Mr. Robot / YMMV - TV Tropes

Adorkable: Downplayed with Elliot, but shown on occasion. Some examples include him feebly asking Shayla if he could kiss her, and taking up Tyrell's offer to join him for lunch with the awkward line, "Sure, I eat lunch."
Alternate Character Interpretation:
- Is Tyrell truly just a psychotic Corrupt Corporate Executive, or do some of his mental problems stem from being the Henpecked Husband to his unhinged, manipulative wife?
- Is Elliot good at heart and truthfully looking after society's best interests, or is it all just a front to hide his selfish vengeance against E Corp?
- Is Angela really such a Nice Girl? She has been proven to be rather self-absorbed, rarely taking the time to lend a proverbial shoulder for Elliot, and that is not even mentioning her defection to the Dark Army and flat-out exploiting Elliot's mental disorder to further Whiterose's agenda which in Season 3 includes Angela more or less directly killing thousands of people.
- Speaking of which, did Angela psychologically abuse Elliot for Stage 2, genuinely convinced that he would be happy to reunite with his father or did she want to hurt Elliot out of spite due to her jealousy towards his skills and abilities?
- Does Mr. Robot actually care about Elliot and his well-being or is he simply pulling his strings for his own malevolent ends? Even further, does Mr. Robot honestly believe his own hype about leading a revolution or is he a self-serving psychopath out for blood against a system that betrayed him, and him alone?
- Does Irving see Tyrell as a friend or just a pawn? Considering that Irving's backstory which he recounted to Tyrell was all a giant lie, it's not hard to see the dubiousness of their alliance. On the other hand, does Tyrell view Irving in the same capacity?
- Was Whiterose legitimately interested in Dominique and wanted to know her story out of a charitable curiosity, or was it all a mind-game by Whiterose to size up Dominique's mental state and threat potential? Seeing that two Dark Army assassins try to kill her the morning after, it is definitely worthy of skepticism as to what Whiterose was getting out of their meeting.
And You Thought It Would Fail: Was derided when first announced for being on USA (not known for quality television) and starring Christian Slater (not known for appearing in quality... anything, at least since the late 80s). Suffice to say, almost no one was expecting the show to be as popular and critically acclaimed as it ended up being.
Anticlimax Boss: Besides Tyrell, Ray is the only "villain" in the show to have come the closest to killing Elliot, but he goes down without a fight after Elliot tips off the FBI to his criminal activities.
- Whiterose ends up becoming this when she kills herself, leaving Elliot to stop her machine from causing a nuclear meltdown.
Angel/Devil Shipping: Elliot is shipped constantly with morally ambiguous men like Tyrell and Leon. Taken up to eleven when he was also shipped with Vera at some point, brushing off the fact that he was a rapist who only wanted to use Elliot as his object.
Arc Fatigue: Elliot's prison routine in Season 2. It drags on for eight episodes before we even learn the true nature of it and he is finally let out. By that point, the season is nearly over with a lot of ground to cover.
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Angela and Shayla's kiss in "eps1.3_da3m0ns.mp4." It's never brought up again nor does it advance the plot in any way.
Bizarro Episode: Even for a show as Mind Screw-y as this one, there are still a few episodes noticeably stranger than the others:
- "eps1.3_da3m0ns.mp4" starts off grounded in reality until Elliot starts going through morphine withdrawal. Then suddenly we're treated to a shootout in an Opium Den and Elliot's pet fish Qwerty demanding (in Keith David's voice, by the way) that he be moved to a "GODDAMN WINDOW!"
- "eps2.4_m4ster-slave.aes" is highly regarded as the weirdest episode in the entire show thanks to its line-crossing sitcom parody opening segment with a Laugh Track, bright colors, 90's television aesthetic, and everything. By the time it's (unsurprisingly) revealed to be all in Elliot's head, it's hard to tell whether Elliot's the one losing it or the audience.
- While nowhere near the fever dreams that were the previously mentioned episodes, season_4.0's "405 Method Not Allowed" has a spot here solely for being a (mostly) No-Dialogue Episode in an otherwise dialogue-driven show, particularly during its tensest and most fast-paced season.
Broken Base:
- Over whether the show has gotten better or worse since Elliot became certifiably insane. Same applies to the hacking, which wasn't as big of a plot element in Season 2. Season 3 seems to be appeasing both camps by balancing characterization and action.
- "eps2.4_m4ster-s1ave.aes" was the episode that either cemented the show as groundbreaking or arbitrarily weird for viewers. The sitcom segment that opens the episode as well as the throwback commercials that USA Network commissioned were met with polarizing reactions, with some blown away by the brilliant fourth-wall breaking and others seeing it all as rather trite and ridiculous.
