Mr. Robot – S3E1 – eps3.0_power-saver-mode.h

Previously on Mr. Robot, “eps2.9_pyth0n_pt2.p7z”

power save mode <architecture>
A feature of a component or subsystem designed to actively reduce its power consumption when not in use.

It’s been roughly 13 months since we last saw Elliot writhing on the floor and bleeding out, desperately grasping on to the belief that he was in control. The reality he is experiencing - and in turn, we his faithful followers - is an illusion perpetuated by his festering rage and unwavering desire for revenge. The same could be written about his friends and compatriots, though in a less frenzied manner, as the Dark Army and the FBI are doggedly pursuing them to either expose the true masterminds behind this pernicious stratagem against the free world… or tie up loose ends.

“eps3.0_power-saver-mode.h” is a solid, enthralling premiere that seamlessly transitions the chaotic final moments of season two with the aftermath of Elliot’s dream made manifest. The world is a colder, grayer place thanks to Alderson’s genius and Whiterose’s mastery over his shortcomings. Now well aware of the hell he’s created, Elliot is determined to reverse the course of events Mr. Robot devised. Unfortunately for him, all may already be lost.

[bctt tweet=”When we lose our principles, we invite chaos. - #MrRobot” username=”ProjectFandom”]

Truer words were never spoken. The fantastic Bobby Cannvale joins this dark landscape as the deceptively genteel Irving, a facilitator and jack-of-all-trades employed by Whiterose. The timeless adage “Never judge a book by its cover” is quite apt for this character, whose outdated look, nasally intonation and dry wit provide a great foil for the typical sleek and meticulous players within this labyrinthine scheme.

As witnessed throughout the premiere, Irving proves himself worthy of employment while protecting Elliot from the FBI, as well as himself. Even when under pursuit by the authorities or getting his head chewed off by Darlene, Irving remains composed and effective by carefully crafting his responses. One shouldn’t be fooled by his affable personality and relaxed demeanor. Irving is just as much a killer as his employers.

Which brings us to Whiterose and her always intriguing obsession with the concepts of time, reality and the phenomena within. We finally began to gain deeper insight on her devious mechinations during the back half of season two; most viewers were savvy enough to realize usurping control over the world economy wasn’t the endgame for the Dark Army, but something more alarming was in their sights. The oft-discussed Stage Two is finally being set in motion which may ultimately result in Whiterose orchestrating a hard reset on reality itself.

I know… what? Isn’t this show about a super hacker destroying The Man from within? Yes and no. Need this writer remind you, Elliot is a very unreliable narrator and whatever we see may not even be reality within this show. At any time, anything we watch may not have occurred except in Alderson’s mind.

That being written, when Whiterose pontificated about the future success of her plans and the Aldersons’ legacy in bringing it to fruition we can safely assume this was a reliable sequence. Meaning all we saw within the E Corp nuclear facility - especially the physicist’s monologue to his colleagues - is damn important to the future of the series.

“I love a great mystery. And I’m fascinated by the greatest unsolved mystery. Do we see reality as it is? If I close my eyes and imagine… If I close my eyes, I can imagine that everything we experience, everything we see, think and do, is unfolding simultaneously in a parallel universe. And if so, how many copies of our cells exist? And might our mental states be conjoined? For better or worse.”

There is no way Sam Esmail would write such a scene without it being a portent for things to come this season. Yes, it’s a bit on the nose compared to Whiterose’s cryptic revelation to Angela about her zealous adherence to time and ecodelia in “pyth0n_pt1.p7z”, yet it holds true to Mr. Robot’s most intriguing and seemingly incompatible subplot about the existence of multiverses.

Perhaps it is all a red herring for viewers however that would be a terrible waste of production hours and running time to merely fake us out, not to mention Ms. Moss is the only character among the leads that’s privy to Whiterose’s personal agenda. Elliot and Agent DiPierro have been present when W.R. waxed philosophical on the beauty and precision of time, yet so few know of her ultimate goal.

Angela almost caved and admitted to Elliot that she knew far more than he about the Dark Army’s plans, and buttoned up at the last possible second. Again, Esmail dropped some awfully huge nuggets about the surreptitious mission and its intented goal of a total global reset.

“What if I told you we can make it like none of this ever happened? … I mean everything. Including what happened to our parents. If we could take it all back from the beginning, what would you be willing to sacrifice for that?”

Naturally, after she lured Alderson in with her lofty supposition, Angela remains mum in classic Moss fashion. This unfounded belief that reality can be wiped clean or altered from a specific point in one’s experience is as visionary as it is unbelievable. Nevertheless, this seemingly incongruous narrative mends perfectly with the continued strife that is shared amongst the majority of the cast. Mr. Robot is program that’s centered around the concept of altering multiple facets of reality. The purpose of 5/9 was to disrupt a status quo that had mastery over True, E Corp provided thousands of products and services across the globe as a multinational conglomerate, but so many millions willingly sacrificed their autonomy to convienence. A fact many of them are only realizing as they scrap and scrounge on the streets as New York City itself

Now that Elliot has realized the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, he’s now determined to restore the very powers that held sway over virtually every necessity in one’s life.