Have the Aldersons sold out? The second episode of Mr. Robot’s third season examines what happens when the architects of a revolution give up on the dream. What is fsociety without Elliot and Darlene Alderson? And what are Elliot and Darlene, without fsociety?
Delivering on his promise to begin undoing the damage caused by the 5/9 hack, Elliot takes a job at Evil Corp. Recognizing the company as a necessary evil, he resolves to protect it from Phase 2 of the Dark Army’s plan while fixing it from the inside. “In fact,” he says, “maybe calling them evil was just my dorm room philosophizing run amuck.” Has Elliot really changed his tune so drastically?
Elliot says he’s not selling out – just growing up. He would have us believe that he’s better than ever. He’s doing what he thinks is right, and he’s distanced himself from the toxic influences of his past. But it’s clear he’s lying to us, and to himself. For Elliot, a 9 to 5 job at a faceless corporation might as well be a prison, and a necktie a noose. An upbeat montage of his daily routine masks just how much being a cog in the machine of E Corp is crushing Elliot’s soul. He’s joined in on “the live action cartoon of 2D emotions that everyone else is in.” But the emoji he wears is a face without a mouth – quietly moving through life, unable to scream. Without purpose, without fsociety, without Mr. Robot – Elliot feels emptier than ever. To protect the world from Mr. Robot, he’s cut himself off from half of his own mind.
Just as Elliot sells out to E Corp, Darlene sells out to the FBI. Having been cut out of Elliot’s life because she’s his “trigger,” her last remaining tie to fsociety is broken. She reveals that the only reason she took up their cause in the first place was so she and Elliot could be close again. With that door seemingly closed and under pressure from Dominique DiPierro, Darlene installs FBI surveillance software on Elliot’s computer. Both Darlene and Elliot have lost faith in each each other, and in the mission they started together. With the rest of fsociety missing or dead, the plan they set in motion seems to be solely in the hands of Tyrell Wellick and the Dark Army. But then who’s wearing the fsociety mask in the new video?
We can say for sure it’s not Joanna Wellick. The show goes to great lengths to avoid any ambiguity – Joanna is dead. An extremely graphic autopsy scene is designed to dispel any of the doubt that Mr. Robot tends to cast on events. But perhaps it’s too graphic? I wouldn’t put it past this show to have given us such explicit evidence as a misdirection. In fact, I think it would be a shame if there wasn’t more to Joanna’s death than meets the eye. She’s an incredibly interesting character, and it would be a disservice for her to have died only to further Tyrell’s character arc.
Meanwhile, Whiterose, in her role as Chinese Security Minister Zhang, holds E Corp’s new currency E Coin hostage. Phillip Price hasn’t followed through on his promise to allow China to annex the Congo, So Zhang refuses to grant him China’s final vote to use E Coin as the international standard currency. After Price threatens him, Zhang fires back, proving he’s every bit as formidable as Price – “don’t mistake my generosity for generosity.” He orders Phase 2, the destruction of E Corp’s physical records, to move forward on the day of the Congo vote, regardless of whether or not the vote goes in his favor.
Just like Angela in the previous episode, this week we see more characters interact directly with Mr. Robot, aware that he and Elliot are separate people. When Mr. Robot threatens Darlene in Elliot’s apartment, she realizes that it’s not her brother she’s dealing with. Then, in one of the series’ tensest scenes, Elliot’s therapist Krista finally meets his other half. Mr. Robot’s terrifying presence looms large, and we see just how dangerous and unhinged he is as he intimidates Krista, believing her to have “compromised” he and Elliot.
Regaining control, Elliot asks the audience what we saw – if we stayed with him or went with Mr. Robot. Even he’s not sure exactly what we were able to see. Being unable to interact directly with Mr. Robot is a new and confusing sensation for him. But letting him out seems to fix some of what’s been broken. “Why do I suddenly feel so alive?” he asks. Elliot’s friends and family now finally see he and Mr. Robot as separate individuals. Ironically, it’s now clear to us that that isn’t quite the case. They may have completely different personalities, but they’re two sides of the same coin. As much as Elliot hates to admit it, without Mr. Robot, he’ll never be whole.
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