There were a lot of great things about the premiere, but it also kind of felt like an episode of a totally different show; it had little of the intriguing visual style or beguiling mystery of the first two seasons. I was worried that either I or the show had changed. Then this episode came along, and completely blew me out of the water. If the first episode was toned down from the previous seasons, this one was amp-ed up. In 45 minutes, Sam Esmail managed to double down on the violence, the comedy, the tension, and the drama. It's almost too much to process.
From the moment the opening montage kicked off, this episode was playing on a completely different field from the premiere. It's hilarious, it's satisfying, and it hearkens back to the pilot in a number of subtle ways, tying in to the episode's overall theme of trying to hit "undo" on past mistakes. One of these callbacks was the return of Elliot's intense attacks of loneliness (which he hasn't had since the pilot). This leads us into his sessions with Krista, who not only makes her season 3 debut in this episode, but plays a larger role than she has in a long time, maybe ever. She convinces Elliot to show her Mr. Robot, and her conversation with him is absolutely engrossing.
While Krista gets to play a larger role in the episode and hopefully the season, some other major characters got massively blindsided in shocking ways. Aside from the violent, sickening, and unexpected scene that came in the middle of the episode and permanently derailed some major characters (which I'm sure will be the main talking point of the episode), Phillip also got hit with a good one-two punch. I expected him to clash with Minister Zhang (Whiterose) this season, but I didn't expect it to come so soon and be so extreme. Their scene in this episode is an exhilarating showdown between two masterclass actors delivering incredible dialogue. In short, it's the Littlefinger-Varys reunion we never got.
The fact that the return of my favourite character (DiPierro) and the fantastic development of the relationship between Elliot and Darlene don't even warrant more than a mention in comparison to the rest of the episode is a testament to just how great it is. It had me gripped from start to finish, and delivered several twists I never would have seen coming despite my intense analysis of this show. In short, "Undo" is definitely among the series' best.
From the moment the opening montage kicked off, this episode was playing on a completely different field from the premiere. It's hilarious, it's satisfying, and it hearkens back to the pilot in a number of subtle ways, tying in to the episode's overall theme of trying to hit "undo" on past mistakes. One of these callbacks was the return of Elliot's intense attacks of loneliness (which he hasn't had since the pilot). This leads us into his sessions with Krista, who not only makes her season 3 debut in this episode, but plays a larger role than she has in a long time, maybe ever. She convinces Elliot to show her Mr. Robot, and her conversation with him is absolutely engrossing.
While Krista gets to play a larger role in the episode and hopefully the season, some other major characters got massively blindsided in shocking ways. Aside from the violent, sickening, and unexpected scene that came in the middle of the episode and permanently derailed some major characters (which I'm sure will be the main talking point of the episode), Phillip also got hit with a good one-two punch. I expected him to clash with Minister Zhang (Whiterose) this season, but I didn't expect it to come so soon and be so extreme. Their scene in this episode is an exhilarating showdown between two masterclass actors delivering incredible dialogue. In short, it's the Littlefinger-Varys reunion we never got.
The fact that the return of my favourite character (DiPierro) and the fantastic development of the relationship between Elliot and Darlene don't even warrant more than a mention in comparison to the rest of the episode is a testament to just how great it is. It had me gripped from start to finish, and delivered several twists I never would have seen coming despite my intense analysis of this show. In short, "Undo" is definitely among the series' best.