Okay so can I just say this is one of the most defining, cult-worthy, interesting, complex and honest shows of our generation? Would that describe how much I have grown to love this show over the episodes… over the darkness, the light, the crazy, the sad, the triumphal and the downright psychotic?
Episode 9 was epic in its awesomeness.
‘You knew all along, didn’t you?’
Elliot says in his voice-over as he stands upon his dad’s tombstone, realizing he has been imagining him as Mr. Robot, while simultaneously forgetting what his father looked like–all along. He is addressing his friend–which would be us, the audience. And yes, we did suspect it all along. We did imagine Mr. Robot was Elliot’s total invention, a lá Fight Club.
The show’s clear anarchical undertones and hatred towards corporate america drew parallels to the cult classic that is Fight Club since the first episodes of the show; just like Mr. Robot’s extreme persona drew parallels to the legend that is Tyler Durden. So no, it wasn’t much of a surprise when we finally found out that Mr. Robot is Elliot’s own invention, and that Fsociety was his creation all along.
But then, it really wasn’t meant to be a surprise at all. The show even humors us when it plays The Pixies ‘where is my mind’ in a scene towards the end of episode 9, which is the same song played in Fight Club‘s iconic last scene.
Elliot also confirms this wasn’t really meant to be a surprise, when he says once again in his voice-over, ‘You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you? I am Mr. Robot’.
This brings us to the fact that the point of the show wasn’t to innovate in the field of mental diseases, but to slowly expose Elliot’s true self to us, right from the moment he goes off the deep end and creates his imaginary friend (which would be us), and sets out on the path to destroy Evil Corp.
And the show has done this brilliantly, all while keeping us engaged to the plot line.
What has always been one of the most interesting aspects of this show is Elliot’s value system, which we realize that he learned from his dad. So it’s almost like Elliot is using the figure of his father to push him to do this revolutionary thing at this moment of crisis–causing him to go off the deep end–maybe because he doesn’t believe he has the strength to do it himself. One of the best things about this show is its ambiguity. Elliot isn’t a reliable narrator, and neither is the reality he shows us through his eyes.
Tyrell Wellick has also been a really pleasant surprise as a character. At the beginning I didn’t know what to make of him. Then I started hating him. Now he fascinates me. It’s almost like through his character arc, we’re seeing the birth of a psychopath. It’s interesting, as is Elliot’s choice to not fight the alliance Tyrell is so eager to enter with him that he would even threaten Elliot with physical violence, right after he has discovered the emotional wonders that killing a person can illicit within himself.
All of this is the stuff of legends, this generation’s ode to the themes first exposed in fight club, but done in a very new, original, and relevant way. This show definitely has the potential to become epic. Like, superhero epic. I’m pleased with where the show took us, and I’m very much looking forward to how this will all end.
Monique Sanchíz de Mihalitsianos 