Warning: Spoilers for the Mr. Robot episode "eps2.7_init_5.fve" and also, I suppose, David Fincher's Fight Club.
USA's Mr. Robot has never exactly been shy about aping its influences. And, to that effect, we never faulted the series for lovingly invoking the works of Kubrick, Scorsese, Fincher, Aronofsky, and more and texturizing it all with an electronic '80s vibe.
Fight Club however, the 1999 Fincher film based on the Chuck Palahniuk novel, was all over the place in Season 1, largely influencing the huge reveal that Christian Slater's Mr. Robot character was a figment of Elliot Alderson's imagination - one that he sometimes spoke to and one that sometimes took over his consciousness and acted on his behalf just like Brad Pitt's Tyler Durden persona in the movie.
But the big reveal that came at the end of "eps2.7_init_5.fve" (yes, it sure seems like every episode ends with the rug getting pulled out from underneath us) was pure "Project Mayhem." Which is to say, Darlene learning that whatever "Stage 2" is was Elliot's -- or should I say Mr. Robot's -- idea in the first place is almost exactly like Edward Norton's character discovering Tyler's true destructive intentions in Fight Club (which also had to do with wiping out mass amounts of debt).
Here though, the layering is such that back in Season 1 the "Elliot side" of Elliot's mind was talked into the E Corp hack under the pretense that it was about leveling the economic playing field when instead it's about -- well -- something else entirely. Something we've yet to fully discover. But the song remains the same. Mr. Robot is purposefully keeping something huge from Elliot. It felt like this season was trying to bring them closer together, so that they could co-exist, but this latest splinter turns Mr. Robot, Elliot himself, into his own antagonist (and, conversely, the reason he was being protected in prison). Whiterose is the facilitator, but not the architect.
Will Elliot now have to battle himself the way the main character did in Fight Club? If so, how can he win when Mr. Robot knows everything he knows but not vice versa? Either way, it was an intriguing turn and, as far as I can tell, possibly the final ace-up-the-sleeve this series has with regards to surprises. Of course, there's still the Tyrell mystery and what Joanna's actual involvement might be, but Mr. Robot turning out to be the idea man behind the Dark Army's current play deftly turned things upside down. We were ready for Elliot, after early release, to lead his sister to safety and victory, but as soon as he got out, Mr. Robot began taking the reins more and playing some reality-shifting tricks.
Anyhow, keep this in mind: I'm not complaining here. I enjoyed this latest "ta da!" magic act almost as much as I enjoyed the use of PIL's "The Order of Death" (also featured in the movie Hardware). Almost. That song is amazing.
Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association (TCA). Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at http://ift.tt/2aJ67FB.
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