| Author |
Message |
Spunky
Member
10-07-2001
| Monday, October 26, 2015 - 9:40 am 
Okay, I'm really losing my patience here... "Elliott, we need to talk"... well, finally. Are we going to know that Mr. Robot and Elliott are father and son? Or are they? Darlene is his sister and now Mr. Robot may be his father while the true identity of Elliott is still a mystery, he's a ghost in cyberspace, did he manage to do that or was Mr. Robot doing that, his profile photos were all Mr. Robot's.
The Swedish couple are truly insane!! Maybe this show doesn't have to make sense and we are crazy to try to make sense of it.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Monday, October 26, 2015 - 10:06 am
All will be revealed in the next episode, Spunky! Patience ;) ;).
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Spunky
Member
10-07-2001
| Saturday, October 31, 2015 - 8:25 am
I was expecting more revelations but at least for now we finally know Elliott's father did die 20 years earlier and that this Mr. Robot was just a memory come to life (this explains why 20 years did not change the look of his father), but all I was telling myself... "why does he want to push his father out of the window?", was he pushed out the window when he was a child or was the child the one who pushed someone out of the window.., I never really thought that the child Elliott was throwing himself out of the window, I was expecting something Elliott did to someone else, but not to himself. Could the memory of his father and sister be lost after the fall?
The other plotlines seem secondary to me, I really don't care what will happen to the Swedish couple or what is Colby telling Angela and the episode was cut just at that moment or my PVR just stopped before I could hear what was Colby going to tell Angela... but didn't really care, still thinking of the disappointing 'small' revelation about Mr. Robot.
There's one more episode which should end the first season and I'll be patient until then.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Saturday, October 31, 2015 - 8:10 pm
When Elliot was young he fell out of his window. We don't know if he just fell or if he was arguing with his dad and somehow his dad was responsible, or even if he purposely jumped. But all this time (or in his recent state, see later) he thought his dad threw him out of the window because the dad was upset that Elliot told his mother that his dad had leukemia (or that it had recurred or was worse, or something I can't remember).
In an early episode Elliot chats with Mr Robot on railings near the amusement park, overlooking the beach. Mr Robot (and at that point Elliot doesn't realise it's his dad) suggests something like it's not surprising his dad threw him out the window because he broke his promise and let him down. Mr Robot then shoves Elliot off the railing - but actually that was Elliot (the only person who was actually physically there) throwing himself off the railings because of how he feels about himself. To me that means that Elliot really thinks he deserved to go out that window when he was young.
Then, been too many weeks since I saw it but I think in the episode you've just seen he goes to his old house, sits in the window bay again and "talks" to his (hallucination of his) dad, gets upset and pushes his dad/Mr Robot out the window. At that point he still thinks his dad is real (for some reason hasn't noticed the age issue), and now doesn't just resent his dad for pushing him out the window, but he thinks his dad has been messing with him all this time by being alive when he (Elliot) thought he was dead, and was suffering because of it. Plus in the last few months dad/Mr Robot had brought Elliot into FSociety (or so Elliot thought), and all that was going hugely wrong and messing with his brain. So he thinks that his dad is bad, and out the window he goes.
Except of course that it's actually Elliot who pushes/pulls himself out the window, because Elliot is Mr Robot.
I think Elliot's (perhaps most recent?) mental break occurred a few weeks before the show started, because at the beginning of the season he refers to just recently taking more morphine. The therapist woman also mentions him going back to how he was before, and when he sees his sister on that bench and tries to kiss her, she says something like "did you forget again?" I think he's had mental issues over the last few years, but until recently he was ok, he's just relapsed.
Next episode mostly closes what we've seen with Elliot, and suggests what the story will be like next season. For me the most fascinating thing was what was happening inside Elliot's brain, and if that's mostly/somewhat resolved the I hope they can still keep the story interesting.
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Spunky
Member
10-07-2001
| Sunday, November 01, 2015 - 9:14 am
Thanks Kitt, you sure know how to open my eyes to so many details I seem to overlook because of my frustration with the main character. I didn't want him to be such an emotional wreck because of his hacking skills, I seem unable to connect the two facts.
If there is a second season I expect some new plot twist because I tire of the 'mental case' of a genius hacker.
But again, I may change my mind after I watch the final episode next Friday.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Sunday, November 01, 2015 - 10:26 am
I don't see any issue with the 'mental case' genius. I think the more exceptional you are (and I mean exceptional, not just very good at) the more likely you are to have deficits in dealing with life or with people.
