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[Curufinwe]

I caught it at the time, but I also watch the show with captions on because it's very easy to miss vital bits of dialogue. Esmail had this to say about the return of Leon.

http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/mr-...m-esmail-elliot-shot-tyrell-alive-1201867301/

That coda at the end of the episode was a delicious nugget — not only do we find Trenton and Mobley, but Leon resurfaces, too.

We wanted to resolve all of the mysteries we’d been setting up all season, Trenton and Mobley their whereabouts being one of them. We find out they have gotten away, or so they think. And here comes Leon, who’s definitely an agent of the Dark Army. His intentions remain to be seen. We’ll definitely get into it in the third season.

 

[names2hard4you]

Holy crap what a finale. Give me Season 3 now!

 

[Sullichin]

My hot take is that the "hacking time" means Dark Army has hacked a time server like ntp.nasa.gov . And the power outages force computers to reconnect/resync their time. Possibly making a lot of people's time slightly off, or events hard to pin down when they exactly happened. Or something.

 

[SCHUEY F1]

The wait for the next season is going to be painful. Loved the season, better than S1 for me.

 

[CRS]

I wonder what the deal with Knowles being framed and everyone probably looking at him now for murdering his wife making Tyrell look wrongfully accused will do, if anything to change the FBI's thinking on Tyrell being the man in the center of the hack.

All of that happened so Joanna could get her severance package from E-Corp, not for Tyrell. Scott was the one preventing her from getting jt, so Joanna used Scott's gifts against him by making him attack her, fabricating the story with the bartender, and getting him fired and sent to jail.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

A collection of pretentious bullshit. Exactly the finale this season deserved.

 

[PHOENIXZERO]

All of that happened so Joanna could get her severance package from E-Corp, not for Tyrell. Scott was the one preventing her from getting jt, so Joanna used Scott's gifts against him by making him attack her, fabricating the story with the bartender, and getting him fired and sent to jail.

Oh Joanna's end but it also gets Tyrell's name cleared (even though he did it) at least in that situation but it's almost certainly going to have more ramifications.

 

[El Topo]

.

I admit I didn't pay attention all the time, so what was the Washington Township Plant thing with Whiterose all about? Oh, right, a mystery they decided not to reveal.
Serious question though (because I know they mentioned it, but I forgot about it): What about the shell in the arcade?

 

[Siegcram]

What was the exact quote Tyrell said was the only words his father knew in English?

Only reason I ask is I know there was something about a red wheel barrel in it, and on the elevator going up to "Mount Olympus" the dark army kid who was with them eating, I believe the bag said Red Wheel Barrel BBQ.

That instantly made me believe Tyrell made up whatever the quote was.

It's the poem "The Red wheelbarrow" by William Carlis Williams. He didn't make it up.

"The red wheelbarrow" has appeared before, it was on Elliot's journal, iirc.

 

[TimeEffect]

I caught it at the time, but I also watch the show with captions on because it's very easy to miss vital bits of dialogue. Esmail had this to say about the return of Leon.

http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/mr-...m-esmail-elliot-shot-tyrell-alive-1201867301/

Leon is so cool

 

[FafaFooey]

The guy that plays Tyrell did a much better job last season. He's like a wide eyed cartoon character now.

 

[wenis]

The guy that plays Tyrell did a much better job last season. He's like a wide eyed cartoon character now.

Long exposure to Elliot does that to people. Angela, Tyrell, Darlene...

 

[31GhostsIV]

A collection of pretentious bullshit. Exactly the finale this season deserved.

I wish I could disagree with you because I really enjoyed season one, but no lies detected here.

I was hoping the closing episodes would make the rest of the season better in hindsight, but nope. Why did we have to spend an entire half of the season with Elliot pretending he wasn't banged up again?

 

[Androidsleeps]

So, how does the dark army/Whiterose play into all this?

 

[Curufinwe]

A collection of pretentious bullshit. Exactly the finale this season deserved.

What was pretentious about Dom revealing to Darlene the FBI were on to fsociety?

What was pretentious about Tyrell being alive and working with the dark army and Mr Robot to destroy E Corp?

These were the two biggest things that happened in the last episode.

 

[NaM]

Hey, NaM. Can we get video proof of you eating crow?

:'(

C'mon man, you should be happy!

I actually am, but knowing Tyrell is alive puts in perspective a lot of scenes this season, I will have to watch them again but right now from memory most of them feel kinda cheap.

Her name is on the list of interviews pending. Shama Biswas

Oh thanks, I was looking for "Trenton" and no screencap I could find was clear enough for that, they were all too blurry.

 

[Future]

What was pretentious about Dom revealing to Darlene the FBI were on to fsociety?

What was pretentious about Tyrell being alive and working with the dark army and Mr Robot to destroy E Corp?

