But thats not entirely true either.
What paranoid thrillers achieve in their deployment of that jot down of atmosphere is a sense of instability.
As the characters work to piece together a puzzle, they find the ground shifting underneath them.
Credit: Michael Parmelee/USA Network
The evil we dont see is more terrifying than the evil we do see.
Robot, and especially Eps3.6_fredrick&tanya.chk, is playing on that terrifying shift in perspective.
While most of the episode deals with the shifting perspectives of Elliot, Angela, Dom, and Mr. Leon sits in between Trenton and Mobley on a bed in their apartment.
Their roommate lies dead on the floor, his throat slashed.
Leon has a knife in his hand.
Trenton and Mobley are shaken and scared.
Rather, we dont see whos pulling the strings, other than Whiterose of course.
Robot is outraged by the attack that demolished 71 E Corp buildings and killed upwards of 4,000 people.
Its shocking to see Mr.
Robot not only lay out that he planned and executed 5/9 and Stage 2, but also admit defeat.
Robot has been struggling to control Elliot, he lost sight of the Dark Armys hold on him.
Again, his perspective has shifted.
Hes starting to see the bigger picture.
Later on in Eps3.6_fredrick&tanya.chk, Irving takes Mr.
Robot on a trip with him.
They thrive on the chaos.
Its the chaos, after all, that keeps those people in power.
Whiterose says as much to Phillip Price.
Its common rhetoric used by the elites to bolster their calls for a more widespread surveillance state.
That security is a mirage though.
A quiet storm is brewing.
Leon muses on how funny they are, in a George and Elaine kind of way.
Leon sees everything through the lens of pop culture; perhaps thats why hes so cold and unemotional.
Cold and unemotional is what these Dark Army people have to be.
In Eps3.6_fredrick&tanya.chk, everything is falling into place as the storm continues to build.
More and more connections become clear.
Remember, Santiago isnt saying all of this because hes excited the FBI got their guy.
HeknowsWellick isnt the mastermind because hes working for the Dark Army.
In fact, hes integral to their plan.
So, Wellick plays his role.
Its all bogus, of course, but us knowing that is exactly the point.
It contributes to the atmosphere I mentioned above.
Robotisnt interested in such a rosy outcome.
They will bleed you dry and exploit your labor to line their own pockets.
Theres no avoiding this.
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I can make you dance.
I can make you sing.
Those are the words Robert Plant croons over and over again as Irving draws Mr.
Robot into his trap for reveal to him that he is, in fact, trapped.
Plants words have context though: If you want me to.
Irving, on the other hand, isnt looking for consent.
Robot know that he has no control over his future or the outcome of his revolution.
In fact, it was never his revolution.
Anti-authority and anti-capitalist sentiments have been co-opted by the authoritarians and the capitalists.
More than 4,000 dead, thanks in large part to Angela.
Shes retreating into herself, wanting to believe that everything will work out okay because Whiterose said it would.
Theres seemingly no stopping whats coming.
In a brutal, nerve-racking final sequence, that mantra is underlined.
Trenton and Mobley are back at their house.
Trenton and Mobley are forced to sit at two computers.
Mobley posits that the Dark Army wants them to crash planes in another attack.
This is all a scene, a fabricated set piece for the FBI.
They want Trenton and Mobley dead by suicide.
Its all part of controlling the narrative, pulling those strings.
Dom watches as the FBI breaks into the garage, seemingly hours later.
Trenton and Mobley are dead on the ground.
Santiago reassures Dom that this is a win, because of course he would.
He knew exactly what they would find there.
Angela can only deploy a coping mechanism to deal with her anguish.
Robot can only watch as Irving tells him theres nothing he can do.
Then theres Dom, the supposed figure of law and order.