- "eps3.4_runtime-error.r00" was the subject of immense hype as it was marketed as not only a "groundbreaking episode" but that it would be commercial free. The reason? The entire episode was a single take (or given the illusion of being a single take). People were split down the middle as to whether the hype was deserved or not, with one group calling it a technical marvel and others writing it off as a gimmick that has been done before and much better at that.
- Vera's presence in Season 4. Fans are torn on whether his return was all but inevitable and critical to the foundation of the series' final twist, or that he was shoehorned back in to amplify the immediate danger of the season. Though reception to his return grew far more positive after the crucial role he played in "407 Proxy Authentication Required" along with his well-earned death in that same episode.
- Elliot's father turning out to be a pedophile who sexually abused him. It is either a heartbreaking but logical twist or an over-the-top twist that was unnecessarily dark, and had no relevance to the super-charged plot of season four.
- Whiterose's machine as a whole divided the fanbase by the end of the series. Is it a compelling ideological concept that fleshes out Whiterose's character as a Well-Intentioned Extremist, or is it an incongruous Out-of-Genre Experience that breaks the audience's immersion? Taken a step further as of the Grand Finale because some found The Unreveal to be a smart narrative decision that allows for wider fan interpretation, while some saw it as simply a cheap and unsatisfying resolution.
Catharsis Factor: Let's be honest, we were all so overjoyed when Vera was literally stabbed in the back by Krista. Bonus points for it being the same knife he had Shayla executed with.
- "409 Conflict" is an entire episode made of this. The way things escalate as the Deus Group — the top 1% of the 1% — is exposed, manipulated and robbed by fsociety is a thing of beauty. And the fact that Whiterose is progressively losing her shit during all of this while Price drunkenly makes light of the whole situation. It's an episode where the real bad guys unambiguously lose for the first time in the series, and it is executed masterfully.
- Elliot's incredibly poignant Shut Up, Hannibal! speech to Whiterose, not only rejecting her immense cynicism but the cynicism that once drove all of his revolutionary actions as well. To hear Elliot speak with such hope and optimism about life, people and his own place in the world is a brilliant display of his Character Development.
The Chris Carter Effect: Following the end of season two, many felt that the show lost traction as it failed to properly answer some of the more burning questions it set up. In response to this, season three turned itself around and began addressing the mysteries with greater emphasis.
Complete Monster: Fernando Vera is a vicious criminal who will do anything to become powerful. A petty drug dealer in season 1, Vera has his ex-girlfriend Shayla, who also works for him as a drug dealer, kidnapped when she refuses to go on a date with him; Vera then drugs and rapes her. When Elliot Alderson sees this, he hacks Vera's computer and tips the police off about his activities, leading to Vera's arrest. But when Vera finds out that Elliot is behind the tip, he blackmails him into hacking the custody he is in so that he can get out, or else he'll murder Shayla. Elliot complies, but as it turns out Vera had already murdered Shayla and she was dead all along. He also orders his right-hand DJ to murder his brother Isaac for plotting to have him murdered once he's out. Returning in Season 4, Vera shoots his right-hand DJ to death in front of a young child for not being "detail-oriented" enough. He plots to have Elliot become the architect of his crime empire by breaking him mentally and then taking control of him, using Elliot's psychologist Krista Gordon to reveal that Elliot was molested by his father as a child in order to break him. While holding Krista hostage, he threatens to have her raped and murdered when Elliot grabs Vera's gun, only sparing her because he needs her to carry through his plans.
Creepy Awesome: Elliot Alderson as an individual is frankly unnerving, but there is little doubt that he can do incredible things at a terminal, and boy, does he do them with style and precision. Not to mention that he's played by Rami Malek.
Funny Moments:
- The show is mostly drama, and very cynical drama at that, but the scene during Elliot's Mushroom Samba in which he talks to his fish is actually quite funny, despite taking place during one of the most terrifying sequences in the entire series.
- The entire Season 2 episode that darkly parodies a sitcom.
- Rami Malek opening his Emmy acceptance speech by asking if everyone else was also seeing it.
Cry for the Devil: It is impossible not to feel a bit bad for Tyrell in Season 3. Guy is chased by the police all over the country over something he wasn't even fully aware of making it next to impossible for him to do anything, his family is lost (wife is dead, son has been taken away from him), and breaks down upon having it coldly revealed to him.
Designated Victim: Darlene becomes this in late Season 3 finale and the entirety of Season 4, where every Dark Army member is seemingly obsessed with giving her a Boom, Headshot! treatment. Meanwhile, whenever Elliot has an assassination attempt on him, he is given a more "beautiful" and slow approach, much like Sleeping Beauty or Snow White.
