'Mr. Robot' Season 3 Finale Post Credits, Explained

Marvel may be the masters of the post-credits scene, but Mr. Robot is quickly proving itself to be just as adept at teasing the future after the credits have rolled. In the Season 3 finale of the USA thriller, “Eps3.9_shutdown-r,” a Season 1 character makes a bizarre return out of nowhere.

Spoilers for Mr. Robot Season 3 are ahead.

“Shutdown” was packed to the brim with twists and revelations. But the post-credits scene is setting up one major plot arc to be explored in Season 4: Fernando’s return. In the post-credits scene, Darlene (Carly Chaikan) and a nameless prostitute, who walk to Elliot’s apartment, talk about how things might finally get better again. (Impossible, but sure.) That’s when a drug dealer rolls up demanding to see Elliot. And it’s none other than Fernando Vera, reprised by Elliot Villar in his role from Season 1.

Back in Season 1, Elliot (show star Rami Malek) sent Fernando, who abused Elliot’s crush Shayla, to prison. It was an example by Mr. Robot to prove Elliot’s “heroic” side to his hacktivism. Capturing random child pornographers wasn’t enough. There had to be a personal connection to Elliot’s talents, which the show did by tapping into a Marvel Comics spirit by Elliot using his “powers” for personal gain, much like how Spider-Man first used his powers to make money from pro wrestling.

It was all for naught, anyway. While Elliot was blackmailed into letting Fernando free (once again, using his hacking abilities), Shayla was killed anyway, which horrified the heartbroken Elliot. Since then, Shayla and Fernando have been absent from Mr. Robot as more colorful characters took precedence, but Season 4 seems to be a return to form with the show’s original established world.

In a Deadline interview with series creator Sam Esmail, the producer called Fernando “a crazy person” and “an egomaniac and hopefully very entertaining to watch.” He adds that Fernando will show just how close Elliot’s actions with the global 5/9 hack will haunt him.

“There’s a personal connection here with Elliot and out of all the global chaos that he’s been experiencing on the show,” Esmail says, “this one narrows the field a bit on a personal level. Shayla was the only true connection Elliot made when we began the series. We’ll definitely explore the blowback from all of that with her murder and how Elliot assisted in breaking Vera out of prison.”

Needless to say, Mr. Robot Season 4 has certainly hacked its way to already being the most anticipated show for 2018. Season 4 returns sometime in the fall of next year.

Soon, we could delete memories just like in Westworld. Check out this video to find out how.