S03.E01: eps3.0_power-saver-mode.h

[Hanahope]

Bobby Cannavale looks so different from the last couple times I've seen him.  I almost didn't recognize him.  I loved the arguing over the free milkshake and what "next visit" means.

I can't wait to find out if they are talking about a time machine or parallel universe and how it works out.  I love thinking about how there could be alternate versions of our current existence with changes.  cough.

I still think back to how Fsociety thought wiping out electronic data would help people.  Mortgages wouldn't go away, but all record of any payments on it would.  Mortgage records are recorded and copies kept by county governments, but only when they are paid off are those records superseded.  

Darlene has to be working for the FBI, or they wouldn't have let her go.  She has to have been told to try and get to Tyrell, or find out who's ultimately at the top.

[KaleyFirefly]

I'm so happy this show is back, but I may have to go back and re-watch the previous seasons, because I can't remember who knows what anymore.

$12.95 is pretty expensive for one milkshake, even in NYC. I guess it's showing how the economy is out of control? But what are people using for money? 

No way did the FBI just let Darlene go like that. They are tracking her, or they turned her.

So White Rose has either a time machine or a way to reach an alternate universe? But what did she say that totally convinced Angela of this? I can't even remember where Angela's loyalties lie anymore, or why she doesn't love Elliot. Her character confuses me. She's switched sides so many times now.

We didn't find out what happened to Trenton and Mobley!

I'm confused about Tyrell and his purpose in the whole scheme of things. He is working for White Rose? Why?

Not to be political but I did like Elliot's rant about our modern society.

I like how Mr. Robot is now a more separate character that can interact with the others more independently of Elliot (though of course that's not good for Elliot!) But he is so compelling when he is on the screen.

Angela knows about the Mr. Robot personality, but does Tyrell? Does Darlene?

[Luckylondon]

Ok, I have been thinking how to put this and hoping someone else would bring it up, but I haven't seen it in the threads yet, so I will try.

The opening sequence for this episode this season, when it says Mr. Robot in red type, is on-screen over video inside the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that is under the mountains in Switzerland and is called C.E.R.N.  The G20 countries contribute zillions of dollars to this project where they are attempting to "re-create the Big Bang" study dark matter or create black holes. It is all very strange and there is a statue of the Hindu Goddess of Destruction outside the above ground building. There are a lot of theories on what they say they are doing and what they really are attempting to do there. Stephen Hawking said it is very dangerous and can "destroy time." I don't even begin to know what that means but it sounds scary and it is even scarier because he then reversed his statement the next day and gave a very official PR type platitude statement about it which made me fear for his life and mine for even thinking about it. I'm joking. Kind of. They are said by some (I don't know who and what sources, there is tons of information on the internet and YouTube about it) to have accomplished time travel pretty easily; and this LHC, once used at full capacity, can create a hole in the space time continuum-- I don't know enough physics to understand it. I do know that they get it running to a certain percentage and then a magnet is not working and the schedule is delayed. There is some info from employees about having it scheduled to be at full power to work on certain dates that have power in mystical or occult practices and this is constantly alluded to with the show and the use of 5/9 (as an example), which, if you believe in theories about a Global Cabal making decisions and using puppets and manipulating geography, economic, social and political climate, then you can be interested in why some people say C.E.R.N. is being used to manipulate time for nefarious purposes. Or it could be used to punch a hole through our time dimension into another time dimension and have it serve as a portal or "stargate" to usher (human and other) beings between dimensions. None of this is new, this practice of attempting to accomplish this goes back to ancient civilizations including Mayans, Egyptians and others and is all based on advanced multi-dimensional math. I have NO IDEA how they could/would do it. Just wanted to tell you that the opening scene is definitely the LHC and they are talking about manipulating time. You can google CERN and Dance of Destruction and see some weird things. You don't have to believe it, you just have to know that is the LHC and what the show is likely getting at with the time travel stuff and why different people (governments, global economic conglomerates like E-corp, or White Rose and The Dark Army) want this power to potentially manipulate time. They know it exists but not how to control it... yet... or they do know how to control it and this show is all an allegory with tons of foreshadowing.

Edited November 3, 2017 by Luckylondon

[truthaboutluv]

On 10/15/2017 at 0:54 AM, DrSpaceman73 said:

I don't know, ever since the end of season one I just find this whole story more and more convoluted and hard to follow.  ANd I didn't find this new season changing that in any way. 

Its starting to turn me off like Lost did.  I know many people loved that show, but the longer it went on the more I found it to be a confusing hodgepodge of whatever the writers felt would be cool or confusing. 

I don't mind a mystery or some intrigue.  But it still seems to me to lack coherency. 

I will keep watching, but its slowly been losing me since the end of season one. 

