Since the inception of "Mr. Robot," Elliot has harbored an unwavering desire to salvage the world. His aspiration was to reclaim power from the corrupt minority and bestow it upon the impoverished masses, to purge the globe of malevolent elites who merely amassed wealth to control the populace, and to eradicate abusers of any stripe wielding power. Driven by these ideals, he assembled a revolutionary force, inadvertently igniting acts of domestic and international terrorism. His journey led him to incarceration, witnessed the untimely deaths of numerous friends and peers at the hands of ruthless criminals, and brought him perilously close to his own demise multiple times. Amidst the brink of sanity, a realm akin to personal inferno, he returned battered and scarred. Yet, ostensibly, he undertook these trials for the betterment of humanity, fueled by the unassailable belief that, beyond ideology and rhetoric, it was the just course of action.
However, Elliot's motivations were not purely altruistic; they were partly, and understandably, ego-driven. He sought to rewrite his own historical narrative, to reshape the world's fabric so that he could navigate it unburdened by fear or shame. Having borne witness to private, intimate horrors unimaginable to most, he yearned to spare Elliot Alderson the world's excessive evils. This underlying sentiment lent profound weight to "Mr. Robot's" climactic twist, subtly unveiled by Sam Esmail without grandiosity, yet effectively destabilizing the show's reality. It stands as perhaps the series' most ingenious narrative maneuver since the revelation in the inaugural season that the OG Mr. Robot was not real, a twist obvious in hindsight yet subtly integrated over four seasons. While many Redditors may have anticipated it, its predictability in no way diminishes its impact; rather, it underscores its necessity and amplifies its core optimism.
The two-part series finale of "Mr. Robot" transports Elliot into the alternate reality first introduced in the final 20 minutes of "eXit," complete with his return to the fourth-wall-breaking voiceover. Initially, I found Esmail's introduction of this world overly artificial and contrived. Yet, acknowledging my initial skepticism, I now realize Esmail deliberately courted such a reaction, mirrored in Elliot's (our Elliot, not alt-Elliot) reception of this reality. Awakening in an abandoned lot where the Washington Township nuclear plant was rumored to stand, he instead encounters advertisements for a new community center. As he wanders through his familiar terrain with a blend of awe and bewilderment, akin to Marty McFly exploring Hill Valley in 1955 in "Back to the Future," he encounters a world he desperately longed for: one where he is well-adjusted and encircled by beloved individuals who return his affection.
It's worth mentioning that the first part of the finale boasts some of the series' finest comedy, making one wonder if Esmail had been holding back his humorous side throughout. Rami Malek delivers one of his funniest performances as he navigates this surreal, yet oddly familiar, new reality. Upon arriving at his apartment and perusing his alternate self's possessions—including a copy of "The Dilbert Principle" by Scott Adams and a social media presence featuring a Facebook post captioned, "I just ate five hot dogs. No regrets"—he realizes something is awry. ("Judging by this, he's devoid of crippling social anxiety or paranoia," Elliot's voiceover quips hilariously.) Ultimately, hacking into a concealed portal, he discovers alternate Elliot's sketches depicting an anarchist hacker alter ego leading a revolutionary group named fsociety. When alternate Elliot returns, our Elliot utters the only fitting remark to address the elephant in the room: "I know this is fucked up."
