Mr. Robot Pulled Off Their Big "Reveal" Flawlessly
Mr. Robot Season 2 has been weird. Obviously. But not just the storylines inside the show. The structure of the show itself has been strange this season. The 2 part premiere was spectacular. It was tense. It was action packed. Sam Esmail created this whole new world existing in chaos after the Five Nine Attack. And we quickly learned about where the members of fsociety were. It was confusing but it was captivating.
And then the theories quickly started rolling in. One in particular that made absolute perfect sense and immediately transitioned from “This is a cool theory” to “This is absolutely whats going on.”
Elliot was incarcerated in some way. Jail, mental ward. Something. His story of being at his mom’s house and living a strict routine to stay out of hacking was just a coping mechanism to dealing with being in prison.
Anyone who read this theory 100% jumped on board with it. The show created this fake world in Elliot’s head masterfully, but rather obviously if you had this theory in mind. If I hadnt read those theories after 1 or 2 episodes, would I have picked up on it? I think so. Probably. In some capacity. I guess its important to remember that A LOT of people watch TV out there without being super nerds about it. Just sit back and watch and enjoy week to week. And if you were doing that, this week’s episode must have been fucking incredible. If you hadnt already connected the dots, that must have been an A+ reveal.
Personally I think there werent too many viewers left that hadnt put it all together though. Maybe in other shows, but if you’re watching Mr. Robot week in and week out you’re almost trained to assume things are never what they seem. Nothing is real. There’s always a twist. It creates and interesting dynamic between the show and its viewers. In a lot of ways, the show spoils itself. In Season 1, everyone knew Mr. Robot was inside Elliots head. In Season 2, everyone knew Elliot was in prison. In both cases though, it didnt really matter. The show is so well constructed and these quote un-quote reveals, even when we know they are coming, are so well done its still really enjoyable. When Krista asks Elliot “do you know where you are right now?” I didnt get excited because I was about to find out the answer…I got excited because I was about to find out how Elliot finds out the answer. Seeing him admit it and watching the world around him finally reveal itself as a prison was awesome. Seamless transitions from Elliot’s fake world into the prison world.
Its a show that doesnt rely on the “Holy shit I didnt see that coming!” They do things so well that its the total opposite – “I saw that coming, but holy shit!” Plus if you remember last season, they kept another bullet in the chamber. Theres probably a second twist on deck.
And so now I think the season really takes off. As I said to start this blog, Season 2 has been weird. the middle episodes of the season havent been quite as gripping as usual. I feel like its because they were steadily building up this reveal of Elliot’s prison world and we all saw that coming. In a perfect world, the Ray vs Elliot battle and the reveal would have all played out about 2 episodes ago. Seemed like the season was in a holding pattern until all that unfolded. Now that Elliot is out, back in the game, and has reconciled his Mr. Robot Personality with his Elliot Personality, its time to cook. Lets get back to some more hacking in a show about hacking.
As for Elliot and Mr. Robot uniting as one – I thought that was done in a very cool way. Almost endearing in a way. What I didnt realize – and only figured it out after reading up on the show – was that the weird ass 80s Sitcom Spoof for the first 20 minutes of episode 5 was Mr. Robot protecting Elliot as he was getting the shit beat out of him by Ray and his goons. To be perfectly honest I hated that sitcom thing – I said from the jump I’m sure it was symbolic and well executed but it was weird as fuck and I just wanted my normal Mr. Robot so I barely even watched. Turned out I missed the fact that it was Mr. Robot helping Elliot mentally cope with the violent beating he was taking. Thats why Elliot said “Why did you protect me back there?” in last night’e episode. The previous episode ended with a flashback to Elliot and his dad sharing a special moment as he confessed he was sick and allowed Elliot to name the computer store. Then back in that dungeon Elliot and Mr. Robot hug. And the two personalities become one.
That all makes sense to me, but what doesnt make sense to me is saying they killed Tyrell Wellick. I’m just not buying it. I’m assuming its been Tyrell sending his SMOKING FUCKING HOT WIFE Joanna all those gifts. The authorities are still searching for him as the culprit of Five Nine. And I think he’s just too important of a character to be dead. So while Elliot and Mr. Robot seem to have somewhat of a better grasp on reality now, I still dont think its all there. They are still suppressing memories or unstable in some way regarding what happened with Wellick. Remember, nothing is ever fully as it seems. There’s always another twist coming. So as much sense as it would seem to make that Elliot pulled out that Popcorn gun and killed a very violent and erratic Tyrell Wellick, I just aint buying it.
– A few other notes – Angela is sexy as fuck now. There, I said it. I dont care who knows it.
She’s got this corporate bitchy dominatrix thing going on and I am fucking IN. Its still a far cry from Joanna Wellick getting the life choked out of her during sex every week, but they are a major 1-2 punch to my penis.
– Darlene is going to screw up in a major way soon. Shes getting way too cocky. And this chick:
A) Is on top of her shit and eventually gonna figure out whats going on, and B) Is Meryl Streep’s daughter in real life and once you know that you cant unsee it. They are fucking identical.
All in all I’m fucking pumped for the second half of season 2. Like I said, I couldnt really put my finger on it, but some of those middle episodes didnt have my attention the way Mr. Robot usually does. There was minimal buzz on the internet, very little discussion amongst fans and on social media. Not many of those major “OH shit!” moments that season 1 and the S2 premiere had. It felt like the show and the fanbase were playing the waiting game.
The wait is over.