Who Is Mr. Robot? IT Nut Blog Takes a Look - Spoiler Alert!

Who is Mr. Robot?

Ok. So... In episode 8, we find out that the man who we've been referring to as 'Mr. Robot' (because he wears a jacket with a Mr. Robot badge) is Elliot's dad... And in episode 9, we discover that he's is a figment of Elliot's imagination... Right... This is becoming all kinds of weird.

There are still lots of loose ends to deal with, like why did Elliot not recognise his dad in the first place? He talks about his father all the time, and shares those memories with us. Also, why does Elliot not remember that he has a sister? Why is she in none of Elliot's memories?

These revelations are highly confusing, and annoying, so I had a quick flick through the previous episodes, to see if I missed any tell-tale signs.

It seems that Mr. Robot has been cleverly and subtly integrated into the story line. Whenever Mr. Robot talks to anyone, he is always right next to or in the immediate vicinity of Elliot. So it looks like Mr. Robot is having the conversation, but it could just as easily be Elliot who is having the conversation. That's fair enough. There are some major exceptions, however, that I have found so far.

In episode one, Elliot sees Mr. Robot begging outside a restaurant. The people he's begging from look directly at Mr. Robot and they use body language / make hand gestures to dismiss him. That's a bit confusing.

After Elliot's first visit to the fsociety headquarters, also in episode one, he did an online search for Mr. Robot. NOTHING came up in his search. That's really odd, because if Mr. Robot had been the name of the computer repair shop where Elliot's dad worked, SOMETHING would have come up SOMEWHERE online.

When Darlene turned up at Elliot's apartment in episode 2, it makes sense that she made herself so at home, because she is his sister. Why does Elliot not remember his connection with her? If we go back to the hallucination sequence of episode 4, there is a girl on a scooter, and we are now to believe that she was the young Darlene. It's not too far fetched.

In response to Elliot walking away from fsociety, Mr. Robot throws Elliot off some railings, but it is plausible that Elliot could have jumped of his own free will.

In episode 5, after the successful penetration of Steel Mountain, Darlene wants to go ahead with the plan regardless of the fact that they no longer have the support of the Dark Army. Elliot is standing a behind Darlene, a few feet away, and Mr. Robot, who is to her right, leaps over to physically restrain her, and they have an exchange of words. Darlene then turns around to directly address Elliot and ask for his instruction. Mr Robot then picks up some equipment and smashes it on the floor before walking in the opposite direction to Elliot, and continues a two-way dialogue with Darlene. Surely there cannot be any doubt at this point that Mr. Robot is a separate entity and visible to the other hackers, because they are all looking at him.

In episode 7, Darlene meets with Mr. Robot in a bar - just the two of them. They have a dialogue. This definitely makes no sense. Mr. Robot also has a one-to-one meeting with Romero, one of the other hackers. Am I missing something?

The last confusing scene is in episode 8, when Mr. Robot gets into a car with Tyrell and they have a two-way dialogue...? Somebody please explain!

I'm still not overly convinced that Elliot is the man behind the mask. Elliot makes this discovery in episode 9. He has been living a double life that he seems to know nothing about. The whole Jekyll and Hyde thing is all good and well, but I didn't have that "Ah hah!" or "Yes, of course!" moment when the revelation is made. It doesn't sit well with the plot, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

Just one more episode to go!

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Mr. Robot - eps1.43xpl0its.wmv - Episode 5 - IT Nut Blog Review

Mr. Robot - Episode 5

The best episode so far, by far! Warning! Contains Spoilers!

Elliot has gone through his Morphine withdrawal at record-breaking speed, and now he's in the mountain! Steel Mountain - the fortress that houses the servers used by Allsafe.

Evil Corp have decided to do physical backups of all of their data, and they are moving it from Steel Mountain. Probably due to the security breaches, but possibly because it was always part of the plan that Tyrell revealed to Elliot, to bring everything in house and cut Allsafe out of the loop.

The downloading and movement of the E Corp data gives fsociety a limited window of opportunity to act.

Whilst Elliot is inside Steel Mountain, he bumps into his old friend, Mr Tyrell Wellick! What is he doing there? They weren't expecting to see each other, but it works to Elliot's advantage. He needs to get access to the 2nd floor, which requires special security clearance - and Tyrell has that clearance. Bingo!

Tyrell, drops the bombshell that he knows about Elliot framing Colby - the previous CTO of Evil Corp. There's no trail leading to Elliot, so he's safe for now, and Tyrell doesn't want anything. He just wanted to know what Elliot's weakness is, and now he believes he has it. Revenge. Revenge for his father's death, for which Elliot holds Evil Corp responsible. What Tyrell will do with that knowledge is unclear at this point.

Anyway, the raspberry pi has been put in place and the plan is in motion, or so they think! Darlene had enlisted the help of the 'Dark Army' (a Chinese hacker group) to bring down Evil Corp, but it looks like the Dark Army had plans of their own.