Diagnosed by the Audience: It's unknown what kind of a mental illness Angela suffered from throughout the series which explains her behaviour as a result of everything that happened to her since she was a child. But most of the fans had theorised that she may have suffered from Cluster B Personality Disorder (combination of Antisocial, Borderline, Histrionic and Narcissistic disorders). Some of the traits that proved the case were her impulsiveness, lack of remorse for betraying and abandoning her friends and family, feelings of emptiness, Black-and-White Insanity, Arrogance, Envy, need for attention and being Power Hungry.
Do Not Do This Cool Thing: Season 1, as it goes on, shows that a revolution of the kind that fsociety wants to perpetrate may not be entirely sunshine and roses. Even further, it dares to accuse the very notion of being more harmful to the oppressed than the oppressors, who end up showing that they have plenty of contingencies for such a scenario. By Season 3, it's practically spelled out that 5/9 was a huge mistake and waste of effort.
Draco in Leather Pants: Tyrell, full stop. Despite being a psychopath who is willing to murder people (and does), he reigns supreme as the other half of OTPs with Elliot.
- Angela herself is this too. Even though she slowly turned into a more cold, self-destructive and meaner person at the end thanks to E CORP and Whiterose's influence and proceeded to manipulate, undermine and bully Elliot, Darlene and the rest of her loved ones, fans still love her and sympathise with her due to the trauma of losing her mother and being disrespected by the higher-ups and as a result, they treat her as completely innocent in the conflict.
Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Leon was an instant hit among fans, mainly for his charming personality and intellectual discussions of popular television shows. Even after coming out as a Dark Army operative, his reputation continues to grow, and even the DA link is undercut when he reveals he is only a mercenary and not actually in the Dark Army.
- Irving, also a Dark Army fixer, for Bobby Cannavale's charismatic performance and for being such a big psychopath in his final scene of Season 3 that the scene nearly becomes hilarious rather than horrifying.
- Gideon and Shayla also receive a lot of love from the fandom for being the one of only kind characters of the show and caring about Elliot's well being. People were heartbroken when they died.
- Fernando Vera is popular with the fans, either in spite of (or because of) what a monster he truly is. His habit of bringing up his almost poetic personal philosophy only adds to his popularity.
Epileptic Trees: With the reveal about Mr. Robot's identity as well as Elliot's mental instability, a lot of this is natch. The secretiveness of Whiterose has only amplified the theories surrounding what is really going on in the show.
Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory: The show's subreddit is infamously prone to this, although some observations are not without merit.
Evil Is Cool:
- Fernando Vera, with his tantalising poetry and beautiful monologues, almost makes you forget that he's a sociopathic rapist/stalker.
- Tyrell Wellick is one of the show's most popular characters. In spite of being a violent and even unhinged scumbag, fans can't help but love him for being just as competent as his boasts claim. Being a Jerkass Woobie probably helps his case further.
Fanfic Fuel: Since the show ended on Darlene welcoming the Real Elliot and left most of the questions unanswered, most of the fans began writing pics focusing on the aftermath of the events and Elliot's life after his personalities merged and defeated Whiterose.
Fan Nickname:
- People who have dissociative identity disorder in real life often have a name for the personalities as a collective, or 'system'. Elliot's system is never named in the show, so fans came up with 'the Aldersystem'.
- On the show's subreddit, The Mastermind is mostly referred to as "MM."
Fandom Rivalry: Had a rather dubious one with Suits for simply having back-to-back slots.
Genius Bonus: This show is a gold mine for tech-savvy viewers to examine.
Harsher in Hindsight: The tagline for Season 1 is "our democracy has been hacked". Barring subjectivity, this takes on a very different meaning following the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election.
- Mr. Robot brutally berating Darlene and demanding that she doesn't start the Steel Mountain hack becomes this when it's revealed that not only is Mr. Robot Elliot's alternate personality, but Elliot is also her brother. Making this scene feel even more uncomfortable after Season 1's reveal.
  - Granted, this is mitigated somewhat by the finale when Darlene reveals she knew about Elliot's Dissociative Identity Disorder the entire time. Meaning him berating her as Mr. Robot is a lot less likely to be taken personally as she knew Elliot wasn't himself at the time.
- An In-Universe one in which Elliot says that Angela is "one of the good ones". While it is initially true and heartwarming it's also horrifically negated by her actions to him in Season 3.
- Every single flashback scene between Elliot and his father Edward becomes much harder to watch after the Season 4 Episode 7 reveal that Elliot's father molested him.
- While Gideon's death was always a tearjerker, it gets even harder when you learn the truth about Elliot's father and how he was actually a molester. Save for maybe Mr. Robot post Heel–Face Turn, Gideon was the closest thing Elliot ever had to a good father.
