If you love Tyrell Wellick, Mr. Robot Season 3 Episode 3 would've been a fantastic hour of television for you.

On the flip side, if you're less-than-impressed with Elliot's partner in crime, it would've felt like something of an unnecessary slog.

Personally, I love Tyrell and Martin Wallström's portrayal of him. I've been fascinated by the character ever since we first got a closer look at his sociopathic nature in the earliest installments of Mr. Robot Season 1.

So, yes, I enjoyed the fill-in-the-blanks nature of "Legacy." That said, even for a Tyrell fan like me, spending this much time with the character wasn't strictly necessary.

That's because the hour didn't really tell us anything groundbreaking or new about Tyrell. It was just more of the same. He was a tad more humanized, but didn't reveal anything earth-shattering during his time in hiding with Irving and the Dark Army lackeys.

The hour opened almost precisely where we left off at the end of the Mr. Robot Season 1 Finale. Elliot (as Mr. Robot) and Tyrell set in motion the Five/Nine Hack – almost on a whim, one that "Legacy" confirmed constituted a massive screw-up on both their parts.

It's almost as if something has come alive.

Tyrell

• Permalink: It's almost as if something has come alive.

Mr. Robot Season 2 spent a significant amount of time teasing the idea that Mr. Robot had shot and killed Tyrell, contributing to Elliot's firm belief in the Mr. Robot Season 2 Finale that Tyrell was just another figment of his imagination.

Mr. Robot Season 3 Episode 3 finally told us what really happened – namely, that Mr. Robot did attempt to kill Tyrell, but that the gun just so happened to jam. That gave Tyrell enough time to talk his way out of sure death, convincing Mr. Robot that they could work together to take down Evil Corp.

I found it amusing that the show retroactively inserted Irving into the action going so far back.

Though he's a new character as far as viewers are concerned, it turns out he's actually been around since the time of the first season's finale, pulling the strings (presumably on Whiterose's direct orders) from the shadows.

Irving is an excellent addition, and I'm loving Bobby Cannavale's portrayal. The character is an enigma, proven by the fact that he completely lied to Tyrell about his backstory. He had no two sons to whom he was devoted. Virtually everything he told Tyrell about redeeming himself was bullshit.

What we do know about Irving, now: He's writing a novel, and he really likes Big Brother. That's about it so far.

If you're seeing me, that means you boys fucked up.

Irving

• Permalink: If you're seeing me, that means you boys fucked up.

While Elliot was carted off to prison for his hack on Krista's boyfriend (and the theft of the man's dog), Tyrell was whisked away to a secret, secluded compound since he was shouldering the entirety of the blame for the hack.

During this time, Tyrell transformed into a bearded, significantly burlier, wood-chopping Williamsburg hipster.

I absolutely loved it. Aesthetically, the new look was very pleasing on the eyes (maybe just my eyes, but whatever). It also smartly paralleled the gradual breakdown of Tyrell's mental state, and the type of man he'd always presented himself to be (aka, not his father), while he was in hiding.

That breakdown was arguably set off with a great scene early on in Tyrell's seclusion: his confrontation with Wallace Shawn's Mr. Williams. 

Wallace Shawn is an incredible, legendary character actor, and his appearance arguably gave the hour its best scene. Mr. Williams, a Dark Army agent of some sort, drilled down on Tyrell, attempting to ascertain his loyalty to the organization's cause.

What resulted was Tyrell's confirmation that, as suspected, he wasn't in it for Dark Army or loftier society-freeing goals at all. Tyrell was willing to take the fall for everything, abandoning his wife and child, out of his unwavering, steadfast loyalty to Elliot.

The irony, of course, is that Elliot has never been Tyrell's partner at all. It was always Mr. Robot.

Oops?

The one, major reveal that this hour had in store was Angela finally telling Tyrell that Elliot has a second personality completely divorced from his first.

This moment came about at the very end, when we finally caught up to the events immediately prior to the start of the Mr. Robot Season 3 Premiere. But now that Tyrell knows the truth (or at least part of it), how will that affect their partnership going forward?

There were two other blasts from the past during this installment.

The first was a brief scene between Cisco and Darlene. Again, the moment didn't exactly reveal anything new or groundbreaking, but rather served as a sweet and sad interlude.

Cisco suggested they get away from it all and go to Budapest. Darlene shot him down. Cisco, it turns out, was directly answering to Irving, who warned him not to get to close to Darlene.

Of course, he didn't listen, and we all know how that ended.

The latter visit from an old character was easily one of my favorite moments of the hour.

Irving visited the jail where Elliot was housed to meet with Leon, the Dark Army agent that Whiterose confirmed was protecting Elliot on the inside.

Leon was hilarious. I loved how he went off on a rant about how much he enjoyed killing those neo-nazis (despite not being a big fan of murder in general).

But the best part was his completely apt diagnosis of Elliot desperately needing to get laid, post-prison, because Elliot is "wound tighter than a chinchilla's asshole." What a line!

Stray thoughts:

• "Legacy" was similar to Mr. Robot Season 2 Episode 8 in that both spent a significant amount of time away from Elliot.

• All of Tyrell's talk about proving himself to Joanna is just that much more tragic knowing that she died horribly before they could ever be reunited. How will Tyrell react once he finds out? Especially when he discovers that she was killed due to her actions in clearing his name!

• Talk-show host Frank Cody was revealed to be yet another Dark Army collaborator. Is there anyone on this show who isn't? Whiterose asked him to rehab Tyrell's image, pin fsociety on the Iranians, and support Trump's presidency, the latter being a fun little nod to our current political climate.

• I was legitimately surprised to see that Agent Santiago was also a Dark Army ally. Getting someone that high up in the FBI really proves just how unstoppable Whiterose is.

• That Tyrell took the time to get himself ready to reunite with Elliot is both endearing and really sad. Personally, I was disappointed to see the beard and sleeveless tees go in favor of the old clean shaven face and prim suits. Also, neither Elliot or Mr. Robot could care less about Tyrell's appearance.

What did you think of "Legacy"?

Share your thoughts by commenting below, and don't forget that you can watch Mr. Robot online here at TV Fanatic anytime!

Caralynn Lippo is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.