-Changes, 2Pac
Irving loves BBQ.
Hes a sucker for ribs, even in the morning.
Hell, he doesnt even care if the ribs are real meat or made in a lab somewhere.
Credit: Michael Parmelee/USA Network
As long as it tastes good, hes a happy man.
Its the beauty of technology, he asserts, that such deliciousness can be attained.
Ribs like the ones the Red Wheelbarrow serves werent possible 100 years ago, thats for sure.
We go on September 29th.
Ten days from now.
Thats what Irving tells Angela.
The timeline for Stage 2 is moving, and considering Whiteroses relationship with time, you dont challenge that.
None of this would be possible without technology.
There were simpler times.
Childhood was much easier, to an extent.
Who benefits from this revolution?
Its a big question without an easy answer.
Eps3.3_metadata.par2 is filled with people just trying to return to simpler times.
Tyrell just wants to go back to when he loved Elliot and considered him a god.
Elliot wants to take back everything that came after the 5/9 hack.
The Polaroid family picture is evidence of that.
Id love to go back to when we played as kids.
He gives Angela instructions to manage Elliot/Mr.
Robot so that Stage 2 will be ready to go in just a few days.
Easier said than done, but Angela is seemingly all in at this point.
Because, however hesitantly, she believes in whatever Whiterose has promised.
Have you seen it?
He has, and he believes anything is possible.
Still on your side, it says, but theres no real sense of what the ad is for.
Its certainly a way into the changing nature of Darlene and Elliots relationship though.
Is she still on his side?
What side is Elliot even on?
Robot is dedicated to Stage 2, doesnt that mean that some part of Elliot is as well?
Elliots struggling with those questions too.
Something is holding him back.
Some part of him cant abandon his plan for revolution, even as the doubts continue to creep in.
The decisions are complicated.
Cant he just return to simpler times, before the 5/9 hack, before Mr.
Robot learned to adapt and take over, and before Darlene was hacking him?
We dont do that to each other, he says, brokenhearted.
But things change, and thats just the way it is.
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So far, season three ofMr.
Robothas been a fair amount of setup, barring a murder or two.
I, for one, could live in this tech-noir atmosphere that Esmail has created.
Take, for instance, the scene where Elliot discusses Stage 2 with Darlene.
Its a scene tense with emotion.
Theres this push and pull thats excruciating to witness, and the score underlines that.
Its a stunning touch that amps up the tension while also suggesting that Mr.
Robot is trying to get out.
I guess we passed weird a long fing time ago.
Indeed, Darlene and Elliot arent exactly the picture of domestic normalcy, despite what that Polaroid might suggest.
Those days are gone.
Remember, even his heartwarming snowman story ends in violence.
Do all the stories here end that way?
While atmosphere is certainly key to this season ofMr.
Robot, Eps3.3_metadata.par2 feels like the episode where everything really starts moving.
With Whiterose instructing Irving to get the ball moving on Stage 2, everybody is suddenly scrambling.
He smashes everything in sight while Angela tries to calm him down, and while Mr.
Robot assures him that hes in control of this, not Elliot.
Thats all we see of Elliot for the rest of the episode.
In that moment, that fleeting bit of recognition amongst the chaos, Elliot starts to see whats happening.
Will it be enough though?
Will he be able to put all the pieces together?
Its certainly not looking likely.
The odds are stacked against him.
Tyrell is done with him, becoming ever more forceful.
Then theres Darlene, perhaps his last hope of stopping Stage 2, but can she truly help?
Darlene is asking herself that question.
Shes the one who will lose a brother should she give up what she knows.
Shes the one the Dark Army could come after once its all said and done.
The red walls are creeping in, and theres nothing she can do about it.
Seemingly everyone is powerless outside the Dark Army.
The Dark Army is a few steps ahead.
They give up a fake fsociety member so that distract from their role in Stage 2.
(Recap continues on next page)
Everything means nothing to me.
Everything means nothing to me.
Everything means nothing to me.
Elliott Smith repeats that over and over in the track with the same name.
A mantra for Elliott Smith, but what about the other Elliot?
The song, which scores the final scene of the episode Darlene packs up after following Mr. After all, its the next morning and Mr.
Robot is still present.
Usually the daytime is when he disappears, but as of now, Angela and Mr.
Robot are the only two present when they receive the Monday deadline from Irving.
Hes still blissfully unaware of Joannas fate.
Robot, the man whos been keeping Elliot at bay all season long, is slipping.
Stage 2 is coming, and theres seemingly nothing anyone can do about it.
Its fate, and perhaps thats exactly what Whiterose is looking to have control over.
