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Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy

nooneofconsequence posted:

Try explaining the dinner party at Gideon's house.

Or the scene where Gideon's boyfriend reassures him that despite all AllSafe's failures, they remain bourgeois as gently caress.

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Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy

Elucidarius posted:

That's easy. Elliot is gay and that was actually his boyfriend.

It's more that I can't imagine any permutation of Elliot being distracted from how he just lost thirty people's livelihoods with breakfast. That scene paired weirdly well with Philip talking about how he's too rich to really care about the hack.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
Doesn't that play into one of the other major fakeouts, where Elliot thinks he's entangling himself with the 0.0001 percent of the world or whatever, and by the end of the season it turns out he met a failed CTO and a bunch of lawyers, and Philip hardly even cares about him.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
After watching the premiere, I'm a big supporter of the Elliot is in a mental institution (another clue was how Angela has Qwerty now and Elliot's lost Flipper) theory, but think it's pretty transparent. I think it's covering up for another later-season twist like in S1.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy

Dangerous Person posted:

It would have made no sense but I almost expected Shayla to show up at that table

Nah, Eliot spent a lot of emotional energy on Shayla last season and considering loving Tyrell showed up (his first time on-screen this year!) I thought she was conspicuous in her absence. I half expected her to sit across from Eliot at the far end of the table.

Speaking of that scene, though, who was the blonde lady with Lloyd? And remind me who sat to Eliot's left?

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
I didn't catch the time it stated on Angela's terminal before her hack, but was it in the morning? I want to link it to Careful Massacre of the Bourgeoisie, starting on USA at 11!

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy

timp posted:

Yeah, noticed that again too unfortunately. That scene where Cisco was in the library with the Dark Army guy was so obviously ADR'ed that it was hard to watch right after the incredible 90's segment. But to be fair, I guess I'd rather they just go for it like they are now rather than make people who are clearly Chinese speak English, which wouldn't be as immersive.

Just remembered something I liked from the sitcom segment: Each character's credits closeup was during some traumatic moment in their life, and then they cheese it for the camera. Eliot has just fallen out of a window, Mr. Robot is in a doctor's office and presumably has just been told he has cancer, Angela is literally standing over her dead mother's casket and trying not to cry. It was both hosed up and hilarious all at once.

And, of course, Gideon becoming aware of his death. Considering its prominence in the delusion Mr. Robot constructed to protect Elliot, I think this lends more credence to Elliot ordering Gideon's murder than Mr. Robot doing so.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
I think the real guard's line, "See you tomorrow," was meant to indicate she was the guard Elliot had the most contact with and Darlene would likely have heard about.

Also, while this show and OitNB do portray transwomen prisoners differently, they're both set in NY.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy

precision posted:

Good and bad are extremely relative in this show. That's why I put "good guy" in quotes. The main villain of the show (ostensibly) - the head of E Corp - has done, to our knowledge, absolutely nothing that's as bad as what actual CEOs in the real world do every day. And yet he is the face we have of the beast that must be destroyed?
I kind of love what an even hand Price is getting this season. Maybe the show is buying into the old man act he ably put on last season, but White Rose is hacking circles around him and he's failing to manipulate Congress to his satisfaction.

Idia posted:

I caught up with the last two episodes and I really wish they did more with Joanna. Why would Joanna end up with some barista dude and not some other rich dude she can manipulate? I'm surprised she doesn't have a small circle of people from ECorp that she knows or a group of yuppie moms. I'm also upset that Tyrell is probably dead, I thought that he would be a larger threat in season 2.
There's a theory going around that Joanna met him at the party Tyrell murdered Sharon at, and she's using him to clear at least one of the charges from Tyrell's name and secure his severance (from the premiere) for her.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
This was a stunning episode. I loved the spotlight on Darlene, especially Mobley and Trenton's first meeting where she reads Elliot's speech from the pilot to them. For a show with a season and a half, it plays with its history so well.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy

The Sean posted:

the tall black guy and bearded white guy hackers from fsociety

Just before Elliot first meets Whiterose Darlene gives him her phone number and insists that he put it in his phone. Mr Robot is pissed off right afterwards as they're not supposed to make any real connection with eachother in fsociety. Why would Darlene have to give Elliot her phone number if they're siblings and previously close to eachother (previous to Elliots apparent freakout before the start of season 1, that is?). Really there'd be no reason for this.

In the scene right after that, the Fscociety Mask character calls out Gideon directly but the distorted voice sounds very much like Darlene to me.

