‘Mr. Robot’ episode 9 review: Rami Malek presents his case to the Emmys

We also had no clue going into Wednesday night’s new episode of “Mr. Robot” if the show was going to be able to replicate the sheer shock factor of the one that came before it. After some valleys in the middle of the season, we now get the feeling that we are rising near the peak again … while being utterly confused at the same time.

The penultimate episode of the season was definitely twisted, and there’s some serious irony here when you look back at Christian Slater’s TV career. This is a man known for appearing on TV shows for only a season because of them getting canceled; now, he’s on one where his character is not actually alive! One week after learning that he is Elliot’s father, we also learned tonight that Mr. Robot is also dead at the same time. What we’ve been seeing through him Elliot’s own representation of what his father could potentially want for him to do. It makes this character all the more dissociative, and probably simultaneously makes us even more engrossed in his story.

What we saw conversely from Darlene and Angela through this episode is a great amount of awareness. They’ve known for some time that Mr. Robot is built within the walls of Elliot’s memory palace, to borrow a term from “Hannibal.” They react to him in different ways, and we feel like their past actions make more sense.

Also, we feel like Angela is moving down a trajectory that will eventually draw her even closer to Elliot and his own personal sphere in Fsociety.

We are watching these characters transform, and we’re even seeing that from Tyrell. He and Elliot are realizing that they may both share a common interest, but how long can that last? This unstable working relationship is to us one of the biggest cliffhangers going into the finale.

We also must spend at least a minute praising Rami Malek, who has become almost undoubtedly an Emmy contender. We’re losing Jon Hamm from the ballot this year, and we’re getting a sense who could take his place. Grade: A-.