Mr. Robot: Eps3.0power-saver-mode.h

October 12, 2017 7:57 AM - Season 3, Episode 1

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

Den of Geek: Mr. Robot starts its third season off on the right foot with an uncharacteristically clear yet still paranoid episode

Entertainment Weekly: As Elliot tries to stop Phase 2 from happening, nobody’s motives or perception can be trusted (B+)

A.V. Club: Mr. Robot returns, but is charging its batteries instead of changing the world (B-)

Tunefind: music from this episode

posted by filthy light thief (8 comments total)

Bonus link with clips embedded, from Complex Mr. Robot Season 3 preview, which notes that this show is taking place in an alternate reality of 2015, but as seen in this episode and a self-leaked (can we just say "prematurely shared"?) episode script, real-world President Trump is a target of the show.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:02 AM on October 12, 2017

More links:

Mr. Robot’s new season has more of the same—epic hacks, creativity amid chaos (Ars Technica)

Mr. Robot Disassembled: eps3.0_power-saver-mode.h (Medium)

Hello friend. I’m Ryan Kazanciyan, Technical Consultant for Mr. Robot and Chief Security Architect for Tanium. I’ve been working with Kor Adana — Writer, Producer, and mastermind behind the ARG — and the rest of the Mr. Robot team since the second half of Season 2. Throughout Season 3, I’ll be writing about the hacks depicted in the show, how they came together, and their basis in reality.

Spoiler Alert! This post discusses events from the first episode of Season 3.

In short: the hacking is still very much rooted in reality (and the [recent] history of hacking).
posted by filthy light thief at 12:12 PM on October 12, 2017

My theory is that Whiterose has some kind of parallel dimension time travel thing going on at that nuclear power plant. That’s why Whiterose was able to turn Angela in 20 minutes. She offered her the one thing Angela really wants: her living mom. I know it sounds dumb but think about it. Whiterose is obsessed with time. She has a project going on at the plant. We saw a shot of someone giving a tour at the plant while talking about parallel dimensions. The shots of the plant look like the Hadron Collider. And Angela thinks they are going to undo all the damage Evil Corp has done. Not bring justice. Not rectify. Undo.
posted by hungrytiger at 11:39 PM on October 12, 2017 [5 favorites]

I'm not so sure I'm on board with this show any more. Watching this last night I kept comparing it to Legion, another genre show with an unreliable narrator. But Legion is fun and zany and Mr. Robot keeps getting bleaker and duller. This entire episode was delivered with flat emotional affect, slow and grey. At some point I just got bored.

I guess we're going with Angela's story this season? Or at least, this first episode. I'm gonna be mad if it's a timey-wimey plot. I speculated last season about dual realities, and it sure seems like we're still on that same track. So maybe two realities with limited communication between them.

Tyrell is back and his story makes no more sense to me than before. But what about Joanna and that whole irrelevant B-plot with Scott and Derek. Presumably Dom will be back too. There's a lot of plates spinning.

hashtag crankyfan
posted by Nelson at 5:45 AM on October 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

Yeah, this made me cranky, too. It didn't help that I didn't remember much of what happened last season (I had even forgotten that Tyrell had shot Elliot, so my rentention of major plot points was pretty much nil), but I was both bored and confused.

We haven't seen Bobby Cannavale's character before, have we? (If not, how does someone like him come from nowhere?)

Are we talking about the next-episode preview, or is that spoiler territory?
posted by minsies at 7:05 AM on October 13, 2017

Cannavale’s fixer Irving is new (and pretty great, so far).

I’m into its solidifying the double-lead situation, with Angela in control of both, but if this starts to fool with time - the importance of which to Whiterose has now been amply underlined - beyond switching between Elliot’s parallel instances and occasional dilations, I’m at risk of jumping ship, too.
posted by progosk at 3:39 PM on October 17, 2017

After Twin Peaks ended, I'm thrilled this is back. This has been one of my favorite new series in ages. The creator says it has a 5 season arc, so I hope it keeps going because it feels like a well told story. I love the unreliable narrator, I love the arc so far, and it's difficult but worthwhile. Like Twin Peaks.
posted by hippybear at 9:16 PM on October 18, 2017 [2 favorites]

A Roundtable of Hackers Dissects the Season 3 Premiere of 'Mr. Robot' -- Technologists, hackers, and journalists recap episode 1: "Power Saver Mode" (Motherboard.vice)
posted by filthy light thief at 8:22 AM on October 19, 2017 [1 favorite]