Full disclosure: I am the most gullible movie/TV viewer ever. I can't say why, but sometimes I wouldn't pick on even the most obvious Shyamalan-esque plot twist ever. And did this show pull a plot "twist" - and one that was probably super obvious to everyone who wasn't me. Elliot even asks the audience (his "imaginary friend") ". . . you new all along, didn't you?" when the twist is "revealed".
And now, I will spoiler this entire thing under the cut. For anyone who might be both reading this and considering watching, I hear that spoilers can actually enhance the enjoyment of a TV show.
So Mr. Robot is actually Elliot's alternative personality (he has dissociative identity disorder). And also his dead father. This thing was not going for subtlety.
I'm sure if I went back and rewatched this thing (in an alternate universe where I have the time to do something like that), I'd notice that Mr. Robot and Elliot are never seen interacting with each other and other characters at the same time. Though I have to point out that I never once noticed Elliot's conversation with his "imaginary friend" when "Mr. Robot" was interacting with a character who wasn't Elliot (essentially, when Elliot was being all aggressive at another character).
Oh, and Elliot forgets another main character is his sister and tries to kiss her (don't worry, the sister freaks out, which triggers the breakdown that also helps Elliot realize that Mr. Robot is. . . himself).
Anyway, I'm aware this sounds cheesy as hell. It is. But the actors do their thing very earnestly, especially Rami Malek (Elliot), so the story just. . . works for me. There's one particularly harrowing scene where Elliot demoralizes a lonely man by telling him that no one would care if he died. This happens while sweet pictures of this nice guy with his cat are shown on the screen and Elliot tells the audience that "Mr. Robot" targeted the poor bastard precisely because he's painfully lonely. Bill. The character's name is Bill. By the end of Elliot's little speech, poor Bill looks like he's about to start crying. And so does Elliot. My own chest was getting a little tight (I didn't cry though).
In that scene, "Mr. Robot" was yelling at Elliot to just crush the man. Then, when Elliot opens his mouth to apologize, "Mr. Robot" yells at him not to. So Elliot basically yelled at himself into being an awful person. Because of some hacking thing that had to do with the main plot that I barely remember.
I watched this episode almost two days ago and I'm still praying that poor Bill is okay. And he's not even real.
Anyway, I feel like I must mention the crappy episode where Elliot's girlfriend is fridged for no particular reason. Seriously. The poor girl's death doesn't even have anything to do with the plot. Even Elliot's meltdown could have easily happened without her existing. I'm willing to give this show pass on that only because I counted nine different women in the cast. Most of them were minor characters, but I'm always more tolerant of fridging when there are several interesting women in the cast.
The women of Mr. Robot are actually pretty diverse in terms of personality. I kinda want to write a separate post just about them.
Oh and there was also Tyrell Wellick, this pretty boy, psychotic corporate executive who gets emotionally, financially, and socially destroyed in the first season. I'm not sure if I was supposed to feel sorry for him or not, but I just enjoyed the ride. I think Tyrell Wellick is supposed to be Elliot's foil, but I find that whole thing kinda boring so I won't talk much about that.
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