Mr. Robot Obsession, eps1.0_hellofriend.mov Notes, and Spoilers #MrRobot

So since I first watched the first episode of Mr. Robot, I’ve become a bit obsessed with it despite seeing the ways that is derivative of other works.

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Part of my obsession is that it includes technology that make sense. For example, I was all-in on Skyfall until one scene ruined it. The scene that ruined it was when Q connected Silva’s laptop to the MI6 network; honestly, it’s basic that one would connect an enemy computer system to an offline LAN with no connection to any sensitive systems. I digress.

I had a long (and continuing) conversation with my coworkers. Actually, we’ve talked about it so much that I’m not entirely sure who had which ideas. I need to check in with them if it’s okay to link to them (you know how it is with privacy and life/work separation).

[Here are where the spoilers begin.]

I had considered that Mr. Robot could have a Fight Club influence with Mr. Robot being a secondary personality.

One of my co-workers independently came up with the Fight Club idea; and, since he said it, I’ve joined the Fight Club clone band wagon but with a twist.

I believe that Elliot programmed Mr. Robot to compartmentalize operational knowledge in his own head.

Proof of Fight Club Clone and other notes... [The more speculative thoughts I placed in brackets. I grabbed the timestamps from the YouTube stream.]

  • 00:12:00 Elliot says, "Fuck society." It is bleeped to "F society."
  • 00:13:18 Again Elliot says, "Fuck society." It is bleeped to "F society."
  • 00:15:57 Krista Gordon says, "When you hide, your delusions come back."
  • 00:17:21 Elliot flinches when Ollie Parker touches his shoulder. Elliot shrugs it off.
  • 00:18:06 Elliot states that he's reprogrammed his brain to read/hear Evil Corp instead of E Corp. [This is where I started to wonder if it is possible that Elliot programmed Mr. Robot into his head.]
  • 00:18:49 Elliot shakes hands with Tyrell Wellick without flinching.
  • 00:19:18 Elliot begins thinking, "An executive running Linux." Tyrell Wellick knows exactly what Elliot's thinking.
  • 00:22:18 Elliot refers to himself as anonymous. [Is this a reference to the hacker group or is it indicative of him splitting his personality into separate beings?]
  • 00:34:50 When Elliot finally speaks to Mr. Robot, no one else is close enough to hear them.
  • 00:37:22 Mr. Robot says that his father gets sent to jail just like Elliot and that Mr. Robot is going to break him out. [It could be that each personality his his own personal history or understanding of their shared history.]
  • 00:38:16 Mr. Robot physically opens the first door and knocks on the second; however,
  • 00:38:37 Romero (who answers the door) does not look at Mr. Robot; he only looks at Elliot.
  • 00:44:19 When Elliot asks Darlene where her "boss" is (presumably Mr. Robot), she tells him to "Cut the bullshit." She then wants to know when she'll get root access to finish putting Terry Colby's [invalid] IP 218.108.149.373 in the code.
  • 00:44:43 Mr. Robot only talks to Elliot when Darlene leaves earshot.
  • 00:45:25 Mr. Robot explains Elliot's motivations. Mr. Robot's speech mirrors Elliot's own rant.
  • 00:51:52 After Terry Colby snubs Angela Moss during the debrief, Tyrell Wellick has a reaction shot that could be indicating that he either agrees with Terry Colby or that he dislike's Colby's tone as much as Elliot dislikes it. However,
  • 00:51:20 Terry Colby whispers into Tyrell Wellick's ear who then takes Gideon out of the room to have Angela Moss removed from the briefing. [No one else could have interacted with Gideon in that scene. That Tyrell Wellick interacts with Gideon independently could indicate that Tyrell Wellick is real.]
  • 00:53:14 Elliot puts away the folder that would incriminate Mr. Robot's team and Tyrell Wellick notices it. [At present, I'm unsure if this matters; but it seemed like an interesting moment for them to make sure to have in the show.]
  • 01:01:07 The hug between Elliot and Angela Moss has emotional gravitas. There's a moment when it appears that Angela is going to kiss Elliot from which Elliot, in alignment with what we've seen of his character, withdraws.
  • 01:02:29 A man in black finally speaks to Elliot; however, no one is nearby to hear the interaction.
  • 01:02:34 None of the men in black actually touch Elliot from now through the end of the show.
  • 01:02:39 The police do not see any problems on Elliot's side of the street. [This could either be a demonstration of how powerful the men in black are or that Elliot is inside one of his delusions.]
  • 01:04:06, 1:04:09, 1:04:11 [So here's where I get caught wondering if this is Elliot's delusion or real-life casting decisions. Do we believe that a cabal of rich people who are controlling the world is going to welcome any sort of dark-skinned man into their club? However, on the flip side, do we believe Elliot would imagine that a dark-skinned man *could* be in their club?
  • 01:04:23 Elliot says, "Please tell me you're seeing this too." If we believe with Mr. Robot being a separate persona, could it be that we, as viewer, are yet another personality for Elliot who has been created to validate Elliot's perception? Could it be that the viewer is a parallel process working against Mr. Robot?]

So yeah, I’m a bit obsessed...

HumanitiesF. Omar TelanMr. Robot, Sam Esmail