The Dark Army strikes back on an upsetting, excellent Mr. Robotreview contains spoilers

Mr.

The Dark Army is going to get away with it.

Whiterose has gotten her precious annexation of the Congo.

71 E Corp buildings have been destroyed, along with at least 4,000 people dead.

Trenton and Mobely are dead, framed for the E Corp building attacks.

Angela is a time-traveling vegetable.

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You had to destroy so much.

he demands to know of Whiterose as they sip cocktails in Mar-a-Lagos tacky ballroom.

I had to ask you twice, she says.

The three episodes represent the bleakest hours ofMr.

Theyre also the shows single best sustained run since it began.

Runtime Error through Frederick & Tanya is basicallyMr.

RobotsThe Empire Strikes Back.

Historically, the appeal of so much ofMr.

Robothas been that we have no idea what the fuck is going on.

Frederick & Tanya in its quest for clarity opts to remove Elliot entirely.

Beyond that, there is no almost no Elliot whose perspective weve grown to mistrust.

After he rushes to Kristas office, Mr.

Robot takes over the narrative.

That means that everything we see after is 100% conclusively real.

Our eyes into these events are the rock-solid Mr.

Robot, Dom, and Darlene.

One would think that some clarity would take away from the enjoyment ofMr.

Weve grown so accustomed to playing EsmailsFight Clubgames.

There really isnt any hope for actual time travel.

That was just a lie sold to a brainwashed Angela.

And there isnt even really an fsociety anymore if there ever even was.

The peoples technocratic revolution had long ago been co-opted by more powerful forces and for what?

This is the clarity weve been asking for.

Well now its here, and its about as ugly as we could have expected.

Clarity shouldnt work this well onMr.

The audience has been conditioned to be fucked with.

How could this possibly work?

Im still not sure whyMr.

It helps of course, that asMr.

Robotsets up its presumable Everyone v. the Dark Army end game, it remains as devastatingly stylish as usual.

If there is an archetype that this show has absolutely nailed, its the charismatic fixer.

The best moments in Frederick & Tanya are the ones we share with Leon and Irving.

He remains as charming and weird as ever.

Its an experience that looks like a shocking amount of fun!

Leon has moved on fromSeinfeldand is now more interested inFrasierandKnight Rider.

Thankfully, hisKnight Riderexperience runs into the opening credits so we get to hear those iconic bars.

When Leon passes Trenton and Mobely onto the Dark Army, its equal parts disturbing and sad.

Lets hope he eventually makes it to theParks and Recreation era of NBC comedy programming.

Robot takes over Elliots body, he guides us to another worthwhile interaction with our other favorite fixer.

Bobby Cannavale Irving remains an absolute revelation this season.

Each of the three most recentMr.

Santiagos influence at the FBI has assisted in establishing Tyrell Wellick, Trenton, and Mobely as believable patsies.

All the extraneous pieces are gone.

fsociety has collapsed, Elliots revolution has failed, and Evil Corp and Angela have been all but neutralized.

What were left with is Elliot, Darlene, Mr. Robothas the opportunity to tackle them in as clear or ambiguous a way as it wants to.

Whichever route it chooses, it will likely continue to succeed.

Rating:

4.5 out of 5