#mr robot

I love it when Elliot asks for my help like baby do I look like I know anything

cursed-and-haunted:

Krista literally says You’re hiding Elliot like god he really fucking is isn’t he. He really fucking is

He was in prison just like you are now, Elliot he literally is tho like fucking literally

Krista literally says You’re hiding Elliot like god he really fucking is isn’t he. He really fucking is

Elliot, s1e1: so this makes me the one in control

Me who has seen the ending:

Mr Robot is a holiday show (at least season 4 is) so I think I’ll do a rewatch of it. That’ll make me feel normal (lie)

talvin-muircastle:

lovemedonlothario:

nebulousboundsfloof:

teaboot:

teaboot:

lovemedonlothario:

imagine hiring an assassin and they talk to you in a customer service voice

“Hello, how can I help you today? Wonderful, can I get a first and last name? And how would I spell that? Awesome. And would you happen to have an address for this individual? And place of work? Fantastic.

Now, I’m going to give you a number, and I’m going to ask that you send in a photo of your target alongside any additional information you may have- family members, security, combat training, medical conditions, just anything you can think of that might be helpful.

Wonderful, you are all good. All we need now is a piece of government-issued ID, for insurance purposes, and a location for payment pickup. We accept cash, gold, processed uranium, and etransfer.

I’m sorry, we don’t take american express.

Good, okay, so it looks like we are all set- when the job is complete, you will be notified VIA discreet codeword that a stranger will whisper to you on a crowded street.

We do not issue receipts, but if you’d like, I can arrange for a specific breed of tropical flower to be sent to your home address. Our associates will be able to validate it should the need arises.

And is that everything you were looking for today? Great! Thank you for coming to us. Have a nice day!”

Alternatively,

“I’m sorry sir, but I’m afraid the Pope is a high-status target that is beyond our area of service.

Yes, I- no, I’m sorry, I’m not able to do that for you.

Okay. Okay. Yes, I understand.

Sir, if you’re going to use that sort of language, you should know that our HR department does operate in a hands-on capacity.

Wonderful. You take care.”

They create a perfectly normal call cemter staffed by decidedly amoral college students and paying them at least 4x minimum wage.

hiring manager: you’re not concerned about the ah, services we offer? 

a college student who has eaten ramen twice a day for the past year: for $25/hour i’ll pull the trigger myself

Look, the difference between Assassins and Customer Service is that Assassins are paid a lot of money to kill people and Customer Service isn’t being paid nearly enough not to.

This is 100% Irving in Mr. Robot!

Look at this guy.

His aesthetic does not say “I’m a fixer for a secretive group of military-equipped hackers of Chinese-but-not-Chinese origin”. It says ‘I have a #1 dad mug, have some sort of recurring payment to take care of and crack really bad jokes’.

And he has all of these things. He just projects himself outwards while not letting his job define him. He makes himself the most unremarkable person in the world on purpose, talks in a 'miss/ sir’ fashion that stands out as odd, but only odd enough so that’s the only thing you remember about him.

He is such a well-executed character (really, they all are). You don’t expect him to do what he ends up doing.

The best part is, nothing happens to him when it all falls apart. He runs an actual legit business, and he just continues that and his gay self-insert author career when it’s all done with. He’s even genuinely polite and cordial with people who, episodes before, he was told to kill if he saw them.

Go watch Mr. Robot. It’s brilliant.

Ok I’ve been doing some reading and it’s wild to think that in addition to having to process everything that was actually happening in 410 Gone, people watching at the time also had every reason to believe that Darlene and/or Dom was going to die on that plane. And like they still held their breath about Dom for the next three episodes. Truly Sam Esmail that was very mean! But nice to not actually do it.

I’m sorry the whole python strategy sequence takes me right out of my goddamn mind like. Slow motion. The lights flickering. Every goddamn agent standing to watch Darlene walk by. Dom turning to her as she opens the door.

And! The! Fucking! Song! Can we talk about how this is the end of the first episode with Dom and Darlene together, and this song tells you exactly what’s going to happen to the two of them (mostly Dom)? That makes me insane!!! Like, Dom’s so hellbent on trusting Darlene because she sees her own loneliness in Darlene. The moth don’t care if the flame is real! And once he’s in he can’t go back!! He’ll beat his wings till they turn black!!!!