These were the two biggest things that happened in the last episode.

It's just slow. This whole season has been more about extended sequences with characters rather than plot development. Last weeks long Dom conversation with Alexa was the clearest example. It's interesting but I can see how people would call it pretentious

I enjoyed the finale. The audience expected tyrel to be fake and they shot things exactly how they did with mr robot last season. Characters only ever directly interact with one of them, he's wearing the same clothes, etc. So it was nice to see the twist go the other way and I'm sure no one was really sure how that was gonna end

 

[Zoe]

So, how does the dark army/Whiterose play into all this?

Dark Army is doing what it takes to make Stage 2 happen.

 

[vypek]

Are we supposed to know why Dark Army shot up that FBI office in China? Only thing that I'm feeling super unclear on if it was answered or should appear in season 3.

 

[bogg]

Great finale to a great season.
Also it seems one of my biggest questions has been answered, why does mr.robot exist and why is he so different from Elliot and always keeping him in the dark; When Elliot and mr.robot are arguing mr.robot says "it's what you asked me here for". Elliot knew that in order to take down E-Corp he will have to go to extremes and do things he isn't capable of doing, so he created a persona of himself that is willing to do whatever necessary in order to get the job done, and keep himself in the dark about those things he knew he cant handle.

 

[chefbags]

What was pretentious about Dom revealing to Darlene the FBI were on to fsociety?

What was pretentious about Tyrell being alive and working with the dark army and Mr Robot to destroy E Corp?

These were the two biggest things that happened in the last episode.

Yeah i agree with you. Gave me a satisfied finale.

The io9 review literally called this episode "pretentious bullshit" and it was just so directly pessimistic on the episode I felt but you know people got their opinions and such.

Io9 review link
http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-mr-robot-finale-was-a-pile-of-pretentious-bullshit-1786926712

 

[CRS]

Also, Rami Malek's 'committed' response during the first after show has even more meaning. What a great response.

 

[T-Matt]

The finale was good enough to keep me interested in this show. I feel the show tries really hard sometimes and the payoff is not that great. Hopefully season 3 is an improvement.

 

[besada]

Am I the only one who thinks Tyrell is dead, and we're just seeing a third personality for Elliot? I actually think that maybe Slater isn't coming back, as he's served his purpose of getting Elliot through Stage I and now Tyrell will be his "other" for Stage II.

 

[TheVisualizer]

Are we supposed to know why Dark Army shot up that FBI office in China? Only thing that I'm feeling super unclear on if it was answered or should appear in season 3.

I dont think it was ever fully answered yet, but my impression is that they were gunning for Dom and anyone else closely aligned with her entourage after she bluntly accused the Dark Army of being involved in that initial meeting in China that Whiterose was present for

Dark Army prob felt it would be pretty easy to eliminate or at worst intimidate the FBI agents involved into looking into other leads since the lead FBI guy admitted later their hands were tied as far as what they could do after the shooting due to politics

 

[bogg]

Am I the only one who thinks Tyrell is dead, and we're just seeing a third personality for Elliot? I actually think that maybe Slater isn't coming back, as he's served his purpose of getting Elliot through Stage I and now Tyrell will be his "other" for Stage II.

Why would they repeat the same twist from s1? And what, Elliot shoots himself, kinda like he jumped of the ledge? Or was that all in his head? Sounds lame.
And what about Tyrell talking to Angela on the phone, she said she should be the first person he sees when he wakes up.

 

[labx]

So the FBI have them in its hand, F.Society is going to take the hate and the dark army will survive. Now what? Season 3, Darlene in prison for 6 episodes?

 

[Turin Turambar]

Am I the only one who thinks Tyrell is dead, and we're just seeing a third personality for Elliot? I actually think that maybe Slater isn't coming back, as he's served his purpose of getting Elliot through Stage I and now Tyrell will be his "other" for Stage II.

I think the whole debate is a losing match. Esmail just likes to fuck with the audience: "Before you thought someone was real and in the end he was a figment of Ellliot's imagination. Now you believed Tyrell was a fake personality and you thought you were smart for thinking it so fast... nope he is real! gotcha!"

From what we know, he can do ANOTHER SWERVE next season and play the card of 'gotcha again he was fake all along!! ^_^" Like, who the fucks knows. Things are real or not as the creator decide arbitrarily, thinking about what would be a good curveball.

The only way to win is not to play.

 

[Intheflorsh]

Am I the only one who thinks Tyrell is dead, and we're just seeing a third personality for Elliot? I actually think that maybe Slater isn't coming back, as he's served his purpose of getting Elliot through Stage I and now Tyrell will be his "other" for Stage II.

I think the fact that we're at the phase where someone would even have this theory is indicative of some of the problems with the show.