- The ending of "Request Timeout" where Elliot breaks down crying due to his trauma after realising Mr. Robot was the father he needed, who protected him from his trauma and saved him multiple times, would be even more heart-wrenching when in Rami's next project No Time to Die, His character Safin causes the death of James Bond by poisoning him, which results in Bond sacrificing himself to protect Madeleine and their daughter Mathilde. Meaning Elliot's final lines in this episode, "I can't do it, I am sorry." is almost like Rami genuinely crying out of grief and remorse that he caused the death of a good and kind father in the movie, the father that Mathilde needed. If you even hear the background score in that scene closely, it eerily sounds similar to "Final Ascent".
Heartwarming in Hindsight: Elliot's beautiful dream in Season 2 in which one of them shows Darlene being engaged to Cisco becomes more heartwarming when 2 years later, her actress Carly Chaikin announced her engagement with her boyfriend.
Hilarious in Hindsight:
- Dom turning out to be a lesbian is wryly amusing considering that Grace Gummer's best-known role before this show was playing a straight woman initially horrified to discover that her sister was a lesbian in the movie Jenny's Wedding.
- Elliot's sitcom dream in Season 2 would end up being this when in late 2021, Rami Malek ended up being the guest host for Saturday Night Live.
- Evan Whitten plays a young version of Elliot (who's alter-ego is played by Christian Slater). A few years later, he'll be acting opposite Christian slater.
Hollywood Homely: Dominique is portrayed as more awkward around women.
Ho Yay: Tyrell's fixation on Eliot is hinted at being homoerotic for some time before it's essentially confirmed in Season 2 and continued into Season 3. Lots of overtones of this with Vera towards Elliot as well, particularly in Season 4, though his is much worse than Tyrell's. Fans were even hoping for a huge Cock Fight between Tyrell and Vera over Elliot.
He Really Can Act:
- A huge comeback for Christian Slater.
- Believe it or not, but Leon is actually Joey Bada$$'s first acting role.
- Craig Robinson as Ray, averting his comedic type-casting as a sinister criminal overlord.
I Am Not Shazam: Zig-zagged; Mr. Robot appears to be the name of a supporting character but is in fact an alias of the protagonist.
I Knew It!:
- The fact that Mr. Robot is a Tyler Durdenesque hallucination/split personality of Elliot's. Some fans managed to guess the twist as far back as the first few episodes due to the fact that Mr. Robot initially doesn't interact with anybody but Elliot. The show even attempts to throw the audience off the scent by having Mr. Robot engage in a few conversations with other characters in the middle episodes of the first season, only for the ninth episode to confirm that the character is in fact a hallucination and that when he interacts with other people, it's Elliot doing so.
- The reveal in Season 2 that Elliot is actually in prison and not staying with his mother as previously established was also predicted by fans. Many of the clues included the highly regimented nature of his day, as well as him watching basketball games (when his character has never shown an interest in sports) and Leon having just discovered Seinfeld, among other things.
- Quite some fans predicted that Elliot we have followed all this time is another personality ala Mr. Robot, due to Angela's specific wording in the fourth episode, Mr. Robot going out of his way to harm him in Seasons 2 and 3 despite being a protector personality all this time, and most tellingly, Mr Robot and his other personalities never mentioning Elliot's antics and the hack by his name.
- Santiago is working for the Dark Army.
- The fact Edward Alderson never pushed Elliot out the window was a popular fan theory at least as far back as Season 2. It was only confirmed in the Season 3 finale.
Iron Woobie: No one could've survived the endless hell Elliot is put through everyday.
It Was His Sled: It is quite difficult to get into the show without having one of the major twists spoiled by default, such as Mr. Robot being Elliot's dead father and his alternate personality, Darlene being Elliot's sister, and Elliot being in prison for most of the second season.
Jerkass Woobie: Darlene. While she may be a bit selfish and ruthless at times, she has gone through a lot of crap. She was abused her whole life by her mom, lost her father, she was later kidnapped as a child and then as the series progresses, she witnesses her boyfriend Cisco get killed in front of her, is forced into being an FBI mole and later she gets kidnapped and is almost executed by the Dark Army.
- Phillip Price. He's the amoral, corrupt executive of E Corp but it's hard not to feel sorry for him after he's forced to sell out his daughter Angela to Whiterose (while trying his damnedest to get her to not go after Whiterose for revenge) and eventually know that she's been executed. Hell, in that scene you'll feel more sorry for him then for Angela herself.