I can understand that sentiment but I think the reason I haven't gotten there is because I don't try to overthink the show. Maybe I am being too simplistic and Esmail really is trying to go as crazy over the top as possible as to include time machines and parallel universes, etc. However, when I watched the episode (I just did because I think this show is best viewed by binge watching so I purposely waited for a few episodes to air), I simply came away thinking that Darlene is likely working for the FBI as others noted because no way they would just let her walk with all the evidence we saw they had on that wall. And she's torn about it and all her feelings and emotions we saw was tied to that. She is truly scared and panicked because she now has to worry about the FBI and Elliot figuring out what she's doing and of course the Dark Army knowing she's essentially a spy for the FBI. 

Meanwhile, I just think the Dark Army and White Rose is doing this for her own personal means and Elliot is merely an ends to a means to them. A damaged and troubled ends to a means, as evidenced by B.D. Wong's comment to the other guy about Elliot's father which essentially told me that once they've gotten what they need out of Elliot, he'll be as disposable as his father was. Angela is simply off the edge and frankly, in my opinion, I felt that she'd been near the edge since Season 1. And a character like B.D. Wong's who I imagine is smart enough to know what buttons to push and what emotions to play on, simply expertly manipulated her into believing that what they and F-Society is doing is for the greater good. 

She's simply become completely snowed and drank the kool-aid as they say. And then there is Elliot. A damaged, mentally ill genius who is being manipulated by many because his tenuous hold on reality is slowly disappearing. Darlene should never have gone along with Elliot's plan back in the first season, knowing how sick he was, both with his mental illness and his drug habit. And we know they were well aware of his mental issues, evidenced by her telling him he forgot who she was again when there was that disturbing scene of him trying to kiss her. That path was already a mistake and now Angela who like I said, I feel like she's barely holding onto sanity herself is also manipulating Elliot's very real illness for her own means. That's all I've gotten out of the show. 

I do agree with a comment above about other people with dual personalities, not just Elliot and I think we've already seen that with B.D. Wong's character. He's clearly not suffering from schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder like Elliot (at least I haven't gotten that indication) but there is clearly him the business man and Whiterose, his female/leader of the Dark Army counter part. I can believe that Angela may have possibly slipped from some bit of reality but not sure there's a full duality going on. And I will agree that the one character I'm still not fully certain of is Tyrell. 

I still don't really buy that he's simply another alter of Elliot's, though I can see the thinking behind that theory. But he is a character that I'm still not sure what his motivation, story, etc. is. I mean this is a man who just seemingly abandoned his wife and child to blindly and loyally follow Elliot's plan to take down E-Corp (admittedly the FEDS are also looking for him, so his hiding out is also out self-preservation). So yeah, that's the one part of the show that I'm truly confused about in terms of where they're going with it and what's really going on with the character and the relationship with Elliot, etc.  But other than that, I still don't find the show that confusing.

Edited November 7, 2017 by truthaboutluv

[Luckylondon]

On 10/12/2017 at 8:17 AM, Avaleigh said:

I think it's possible. My only question is, if Whiterose has built some sort of time machine then why does he behave as though he doesn't have a minute to spare when on some level he would have more time than most people? Maybe he's tapped into something but doesn't have full control over it? 

The part in the episode that really made me curious was the speech from the executive at the power plant.

"I love a great mystery. And I'm fascinated by the greatest unsolved mystery. Do we see reality as it is? If I close my eyes and imagine...if I close my eyes I can imagine that everything we experience, everything we see, think and do is unfolding simultaneously in a parallel universe. So, how many copies of ourselves exist? And might our mental states be conjoined for better or worse?"

This seems like an important quote and more and more I'm getting the impression that Elliot isn't the only character with an alter ego. 

Yes! When we see the engineers on this tour in the hallway and the leader makes this statement, White Rose and the other man walk past and in to a room. The plaque in the hall says ECorp Power Plant. The two men have a discussion in the room about why White Rose INSISTS that Elliot is a key piece to Stage 2 due to work tied to something his father started. Then as the shot opens, we see they are viewing the inside of the Large Hadron Collider which smashes subatomic particles and is underground in Switzerland run by C.E.R.N. It is said that scientists and engineers there are doing many things with dark matter and trying to create black holes, recreate the Big Bang, open portals to other space time dimensions, and, yes, time travel. This is more than a conspiracy theory. The LHC exists, you can google all about C.E.R.N. and the LHC and watch YouTube videos about it. This is not a subtle hint at all that time travel is possible. The show is showing WR at the facility (pretending it is run by ECorp), and it is what is the imposing image when MR. ROBOT episode title appears on screen. They are hinting they have time travel using this machine (see post above for more about the LHC). That is tremendous power to move through space and time and CAN affect EVERYTHING. Which is why Elliot is key over WR's assistant, as he may need to go back to interact with someone who knows him, like his father. I have no idea what WR wants to do with it specifically, that is only a guess relating to Elliot. However, it is obvious why ECorp would want this. Everyone would want this "God-like" power to move through time. 

