incident, I found myself doubting the legitimacy of a vague local commercial for a real estate investment company, thinking it was another easter egg for the show. Turns out, it’s a real (if shady) company, and had nothing to do with the show. The premiere had quickly returned me to the mindset one has to have while watching Mr. Robot – skepticism about the reality of what we’re shown.
This confusion, combined with Mr. Robot’s fast-paced and winding plot, requires active viewing from the audience to piece together meaning. Mysteries have no quick conclusions, and answers usually lead to more questions. This might prove tedious for some viewers. Those looking for answers to the layers of mystery seeded in Season 2 won’t find them in this episode. Whiterose’s cryptic goals are still unclear. What is the Dark Army planning to do with the hadron collider beneath the powerplant? What’s its connection to Elliot and his father? What are Mr. Robot, Angela, and Tyrell planning while Elliot sleeps? And just what the hell did Angela mean when she asked Elliot what he would sacrifice to make it so their parents had never died? Combined with a speech early in the episode about parallel universes, her question implies that the show could be headed in a whole new direction.
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