“You know when you f*ck something up and you wish you had the power to hit undo? Like when you say the dumbest thing in front of your biggest crush? Or when you talk sh*t about your boss in an e-mail and then hit reply-alt to everyone at work? Or when you crash the entire world economy and kick start the inevitable downfall of human civilization? We all have those days. But today is not going to be one of them. Because today, I found a way to hit undo….I finally see the fatal error exception of my ways and I know what to do now. I’m going to fix the world I broke and put it back together better than it was before.”
With this monologue, Elliot Alderson, the computer genius/hacker extraordinaire/paranoid schizophrenic with a dual personality, states the fundamental premise of Season 3 of the sensational series, Mr. Robot. Having put the world on the brink of financial/economic collapse by wiping out the digital database of the financial colossus E Corp, Elliot has realized the error of his ways and sets out to hit the undo button by making it possible for E Corp to recreate the database from paper records. But powerful dark forces, including Elliot’s alternate personality Mr. Robot, do not want him to succeed. Indeed, they want to go forward with Stage 2 of Mr. Robot’s/Elliot’s plan (at one time they were allies), i.e., the destruction of E Corp’s paper records, plunging the world into a state of complete economic chaos. The fate of the world hinges on how this conflict plays out.
On a micro level, Mr. Robot is Elliot’s story, a severely mentally ill young man struggling to find his place in the world, battling his illness, trying to overcome his intense loneliness and isolation from the world, striving to connect with people in meaningful ways, learning how to love and be loved. On a macro level, it is a story of powerful corporations and nation-states ruthlessly pursuing their own ambitions, heedless of the cost to others. It is also a story of the digital age and touches upon myriad aspects of the profound impact the dark side of the digital revolution has had upon people’s lives.
The story, the writing and the production values are first-rate. The cast, led by the truly exceptional Rami Malek, is excellent.
Mr. Robot is a compelling, captivating, imaginative, complex, challenging, confusing, maddening experience. In MP’s humble opinion, Sam Esmail has created one of the best stories ever to hit the small screen. It is a series for the ages.
Mr. Robot is not an easy watch. It challenges viewers and demands they engage with the story intellectually and emotionally. Many episodes require a second watch to completely understand just what the #$@%^! is going on. For the viewers willing to make such an effort, the return more than justifies the investment.
