Mind Blowing Reveal on ‘Mr. Robot’ (TV Review)

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After weeks of speculation, story building, and suspense, Robot finally gave us a clue into the mystery that is Elliot’s subconscious. This week’s episode was a reminder that everything you know to be true is probably wrong. Feeling vulnerable yet?

Remember that time that Angela went ahead and allowed the Dark Army to hack Allsafe? The CD she brought to the company and inputted through Ollie’s computer was their connection to the company, and subsequently the connection to every account they are “keeping safe and secure,” most notably Evil Corp. The day has finally come for the big hack, and Allsafe is scrambling to keep them out.

Two notable things occur at this moment in time. For one, Gideon (Elliot’s boss) finally lets on that he’s onto to Elliot. His paranoia and insecurity give him away, though Elliot has already been clued into this. The second thing (and reason why Elliot is already living on the edge of his seat) is that he finally gets to meet the fabled “White Rose.” Rose is holed up in a secure space that can’t be hacked, and allows Elliot just moments of her time. After giving him a vague assertion that the plan is back in motion, Elliot is forced to return to the flailing Allsafe and hack the already suspicious Gideon. Whew. The meeting with White Rose is integral to the plan as previously they’ve been unable to get close to the Dark Army. Without their help, fsociety cannot proceed with any of their plans. It’s just not plausible.

Last week, Tyrell ran into a snag in his plan to become the new CTO when he murdered the frontrunner’s wife. Way to be inconvenient, lifeless corpse. Rather than use his fancy powers as an uber-rich tech giant, Wellick simply leaves her on the roof and hopes for the best. He returns to work where police officers are coming the building and questioning everyone who attended the party. Instead of keeping his cool and talking to them, he immediately takes off, arousing suspicions even further. Later after a spiral, and a quick meeting with Mr. Robot (we’ll come back to that later) he returns home only to be once again cornered by the cops. Fortunately his wife goes into labor before the actual questioning begins, so it appears he’ll have more time to figure out his next move.

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Now, this is where things get a little tricky. Darlene opens the episode on a balcony after sleeping with a skeezy business type. After he heads off to work, she immediately goes about looking for his safe. Obviously he doesn’t know her very well. She figures out the easily crackable safe combination, and steals his gun. Immediately after she heads to ballet class, where she meets up with (drum roll) Angela. As far as we know, these two have never met. So, what the hell? They talk like friends, and even bring up Elliot and his weird tendencies. Have they been friends all along? Has Angela been in on it?! Later on while celebrating the meeting with White Rose and the eventual victory they’ll have over Evil Corp, Elliot and Darlene share a moment. A moment he believes is more intimate than it is, as he leans over and kisses her. She immediately rebuffs his advances, horrified and sobbing. “Have you forgotten who I am?” He repeats, “Darlene” over and over until the realization washes over him. “You’re my sister,” he stutters out, memories pouring back into his brain.

After rushing away, Elliot begins breaking down. How could he forgot he had a sister? He begins replaying their childhood in his head, hiding from their mother, growing up, mourning their father. Things get really weird when Elliot begins to question what he knows about himself. What else has he forgotten? Upon returning home, he frantically “hacks” himself, only to come up empty handed. He doesn’t exist. Thinking quickly, he pours over the people he’s erased from his life and finds one that fits. Loading it into his computer, files containing tons of photos surface. Shaking, but sure, Elliot begins to scroll through. The pictures are all of Robot. Robot, and him as a child. Did your head explode in this moment? I’m sorry for making you re-live that.

Robot is his fucking father.

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Now, knowing what we do about Elliot, his mental state, and the ambiguity of this show we can go two ways with this. One, my previous assertions about Robot being in Elliot’s head are true, and I can drop the mic right here and be done with it. Two, Robot (aka Elliot’s dearly departed daddy) faked his death and is back to settle the score with Evil Corp once and for all. As much as I hate to admit this, I think there’s a really good chance that it could be the latter. For one, they already signed Mr. Robot on for a second season before this one even dropped. If they went with the former route, it would be dropping a huge truth bomb way too early for things to move cohesively forward. However, there’s always the chance that he’s still a delusion and Elliot is doing everything we think Robot is.

That brings us back to the meeting Wellick and Robot had earlier. Wellick makes threats to Robot about knowing the people he cares about. Obviously if Robot is real, this threat is directed towards Darlene and Elliot. If he’s not, then Wellick and Elliot’s relationship has reached a new level, and Wellick’s threats are directed at a whole range of folks that could be affected by a deal gone wrong. Wellick is desperate, and he’ll do anything it takes to ensure he comes out on top. No matter what, Elliot is in danger. His inability to hold on to reality is affecting him in ways that are making it difficult to rise to levels we know he’s capable of. What’s the point in being brilliant if you can barely make it through the day holding on to your own identity?

Hopefully most of these questions will be answered in the coming episodes. There’s only two left in the first season, and a whole lot of loose ends that need tying up. Look forward to not only finding out the identity of Robot, but the return of the former CTO to Evil Corp, a move that will surely send Wellick careening over the edge. Things are getting weird, and by weird I mean truly fucking awesome.

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One Response

  1. I believe Wellick’s wife induced her own labor by puncturing her membranes with that fork. Just wanted to point that out to show the lengths she will go to protect Wellick. Also that the two of them should probably not be parents.

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