- Speaking of which, Angela herself is this. While it's bad what she did later in the series (psychologically abusing and bullying Elliot for Stage 2, letting All-Safe go down the drain after the CD hack and disregarding Gideon, abandoning her non-biological dad simply because he didn't agree with her methods at E Corp and snidely brushing off others for wounding her ego due to being Drunk with Power and never taking responsibility for her mistakes) which made her unsympathetic in later seasons, she has a Freudian Excuse of everything that happened to her, namely losing her mother because of E Corp's actions, being cheated on by Ollie, being blackmailed with her and her dad's bank accounts locked and being walked over by others and finally being corrupted by Whiterose with a lie that she will see her mother again. While it doesn't justify her actions, it surely explains them.
- Tyrell is a violent scumbag but it's hard not to feel sorry for him from Season 3 onward considering he was essentially a pawn/puppet to almost everyone he worked with, chased by the police and the FBI all over the US for something he wasn't fully aware of, tortured psychologically into joining the Dark Army, lost his wife and has no idea where his son is (and becomes a sobbing wreck when both of their fates are revealed to him). Also, when he finally gets the position in E Corp he so desperately wanted he looks so bored and empty. Finally, he gets fatally shot in the stomach by a Dark Army agent and despite Elliot wanting to save him he solemnly accepts his fate and walks off into the woods to die a cold and lonely death.
Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Elliot is constantly shipped with almost every character in the series, whether they are genuinely good people, jerks or outright psychos. Be it Angela, Tyrell, Leon, Shayla, Olivia or Vera.
Les Yay: Darlene and Dom.
- After Angela's death, it's revealed that Darlene wears her clothes and sleeps in her bed every night crying.
LGBT Fanbase: This show has become popular amongst the LGBTQ community.
Like You Would Really Do It: Given that the show was renewed for a fourth season mere hours before the Season 3 finale aired, it was safe to say Elliot would survive being held hostage in the barn.
Memetic Mutation:
- "Bonsoir, Elliot." ^ExplanationTyrell's usual greeting to Elliot.
- "BRAVO ESMAIL!" ^Explanation
- X is another personality of Elliot.
- The last ten minutes of Suits. ^Explanation
- Martin Wallström getting credits for breathing. ^Explanation
- The already-existing Hackerman meme was boosted by a photoshop of Rami Malek on set in a comedic pose.
- "SWEDISH SCUMFUCK." ^Explanation
- Angela's Thousand-Yard Stare. ^Explanation
- The Sandwich Guy, whose image is often combined with the "It's Wednesday, my dudes!" meme.
- Everything about Elliot's Adderall binge. ^ExplanationThe over-the-top presentation and Elliot's incredibly wacky behavior are highlights.
  - "Damn, these dishes look immaculate."
  - "Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen! Amen, amen, amen, amen, AMEN!!!"
  - "The ball goes into the hoop. Of course."
  - "WHOOOO! SLAAAAM DUNK!"
- "Uh huh." ^Explanation Irving's Verbal Tic.
- "Just hit rewind and everyone/everything will be fine/okay." ^Explantation
- "Alexa, (insert relevant command here)." ^Explanation
- "Mind awake, body asleep." ^Explanation
- "DICKS OUT FOR TYRELL" ^Explanation
- "We at fsociety..."^Explanation
- "Come on. This only works if you let go too." ^Explanation
- Everything about Price in "409 Conflict", from his apathetic attitude to his gleeful relishing when the Deus Group is robbed of their money. Plenty of reaction memes have been birthed from Michael Cristofer's performance as a man who simply does not give a shit.
- "This show has become priceless." ^Explanation
- "You want to hear a knock knock joke? Knock knock... EXECUTIVE PRODUCER SAM ESMAIL." ^Explanation
Misaimed Fandom: Mr. Robot has a few supporters, particularly when it comes to his insurrectionist attitude... even though that same attitude sparked the powder keg that was 5/9, and left the world to fend for itself as its economies capsize.
- More specifically, Elliot's rant on God and religion in "eps2.1_k3rnel-pan1c.ksd" is supposed to represent Elliot at his lowest, angriest point considering he came off an Adderall binge and learned of Gideon's incredibly unnecessary murder, yet many viewers love how anti-religious his speech is.
- Both Tyrell and Vera are out to take advantage and/or harm Elliot, yet look at how many people ship one, the other, or both with Elliot.
Moe: Elliot is so damn adorable that most of the fandom are so protective of him and want to hug him.
Moral Event Horizon: If Vera didn't cross it when he raped Shayla (though that'd be impossible not to think so), then he definitely did it when he held her hostage to get Elliot to bust him out of prison, and then had her killed anyway when Elliot upheld his end of the bargain.
- Whiterose is even worse, when she causes 71 ECorp buildings to blow up, killing thousands. And why did she do this? Because Phillip Price did not stop Angela from continuing her crusade.
- Tyrell and Irving cross it by suggesting, organizing and going through with blowing up 71 E Corp buildings and killing innocent people during what is essentially one of the worst terrorist attack on the U.S.
