I really wanted to put this final episode off as long as possible, or at least until the air date for Season 4 is announced, but yesterday the conditions suited getting hyped up, without distractions, to finish the season. I first have to commend Sam Esmail for the quality of the show as a whole and specifically the consistency of it. There isn't one 'bad' episode that comes to mind and from the beginning of Season 2 they have been pushing a perfect 10/10 rating at several points. Season 3 has certainly kept up its game, with stand-out episodes like the 'one-shot' one and the one with Elliot and the young boy. The story has been progressing in a way that feels natural while simultaneously upping the stakes slowly to build to a climax. This season, this climax involves Elliot and Darlene trying to undo the original hack, against Whiterose and the Dark Army's mission to eliminate their enemies and move their projects to the Congo. To add to that there's the unresolved subplots of Angela's time-distorted sanity, Philip Price and E Corp's fallout with Whiterose, Dom's investigation versus her boss' manipulations, and the outcome of the fighting between Elliot and Mr. Robot. All in all, sounds like the makings for an incredible season finale, right? And they provided one... for the most part.
I'm not saying I disliked this episode - far from it. So I can talk about everything I loved, I'll get through my slight problems first to get it out of my mind. The way I see it, they shot themselves in the foot a bit, building everything up to such a huge extent that it literally turned into guns to peoples heads, screaming, crazy monologues, you name it. As such, the writers have forced us to actually fear for the lives of the main characters, especially since each of them end up in some state of capture in this episode. All that build-up, seemingly no way out, the chance for them to prove just how high the stakes actually were... and then they cop out with reasons that don't particularly make much sense. Dom is all but dead, yet Irving kills Santiago instead. Fine, but I don't believe Irving would hesitate for a second after Dom says she wouldn't work for him - you can even see that he's surprised that he even has to remind her that they could kill her entire family, I don't see why Irving wouldn't question her loyalty still, especially compared to Santiago's loyalty. Sure, they'd already made plans to bring her in by finding out about her family, but how did they know that Santiago would end up bringing her? I have more issue with Leon killing the other Dark Army agents and Grant killing himself instead of Darlene dying, however. In order for that to happen, it would have all had to be arranged beforehand by Whiterose, even though its pretty ridiculous at this point that she would trust Elliot - who clearly has nothing and was just trying to save the life of his sister - and yet not trust Grant enough, despite their being lovers, to fill him in on her intentions? Why has Leon been informed, but not the other Dark Army men there? She just lost about four good men when they wouldn't have needed to die after one word of clarification from Whiterose. Her being elusive and unpredictable in this episode literally only damages herself and loses her loyal men, just so the audience can think for a second that Darlene might actually die. I was also not a fan of the cheesy ending, complete with stereotypical pop song.
HOWEVER, with all that said, it doesn't detract from the undeniable quality of the episode on the technical side, nor how entertaining it is. There are plenty more great character moments and captivating pieces of dialogue than plot-holes. The performances are all great, especially from Bobby Cannavale as Irving, who has been one of the best aspects of this season, and Grace Gummer's Dom. I've been really blown away by the development of Angela in this season, her mental spiral has been perfectly paced and I love the concept of her becoming increasingly deluded that time is non-linear. I think that as an idea is something that is incredibly interesting, and quite unique given that media messes up normal, 'simple' time travel concepts. It completely makes sense, too, given, Angela's opinion of Whiterose, and the latter's clear opinion of time. Though we don't see any action or catalyst to leave some room for interpretation in this manner, and are instead given a vindication of Angela and Philip's relationship (I thought they wouldn't do it, but he literally says 'I am your father'), I can't help but see a missed opportunity. It's a little strange that Angela would instantly turn on Whiterose to help Philip, also.
In the grand scheme of things, I can't complain about this episode really, and certainly not the whole season. I have faith that Esmail knows what he is doing and has great things planned for Season 4, which I eagerly await the announcement of.
I'm not saying I disliked this episode - far from it. So I can talk about everything I loved, I'll get through my slight problems first to get it out of my mind. The way I see it, they shot themselves in the foot a bit, building everything up to such a huge extent that it literally turned into guns to peoples heads, screaming, crazy monologues, you name it. As such, the writers have forced us to actually fear for the lives of the main characters, especially since each of them end up in some state of capture in this episode. All that build-up, seemingly no way out, the chance for them to prove just how high the stakes actually were... and then they cop out with reasons that don't particularly make much sense. Dom is all but dead, yet Irving kills Santiago instead. Fine, but I don't believe Irving would hesitate for a second after Dom says she wouldn't work for him - you can even see that he's surprised that he even has to remind her that they could kill her entire family, I don't see why Irving wouldn't question her loyalty still, especially compared to Santiago's loyalty. Sure, they'd already made plans to bring her in by finding out about her family, but how did they know that Santiago would end up bringing her? I have more issue with Leon killing the other Dark Army agents and Grant killing himself instead of Darlene dying, however. In order for that to happen, it would have all had to be arranged beforehand by Whiterose, even though its pretty ridiculous at this point that she would trust Elliot - who clearly has nothing and was just trying to save the life of his sister - and yet not trust Grant enough, despite their being lovers, to fill him in on her intentions? Why has Leon been informed, but not the other Dark Army men there? She just lost about four good men when they wouldn't have needed to die after one word of clarification from Whiterose. Her being elusive and unpredictable in this episode literally only damages herself and loses her loyal men, just so the audience can think for a second that Darlene might actually die. I was also not a fan of the cheesy ending, complete with stereotypical pop song.
HOWEVER, with all that said, it doesn't detract from the undeniable quality of the episode on the technical side, nor how entertaining it is. There are plenty more great character moments and captivating pieces of dialogue than plot-holes. The performances are all great, especially from Bobby Cannavale as Irving, who has been one of the best aspects of this season, and Grace Gummer's Dom. I've been really blown away by the development of Angela in this season, her mental spiral has been perfectly paced and I love the concept of her becoming increasingly deluded that time is non-linear. I think that as an idea is something that is incredibly interesting, and quite unique given that media messes up normal, 'simple' time travel concepts. It completely makes sense, too, given, Angela's opinion of Whiterose, and the latter's clear opinion of time. Though we don't see any action or catalyst to leave some room for interpretation in this manner, and are instead given a vindication of Angela and Philip's relationship (I thought they wouldn't do it, but he literally says 'I am your father'), I can't help but see a missed opportunity. It's a little strange that Angela would instantly turn on Whiterose to help Philip, also.
In the grand scheme of things, I can't complain about this episode really, and certainly not the whole season. I have faith that Esmail knows what he is doing and has great things planned for Season 4, which I eagerly await the announcement of.