Mr. Robot

spronk_sl said:

the theory that elliot is in prison or a mental hospital in season 2 is pretty interesting. his "routine" consists of stuff you would do in jail : same place for all your meals, going to the rec area and sitting on bleachers watching people play ball for afternoon rec time, no access to computers, the whole routine of washing/bed making/etc, and getting phone access in short allotments. Would also put a whole new spin on his visit by gideon.

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Here's another theory: Elliot is God; or, at least stuck in the prison of his mind, where he is God. Without a strict daily regiment, chaos takes over (fsociety). There's lots of evidence supporting this.

Ie: (from episode one) "But they might as well be called Evil Corp. In fact, after a thorough, intensive self-reprogramming, that's all my mind hears, sees or reads when they pop up in my world. Krista would have a shit fit if she knew I did that. But that's what they are..."

Literally everyone and everything in the show refers to "E Corp" as "Evil Corp," even when Eliot isn't around, which is Eliot's programming. Eliot (God) is buried in layers of these self-reprogrammings. He'd rather live in his self-constructed maze and/or let chaos take over than face and heal his pain.

Soygen_sl said:

Where does Hodor fit into all of this?

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I think he's the doorman at E-corp.

Just watch the 5 minutes of his routine again, it has to be a prison, not a psychiatric facility:

An authority figure opens up his room using a sliding (not hinged) door - he's apparently not allowed to leave said room until then, at which point he has to get dressed and fix his bed.
He then eats all his meals in the same location, which while it has female forms in the background, has no female faces.
In between he cleans up around the (Big) house, doing the stereotypical kitchen and laundry duties. AFAIK, most psych facilities don't force their customers to do so.
He gets his free time in the yard. There IS a female there, but she also looks somewhat like his sister and he considers her his totem.
Then there's the church and psychiatry portions of the day. Though the latter could be the police interviewing him, trying to find out where Tyrell's body is stashed (or at least why they arrested him covered in blood or some such), the bit of info he's waiting for Mr Robot to reveal.

Plus, isn't "his house" in that sequence a line of rowhouses? Didn't he have a freestanding house in season 1? It all seems way more convincing that any reality even similar to what he's portraying.

wombat_sl said:

trying to find out where Tyrell's body is stashed (or at least why they arrested him covered in blood or some such)

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Tyrell called him at the end of the second episode. He's likely not dead.

Thought he lived in an apartment in season 1.

Eomer_sl said:

Tyrell called him at the end of the second episode. He's likely not dead.

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I no longer automatically believe any scene with Elliot in it. I do believe Gideon visited him - look at the blocking, they're clearly on opposite sides of the visitation glass / dining room chair, plus Gideon goes to the FBI afterwards. I do believe he talked to the prison guard with the dog at least the two times, though the missing "visit" could have been the guard abusing his known memory lapses. I am fuzzy on whether Leon exists - that could have been Elliot that threw the basketball, plus Leon disappears once the guard shows up (though everyone else leaves too, lest they get labeled as a narc).

But I don't believe Tyrell is alive. FS wants people to believe he's alive, as he can take the blame indefinitely if he (or his body) is never found (hence the baby monitor, so they can send his wife calls when she can't answer them and falsify his time of death). Mr Robot wants Elliot to believe he's alive, so Elliott can feed the cops the story Mr Robot is feeding him to get "them" out of prison. But Mr Robot used the popcorn gun to make FS' patsy, despite Elliot getting himself incarcerated (again, probably covered in Tyrell's blood) to try and ruin that.

It's not just that- look at all the imagery in a lot of these scenes. There are bars and fences everywhere. I don't think it's an accident. The stairs look just like bars. These scenes were shot intentionally this way.

Vulture wrote an article about the mental hospital theory... It seems pretty plausible

We Have a Mr. Robot Theory -- Vulture

also agree on most of what was said earlier, including the opening scene of the second episode being absolutely amazing.

hmm 3 episodes with no tyrell is a strange choice. Can't say I'm a huge fan of this opening at all. Looks like things move forward next week at least.

Nothing in the episode to make me think the theory is bunk yet. Still not positive but pretty convinced it's a secure mental hospital. There were definitely chicks in the religion group. Dunno. Craig Robinson is definitely more than just a prison guard.

Head of a mental hospital or something? Then somehow clears Elliot after he helps him with whatever bitcoin site scam he's dealing with?

Daly_sl said:

Head of a mental hospital or something? Then somehow clears Elliot after he helps him with whatever bitcoin site scam he's dealing with?

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Yeah, I was thinking one of the head facilitators if not the head. He clearly had Elliot in his office toward the end of the episode.

Well since he was arrested for murder and found incompetent to stand trial, the medications have forced his Tyrell persona to the side. The same way he got "freed" himself of his drug dealer persona by killing the only links to it. That one may come back as just a scene or two later Mr Robot put a gun to his friends head and then told him they were gonna hug and he loved him.

I'm not entirely positive anyone is directly real on this show at all.

When he was freaking out while taking Adavan, this is the screen that flashed into view for 1/2 a second.

So this season they no longer auto correct e-Corp to evil corp. Also, more of the characters are directly centered in the shot, as opposed to last season when everyone was off center. Not sure if it means anything.

I have to remember to stop checking this thread until the season is over and I binge watch it. I keep clicking on it for no good reason since I'm waiting to watch it.

Khane_sl said:

I have to remember to stop checking this thread until the season is over and I binge watch it. I keep clicking on it for no good reason since I'm waiting to watch it.

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I've learned not to go near TV threads unless I am completely up to date.

And Xarpolis, if you are seeing anything relevant in that screen grab tell us, because it's gibberish to me.

I don't see anything important. I wasn't sure, so I froze it right where it first happened, just to make that picture.... I should have waited until I watched the entire episode because that little bit didn't serve much purpose. Kernel Panic happens to also be the title of the episode. I think it's just the way of "computering" his crazy thoughts.