Also you know much is made of how Darlene breaks Dom later but like, Dom did it to her first? (No better fuel for a new flirtation than need and anger and desperation!!!!!)

I do love how as the both settle at the front of the table the song lands on the line “the moth and the flame have a sweetheart deal.” And Dom’s little speech talking about “the man in the middle” and then when the shot finally switches to show us the web in its entirety, Darlene is the man in the middle.

One of the funniest things about Mr. Robot is how much stuff happens simply because people just….like Elliot. Every time you turn around somebody’s like “idk I just like him :) just something about him he’s just a little guy :)”

Even funnier when you realize this is also basically true about Angela and Dom too, although while this is phenomenon is often very successful for Elliot and Angela it really only happens to Dom when it’s about ruining her life.

And then everybody in the world is like “get out of here Darlene we don’t want you!!!” and every one of them is SO wrong.

Additional bits and bobs:

-Love Angela and especially Angela and Darlene’s friendship even though I wish we could have seen more of it. Darlene crying over the ballet slippers!!! And you just know that when they were kids Angela saw that Darlene needed to be getting out of that house more and somehow got her dad to convince darlene’s mom to sign her up. Anyway, she’s a consummate operator, stayed the course so hard trying to get those documents even though everyone around her including her own father thought she was becoming a monster (and she was also worried she was becoming one), but she kept her eyes on the prize and she would have won! Except! Except except. It’s always about the except.

-there is so much to talk about with Whiterose but genuinely I loved her. Wish things could have been better for her.

-Literally everything about Shama, oh my god!!! She had so much to lose and she still did what she did because she believed it was right. “Never drop the proverbial soap in front of a real black hat bitch like Trenton.” All of Arizona!!! I was so furious watching her and Sunil’s scenes when we saw them again because I was like “I KNOW you’re just rubbing in my face how lovable they are before you kill them” and I was right. I wish we got more of Shama one on one with Elliot and Darlene, and I wish we got more of the original fsociety as a group.

-Dom’s family (especially Trudie) was SO funny oh my god, both on their own and also the thought of like. This is where Dom comes from. I predict Trudie would really not like Darlene at first (and they would both be like SERIOUSLY?? because come on, Janice but not Darlene?) and Darlene would be freaked out about meeting her because she’s definitely got the self narrative that she’s not the kind of girl you take home to mom, but then they would end up being close.

-speaking of Janice what a villain!! Love her.

Ok finished Mr. Robot! I’m not without notes but on the whole I enjoyed it very much, and god I love Elliot and Darlene. Nothing gets to me like siblings, you guys, and the fact that it’s like, their love is the underpinning for the show’s whole reality, that reeeeaaally gets me good. The thing is, it’s such a patient and deliberate show, and I feel like that’s one of the things that I get let down on the most in TV these days. It’s especially notable because the show is like always about the twist, which could be super annoying given how much modern tv is about producing twists for buzz even if it means they’re not building a good story. But here the use of the twist itself is a part of the work as a whole, as Elliot progressively sheds layers that he’s using to protect himself. I mean there’s even more to it than that but I’m trying to brief.

Anyway to touch on ep 4.10: just when I thought it couldn’t get any wilder we had THIS whole thing. Dom and her sad grilled cheese. That peak Darlene look. The fact that she refused to leave her behind and Dom was like “fine I’ll live but I’m gonna complain the whole time.” Edited to add: oh my god can’t believe I almost forgot how utterly surreal it is that Faith Hill’s “This Kiss” plays over this scene until Darlene smashes the Alexa

I mean the payday is Darlene’s most triumphant moment and she saves it to impress and help heal and most importantly just to share with Dom. Like what the fuck! And don’t even get me started on the airport. Like the bar scene alone! Ladies is it gay to be the culmination of each other’s complimentary character arcs as we tearfully part in an airport? AND THEN CARLY RAE JEPSEN’S “RUN AWAY WITH ME” PLAYS AS THEY EACH DECIDE TO REVERSE THEIR DECISION AND DOM RUNS THROUGH THE AIRPORT AND THEY M I S S EACH OTHER i lost my ENTIRE mind jesus CHRIST!!!

Anyway I loved closing on sleepy Dom. I hope she had a good nap. I hope Elliot and Darlene also have good naps. And that Darlene wakes up to a text.