 

[Spoiled Milk]

I think the whole debate is a losing match. Esmail just likes to fuck with the audience: "Before you thought someone was real and in the end he was a figment of Ellliot's imagination. Now you believed Tyrell was a fake personality and you thought you were smart for thinking it so fast... nope he is real! gotcha!"

From what we know, he can do ANOTHER SWERVE next season and play the card of 'gotcha again he was fake all along!! ^_^" Like, who the fucks knows. Things are real or not as the creator decide arbitrarily, thinking about what would be a good curveball.

The only way to win is not to play.

Reminds me of Lost.

Notable twist S4:

Spoiler

Locke was dead the whole time.

Notable twist S5:

Spoiler

Locke really was dead the whole time! Lol.

 

[labx]

I think the whole debate is a losing match. Esmail just likes to fuck with the audience: "Before you thought someone was real and in the end he was a figment of Ellliot's imagination. Now you believed Tyrell was a fake personality and you thought you were smart for thinking it so fast... nope he is real! gotcha!"

From what we know, he can do ANOTHER SWERVE next season and play the card of 'gotcha again he was fake all along!! ^_^" Like, who the fucks knows. Things are real or not as the creator decide arbitrarily, thinking about what would be a good curveball.

The only way to win is not to play.

The only thing that is clear (I guess) for me is that Tyrell is real for the sake of the plot. Why you may ask? Joanna! It would be a clusterfuck plot-wise to tide up all the things in season 1 and 2 surrounding Joanna and the baby, so at the end was Elliot the husband all this time.

 

[Foggy]

I'm not even upset. I'm just sad.

 

[Curufinwe]

Am I the only one who thinks Tyrell is dead, and we're just seeing a third personality for Elliot? I actually think that maybe Slater isn't coming back, as he's served his purpose of getting Elliot through Stage I and now Tyrell will be his "other" for Stage II.

Sure doesn't seem like that based on the Variety interview.

 

[El Pescado]

Man, I can't believe how down everyone is on season 2. I thought it was great.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Just watched the final episode. When the credits started I started laughing uncontrollably while saying "what did I just watch?" I didn't expect it to be over is mostly what did me in (had it on in the background multitasking while paying enough attention to it).

Anyway, Luke Cage soon, hope it's good. At least I'll be able to watch that on a weekend and not wait a full season waiting for things to ramp up and the end to be somewhat like the start with uninteresting questions.

 

[names2hard4you]

Man, I can't believe how down everyone is on season 2. I thought it was great.

You shouldn't just use GAF to gauge whether people enjoyed something or not. The vast majority of people really enjoyed the finale.

 

[Grinchy]

Man, I can't believe how down everyone is on season 2. I thought it was great.

It was like at least 60+% filler bullshit. Some scenes looked like a film student's final exam project. The rest of it was pretty good, though. I'll give it that.

 

[Xenoboy]

Tyrell, man I love him so much. Such a great character, so glad he's alive. I actually shed a tear when he shot Elliot too.
What a great finale.

 

[Curufinwe]

Man, I can't believe how down everyone is on season 2. I thought it was great.

The IMDB reviews are as good for this season as last season. It's not a huge sample of Mr Robot viewers, of course, but it's a lot bigger sample than just the posters in this thread.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4158110/eprate?ref_=ttep_ql_3

 

[joesmokey]

I didn't feel this season and I don't think I'll be back for season 3. While the main actors were generally fantastic (Elliott's last conversation with Mr. Robot being a single take was superb), the rest of the elements never fell into place for me. This season is best summed up with Elliott's diatribe on religion in the church group. We've fully devolved from a smartly written show to a show that tries to be smarter than it is.

I know a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this, but I feel like the singular directing/writing approach failed this season. It reminds me a lot of True Detective season 2 in that respect (although nowhere near as much of a failure).

 

[Acerac]

HAHAHA. Tyrell screaming "WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!" when Elliot assumes he and Mr Robot are the same person (himself) was hilarious.

The look of betrayed confusion on his face was priceless.

"What do you mean I don't exist!?!"

 

[T Dollarz]

Man, now that I think about it, this season mightve missed my top ten last year. But this year it will be in for sure, because there's just been less quality shit. Fargo, The Leftovers, The Knick, Mad Men all were better last year than this, and none are present this year.

I'm not trying to rail on this season at all tho, I thought it was great, like an 8/10. But a step down from the 9/10 of last season.

 

[Leona Lewis]

This season is best summed up with Elliott's diatribe on religion in the church group. We've fully devolved from a smartly written show to a show that tries to be smarter than it is.