I was an academic (physics) until I came to the US. There were a lot of extremely bright people but one who I think really was a genius. He was also a complete recluse, hardly talked to anyone, particularly women, and only tolerated me (mostly with one or two word answers) as I worked with his best friend. He also drank A LOT, which didn't seem to hinder his work because he would just work fanatically when he woke up, binge later. Now he's got a relatively normal research job which he completes in a very similar way. He's learnt to conform enough to not get fired, but most of the reason he isn't fired is because he's so good at his job.
The other genius I knew was in Computing. He just saw every (computing) solution in his head, "like music," as he put it. He was okay in the academic scene for quite a few years but did a lot of drugs, and often thought his best insights were when he was high. Eventually he had a bit of a mental break and went roaming in Italy, relying on others to feed him on the basis that you gave out of love, and if he deserved it he would be fed (or something like that). He did make it back into the real world after a couple of years, but I'm not sure what he's done since.
My rambling point though, is that geniuses are often broken. If you can use your brain in special ways in special areas then some other part of the brain isn't functioning fully in its "normal" way. And drugs often seem the answer to tolerate that deficit.
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Spunky
Member
10-07-2001
| Monday, November 02, 2015 - 7:21 am
Not so 'rambling' Kitt, I believe what you say about geniuses with personal problems and would be interesting to know how the ones you met are doing now. It's sad however to see that drugs seem to be the answer in some cases. It's easier for me to understand how some great artists are troubled with emotions and frustrations and so I find a computer wiz with Elliot's probems a bit difficult to understand, I think anyone with computer skills and a hacker to be a 'rational' person, many times a control freak and someone who is determined to avoid conflict.
Anyway, Kitt, I enjoyed your participation to my comments knowing that for you the show ended some time ago as I enjoy any other conversation you bring to other threads.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Monday, November 02, 2015 - 9:11 am
Thanks Spunky  .
I think his ability in computing is separate from the part Elliot would have trouble with. He can deal with the computing side just because it is as you say, rational and ordered. But the people around him and the everyday things that happen can't be controlled in that way, and become too much of a burden and responsibility.
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Spunky
Member
10-07-2001
| Monday, November 09, 2015 - 9:27 am
Kitt, I waited a bit to watch the final episode but finally I did today and was left a bit numb, I was expecting fireworks but got only small sparks, like the big financial crisis caused by fsociety hacking and then it just fizzled to a 'no big deal' and the world goes on. In reality it's something that wouldn't happen that easily, thank goodness we have cyber geniuses, the good guys, who will be able to put things in order again in a very short time, so the banks keep telling us.
However, I seem to have missed a portion of the previous episode when my pvr stopped the recording after 1 hour and this last episode was 1 and 15 minutes long. So what happened to Tyrrel? Why was Elliot sleeping in his car and he can't remember how he got to be in that parking space? I thought Tyrrel would be in custody but why the secrecy about his whereabouts?
So we have Elliot going into another imaginary spin about his father and then he's back in his house (weren't the cops looking for him?) and sure enough the knock on the door and he opens the door and the scene cut to end.. Guess who was at the door? We'll have to wait the second series but I already have an idea...
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Monday, November 09, 2015 - 12:28 pm
I can't remember what was at the end of episode nine, but as I remember it we don't know what happened with Tyrell. Elliot took him to the arcade and all seemed rosy, then next thing we see Elliot wakes up in Tyrell's car, after blacking out for days. I guess we get to see what happened with Tyrell next season. Or not!
Possibly related is the fact that Darlene's gun was hidden in the popcorn at the arcade, and they show that when Tyrell and Elliot are talking, so it's possible that has something to do with they Tyrell is missing. Or again, possibly not.
Did you notice that BD Wong, who was female and Whiterose earlier, is now male and in with the cronies at that mansion, the ones that seem to control the finances? That was fascinating to me, was the female BD Wong just female to Elliot (whose memory it is we're seeing, and clearly can't be relied upon), or does the character live as a female but dresses down as a male when with the 1% because he knows that's the only way to be heard?! Curious.
I don't think the global crisis is over for everyone, the scene at the end with the financial people in the churchy type place was just to show that you can collapse the global economy for everyone else, but it makes no difference to the people with real money, the 1% of the 1%. That's what I took from it anyway.
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Spunky
Member
10-07-2001
| Tuesday, November 10, 2015 - 8:43 am
So, it's not sure what really happened to Tyrell if he's not in custody. BD Wong... I seem not to follow some of what you say concentrating instead on the main character. However, your input, Kitt, is always so enlightening and I thank you very much, it really helped me follow this series.
