[Spoiler Alert] The eighth episode of “Mr. Robot” ended with a massive cliffhanger on the identity of Mr. Robot, but early on the dynamic between Mr. Robot and Elliot suggested a Tyler Durden situation. On that same note, we also have to recognize that we are part of the problem. The two characters had a chat about Elliot’s father previously and Slater’s character had insisted on hearing about Elliot’s father, before pushing him off the pier. Mr. Robot was always in the backseat of the car, or appearing at just the right moment not to interfere, but to dispense advice.

It also helped that we were still reeling from the end of last week’s episode, which blew us all from standing up to sprawled messily on the ground.

It’s a hard thing for a TV show to do, to confuse its audience.

Elliot is found in a cemetery with a limping Mr. Robot. But unlike Fight Club, Mr. Robot has to continue to answer those questions after the closing credits.

How do you solve a problem like Mr. Robot? But the show presented just enough evidence to the contrary. But Mr. Robot has elegantly flipped the script. Here, these discoveries aren’t narrowing the story into one recognizable outcome, be it some traditional resolution or digestible television trope. Mr. Robot having separate one-on-one conversations with Tyrell, Darlene, and Romero. Darlene has a vendetta against the 1% (as most of America does at this point) but aside from her father’s connection with Evil Corp she mostly wants to level the playing field. Questioning Elliot and getting in his way would become her sole purpose, and yet here, she is defined by her actions, her decisions, her desires, and her emotions. Whiterose. The Dark Army.

The Chinese Hacker White Rose had revealed the flaws in FSociety’s plan and had set a deadline for the hackers to remove a honeypot from an Evil Corp server. When a mystery builds to a reveal and only the reveal, the answers to your questions can sometimes fall flat. The female hacker backed off and was obviously disgusted for what just happened. It’s shocking because of what it means.

Back at home, Elliot doesn’t know know what’s real or not.

Mr. Robot: Is Elliot’s Father Dead or Alive?

As well as the geek nostalgia of seeing all that mid-nineties tech (“This is the future” indeed), the flashback to Elliot’s childhood theft was key to forming the man we know. We allowed the idea that nothing we were seeing was real, while refusing to accept that as the truth. In one of the scenes, Elliot is seen banging the steering wheel of his car. He declares this several times, both when he is talking to his imaginary friend and to other characters. Part of Elliott knew Mr. Robot didn’t exist, but he didn’t want to see it that way. He asks Elliot to “stick to the plan”. Let’s attempt to unpack things as we head into the finale, shall we? Elliot hates Facebook, and social media generally. While Elliot is reticent at first, his curiosity gets the better of him and he dives headfirst into a murky cloak-and-dagger world of cyber-terrorism in which nothing is what it seems – including the mysterious Mr. Robot.