Now that we know about Cisco (the rapper / hacker), we know that he was working for the Dark Army. They are the ones who blackmailed Ollie, and Angela took the bait. Presumably, the Dark Army got what they needed when Angela put that CD into a computer at work, and now they have gone silent. fsociety has had its legs cut off.

The more we learn, the more doubt that is cast on the true identity of the fsociety behind the mask. Tyrell Wellick had a lot to gain from Colby being out of the picture. Wellick has his eye on the CTO position, and he is relentless proactive in his pursuit of power. The Dark Army also has its own agenda, which is still shrouded in mystery. Maybe they are working for the highest bidder, whoever that may be. And Mr. Robot. We still know nothing about what drives him. What's his story? Is he really driven by idealistic motives, or is he a hacker-for-hire?

The plot thickens!

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Mr. Robot - eps1.1_one-and-zer0es.mpeg - Episode 2 - IT Nut Blog Review

Mr. Robot - Episode 2

The last episode ended with a cliff hanger. Who are those men in the room? This is where the second episode picks up. Elliot is about to be offered a job that doesn't officially exist. The so-called 'top 1% of the top 1%' want him to join them. They represent everything that he despises, but he waivers, and for a moment, we are uncertain about the choice he will make.

When Elliot gets home, he takes a larger dose of morphine than usual, and again, we experience uncertainty about the future of this young man and the role he will play. That drug-taking aspect of his character is probably the least convincing part of the plot.

If you have seen the TV series 'Dexter', Dexter's dual personality is much more prominent and defined. He has rules that he does not waiver from. He is convincingly in control of his own choices. Elliot, however, seems to be somewhat wishy-washy in that respect. What are his absolute values that he will not waiver from? Or are the writers trying to make him more human and relatable? If that's the case, he is a character that marches the fringes of his dual existence.

Elliot, in typical American style, is seeing a psychiatrist. He seems to genuinely care about her, so he takes a protective interest in her private life. Elliot hacks everyone he meets, and he knows all of their secrets.

I can't help thinking that Elliot is a watered-down version of Lisbeth Salander from 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'. The movies don't really do justice to her technical abilities, but if you read the books, she is awesome! They both have similar back stories of woe, but Lisbeth is a true loner, maverick and tough cookie! Anyway, it's neither here nor there. This Mr. Robot series is pretty good so far.

In the last episode, Elliot was instrumental in framing one of the chief execs of the company. He is led by Mr. Robot to believe that he is doing the right thing. In this episode, however, Elliot realises that he was maybe too hasty in trusting Mr. Robot. Elliot bought the rhetoric that Mr. Robot was selling, because it was what Elliot wanted to hear.

Something that puzzled Elliot about the initial hack of the system in episode one was that the hacker group, 'fsociety', were nowhere to be found - not mentioned at all - in the online forums. He possibly took that to mean that fsociety had noble intentions. It just seems that they were biding their time. In this episode they come out, all guns blazing, with a video that outlines their demands. Elliot may soon have blood on his hands.

Elliot is at a cross-roads. What will he do? What can he do? Mr. Robot isn't about to let him go that easily. Elliot joined the group 'fsociety' - albeit hastily - and he will face the consequences if he tries to leave.

Stay tuned!

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Mr. Robot - IT Nut Blog Review - Episode 1 (eps1.0_hellofriend.mov)

Mr. Robot - Episode 1

I must admit that I was intrigued when I saw the trailer for the imaginatively named 'Mr. Robot' ('A.I.' and 'i, Robot' were already taken). Episode one starts off with the 'mysterious black screen and narrator's voice sequence, which sets the scene. The premise is that there are a bunch of wealthy bespectacled white males that run the world (or America - same difference). Nothing new there.

For those of you who haven't heard about this series, it's about Elliot Alderson. He's a sociopathic hacker who works for 'Allsafe Cyber Security', which has clients like 'E Corp' - that Elliot affectionately calls 'Evil Corp' (it bears a strong resemblance to one of the large corporations of the day) - and he's some sort of do-gooder vigilante by night. He has a pet goldfish called Qwerty (classic!).

I'll try not to include any spoilers, but we're given a preview into Elliot's expertise when he hacks into the servers of a coffee shop chain, just because it has the fastest wifi in town and that arouses his suspicions. Nothing is ever good for no reason. He discovers that the owner is running a child porn ring and dobs him into the police. He's not doing it for the money, so he's a one of the good guys. Clear cut case, or is it? The grey area is that he does morphine, but he controls his addiction, it doesn't control him.

When 'E Corp' is hit by a cyber attack, Elliot saves the day, but Mr. Robot leaves him a message in the code. That is when it starts to get interesting!

In short, the show is about a young man who is disenfranchised by capitalism and large corporations, and he's groomed by idealists that want to change the world. See the show if you want to know what else happens in episode 1!


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