I enjoy your input in other boards, as always. Maybe the regular BBUK will start soon
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Rieann
Member
08-26-2006
| Friday, February 05, 2016 - 10:54 am
This show is trippy! I'm just about to start episode 7.
I've felt like I needed cliff notes or a companion guide at times to figure out what on earth is going on! I found recaps I read after each episode that help. The recapper is pretty sure Mr. Robot and Elliot are the same person. After episode five, where they had to talk Darlene off the ledge, I completely agree.
Trying hard not to look upthread. I'm cursing all of you that are in the know. 
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Friday, February 05, 2016 - 11:51 am
I saw they are showing the uncut episodes now too, I think on demand, I don't know how they are different. I'm not sure I have the mental energy to watch them!
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Rieann
Member
08-26-2006
| Friday, February 05, 2016 - 3:19 pm
Wow! I finished and my brain hurts. I agree with you about "mental energy", Kitt. LOL
Joanna sure is one creepy character. I'm pretty sure that baby going to end up being the devil. Hahaha 
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Brenda1966
Member
07-02-2002
| Friday, February 05, 2016 - 7:28 pm
I watched a couple episodes of this on a flight and it was interesting enough to keep me away (which other films couldn't do). I guess I need too find it on demand and give it a whirl.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Thursday, June 23, 2016 - 10:56 am
New season starts July 13th, two episodes in a row and an after show called Hacking Robot!
http://tvline.com/2016/06/23/mr-robot-season-2-after-show-additional-episodes/
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Spunky
Member
10-07-2001
| Saturday, June 25, 2016 - 8:23 am
I saw the promo as well but my pvr still doesn't show July 13, but soon enough I'll watch again.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Wednesday, July 13, 2016 - 10:38 pm
Double premiere tonight. As involved as ever!
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Spunky
Member
10-07-2001
| Friday, July 15, 2016 - 7:05 pm
Kitt, I was hoping to read your thoughts so that I can make better sense of what I just saw. Does it seem to you a bit crazier this season?
Why was he looking for Mr. Tyrell? Who was the man shot at the end of the show? What happened to the hacking thing he was doing at the beginning of the show when he said that it was going to change the world (didn't see any change, just as crazy as ever).
Why is he still seeing his father, I thought that issue was settled last season... anyway, I find it more confusing than ever... just hope it will grow on me again..
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Friday, July 15, 2016 - 10:10 pm
I've only watched it once so far (there's so much going on I like to watch twice) but I think he's looking for Tyrrel because he fears he killed him.
We know he was with him at the end of last season, this time we see that in a flashback he took his gun out of the popcorn behind Tyrell's back, and we know he woke up after having a three day blackout in a car. Even though Elliot doesn't know/remember all that, he knows what Mr Robot is like and fears he (as Mr Robot) killed him.
The man shot at the end of the world was his old boss at Allsafe. Last season E Corp was hacked while Allsafe was meant to be looking after it, and the boss took all the blame. Seems like since then he had fallen to pieces, and then it looked like some random guy blamed him for starting the huge collapse that happened (or something) and killed him. Sad.
I can't remember the hacking thing at the beginning of the show, but I'm guessing it was a flashback to before the crash, when Elliot was still planning the attack.
He's still seeing his father/Mr Robot because he's schizophrenic, or whatever mental illness it is that he has. The only difference is he now knows that Mr Robot is his father and a delusion, which is why he allows him to threaten him and shoot him in the head. When he's the main Elliot personality he's writing down everything he does in the hope that he can find out when the Mr Robot personality takes over, and I guess either learn something or know he needs to take more meds. It had been a few months (they said the number but I've forgotten) since the cyber attack and Elliot's breakdown and until now I think he hadn't seen Mr Robot at all, so it's all just started up again.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Sunday, July 17, 2016 - 8:54 pm
Watched again. More thoughts...
Episode 1
Flashback: The fancy room where they did the F-Society videos was actually in the arcade place. Elliot actually started the global crash, not Darlene, while Wellick was in the room, and then he got out the gun from the popcorn... all presumably in the three day missing period from the end of last year.
2nd Flashback to when he was a kid and fell out the window, the mum is blaming the dad and he says he's sorry, it was an accident - last season Mr Robot/dad claimed Elliot did it to himself. Seemed like the mum was the emotionally abusive one, and dad was just a dreamer/loser type. When he left did the mum blame the dad, and that coloured Elliot's memory? Also they focused on the scan of Elliot's head, makes me wonder if the fall caused whatever mental issues Elliot is having now.