In order:

Mobley is Indian, his real surname is Markesh, and he's played by an Indian guy.

Mr. Robot (Elliot) is pissed that his sister is putting their operation in danger. Elliot doesn't remember that, and has no reason at this time to need a fellow fsociety member's number. Presumably he deleted it when he and Darlene started fsociety last Halloween.

It is Darlene, who scrambled together an fsociety video to distract Gideon on Elliot's behalf. Presumably she knows the name of Elliot's boss and one of the wardens of Ecorp's files.

Also if Elliot is Darlene how did he seduce Cisco and the gun guy, and how did he hack into the women's ballet class? And if Darlene is Elliot how did she get sentenced to a men's prison?

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
My crackpot theories from this episode:

1) Mr. Robot had Tyrell moved into Susan Jacobs' house.

2) The "man and the girl" that Whiterose and her subordinate discuss are Mobley and Trenton.

3) Angela is Dom's ungendered ex-partner from her speech to Whiterose in China, which is how Dom was able to get away with barging into a suspect's apartment and talking to her so frankly and intimately.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
I'm expecting nothing less than Hannibal's second finale at this point. The whole season's basically been ratcheting up the tension on everybody.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
He really cares about Darlene, he was the one who proposed to her, leading to her moving out before S1.

Kind of a cool parallel with Dom's backstory.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy

SpaceAceJase posted:

The trailer for the remaining episodes just popped up on my Facebook newsfeed.
It's 50% spoilers and 50% red herrings. Watch at your own risk. I kind of regret seeing it, myself.

There's nothing too damning. I'd bet all of that is from this week's episode.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
This was going to be until USA ordered two extra episodes, turning the premiere and finale into two-parters.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
I refuse to believe that season 2 is about a time machine or the Manchurian Candidate or whatever theorycrafting has come up. You know what power exists in the real, mundane world, that we've seen multiple characters exert, that lets people turn their imaginations into reality? Money.

Whiterose, Price, Tyrell, Joanna, Elliot, they're all in this for the same thing. Power/money are synonymous. I think it's way more likely that the twist is "Elliot has already sold out" than "Whiterose is building a time machine." Just as Back to the Future 2 is about a time machine, it's also about somebody abusing preternatural power and inside knowledge for personal gain in a way that the other two films aren't. Elliot's not Marty or Doc Brown, he's Biff.

Mameluke fucked around with this message at 14:02 on Sep 15, 2016

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy

Accretionist posted:

I hope the bit o' pop culture Esmail drew from for stage two is 9/11

I mean, Elliot knows more than he'll admit to himself, and he's already included the demolition of a prominent Manhattan skyscraper in his perfect-world fantasies.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy

Blind Rasputin posted:

FBI lady is hotter than Angela IMHO.

Why can't we just say, "Sam Esmail's Lynchian attributes extend beyond tone and into the beauty of the women he chooses to cast," and leave it at that?

You're wrong Angela is flawless and 100% composed at all times

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
Turn the 4d3d3d3 up and down repeatedly on this single frame of a high school girl so we really feel her embarrassment

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy

kingcom posted:

The most unrealistic and confusing part of this show is that bitcoins are being used as a currency.

I'd love to see Mr. Robot: Euro Edition, where a depressed Afro-Belgian IT worker decides to take action against the idea that the USA can sell the Congo to the Chinese (?!?)

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
The Darlene episode was the best one in season 2. I want to see way more of her next year.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
Irving hacking the FBI's car :hellyeah:

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy

This is a really solid post. It seems right now like each season is separated by a marked shift in tone and a period of vast change unexplained time. Elliot's three days unconscious happened during the immediate aftermath of 5/9, while his week in a coma after being shot matched the week-long blackout. The tone of each season is different as well. This season feels more interconnected and fast-paced than the earlier two. It was really gratifying to see an episode that was full of Elliot (and Mr. Robot!) interacting with the rest of the main cast.

As far as irving, I didn't notice his Bluetooth until the hacking scene. The first time I saw the opening I believed it was the past, and the cashier he spoke to was a teenage Angela.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy

Boris Galerkin posted:

Also did Angela ever meet maleWong or only femaleWong? Because I only remember her meeting femaleWong and if that’s the case then I think maleWong just confirmed that your stupid theories about them being two people are stupid since he said he met her and stared into her big beautiful eyes.

