So, there we have it – Mr Robot Season 3.0 has a release date – or rather a release month! We think we’ve worked out who Bobby Cannavale is playing, so now all that’s left to do is to uncover the reasons that the third season has been delayed…

The reasons for the delay are thought to be two-fold. USA Network President, Chris McCumber released a statement yesterday saying:

“Sam Esmail is a true creative visionary who continues to deliver a series that boldly tackles timely issues and leans into the major headlines of the day. We’re eager to share the next phase of Elliot’s journey with fans this fall.”

While it’s true that Sam Esmail is a genius auteur (and one that doesn’t believe in strict premiere dates) network bosses aren’t exactly known for saying to their showrunners “Yeah, deliver your show as late as you want. Next year? That’s fine. Don’t worry about it!” 

And it’s safe to assume bosses didn’t want to see a repeat of the slightly rushed, convoluted and sometimes rambling nature of Mr Robot’s sophomore slump, so while the finance men in their suits would have been rubbing their fingers together for an early summer release (that’s what they do) the creatives would have been asking, begging, maybe even pleading to give Sam and his writers room more time to polish.

And somehow, the creatives won.

Maybe they showed the suits what happens when writers are rushed by network execs to fit around TV schedules with a viewing of True Detective Season 2… (for which HBO execs had to apologise for rushing)

While we fans ain’t too happy to have to wait an extra three or four months for Season 3.0, this is actually a good thing. Wouldn’t you rather the script was great, and not rushed? I know I would. If you begin to feel otherwise, we’ve devised a little mantra to help:

The second reason, which has hardly been mentioned is to give time for Rami Malek to complete his work on the remake of the Papillon. 

Mr Robot begins its delayed production in April, but it is thought Elliot’s scenes will be shot later, giving Rami time to finish shooting Papillon alongside Sons of Anarchy stars Charlie Hunnam and Tommy Flanagan.

And in a nice link between Mr Robot, Sons of Anarchy and Papillon, we think Season 3.0 being delayed for a few short months, this… compromise between network and showrunner is a win for common sense.

We wouldn’t want Mr Robot suffering from ninety-minute wankfests, complete with whole musical montages like Sons of Anarchy’s latter series.

That’s what happens when a showrunner has too much power!