Pretty sure the woman who wakes up Elliot isn't his mum! He makes his bed in regimented way, talks about "daily program," has all meals at the same time every day with Leon. Also Leon watches Seinfeld, sort of thing you'd have on in a mental institution. At 10am every day he helps out around the house, = work/project/craft time?
Are the people playing baskets in a prison yard? All black players, which is more likely for a prison yard in America than an institution.
"Church group" two days a week might be the meetings he has to go to for his drug addiction??
Room is like a cell. "Mum" tell him lights out.
He wants to know where Tyrrel is, Mr Robot entity would rather kill the Elliot part than reveal it. E writes that Mr Robot shot him in the head again, So Mr R had been coming to him before, this isn't the first time he's seen him.
Gideon (old boss) comes to visit Elliot in his "home," very formal setting, chairs across a small table. There's someone listening, like a guard = could be either institution or prison.
Gideon says he had to furlough everyone at Allsafe. Says the FBI think he is behind or complicit in the hack, seems like he wants Elliot to help him but doesn't sound like he knows Elliot was behind the hack for sure, which makes it more likely an institution than a prison where he's been convicted (also if Elliot had been convicted, would the FBI still be after Gideon?). Gideon says he will go to the police with what he knows if he doesn't help him - was it Mr Robot or someone he sends who kills him later?? (Someone is hacking Gideon's email - if that's Mr Robot, how does he get on the internet?)
The big guy hacker is the bank's "IT guy" who they wanted to help them with the ransomware! He got a job on the inside (or always had one).
Episode 2
While the guy is burning the money they're playing Phil Collin's Take Me Home, the lyrics of which say "oh take me home, 'cause I don't remember, take take me home, oh I've been a prisoner all my life." So more on the theme of imprisonment and memory.
Not sure how the guy from The Office (Ray) fits into either institution or imprisonment theory, as it seems like they can talk freely and he obviously wants Elliot to do something with computers, which would be limited if he were inside.
Nancy Grace spot on tv says no one's been prosecuted for the hack, so Elliot can't have been. But could Elliot be in prison for something else??
Who's the guy that fetches Mrs Wellick?
Ray says he spoke to Elliot "last night" which is an odd time for Elliot to be free if in an institution or prison. Is Ray some sort of counsellor? Elliot's diary says the time they met was after 10.43pm (at least he has diary entries until then) but "last night" could mean evening.
When Elliot gets a call at the end he's ringing someone, but then he doesn't know who it is when Tyrrel answers.
Sooo... I think Elliot's in a mental institution. If he were in prison then Gideon couldn't really threaten him with much, because he would already have been convicted. Unless I suppose he's waiting trial and he's in some sort of prison type of mental hospital?? First time through I thought they mentioned how long it had been since the original hack, but if they said it I missed it second time through. So not sure if it's been long enough for a conviction or not.
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Spunky
Member
10-07-2001
| Friday, July 22, 2016 - 10:06 am
Kitt, your generous input on this show makes the story interesting enough to give it a try again and again and I thank you because it makes me understand a bit better what I can't grasp while watching the show alone, no one to ask what the heck it all means because I really want to understand while I watch, but all I feel is a sense of frustration, because all I see is this genius hacker who keeps getting more and more addicted to either the drugs or more tormented by his obsessions. I can't see anything as interesting as you make it sound in your description above.
You and I should be watching this together... it would be fun seeing through your eyes.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Friday, July 22, 2016 - 10:59 am
I thought I might have scared everyone away by being too enthusiastic! But thank you!
That's why I always need to watch it twice, there's so much going on, and the first time through you sense something isn't quite right but can't always see what it is.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Friday, July 29, 2016 - 4:45 pm
Some thoughts on Episode 2 (I'm a bit behind)...
Several stories. The main one seems clear, I still think Elliot's in a mental hospital of some sort, and he's going to group therapy with the "church group" (and we heard another guy's story this time, which involved drugs and beating someone up, which further suggests it's a forced therapy, not a regular church group), and individual therapy with Ray (the guy from The Office).
Elliot talks to Tyrell on a pay phone, more clues he's locked up in some way. Tyrell obviously had a plan with Mr Robot but Elliot doesn't remember it... or did he? Sometimes I wonder if we can believe any of what we see, what if Elliot's just imagining the conversation? For now I'm assuming this is real.
After he overdoses on adderal in the ball park to try to get rid of Mr Robot, I think the FBI goons he imagines grabbing him are actually medical staff from the facility trying to treat him, particularly as the "cement" thing forced him to vomit, which seems like something they would do, even if in the form of some sort of stomach pump.
