Five Mysteries to Follow in Your ‘Mr. Robot’ Binge
(Warning: This story contains spoilers for Season 1 of Mr. Robot)
Now that Winter has finally arrived in Westeros on Game of Thrones, what can viewers possibly have to look forward to? Oh, that’s right…Mr. Robot is coming. USA’s hallucinatory hacker thriller begins its second season on July 13, and expectations are high for how the show will top its acclaimed first season. In anticipation of the Season 2 premiere, USA has made Mr. Robot’s entire 10-episode freshman year available on Amazon Prime, and there’s no better time than Fourth of July weekend to get caught up on a series that packs plenty of dramatic fireworks. And as you watch (or re-watch) the Peabody Award-winning series, keep track of the following five cliffhanging storylines that we hope creator Sam Esmail (who is directing every episode of Season 2) addresses when Elliot (Rami Malek) logs on for another session of mind-bending conspiracies.
All in the Family
Season 1 ends with Elliot having learned that Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) is the ghost of his dead father, and Darlene (Carly Chaikin) is his very much alive sister. The more important question is: will he remember any of this? After all, when he moves in for his lip lock with Darlene in Episode 9, she recoils and correctly accuses him of having “forgotten again.” That means he’s been through this circle of confusion once, and likely many more, times before. Furthermore, there’s almost certainly other family members in his vicinity that he’s forgotten about. Could his mother be running the local bodega? Or maybe his cousin is driving an Uber around the neighborhood? Honestly, we wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out that everyone in New York City was related to Elliot.
Looking for Tyrell Wellick
The clean-cut, fully corporate mirror image to Elliot’s hoodie-wearing hacker, Tyrell Wellick (Martin Wallstrom) spent the first season trying to climb the Evil Corp ladder that Elliot’s “friends” at fsociety were working so hard to bring down. That psychotic focus on getting ahead inspired some American Psycho-ready behavior, most notably when the Christian Bale look-a-like ended the seventh episode by strangling the woman he was supposed to be seducing: Sharon Knowles (Michele Hicks) wife of his rival, Scott (Brian Stokes Mitchell).
Related: Elliot and ‘Mr. Robot’ Gang Are Out of Control in New Posters
In the wake of that crime, the normally placid Tyrell comes apart at the seams before vanishing completely, just as fsociety’s Evil Corp hack becomes a reality in the season finale. Even his scheming wife, Joanna (Stephanie Corneliussen) professes ignorance as to his whereabouts. One popular theory suggests that Elliot can’t find Tyrell in the Season 1 finale because he is Tyrell, just like the Edward Norton’s unnamed peon in Fight Club can suddenly become the dashing Tyler Durden when the occasion demands it. So here’s your assignment during your binge: keep careful track of who Tyrell interacts with, and whether there’s any hint that Elliot could also be in the room where it happens.
Army of Darkness
The Chinese hacking collective, the Dark Army, likes to bill itself as a freelance operation, selling its services to the highest bidder. But they definitely have their own agenda, regardless of how it might affect their monetary-based allies. Deducing their ultimate objectives should be top of Elliot’s “action items” list in Season 2, especially since Dark Army leader Whiterose (BD Wong) is glimpsed in the season finale having a confab with Evil Corp head honcho, Phillip Price (Michael Cristofer). That complicates the Dark Army’s reasons for agreeing to be part of the fsociety hack in the first place. Are they fsociety’s partners… or their minders?
Angela’s Price to Pay
Speaking of Phillip Price, he’s taken an awfully close interest in Elliot’s friend, Angela (Portia Doubleday), who went from Evil Corp critic to employee in the penultimate episode of Season 1. Her intention seems to be to find the elusive smoking gun proving that the corporation was behind the toxic waste spill that led to her mother and Elliot’s father dying of leukemia. Those investigations might prove more difficult now that the big boss is watching her. More troublingly, under Price’s wing, Angela might come to see some of the benefits of being Evil. In the world of Mr. Robot, it certainly does seem to make you a snazzier dresser.
Knock Knock
If the first shot of Season 2 isn’t Elliott opening his apartment door to see who is on the other side, the show’s fans might just hack the USA servers to find out which character it really is. The “who” matters, of course, but the “why” is even more essential. Is it too much to hope that it’s just a candygram?
The first season of Mr. Robot is streaming on Amazon Prime. Season 2 premieres July 13 at 10 p.m. on USA.
