Mr Robot season 3: Where do we go from here?

Now that Elliot’s learned both Angela and Darlene’s big secrets, where does Mr. Robot season 3 go from here?

Mr. Robot’s most recent episode wasn’t just a visual tour de force. Yes, “eps3.4_runtime-error.r00” unfolded in something close to real time, following Elliot and then Angela on two separate missions within E-Corp. Edited to look like as though its events happen in a single take, the episode ups the tension and anxiety to almost unbearable levels. (And if you watch Mr. Robot at all, you know that’s saying something.)

However, the most shocking revelations had little to do with “eps3.4_runtime-error.r00”’s format. In a twist that many series would have saved for their season finales, Elliot’s sister Darlene confessed her involvement with the FBI. But that’s not all. Darlene also told Elliot that his best friend Angela was actively working with his alter ego Mr. Robot to complete their Stage 2 plans.

It’s hard to tell which of these two betrayals resonates most strongly with Elliot. We see his immediate reaction to Darlene’s confession, which obviously reads like a gut punch and lands so strongly it cuts the sound out from the riot around them. Even the camera work underlines this, cutting the scene so that Elliot is framed, alone against the sky.

On the plus side, Darlene at least tells her brother the truth herself. She gets the chance to apologize and try to explain what she did. At the moment, of course, that may not mean much. But as the season progresses, that could change. After all, Darlene did demonstrate that, despite everything she did, her true loyalty was to Elliot in the end. And she’s risking her freedom and safety (in the form of her immunity deal) to do so.

Given season 3’s focus on Elliot and Darlene’s relationship, it seems likely that her stint as an FBI informant is just one more thing the sibling duo will have to work through. (Together, hopefully.) After all, Darlene’s intentions, despite everything, are good ones. She’s trying to offer up Tyrell Wellick to keep both Aldersons out of prison, after all. Given all of that, although it seems likely Elliot will be furious with her for a while, it probably won’t be forever.

(Or maybe it’s just that the Alderson sibling relationship is one of my favorite parts of Mr. Robot and I want to see these two work it out. My fingers are crossed.)

The more interesting question is what will happen between Elliot and Angela. “eps3.4_runtime-error.r00” ended before we could see the conversation between the two friends. But it’s easy to see that the atmosphere between them is tense for a variety of reasons — Elliot now knows that Angela’s been lying to him, and Angela’s in the middle of what appears to be a mild breakdown following her completion of the Dark Army’s Stage 2 plan.

This is maybe the worst possible point that for these two to have this conversation.

So what will happen? Angela, obviously, is guilty as can be. She’s been actively working with Mr. Robot, she’s lied to Elliot for weeks, and she’s the one who’s responsible for his weekend of “lost time”. (Or at least, we have to assume she is. She did drug Elliot so that Mr. Robot could take over.) And on top of all this, Angela knows Elliot. She knows the depth of his struggle with multiple personalities, and how hard he’s been fighting to resist Mr. Robot’s presence in his life. How can Elliot possibly forgive her for any of this, but especially for embracing and encouraging his darkest self?

Angela would probably argue that she’s not doing anything Elliot didn’t do first. After all the 5/9 hack was his idea. He built fsociety specifically to take down E-Corp. Sure, a lot of that was Mr. Robot. But somewhere down deep — Mr. Robot is Elliot. At least he is in some capacity. Mr. Robot doesn’t exist in a vacuum. And we know this because it’s the reason Elliot can’t bring himself to just rat out Wellick and the Dark Army and be done with it. On some level, some part of him still wants all this. Angela understands this, possibly better than anyone else, because she does too.

Of course, none of that is likely to sound great to Elliot, who will doubtless interpret her actions as the bone-deep betrayal they are. Can he ever forgive Angela for them? It seems unlikely, but on this show I guess anything is possible. Besides, there’s another unknown factor in this relationship now: Mr. Robot. Even if Elliot decided to cut all ties to Angela, how can he control what his alter ego does? Especially when he can’t even remember most of it? Perhaps Angela will lose Elliot — but will she lose Mr. Robot too?

Next: Mr. Robot season 3 review: eps3.4_runtime-error.r00

Mr. Robot continues Wednesday, Nov. 15 on USA Network.