Allsafe is controlled. The Dark Army is ready to meet Elliot. Tyrell and Joanna's plan goes into effect.
All season long the audience has been speculating on whether or not Mr. Robot is a real person or simply a figment of Elliot's imagination. The season has been structured in such a way that either possibility could be true. This has always been a show that likes to bend reality. Everyone refers to E Corp as Evil Corp because that's the only way that Elliot's brain can process the information. Elliot talks to the audience frequently as a construct he created. This is a show designed to expose these big and twisted secrets about the characters. Part of the fun of this season has been seeing just how much amusement and confidence the creative team can derive from each situation. This season has staged episodes around familiar plot devices but the execution of the characters and the situations have always been all consuming and really fun to watch.But the shocking reveals at the end of this episode are the biggest head-spinning moments yet. The reveals happen in such a way that they send Elliot himself spiraling. He literally breaks the fourth wall to ask if the audience was in on it the whole time or if they were just as confused and surprised as he was. He then takes things a step further and actually knocks the camera to the ground. That's a level of meta that is hugely ambitious for a show to do. And yet, Mr. Robot pulls it off with ease because the twist at the center of those final few minutes was just so unexpected and yet brilliantly executed.
Darlene has become a crucial part of the show over the first season. She has inserted herself into Elliot's life in a way that felt familial even though Elliot and the audience were led to believe that he was meeting her for the first time through fsociety. The audience knows that Elliot has these underlying mental health issues. But completely erasing Darlene's existence as his sister is such a devastating twist. The two of them have been through a lifetime of tragedy. And he was just able to forget her completely - to the point where she needs to remind him of who she is in order for him to actually remember. And it doesn't seem like this is the first time this has happened either. It's a brilliant move for the show too. The audience has spent so much time speculating on Mr. Robot that it was able to be more subtle with the reality of who Darlene really was. In hindsight, it makes everything about her so much better. She was already a strong character. But now the audience understands that she really did have that familial bond with Elliot that extends to her always wanting to protect him despite the increasingly dangerous situations he was gotten himself into.
That wasn't the only revelation of the hour though. It certainly was the big one that hijacked the concluding moments of the episode with so much energy and excitement. That big reveal also led to Elliot discovering that Mr. Robot looks exactly like his father. Of course, that doesn't mean he's not real. But it sure has been swayed into that way of thinking for the moment. If that's the case though, then what does the audience make of the scenes where Mr. Robot is seen independent of Elliot? Are those really just Elliot in a different state of mind? Is Mr. Robot just a proxy that Elliot created and he doesn't have as strong a grasp on reality as he thought he did? That is completely possible. Elliot was capable of forgetting about his sister. Him disappearing in his mind and acting as Mr. Robot with other people isn't unfathomable.
Of course, all of these big reveals happen in the closing minutes of the episode. The hour preceding it is just as entertaining too. Tyrell is spiraling after killing Sharon last week. In fact, the Elliot is Mr. Robot theory makes perfect sense when looking at the scene between Tyrell and Mr. Robot. After that moment, Tyrell comes home realizing just how much the world will change because of fsociety. He no longer sees Elliot as a man fueled by simple revenge. He now sees the larger plan and how it can effect him in a way that's much larger than simply becoming CTO of Evil Corp. Of course, his situation is complicated further by the police wanting to question him about the murder. But his wife continues to be so cunning and manipulative by forcing her water to break before any questions can be asked.
And lastly, the big reveal about Darlene comes about because Elliot has a meeting with White Rose from the Dark Army. It's a fantastic and mesmerizing performance by BD Wong. He controls the situation in such a demanding and efficient way. Elliot and fsociety are capable of getting everything together. But they are still just a small operation that can bend easily because of the fluctuations to Elliot's mental state. They may be careful when it comes to only contacting each other in person. But Elliot and Darlene are capable of getting things ready on their end so the hack against Evil Corp across the world can happen in a matter of hours. That's such a rewarding accomplishment for both of them. It comes at a time where Elliot desperately needed a win. But it all comes crashing down in a spiraling way with the final reveal. In the end, this was a completely phenomenal episode that wasn't afraid of pushing the boundaries of Elliot's reality.
Some more thoughts:
- "eps1.7_wh1ter0se.m4v" was written by Randolph Leon and directed by Christoph Schrewe.
- If Mr. Robot does turn out to be real, how in the world does he look the same in the old pictures as he does in present day? Unless Elliot's subconscious is projecting the image of the present onto the past in order to establish that connection in a way that could be easily understood?
- Gideon really is a good person who is caught up in all of this mess. He is the innocent person caught in the war between two forces. That probably makes him the most tragic character of the season if the mechanisms at Evil Corp and fsociety destroy his career. Will Elliot be able to live with that?
- Elliot notes that he told Krista the truth about him hacking everybody and she reacted in the same way most everyone would in that situation. He deletes everything about her from his computer and moves on to the next mission. Though now he has no one he can truly trust in this world.
- The Dark Army has obviously been planning this meeting with Elliot for awhile now if that was the true purpose of getting Angela and Ollie to infect the Allsafe system with the virus.
- Every week the direction of the show continues to impress me. It truly is one of the core drivers of the show, the characters and the action. It's fantastic seeing how quickly Elliot picks up White Rose's obsession with time. It's also great seeing Elliot's last freak out about his own reality.
