The problem for me is that, at this point, if Mr. Robot is just a figment then it's a cheap trick and not a clever twist. Because sure, they can always go back and show how all those independent scenes of him doing things are just Elliot doing them, or whatever, but they could also go back and photoshop Mickey Mouse as the EvilCorp VP and tell us this has been a Disney cartoon the whole time. But if the narrative is to have any legitimacy, I think Mr. Robot being fake is out the window. OR they have a much more interesting way of explaining it.
I have a couple theories: Theory 1: Mr Robot is a figment of Elliot's imagination. This is the simplest answer. Elliot wanted to take down Evil Corp, and needed a push to do it. Mr. Robot was the push Elliot needed, and he's been either talking to and encouraging Elliot, or taking over and acting as Elliot (any scene where it is just Mr Robot and another person). Theory 2: Elliot is dead. Mr Robot is real, Elliot is a projection of Mr Robot. Elliot died and Mr Robot holds Evil Corp responsible for the death of his son. To cope, he created an entire life for his son through which he acts out his own revenge of taking down Evil Corp. this is why Elliot doesn't exist online: he is dead and doesn't exist. It is also why none of the pictures at the end showed Elliot any older than about 10. Offshoot of theory 2: Mr Robot killed Elliot. In episode 2 they talk about Elliot's dad hitting Elliot when he told his mom about the cancer. Maybe he snapped and killed Elliot. The guilt led him to create this life for Elliot that doesn't exist, and he takes it out on evil corp, blaming them for the whole thing. Either way, I feel like this show isn't done surprising the shit out of us. I kinda feel like this show is what M Night Shaymalan wishes he could still do.
Interesting recap here: http://gizmodo.com/mr-robot-recap-hackers-dont-trust-other-hackers-and-1723854350 Lots of spoilers.
I'm betting that the old game arcade is actually a room full of racks of computers, but Elliot doesn't see them that way.
At this point, it is a bit of a let down. However, it was consistent with the all the set up. They had already written that conclusion, obviously, and had no way of realizing the show was going to be successful, with so many people speculating about it. I read a thing the other day, that the real fun begins in season 2. Now that they've got the "who is Mr. Robot" device out of the way, it might really be exciting. I'll be interested to see if Angela takes the job at E, with the intent of taking them down from the inside - with Elliot's help. (Interesting that it's "E" Corp, with Elliot and his dad (Edward) with E names. In last night's episode, when all the games flickering to life, they all looked especially pristine. To your first point, about that path being too easy - that will suck in a lazy way, if from here forward, they are able to just show different things or people, and take them away later, because "that was just Elliot's reality." What was Angela doing when she was sitting on her Dad's couch with her laptop? It looked like she was refreshing a Google search or something. (I tried to rewatch that scene, but I was having technical difficulties . . . hacked by Elliot, no doubt.)
With the way his narration is going, and saying "You knew it the whole time, didn't you?" I'm assuming that they knew it would be pretty obvious to the viewers. It's like half Fight Club, half A Beautiful Mind. And in my opinion, for a show that is trying to be realistic and intellectual even in its psychological craziness, "I am Mr. Robot" is better than a soap opera-style "I'm your father, I never died, and nobody recognized me at all, and I haven't aged one bit!" But the whole "cemetery reveal" was obvious from the beginning of the episode. Good ending shot with the popcorn machine. Sets it up for somebody finding the gun, most likely at the beginning of the finale.
Is the popcorn machine real? If so, who loaded it, to have it start popping corn when they were in there? If it's not real, maybe it's just a box of Styrofoam peanuts, and the "popping" was all in Elliot's head, which was a way of showing him remembering the gun is there. (Chekhov's popcorn., lol.)
At least they somewhat payed homage to Fight Club with the "Where Is My Mind" piano rendition in the last scene. I thought that was a nice a touch. Also, if Elliot is real and Mr. Robot the figment, why couldn't Elliot find a single trace of himself online? Because he erased himself from paranoia or is there another layer of psychosis? They haven't really revealed yet what his mental condition is, just that he's gone crazy before. And the scenes where Mr. Robot interacted with other people sans Elliot? There were a couple of those, Elliot playing Mr. Robot?
Yeah, I'm disappointed with the outcome so far. But even beyond that, it all feels like a mystery that's not really worth unraveling. It's a personal psychodrama, which is fine if you like that, but I prefer storylines that go somewhere in an interesting fashion and right now it's not really there.
Boy, they didn't edit that scene at all. I did notice during the restaurant conversation with Krista, the guy said something like "and after the Ashley Madison dump my wife found out about the affair anyway." The shot was cut away from his face and that first part sounded looped in. Obviously, they filmed the scene awhile ago, so it's interesting that they're committed to making the show seem relevant and real.
My DVR is consistently cutting off the end of the episodes, and it seems that USA doesn't have a replay scheduled at all. Can anybody direct me to a site where I can see the last scenes? I've read the recaps but I would like to get my own opinion on it.
The closest thing to an interesting moment in the finale is the post credits scene. That was really weak. For a show that started so strong, it really seemed to just meander to a useless conclusion. Ok, cool, bold move in doing a financial meltdown, but having a finale that is basically all about the main character not remembering how he messed up the world, some people celebrating, some people covering up the evidence, and a guy going missing that leads nowhere is not exacting riveting TV.
They are reshowing the finale on 9/9 at 11 on USA. Not sure if they'll continue to show other episodes, but I think there was a promo that said they were going to reshow the whole series. You can also watch episodes online: http://www.usanetwork.com/mrrobot/episodes Maybe it was just to show that the Chinese lady was Spoiler a Chinese dude.
Im six episodes in, and there is a few scenes where he interacts with other people directly and Elliot at the same time. Im guessing he probably is real and its the writers establishing him as an unreliable narrator, but who knows. I think it would be a let down if turns out hes just a figment of his imagination.