I think Tom and Lorenzo are the most incisive, thoughtful television critics out there, and agree wholeheartedly with their assessment (which echoes much of your thoughts as well):

We don’t expect a ton of agreement on this point, since social media seemed to love the scene, but when Angela’s story took a sudden sharp right turn into David Lynch land – the scene with the fishtank and the mini-Angela – it sort of confirmed what we had feared most about Esmail’s methods and approach this season. It was just weirdness for the sake of being weird. And if this show had started off like Twin Peaks or X-Files or some other form of televisual surrealism, such a scene might be welcome, but part of the appeal of season one was the show’s bracing fury (voiced through Elliott) aimed at the vapidity and shallowness at the heart of modern life. His inner diatribes against modern pop culture, consumerism and the loss of privacy and identity in the age of Facebook and the rise of hacking armies were terrifyingly on point and familiar to the audience. Now we’re stuck in the Matrix with a creepy little girl who keeps asking us if we’re red or purple. Taken at the end of a season practically defined by its obtuseness, we found it intensely frustrating to watch.

It's the bolded that gets to me. Last season was such a subtle and timely critique on the value humans place on the ephemeral invisibilia of life (data, power, job titles), and this season we get the most hamfisted monologues (like the one in the support group, as well acted as it was) and obtuse, circuitous dialogue since...True Detective S2.

It's just such a massive fall from grace that the only thing that emerged unscathed this season was the cinematography, but if I just wanted to ogle pretty things, I'd watch a nature documentary.

And be more entertained.

 

[TripOpt55]

Well that finale definitely left me wanting to see Season 3 right away. I really liked the revelation that the FBI knew everything with the board and all that. Dom has been a fantastic new character. I'm honestly surprised so many people thought Tyrell was really dead. What an incredible waste of an interesting character that would have been. Glad he is back in the mix because sidelining him for most of the season was also disappointing. The pacing with Elliot's arc early on was another thing that brought this season down. Things picked up considerably once he was out of prison and could start interacting with the other characters more.

I still really enjoyed this season a lot. The direction and acting remain stellar. And overall I just find the whole thing fascinating to watch. One of my favorite shows to sit down with. But I don't think it was as good as the first (which was my favorite show to air in 2015). That had considerably better pacing, did a better job bringing together its many characters for satisfying interactions and converging storylines, and I think did a better job of telling one story arc while still teasing enough to keep you hooked into what comes next.

 

[Ross61]

Eh, too compare this season to True Detective S2 is lazy and inaccurate.

 

[Intheflorsh]

Some things I'd like from season 3:
- Less attempts to play around with audience expectations in gimmicky ways. The first half of the season was completely constrained by the need to plot around Elliot being in prison, it killed all of the momentum from season one and the reveal didn't even get to be satisfying because some jerks on the internet had already guessed it weeks before. If they try something like that again in season 3 it's going to feel obvious and ridiculous.
- Less one sided dialogue. I'm talking about monologues/parables/history lessons/life stories or any scene that mostly consists of one character talking at another character for minutes at a time. It happened way too often and at worst it felt like masturbatory fluff.
- An immediate end to this. I swear to god it happened in every episode except maybe the finale.

 

[Voras]

I'm still not sure how I feel about the finale. I liked a lot of the scenes but I feel like for all the build up we didn't really get any big reveals other than the purpose of phase 2 which was not really much of a surprise, and the Tyrell stuff. It wasn't a bad episode but I'm not sure it works as a season finale. I don't mind that there's still a lot we don't know but I feel like giving us one more thing, like whatever Whiterose told Angela, could have tied the whole season together and kept the momentum going into Season 3.

Other than the finale I really loved this season, a lot of great performances and some excellent directing. I'm excited for next season. I'm curious to see what Esmail says on The Watch podcast this week.

 

[vypek]

I dont think it was ever fully answered yet, but my impression is that they were gunning for Dom and anyone else closely aligned with her entourage after she bluntly accused the Dark Army of being involved in that initial meeting in China that Whiterose was present for

Dark Army prob felt it would be pretty easy to eliminate or at worst intimidate the FBI agents involved into looking into other leads since the lead FBI guy admitted later their hands were tied as far as what they could do after the shooting due to politics

I didn't consider that meeting at all. Your impression makes a lot of sense.

 

[Siegcram]

True Detective season 2 because of a Lynch homage... Give me a fucking break.

 

[joesmokey]

I think Tom and Lorenzo are the most incisive, thoughtful television critics out there, and agree wholeheartedly with their assessment (which echoes much of your thoughts as well):

This is a good read, although probably a bit harsher than I would take things.

Eh, too compare this season to True Detective S2 is lazy and inaccurate.

This statement is pretty lazy and inaccurate. I wasn't making a direct comparison, just stating that the change in approach and its associated failings from season one to season two most reminded me of what Pizzolatto tried to do with True Detective. Esmail clearly had more success in his attempt, but it still fell short of what made season one so great.