eps3.7_dont-delete-me.ko

The episode was written and directed by series creator Sam Esmail. This was Esmail's 16th writing credit, and 23rd directing credit.[1]

In its original American broadcast, "eps3.7_dont-delete-me.ko" was seen by an estimated 0.444 million household viewers with a 0.2 in the 18-49 demographics. This means that 0.2 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode.[2] This was a 19% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by an estimated 0.545 million household viewers with a 0.2 in the 18-49 demographics.[3]

"eps3.7_dont-delete-me.ko" received extremely positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 100% approval rating for the episode, based on 12 reviews. The site's consensus states: "'Eps3.7_dont-delete-me.ko' provides a switch-up and slowdown after a run of chest-pounding installments."[4]

Alex McLevy of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B" grade and wrote, "Elliot was going to kill himself, but the world wasn't ready to let him go. This seems to be the way of many aborted attempts at suicide — something simply delays the act until the point where the person is forced to contend with the fact that life will go on, and maybe that's okay. There's no big cathartic moment, no 'a-ha!' revelation or instant that it all makes sense. If anything, it's the opposite: The world continues to be a confusing and terrible place, but just by virtue of getting through the night, life returns to being livable, if only a little."[5]

Alan Sepinwall of Uproxx wrote, "There are a lot of ways an episode that's essentially about Elliot being roused from a suicidal stupor thanks to his interaction with a cute kid could have gone terribly awry and felt mawkish and/or silly. But the spell that 'Don't Delete Me' cast really worked. Well done."[6] Kyle Fowle of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Slowly, Angela starts to come back, until she chimes in with the line that they always used with each other at the end of the game: 'No matter what, we'll be okay.' Every other episode this season has suggested otherwise. But you need to find hope wherever you can."[7]

Jeremy Egner of The New York Times wrote, "It was the most dramatic of several signs that despite its dark imaginings and increasingly frightened and militarized setting, Mr. Robot still believes in the people’s ability to turn things around."[8] Vikram Murthi of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "'eps3.7_dont-delete-me.ko' follows Elliot's suicide attempt and his slow return from the brink. Written and directed by Sam Esmail, it's an unusually sentimental episode of Mr. Robot, one that passionately argues life is worth living even when you’re going through personal hell. Given the series's appropriately fatalist attitude for the past few episodes, this marks a noticeable shift in tone. Mr. Robot has ostensibly earned that shift, and the end result is satisfying, but it's not without its fair share of bumps in the road."[9]

Alec Bojalad of Den of Geek gave the episode a 4.5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "'Don't Delete Me' really does a solid job of not feeling obligatory. From the opening moments of Elliot blowing up at Darlene it's clear that what we’re seeing is a necessary reset and regrouping... along with some emotional recalibration for our characters. Elements like the Back to the Future day and the ice cream truck man help disguise the thinness of the premise, making 'Don't Delete Me' an altogether enjoyable hour."[10] Caralynn Lippo of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Overall, this was about as predictable as an hour of this show can possibly get. But in the end, it was well-executed and avoided too much sentimentality, so I can't legitimately fault it."[11]