- Angela crosses it by psychologically abusing Elliot to complete Stage 2 and drugging him out of her own volition.
- Magda and Edward Alderson crossed it long ago with their constant and horrific abuse of their children.
Narm Charm:
- Elliot's rant on God and religion in "eps2.1_k3rnel-pan1c.ksd" comes off as melodramatic and super pretentious, but it is a monologue from a young man battling insomnia and withdrawal from amphetamines, after all. Not to mention he's very clearly angry over Gideon's death.
- "I'm hacking the FBI." Coming from anyone other than Elliot, this statement would be laughed to scorn.
- Any time Mr. Robot and Elliot actually "fight". On the surface, it appears almost slapstick, but the circumstances are anything but comical, especially when Elliot actually begins to injure himself.
- Elliot concluding his Shut Up, Hannibal! speech to Whiterose with "Fuck you!" would normally elicit a chuckle for how jarring it is compared to the rest of his otherwise well-spoken speech, but seeing him be so optimistic after everything he's been through, on top of doing all of this before the most dangerous individual he'd ever come across, quickly turns this speech into one of the most badass and satisfying moments in the entire show.
Nausea Fuel: Elliot eating Adderall pills out of a puddle of his own vomit in an attempt to silence Mr. Robot.
- After Whiterose reveals how Lester Moore was killed she pisses on his grave.
One-Scene Wonder:
- Due to plot reasons and it understandably being very hard to pull of his usual appearances, Mr. Robot only appears in one scene in "Runtime Error", but damn if it isn't cool.
- Wallace Shawn only appears in one episode for no more than five minutes as Mr. Williams, a Dark Army interrogator with an uncanny resemblance to the fsociety mask, but his brief appearance alone triggers Tyrell's downward spiral.
Paranoia Fuel:
- Elliot's never-ending struggle with dissociative identity disorder is made as terrifying as humanly possible. While artistic liberties are inevitably taken, the idea of not being able to trust yourself and remain in control of your own mind can reasonably freak anyone out.
- "eps2.6_succ3ss0r.p12" cranks the dread the season has been riding on to eleven and rather succinctly depicts just how screwed everyone in Fsociety is as they try and clean up after themselves.
Ron the Death Eater: Elliot/The Mastermind. While he did make bad decisions most of the times when fighting against E CORP and then the Dark Army, most fans keep on villainising him way too much for it and blame him for most of the disasters and deaths, especially Angela, Tyrell, Shayla, Trenton and Mobley that occurred throughout the series, when in reality it was Whiterose and the Dark Army and Vera responsible for most of the damages that happened. And most of the disasters that happened were completely out of his control. It's even more ridiculous when at the same time, some of them give a Draco in Leather Pants treatment to characters such as Tyrell, Joanna, Angela and Irving.
Squick: Elliot frantically grabbing half-digested Adderall pills out of his own vomit and swallowing them again. He ends up with his own puke all over his face and clothes.
Ship Tease:
- Angela and Elliot. Early on in Season 2 The Mr. Robot side of Elliot doles out some ship tease of the pairing during Episode 6's sitcom hallucination sequence. Mr. Robot also suggests however that there are other fish in the sea as Angela has turned to the side of E Corp. A later Season 2 episode has Elliot finally kiss Angela, just after she declares that she will be going to the FBI to confess to her role in the 5/9 hack.
  - Elliot's motivations and desires in the last half of the final season essentially revolve around his desire to end up with Angela in whatever way he can, if that is by Whiterose's machine or keeping his own personality locked up inside his fantasy world.
- In the beginning of Season 3's third episode, Tyrell tries to tell Elliot that he loves him. However, Mr. Robot cuts Tyrell off before he can finish, stating "Subtext, you know?".
Shocking Moments:
- The reveals that Mr. Robot is not only Elliot's dead father, but an alternate personality that Elliot has been hallucinating as real, and Darlene being his sister. Even if you see the twists coming, it is meticulously executed with Hitchcockian precision, and gives Season 1 a mind-blowing Rewatch Bonus.
- The China hotel shootout.
- The prison twist in Season 2, for many of the same reasons as Season 1's twists.
- Joanna being killed only two episodes into the third season.
- Fernando Vera's reappearance in The Stinger of "shutdown-r". Complete with an army of gangsters ready to take down Elliot.
- Angela being killed only five minutes into the fourth season.
- The reveal that Elliot was sexually abused by his father as a child followed only minutes later by Vera's death.
Signature Scene: If there is one thing in the show that will be remembered above all else, it is guaranteed to be Elliot's "fuck society" monologue in the pilot.
- Elliot's Adderal binge and all the nonsense that comes about has definitely stuck with fans as well.