Of all the horrible theories put forward by the Mr. Robot reddit, this one always struck me as the stupidest. Yes, Whiterose and Zhang being split into two people by timelines or whatever is so much more believable than her being a trans woman. Especially by a show as tightly-buttoned and heteronormative as this. :rolleyes:

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy

The Sean posted:

Any guesses as to who was behind the mask in the fsociety video this episode? It looked like a guy with a beard.

Mobley, at the Dark Army's behest.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
I'd rather have people actually talking to eachother than Elliot having like three scenes each with his sister and Angela in all of S2, which was one of my biggest peeves.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
The records are stage 2; without them one opportunity to rebuild what was lost is gone.

Also, this episode was wild. I'm glad Darlene confessed to Elliot; she's my favourite character by far. This is the nth week in a row that redditors have failed in predicting her death.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
Why was Whiterose in the Ecorp building, and why did her not wanting to see Angela hurt Angela so much?

I know we didn't see her, but the parallels with the last time someone brought the chicken man a bag of hard drives outside of a clean room were pretty obvious to me and I got a whole religious experience vibe from that scene. It seemed to me like Whiterose was rejecting Angela for some reason.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
If Back to the Future references are part of the time travel theory, I'm pretty sure Angela invites Elliot to get stoned and watch BTTF II in the first episode.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
Why is Darlangela way more into it when Elliot kisses Angela? Why does Darlene not actively attempt to prevent Angela from getting close to Elliot? It's a gross, impossible theory, is all.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
Some twists could have potential, like how the 71 buildings hack was a good surprise. I'm interested in the "Angela's mom is her Mr. Robot" theory because it expands on a character I like, and it explains some of her behaviours while opening new plotlines to explore. Whereas merging two essential characters at this point in the show, who have more screentime together than Elliot, feels reductive. Everything becomes a question of how one character's behaviour relates to the other.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
These three episodes are really shaping up to be the worst day of the entire cast's life. And it's not even nighttime yet.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
I kinda took it the other way. I assumed the Dark Army had a place for them alive in their plans all season, and it wasn't until halfway through the episode that I realized their scene in the S2 finale was a flashforward and Trenton was going to die the same day she revealed her plan to Mobley.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
Basically every thing is going Whiterose's way right now and she's letting herself relax a bit.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
This episode was utterly incredible and I wish I could show it to strangers without a lot of context. I loved that Trenton and Mobley got a stronger memorial than more important characters in other stories would get. The marks that they left behind on the world saved Elliot's life, and might just save the world too.

Does anyone who's thought more about the subject have an idea about the higher than usual number of gay references in this episode? Not that they're alien to the show but they seem to pop up around crises in Elliot's life.

My own tinfoil theory for this week is that the Ice Cream Rabbi was a Dark Army plant. Whiterose seems to enjoy hiring especially idiosyncratic people, and clearly hasn't finished with Elliot's place in her design. She'd want to prevent Elliot from killing himself, and couldn't hand that off to Irving or Leon or anyone Elliot knows (as the principal architect of his misery).

bring back old gbs posted:

Maybe Darlene pushed him out and as a 'gently caress you' he erased her from his existence? so they went like decades before he finally realized who she was again in season 1?

We saw that they had a good relationship by Halloween 2014 in season 2, and she's mentioned he forgot her (and thus remembered her) before when we first figure it out.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
I don't think the kid was fake. I feel it would cheapen things if Elliot didn't actually give something to Trenton's family. And if we assume that Elliot has earned some level of surveillance from Whiterose, he spent the whole day up to Muhammad running away doing really suspicious poo poo and wrapping up his loose ends. It would beg her attention.

Elliot can handle himself most of the time. And he didn't run into any buildings that Whiterose planned to blow up.

Mameluke fucked around with this message at 04:31 on Dec 1, 2017

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
There's also Whiterose's plant Santiago actively derailing the investigation at every chance he gets, and outright refusing to arrest Elliot. Dom's on her own unless she can slip into the window between Elliot's use to Whiterose expiring and his likely impending murder.

Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
The reality editor machine is real and it's whiterose's way of letting her openly marry her partner and also be an incredibly wealthy chinese plutocrat

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Mameluke
Aug 2, 2013

by Fluffdaddy
It's interesting to me that Angela's breakdown manifests itself as both filling her home with prepper crap like the Ecorp tubs her dad sells and Dom buys, and also intensively recreating her meeting with Whiterose to the point of blanking out generic family photos and buying the same kitschy posters.

What are the odds she'll kill Qwerty in an effort to reenact Whiterose's fish trick?

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