There are lots of story lines to keep track of in this segment. Where am I going to start? First, politicians are puppets. Second, China has always had an interest in the US. Third, Evil Corp possibly gets UN bail out and China gets Africa. Fourth, The Dark Army keeps tabs on the FBI. Fifth, Bitcoin replaces money and credit cards. Sixth, Elliot created stage 2, but he’s unaware about it, because Mr. Robot did not tell Elliot; yet, only Elliot can pull off stage 2. I hope you don’t forget the story lines, because you could have memory blocks down the road.
To start off, multinational conglomerate CEO Price thinks politicians are puppets. He may be right, since politicians are funded by super PACs, which mostly come from corporations or China in this case.
China has always had an interest in the USA. Whether China was bankrolling lawsuits for it’s people living in the US or fighting for their treaty rights in the US, China has had interests in the US going back a century or so.
This episode sees Evil Corp wanting a UN bail out. Specifically, Evil Corp wants Obama to tell the US ambassador to abstain in the UN vote. If the UN bail out is successful, Evil Corp will get it’s bail out, and China will get sovereignty over Africa.
Looks like the Dark Army keeps tabs on the FBI. Should the FBI find out about a Dark Army soldier, that soldier is killed. This is the course of action for the Dark Army if the FBI is on the lookout.
Bitcoin has replaced money after the 5/9 hack. Rather than use money or credit cards, bitcoin is the form of payment. There are bitcoin sales for laptops and computers; moreover, people are paid in bitcoin for work.
When it comes to stage 2 of the 5/9 hack, only Elliot and the Dark Army know about it. The rest of Fsociety is in the dark. Elliot was in the dark, too, before Mr .Robot clued him in that it was Elliot’s plan.
During this segment, Elliot sends out a spoof fax to the cops. Unbeknownst to the cops, Elliot gets them to trace a call; a call that will take him to Tyrell. Cops bing phone and give Elliot the phone’s current location.
Conspiracy theories come out of the woodwork on blackouts/brownouts in this airing. Some theorists say blackouts are to control the flow of information. Others say it’s just control of the people.
Elliot’s visions of his dad are so real. Sometimes he screams at people who can’t see what he sees. Elliot can’t tell the difference between reality and illusion- like a schizophrenic.
In sum, Elliot really made me think about what’s reality in this segment. Does existence all come down to electro-chemical reactions in our brain; that is, are our senses just poor inputs. If this is the case, how can we ever be sure if we are not dreaming or actually awake, since it’s all electro-chemical responses in our brain. And our idea of reality is really an imperfect one.