Ray seems like he's an ex-addict (he's on dialysis, could that be caused by some kind of addiction?) who has worked as a counselor since getting over his wife's death. But he's also into hacking or some sort of computer spying and is pretty ruthless, as we saw he had that guy beaten up because he thought he was hiding something from him.
When Ray walks into the diner to speak to Elliot, the picture does a shimmy like it did when Elliot was "crashing." Not sure if that is significant in determining whether the next scene is real or not. Ray refers to the person who chaired the group as the Chaplain, and gives him his notebook back because he might want it later, he knows because he's "been there." Ray knows the person Elliot talks about in his book is someone who takes him over, and that's why he can't remember stuff, which means he has some sort of training. I liked the "keep stumbling in the right direction."
So someone shot Romero dead in his mother's basement. I am presuming it wasn't Mr Robot even though we saw what looked to be that at the end of last season, as that was meant to be a month ago. They say he's a drug dealer so that could be why, but Mobley and Trenton no longer trust Darlene and Elliot because of it, they think they might be cleaning up the evidence of what they did, possibly with the help of the Dark Army.
I guess we will see more of the FBI woman now she's linked Romero to F Society.
Then there's Angela's story, which now seems completely separated from Elliot's. The E-Corp boss says what good men those two colleagues were, but they were both complicit in covering up the chemical leak that killed her mother. He gives her info that can get them both fired for insider trading - is he teaching her to be ruthless/providing some catharsis for her or is he just using her for revenge because they did something illegal while his employees? I wasn't sure what was in it for him to have the situation revealed while they were still employees, and whether it really was a favour (in his way of thinking) to let Angela expose them, or whether he was up to something else.
I'm not sure much happened this episode but still it was all so fascinating. I need to catch up on episode 3.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Wednesday, August 03, 2016 - 6:36 pm
And some thoughts on episode 3 from last week (or possibly 4, don't know if the first day was one long episode or two singles)...
We finally find out why Elliot was seeing a psychiatrist. He was doing a project, making something hacker proof, hadn't finished at end of day so they locked him in a server room, he fell asleep, when he woke up all the servers in the room were destroyed although he didn't remember doing it. So they fired him and he was sent to Anger Management. Unclear how long ago this was but he was already having blackouts back then.
He dressed as his Dad (=Mr Robot) and wears that mask for the first time then too. And it's the Mr Robot persona that takes over and tells Darlene that he could be a Trojan Horse at Allsafe if he took that job, and take E-Corp down. Says it wouldn't be hard, it'd be the follow through that's important (and that's the part that has crushed him now), have to destroy the public's confidence in them (E-Corp). At this point Darlene hasn't thought about any of this, it's all Elliot/Mr Robot even though now she seems to be the driving force in keeping it going.
When Darlene visits Elliot she says she can't understand why he did this, so he must have committed himself voluntarily (which probably means he can leave if he wants to???). And it's Elliot who now wants Darlene to stop what she's doing, as it's too dangerous, and rightly so by the sound of it, as it seems like she's being followed and Cisco thinks the Dark Army are getting nervous.
Mr Robot suggests a Winner Takes All chess deal, but not surprisingly all their games end in stalemate.
Then Darlene's panicking gets Elliot involved with Ray, as it's his only way to access a computer. And Ray ominously tells him his online business is very important to him and he prefers discretion, and gets a guard(?) to babysit Elliot while he's on there. So Elliot gets access to all his info and finds out about Berenstain, the FBI's surveillance program that Romero knew about, and decides to hack the FBI. But it's all going to end in tears!
Other stories:
Angela released the data that incriminated those E-Corp employees, and thinks the boss wanted her to do that so that he had leverage over her. She works out (she thinks) that the boss wants her to persuade his team to remove a provision in the settlement agreement that he's not been able to get removed, but he denies this. I'm curious about whether this story will ever become mingled with the main one.
I don't really understand the Mrs Wellick story. That scene of her and her lackeys shows they are involved in what happened with Gideon, but I don't really know how. Whatever they are doing needs money so she tries to get it from Scott from E-Corp (the one whose wife Tyrell accidentally killed) but he's not going to do anything for her.
And I'm not much wiser on the BD Wong story either, but at least I know my idea that Elliot simply imagined she was female when he first met her was wrong, as it seems like she is transgender, but just chooses to act male for business purposes. She obviously has a direct link to E-Corp and the E-Corp boss told her the UN would be voting on something by now, while he says she must be patient. I presume this is something to do with Ecoins, and them plotting to use that currency now all the banks are over???? Seems like BD Wong is precipitating everything by moving to the "Stage 2 schedule," which hopefully we'll learn more about tonight.
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