'Mr Robot' Recap: 'ps1.8_m1rr0r1ng.qt'
Elliot finally confronts his past, and everyone else contemplates their future.
This is how deep the rabbit hole goes. The rabbit hole reveals that Elliot is ‘Mr. Robot’. That his dad used to work at a technology store. That he’s been talking to himself this entire time. That he’s been following a ghost. That… who even knows at this point?
The eighth episode of Mr. Robot begins with a flashback to Elliot’s childhood and his dad working at a technology store dealing with an unruly customer. It then snaps back to Elliot arguing with his father as they’re being followed by a group of mysterious men. Mr. Robot appears increasingly paranoid about him and Elliot being captured, Elliot seeing Darlene, or any small thing that will bring down his entire operation. Darlene and Angela catch up to Elliot, and he is confronted with the fact that Mr. Robot isn’t real.
The entire season has provided plenty of hints to suggest that Mr. Robot wasn’t a real person. Yet, at moments that theory broke down. It would appear that fsociety has been just Elliot and Darlene the entire time, and maybe Tywell’s arc is just a subplot in Elliot’s head. (Running alongside the main action, Tywell was just told by his wife, who forced herself to give birth, that he isn’t allowed into their family until he “fixes” his mistakes.)
The poker chips were eventually going to fall. The only issue is that some chips fell on the table, some fell through the table, and some of the chips were potato chips. The final episode of the season could attempt to resolve these questions, but when the show already exists in a world where the line between reality is so thin, you have to wonder if they’ll ever play it straight.