This is what they are officially doing. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider

There is a lot of information available about what else they could do with this creating dark holes for time travel and has been discussed in books and movies.

Edited November 7, 2017 by Luckylondon
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[green]

On 11/6/2017 at 5:46 PM, truthaboutluv said:

...

I do agree with a comment above about other people with dual personalities, not just Elliot and I think we've already seen that with B.D. Wong's character. He's clearly not suffering from schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder like Elliot (at least I haven't gotten that indication) but there is clearly him the business man and Whiterose, his female/leader of the Dark Army counter part. I can believe that Angela may have possibly slipped from some bit of reality but not sure there's a full duality going on. And I will agree that the one character I'm still not fully certain of is Tyrell. 

I still don't really buy that he's simply another alter of Elliot's, though I can see the thinking behind that theory. But he is a character that I'm still not sure what his motivation, story, etc. is. I mean this is a man who just seemingly abandoned his wife and child to blindly and loyally follow Elliot's plan to take down E-Corp (admittedly the FEDS are also looking for him, so his hiding out is also out self-preservation). So yeah, that's the one part of the show that I'm truly confused about in terms of where they're going with it and what's really going on with the character and the relationship with Elliot, etc.  But other than that, I still don't find the show that confusing.

 

Actually it has been made clear that Wong's character is transgender and confirmed by Wong himself in interviews.  The character was born male but identifies as female so White Rose is really her real identity I guess you can say.  The old him identity isn't a businessman.  "He" is a high Chinese government official.  Minister of Security or something like that.  I'm sure someone on here knows the real title.   I assume the government doesn't know he is transgender nor that "she" heads the Dark Army and it fits White Rose's plans to keep her old "him" persona up with all the power that brings her as well.  It is how she deals with E-Corp as well in the form of the Minister.

Tyrell, to me, wants to be someone special.  He too is brilliant and wants to find someone smarter than him to look up to or at least his equal.  He is looking for God in all the wrong places and thought he found him in Elliot and they could go off and become gods together.  Masters of the universe.  It was a shattering experience for him to find out that Elliot is a flawed person with mental issues this episode.

Edited November 8, 2017 by green

[truthaboutluv]

Just now, green said:

Actually it has been made clear that Wong's character is transgender and confirmed by Wong himself in interviews.  The character was born male but identifies as female so White Rose is really her real identity I guess you can say.  The old him identity isn't a businessman.  "He" is a high Chinese government official.  Minister of Security or something like that.  I'm sure someone on here knows the real title.   I assume the government doesn't know he is transgender nor that "she" heads the Dark Army and it fits White Rose's plans to keep her old "him" persona up with all the power that brings her as well.  It is how she deals with E-Corp as well in the form of the Minister.

I admittedly do not read media interviews about the show. I prefer to just form opinions from watching the show, so I was unaware that B.D. Wong confirmed that the character is transgender. My mistake. And I do know that the character works with the Chinese government, as I recall the entire plot with the FBI agent last season. I also think it was made clear that the government doesn't know she is WhiteRose since a key element of the subplot with the FBI agent was that the character was essentially a double agent. That as someone with an in to what was happening in the government in terms of cyber security, White Rose was able to alert the Dark Army and set up the attack on the FBI agents that left most of them dead. 

Edited November 8, 2017 by truthaboutluv

[green]

14 minutes ago, truthaboutluv said:

I admittedly do not read media interviews about the show. I prefer to just form opinions from watching the show, so I was unaware that B.D. Wong confirmed that the character is transgender. My mistake. And I do know that the character works with the Chinese government, as I recall the entire plot with the FBI agent last season. I also think it was made clear that the government doesn't know she is WhiteRose since a key element of the subplot with the FBI agent was that the character was essentially a double agent. That as someone with an in to what was happening in the government in terms of cyber security, White Rose was able to alert the Dark Army and set up the attack on the FBI agents that left most of them dead. 

Oh I don't usually read interviews either. Just cited that because people here posted about the interviews when it was first being discussed about White Rose being transgender on these boards. 

I also understand from these boards that Wong won best supporting actor for White Rose at the Emmys was it this year.  I never watch them either and only learned of Romi Malleck (sp??? I never pay attention to spelling either obviously haha) winning best actor the year before from this forum, heh.

Edited November 8, 2017 by green

[AudienceofOne]

Too. Much.

Brain. Imploding. 

I had saved this up to do a bingewatch but now I think I may need to space episodes out a little to let it all sink.

Time travel is not theoretically possible. But if you could travel between parallel universes, then it is possible that one will exist where certain things didn't happen so it will be the same as time travel. Even universes where time travels at a different rate and so it's e.g. 20 years ago there just because time is different.