- On the significantly darker end of the spectrum, the devastating reveal and Elliot's tearful reaction in "407 Proxy Authentication Required" has also become one of the most remembered moments in the whole series.
Spiritual Adaptation: Elliot's whole story could be seen as an adaptation of the song "Mr. Roboto" by Styx, right there from the title. The lyrics fit certain plot points from the show, namely the truth about the real Elliot so well that they could work as spoilers!
I'm just a man who needed someone and somewhere to hide/To keep me alive, just keep me alive/Somewhere to hide to keep me alive
- The song is eventually used in the penultimate episode of the show.
Sweet Dreams Fuel: Elliot's "bug-free life" in Season 1 and his fairy tale future in Season 2.
Take That, Scrappy!: For some, Angela's death was this after they grew to hate her for her treatment of Elliot.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Hard not to think this about Joanna's death, as a character who seemed destined to be tied directly into the main plot through both her connection with Tyrell and her increasing awareness of Elliot, not to mention her nature as an extremely clever and manipulative person with connections who is capable of thinking on the fly. Her death feels like the writers simply couldn't think of anything better to do with her.
Too Bleak, Stopped Caring:
- As the series progresses and it is slowly revealed that the "good guys" are in way over their heads, it becomes incredibly difficult to have any hope that they can do anything to change things for the better. That isn't even mentioning how laughably unstable and critically flawed these characters are, and how often they push the boundaries of what is "good" and "evil", with no definitive moral paths. Combine that with a near-omnipresent sense of anxiety and paranoia which both serve to mystify an already emotionally/psychologically-complicated show, and you can kind of understand the intimidation this presents to certain viewers.
- This only intensifies come Season 4, which is widely seen as the darkest and most frantically paced in the series. Named characters can and will drop like flies, and there is very little (if any) comedic relief to offset the constant volatility. The second half in particular is ridiculously tense, mainly with the revelation that Elliot's father sexually abused him, which makes a good chunk of the narrative surrounding his character Harsher in Hindsight. Finally, the climactic twist that the Elliot we know and love isn't even real but another personality flips the whole thing on its head and makes repeat viewings a little harder to digest knowing that information.
The Un-Twist:
- A lot of people saw Mr. Robot being a delusion coming. Elliot accuses the viewer of knowing all along. This theory was heavily discussed by pretty much everyone from the beginning since Elliot points out that he's prone to delusions and he and Mr. Robot are never seen interacting with anyone at the same time. Because of this many people dismissed the theory due to how obvious it was.
- Correct fan theories regarding relationship between Darlene and Elliot were far less widespread, leading many people to view that twist as far more of a surprise/shock than Mr Robot.
- Similarly, many people predicted Elliot being in prison during Season 2 quite early on. A couple of people even worked it out after the first episode of the season.
- A lot of people guessed the big twist regarding Elliot and his father was that Elliot was sexually abused by him, simply because there weren't that many other forms of twist that would have such a huge impact on Elliot. Not to mention the depressing Truth in Television that many people diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder were abused as children.
They Changed It, So It Sucks: Season 2 shifted focus from hacking to character conflict, which some audiences and critics didn't respond to as warmly towards.
They Copied It, So It Sucks!: Season 1 received minor criticism for borrowing much of the plot elements from Fight Club and The Matrix, although this sentiment has ceased since the airing of Season 2.
Trapped by Mountain Lions: Angela trying to obtain evidence of E Corp's crimes in order to continue the lawsuit in Season 2. For the most part, it has its own ebb and flow and doesn't really affect the long game, at least until the finale, when it becomes a spark for Angela's Hazy-Feel Turn in Season 3. However, her Hazy-Feel Turn is all for naught as she demands revenge to Price against Whiterose and refuses to listen to him trying to talk her out of it and is eventually killed.
Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Angela as the show progresses. We are supposed to feel sorry for her over the fact that she lost her mom at the hands of the Washington Township Toxic Leak thanks to the carelessness of E Corp and how hard she tries to file a lawsuit against the company. But come Season 3 and her Face–Heel Turn makes her more of a horrible person and ends up putting herself before others. For the sake of getting revenge on E Corp with the help from the Dark Army, she starts to psychologically abuse Elliot, who has always been nice and friendly to her by working with Mr. Robot. Even if she knows that it will hurt his feelings, this doesn't stop her from continuing to do that. And when Elliot and Darlene find out and call her out on her manipulation, she takes no responsibility and instead blames them for her actions. Given how badly she treated Elliot knowingly throughout Season 3, it makes it hard for viewers to sympathize with her. Not only that but when her father Price tries to talk sense into her about her getting revenge on Whiterose she refuses to listen and gets killed for it. And yet we're somehow still suppose to feel sorry for her even after her death with Darlene constantly mourning her despite all the horrible things she did to her own brother (something that she herself was aware of). Hell, you'll feel more bad for Price in the end instead.
