Mr. Robot airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on USA Network. Which isn’t entirely true, at least not for most of us. This is usually one of those shockers reserved for late season two (see: Twin Peaks and the Bob reveal.) However, Robot is smarter than that. Multiple times tonight, characters-primarily Elliot and Mr. Robot-looked right into the camera, soliciting our culpability for their choices. Mr. Robot was always in the backseat of the vehicle, or appearing at just the right moment not to interfere, but to dispense advice.
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It’s a hard thing for a TV show to do, to confuse its audience. Elliot has to stop asking questions and follow Mr. Robot out the door. But unlike Fight Club, Mr. Robot has to continue to answer those questions after the closing credits.
“Mr. Robot” jumped out of the gate with an excellent pilot, written by creator Sam Esmail and directed by Niels Arden Oplev (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”) that immediately signaled this series demanded attention (and acclaim). Wherever this show takes him in next week’s season finale, it’s proved itself playful and expert enough in so many areas that there’s no chance I won’t be back for season two. Sadly, it is not some cryogenic chamber that explains why Mr. Robot has hardly aged in twenty years. Mr. Robot having separate one-on-one conversations with Tyrell, Darlene, and Romero. It was: “is anything real?” Was Elliot really the person who pulled a gun on Romero and met with Tyrell in the limo in the previous episode? And Elliot, as we saw last week, doesn’t even have an identity. Whiterose. The Dark Army. Mr. Robot tells Elliot no that it is Elliot’s fault for not being able to let go and hating himself. Episode 8 revealed that this was not the case.
The Chinese Hacker White Rose had revealed the flaws in FSociety’s plan and had set a deadline for the hackers to remove a honeypot from an Evil Corp server. His life is being sacrificed to save whatever is accomplished by the mega-hack, which hasn’t even happened yet. It’s shocking because of what it means. In spite of Elliot’s care for those he knows, he still keeps most people at a distance by knowing their darkest secrets.
Mr. Robot: Is Elliot’s Father Dead or Alive?
Elliot finally caught up to us. We allowed the idea that nothing we were seeing was real, while refusing to accept that as the truth. Angela, Shayla, and his therapist are just a few examples of characters that Elliot goes out of his way to help. So when he asks us if we knew the whole time, the answer is not so simple. Part of Elliott knew Mr. Robot didn’t exist, but he didn’t want to see it that way.
One thing that needs pointing out, is the fact that we still don’t have a great understanding about why fsociety came to be. Elliot hates Facebook, and social media generally. And that’s the one that’ll trigger the Plan when it’s back online, which Gideon doesn’t know.
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Elliot asks his father why he didn’t say anything before. When Mr. Robot warns his son, “They’re going to get rid of me again”, he’s not just talking about Darlene and Angela, and the doctors and shrinks and pills.
