Mr. Robot season 3: What’s Angela really after?

There are a lot of unknowns in Mr. Robot season 3. But one of the biggest has to be about what exactly is going on with Angela Moss.

Mr. Robot season 3 has a lot of unknowns at present. What is Mr. Robot’s ultimate end game? Why is Tyrell Wellick so obsessed with Elliot? How will Elliot react when he learns Darlene betrayed him? What do Whiterose and the Dark Army want, really? And is Donald Trump really Whiterose’s fault?

Despite all these questions, perhaps the biggest unknown this season is what, exactly, Angela thinks that Whiterose can do for her.

Angela Moss has come a long way since Mr. Robot started. From cubicle drone to citizen investigator, she’s been extremely focused on punishing E-Corp and all those connected to it for their roles in her mother’s death. Along the way we watched her morph into an ice-cold corporate maven, eager to use E-Corp’s resources against them, and finally become a devoted Dark Army follower. Now, Angela appears to be one of Whiterose’s most trusted lieutenants, responsible for both “managing” Elliot’s fractured personalities and putting together key pieces of their Stage 2 plans.

This sudden change of heart came after Angela met with Whiterose at the end of season 2, when the Dark Army leader appeared to promise her something that would help her get what she wanted. As viewers, we still don’t know the entirety of what happened during that meeting. But whatever it was, it was clearly major. Especially since after it occurred, Angela not only got right on board with the Dark Army’s plan, but embraced it so thoroughly that she started manipulating her best friend’s mental illness to help her get what she wants.

Angela, most likely, would insist that her behavior means to help Elliot. And it’s true — allowing Mr. Robot and Whiterose to finish their plans would probably help achieve Elliot’s original goal of destroying E-Corp. And isn’t that the whole reason he dreamed up fsociety and the 5/9 hack in the first place?

Angela, however, does seem to have ulterior motives. Obviously, she wants to punish the people responsible for her mother’s death. But it also seems clear that she has some other kind of goal in mind as well. That Whiterose is working toward something more than just destroying E-Corp’s hard data seems clear. And it seems equally clear that Angela not only knows what that plan is, but fully supports it.

So what does Angela want? What could possibly be worth betraying (and drugging and lying to) Elliot in this way?

Since the series’ most recent episode featured Darlene spying on Elliot as Mr. Robot and catching sight of a meeting between her brother and Angela, we may finally get some clarity on this issue.

However, maybe the answer’s been in front of us the whole time. The theory that Mr. Robot is about to reveal some kind of time travel or alternate reality-based twist isn’t new. But “eps3.3_metadata.par2” offered yet another indication that it could be accurate.

Angela’s conversation with Irving at Red Wheelbarrow BBQ not only underlines her belief in Whiterose’s plans, but indicates that she saw some sort of proof of some mysterious something herself. “I have to ask, did Whiterose ever show you? And you believe in it?” she asks. Irving’s response about the amazing abilities of technology doesn’t mean Angela will find herself riding in a TARDIS anytime soon. But it certainly indicates that something is afoot — whether that thing is ultimately time travel, or some method by which to interact with parallel or alternate universes.

Whatever this mysterious item or ability is, it’s enough to make Angela believe. Really believe, and for a woman who didn’t seem to have faith in much of anything when the show started, that’s a pretty big leap. Is whatever Whiterose is planning worth betraying Elliot and risking people’s lives over? We can’t possibly say, because as viewers we still don’t know what we’re watching, or what Angela has committed herself to. But Angela definitely believes it, whatever it is. And that may be the thing on which the rest of season 3 turns.

Next: Mr. Robot season 3, episode 4 review: eps3.3_metadata.par2

Mr. Robot continues Wednesday, Nov. 8 on USA Network.