In a flashback, Elliot and Edward go to see a movie. Edward asks his son for forgiveness after pushing him out of the window, but Elliot refuses. Heartbroken, Edward begins to cough and wheeze before falling to the floor, dead. Elliot takes his Mr. Robot jacket, leaving Edward behind to go into a theater. As the movie begins, Elliot shushes someone imaginary in the seat next to him.
Return to the present. Elliot encrypts two discs with Trenton and Mobley's data before deleting them and wiping them down. Darlene shows up, asking for Elliot to see Angela as she is having a mental breakdown. Elliot declines, saying that Angela should be breaking down. Darlene insists that Elliot is not to blame for the cyber-bombings, but he laments that even so, Mr. Robot got what he wanted in the end. Darlene suggests that he try to get rid of Mr. Robot for good, but Elliot explains that every possible option has been considered but to no avail. Elliot concludes that Mr. Robot will not leave because he wanted this to begin with and that he liked it. Darlene, reasonably freaked out, attempts to stay with Elliot out of concern for his well-being. Elliot ensures Darlene that he will be fine, and says that he wants to be alone for the time being.
Later, Elliot gives Flipper to Bo the landlord, disposes of the Mr. Robot jacket, and buys a bag of morphine from a drug dealer named Hard Andy. Elliot visits Mobley's brother, who considers Mobley to be worthless and not deserving of any respect. At Trenton's house, Elliot talks with her father, saying that Trenton was a good person and that she was not capable of harming innocents. Elliot glances at Trenton's brother Mohammed before departing. As he does, Trenton's father thanks him for the kind words he said about her. Taking a train to Coney Island, Elliot sits on the beach in silence. He pulls out the bag of morphine, intent on overdosing. Mohammed then shows up, saying that he followed Elliot from the house. Even though Elliot tries to send the boy on his way, Mohammed stays to admire the view. Elliot says that he cannot just stay there, and returns Mohammed home.
When they get there, the door is locked, and Mohammed states it could be a few hours before his parents return. Elliot, annoyed, asserts that he has more important matters to deal with than watching Mohammed, but the boy suggests that they see a movie. Elliot agrees, but only if there is something good playing. At the theater, Elliot is shocked to find that Back To The Future: Part II is being screened, on this day of all days. Elliot insists that Mohammed watch the movie as it was his favorite as a child. Entering the theater, Elliot sits down to watch with Mohammed, but after being distracted by another patron, he finds that the boy is gone. Elliot tracks him down to a local mosque, where the two begin to open up about their pasts, and Elliot claims responsibility for what happened to Trenton.
Returning home, Mohammed pulls out a set of keys and enters, much to Elliot's incredulity. Mohammed asks that he see Elliot again, to which he agrees. The boy tells Elliot to stay while he gets something for him, and Elliot begins to cry. Mohammed returns with a sucker because Elliot said that he was sick previously. Mohammed says farewell to Elliot, who leaves, sucker in mouth. Returning to Mobley's brother's house, Elliot blackmails him into giving Mobley a funeral with the bag of morphine he bought, stating that he wants it to be a good one and that he will be watching from the back.
At Angela's apartment, Elliot talks to Angela about the wishing game that they played as a child, and the phrase that would use to end each game:
"No matter what, we will be okay."
Back at his apartment, Elliot discovers that the jacket was returned among other bags of trash. Elliot takes the jacket and replaces the broken mirror in his bathroom. Elliot gets on his terminal to find that Trenton has sent him an e-mail with the title "don't delete me" detailing a plan on how to undo Five/Nine, and revealing that Romero saved the encryption keys. Elliot's flame to save the world is reignited, and the episode ends with him declaring that there are still some things left for him to do.
This episode provides examples of:
- Art Shift: The episode is presented in a 2:35:1 aspect ratio to emulate a theatrical film.
- Breather Episode: A necessary one, given the absolute hell that preceded it. Mr. Robot is conspicuously absent, and the plot slows down to a crawl to focus entirely on Elliot's emotional healing.
- Continuity Nod: The bathroom mirror that Elliot punched in season one is still there. He finally replaces it by the end.
- Cosy Catastrophe: Downplayed, but it is still remarkable that cosplay events and special movie screenings continue to happen after the worst terrorist attack in American history. Sadly, this is a more accurate portrayal of such an aftermath.
- Despair Speech: Elliot makes it very clear to Darlene that Mr. Robot is an insurmountable obstacle, and he is clearly upset by that fact.Elliot (eyes welling): "You don't get it, Darlene. I tried everything. Therapy, medication... I mean, fuck... I even put myself in jail.
- Driven to Suicide Subverted. Elliot seems intent on overdosing at the beach but Mohammed arrives just in time.
- Fascists' Bed Time: A curfew has been implemented in New York City following the cyber-bombings, and the National Guard appears to be enforcing it.
- Fling a Light into the Future: As it turns out, Trenton had the e-mail sent to Elliot, knowing that he would be able to do something. She would be right.
-
Harsher in Hindsight: Angela’s conversation with Elliot that ends with her saying “no matter what happens, we’ll be okay”. Less than 48 hours after this conversation, Angela is killed by the Dark Army, and is never given the chance to fix her relationships with Elliot or Darlene. - Hope Bringer: Mohammed, and by extension, Trenton.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Mobley's brother.
- Meaningful Name: Trenton is revealed to set her alias on her brother's birthplace.
- Rewatch Bonus: After learning that Elliot jumped out of the window himself in the finale, Edward's overly devastated reaction to his son's embittered treatment of him makes a lot more sense in a tragic way. It even gets worse when it's revealed in Season 4 that Edward raped his son, which makes Elliot's refusal of forgiving him justified and heartbreaking.
- Shrine to the Fallen: Like Shayla before them, the lives of Trenton and Mobley are digitally immortalized by Elliot to join his new collection of hacking exploits.
- Spotting the Thread: If you remember how Elliot described the night of his father's death, the flashback at the beginning is very suspicious.
- Surprisingly Happy Ending: Despite the episode being incredibly grim and devoid of hope, its final moments show that Elliot is far from done in his quest to save the world.
- Tearjerker: Widely considered to be the most heartbreaking episode of the series, and for good reason. Elliot's depression reaches a nadir, and he nearly follows through with a suicide attempt, the city of New York has been put under martial law, the families of Mobley and Trenton are broken, Angela is suffering from a mental breakdown, and Darlene is left alone in the middle of everyone's pain. Not to mention, we also learn through a flashback that Edward died believing that his own son hated him for something that we later discover he didn't do. Jesus. A Reddit user summed it up rather nicely:"Jesus christ this episode is like one long funeral service..."
- Survivor Guilt: Elliot is hit hard by this following the stage two attacks.Elliot: At least we get to be miraculously off the hook for everything. Yes, sure, a couple of good people had to die in disgrace for that, but who's counting at this point, am I right?
- This Is Unforgivable!: Elliot's response after Darlene tells him about Angela's breakdown, as he is still heartbroken and angry at her betrayal.