- Dom also counts. While it's horrible that she was forced to become a Dark Army mole, her blaming Darlene for putting her in that position did not help, especially since she was the one trying to go after them and Santiago was clearly the one who put her in this mess.
Vindicated by History: At the time, Season 2 was criticized by viewers for its slower pace in comparison to Season 1 as well as its arthouse direction and broader narrative, which resulted in people accusing the show of following victim to The Chris Carter Effect. It wasn't until the first few episodes of Season 3 a year later that many began to look back on Season 2 with more appreciation.
Visual Effects of Awesome: "eps3.4_runtime-error.r00" features an impressive simulated one-take that lasts the entire episode. Naturally, this is a nigh impossible feat to accomplish, so transitions are seamlessly hidden in quick camera pans and close-ups that could sneak by even the most aware of viewers.
Wangst: Dominique's break down at the end of Season 3 all the way to Season 4. Most of the fans were annoyed that the woman who was determined in taking down the Dark Army easily broke down and became a wimp when she was face-to-face with them.
Will They or Won't They?:
- Season 2's episode 6 has Mr. Robot name drop the trope in the bizarre sitcom opening, in regards to Elliot and Angela. By Season 4 it becomes clear that they won't.
- Darlene and Dom have an immediate spark of chemistry despite the horrific nature of the lives they're currently living. They hook up as part of Darlene's plot to gain access to the FBI, but even after Dom catchers her, it's quite clear they still care for each other, end up working together, they become the only two characters apart from Elliot to survive the events of the show and it's implied they will end up together at some point once all the massive impact on the world subsides.
Why Would Anyone Take Him Back?: Tyrell spent the entire show being obsessed with Elliot and stalking him. Not only that but also he kept on scaring him by kidnapping him and bringing him to E Corp to give him a job, breaking into his apartment and saying that he felt good strangling a woman, showed up unannounced and kidnapped him again and took him to the abandoned warehouse to pull off Stage 2, shot him in the stomach when he tried to shut it down, helped Angela use his mental condition (see below) and go ahead with Stage 2. But despite all that in Season 4, Elliot acknowledges that Tyrell is one of the few people who liked him.
- Even if she was brainwashed by Whiterose, Angela spent the entire Season 3 putting Elliot through mental and emotional abuse and attempting to overthrow him to complete Stage 2. She even drugs and kidnaps him when he wakes up in the warehouse and when he finds out and rightfully calls her out on it, she begins to emotionally abuse him and blame him and Darlene for Stage 2 when in reality they wanted nothing to do with it. And later in "Stage 3" she accuses Elliot of manipulating her into telling him Whiterose's plan when she sees Leon in his apartment. Despite all that, Elliot and Darlene forgive her pretty easily and try to help her snap back into reality and later mourn her death.
The Woobie:
- Elliot himself counts. He's isolated, in over his head, and suffering from a wealth of mental illnesses, the most notable of this being the manifestation of his dead father who seeks to undermine his control at every turn. Throughout the first two seasons he is thrown off a pier, goes through painful morphine withdrawals, gets thrown out a window (twice), gets arrested, overdoses on Adderall, hallucinates being force-fed concrete, gets nearly beaten to death, almost gets raped, and finally gets shot in the stomach. And it only gets much worse for him in Season 3 with him being emotionally and psychologically abused by his former childhood best friend and especially in Season 4 with the revelation that he not only has a second alternate personality but that his father molested him as a child. And then it turns out that this Elliot we've been following throughout the series wasn't real but another alternate personality taking control of the real Elliot.
- Dom is another major one. Throughout Seasons 2 and 3, she's shown to be incredibly lonely and hopeless that she'll ever be content with her life (even after finding some purpose in the 5/9 investigation). It's amped up even more after being kidnapped, psychologically abused, and forced to work with the Dark Army at the end of Season 3.
- Bill Harper, a one-off character that nonetheless earned the sympathy of many a viewer for the absolutely brutal "The Reason You Suck" Speech Elliot gives him, that is so utterly crushing that Elliot still feels bad about doing it a full season later. He's a perfectly friendly, cheerful middle-aged man whose only 'flaw' was his crushing loneliness, and yet Elliot nearly brings him to tears by pointing out how nobody cares about him and how, if he died, nobody would miss him. The speech was justified in context as Elliot just needed to get him out of the way, but it's still hard to watch. Hell, even Elliot felt horrible afterward.
- Joanna and Tyrell's child as well. With both of his parents now dead, he has a difficult life ahead of him.
- Olivia in "406 Not Acceptable".
- The real Elliot Alderson. Dear God.

YMMV / Mr. Robot

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