What I’m Watching: Mr. Robot

Mr. Robot: Season 1, Episode 8 “eps1.7_wh1ter0se.m4v” (B+)

I almost can’t handle this show and its insistence on dropping monumental bombshells on a weekly basis. They also don’t seem real at first, and then it becomes clear that we’re just learning so much more about Elliot and the way that he’s experiencing the world, which may not be as literally or linearly as the rest of us do. His direct address to the audience, which he refers to as his “imaginary friend,” is endlessly interesting, and I also love that he ran home once he made a startling realization to hack himself, only to discover that he had erased his own identity and put it all on a CD. When Darlene kept insisting that he tell her who she was, I had no idea what was going on, and the news that she is his sister and that Mr. Robot may be father is completely shocking, suggesting that Elliot isn’t at all in touch with what’s really going on, a disconcerting fact given that he’s the way that we experience the world. Darlene showing up and chatting with Angela at the dance studio was an indicator that they have a relationship we don’t know about, but now it seems like Elliot has fully lost it. Gideon’s fury at his constantly not being there and his close eye on him also puts him in the crosshairs, ready for his entire world to implode. Tyrell’s is already doing that, as he couldn’t muster up the courage to tell his wife about his strangling of Sharon only to have her fake a necessary trip to the hospital in order to ensure that he didn’t get caught in a lie by police investigators.