Mr. Robot Episode 3.01 eps3.0_power-saver-mode.h

Picking up immediately following the Season 2 cliffhanger, Season 3 will explore each character's motivations and the disintegration between Elliot and Mr. Robot.

In this season premiere, Elliot realizes his mission, and needs help from Angela; Darlene worries about them coming out clean.

Introducing...Irving

Is Irving a used car salesman or a Whiterose operative? Possibly both. But there's no doubt he's the guy who Tyrell calls after shooting Elliot with the popcorn machine gun (at the end of last season) to stop him from messing with Stage 2. Irving calmly assesses the bloody situation and arranges for doctors to save Elliot. Everything's going to be okay, Tyrell -- just stop pushing down on Elliot's stomach.

"He Really Is a Crazy Goose"

Meanwhile, over at the ECorp Power Plant in Washington Township, Minister Zhang is not happy about this messy, unexpected development. Despite his displeasure, he tells his assistant that he wants to let Elliot carry out Stage 2, which his father (unknowingly) helped lay the groundwork for when he was alive. For now, Elliot must be their "guide" because he's got the "unadulterated, focused rage" to see it through. But after he completes his "great work," Minister Z says Elliot will suffer the same fate as his father.

On a New Mission

When Elliot wakes up a week later in Angela's bed (though not with Angela), the electricity is still out and he doesn't know how he got there. Angela tells him a man brought him to her place the day before, but she doesn't know who he is. Since calling the cops is not an option, Elliot needs to find Tyrell to stop him from blowing up Evil Corp's Recovery facility, a.k.a. Stage 2. Wearing an embarrassing sweatshirt that Angela loans him (no offense, J-Grob), Elliot stumbles over to Confictura but the place has been wiped down and there's no sign of Tyrell or Mr. Robot.

Elliot heads for his apartment, where Darlene has been waiting for him. She's twitchier than usual -- she almost died right along with Cisco and the FBI took her in immediately following the shooting. She demands to know what Stage 2 is, because guess what, Elliot? She's heard of it. Elliot finally gives her the lowdown, but man, she's not happy that he's been planning this all along behind her back, no matter how adamant he is that it wasn't him. He realizes he can stop it by closing the backdoor (no, really) created by the femtocell she had Angela install. He just needs a working Internet connection...

Capturing the Flag and Shoulder Surfing

Back in his signature black hoodie, Elliot and Darlene head over to a raucous hacker space. To free up a computer, Elliot helps them win their round in an international "Capture the Flag" tournament, while Darlene nervously looks over her shoulder at two suspicious guys who are clocking their every move. She goes to her favorite place to have a freak out, the bathroom, and then calls someone (we don't know who) for help because the Dark Army is there -- with guns. When she returns to Elliot, the two guys approach them and march them outside, instructing them to walk down a separate alley...

Punch My Card

....where they are picked up by Irving, who's apparently a taxi driver, too! Not really, but he sure knows how to stop the FBI from tailing them while deftly handling New York traffic. Irving takes them to the newly opened Red Wheelbarrow BBQ, which makes Elliot think that Irving must be the guy who sent him the menu with the code. Once Irving hears what Elliot is up to, he says their "employer will be disappointed" but hey, if Elliot wants to kill Stage 2, consider it killed. Skeptical that it could be as simple as that, Elliot wants confirmation from "her" but Irving cautions him to quit while he's still ahead. Darlene, of course, doesn't buy that they would let this go so easily, even if Elliot closed their access.

Power Saver Mode

Realizing that Darlene is probably right not to trust them, Elliot returns to Angela's and asks her to get him a job at Evil Corp so he can figure out a way to fix all of this. His other request is that she lets Elliot know if he is ever "him" (meaning Mr. Robot) -- because she's the only one who can tell. He kisses her but she pulls away, reverting to what he calls her "Power Saver Mode" because she can't love those who love her, only those who don't. She then says that there's a way to make it like none of this ever happened, including what happened to their parents, not just Five/Nine, but she doesn't say how. Upon her request, he stays the night.

Back and Better Than Ever

Angela awakens to see Mr. Robot standing by the window and we learn that managing Elliot in order to coax back Mr. Robot was her plan -- and her assignment -- all along. Sure, they have to figure out how to get back onto the network and continue to redirect Elliot so he doesn't slow them down, but she's confident that she has it under control. And if that doesn't work, she tells Mr. Robot, the syringe she puts in her pocket "in case Elliot comes back" ought to do the trick.

Welcome to the New Confictura Industries HQ

Mr. Robot and Angela head out to meet Irving at the subterranean entrance to the new location of Confictura. Angela tries to reassure Irving that Elliot is safely gone but Irving thinks there's something fishy about all this. Once they get inside, a shaky Tyrell apologizes for shooting Elliot, even though he was doing what Mr. Robot instructed him to do. Then it's time for Mr. Robot to get back to work.

Whole New World Will Be Reborn

On the bus ride home, Mr. Robot presses Angela to find out what's in it for her because he doesn't really trust her. She wants the same thing as Mr. Robot, and whiterose helped her see that she had a way to bring about justice for her mother's death. Now that Angela has seen the light, the power starts to flicker back on all across the hobbled city.