Mr. Robot Season 2 episode 7 confirmed a longstanding reddit theory: Elliot is really in prison. Once again, Elliot’s delusions have fooled not only him, but us.
“Elliot, you know you haven't been staying with your mother, right?” Krista asks Elliot, as prison walls fill the screen behind her.
Everything Elliot experienced this season so far has happened inside jail. His rigid schedule--the pick-up games, meals with Leon, group therapy and talks with Ray--is all just a constructed reality he’s used to cope with his new life behind bars. His room at his mother’s house is really his jail cell, and his mother, a prison guard. He’s beat up by a bunch of inmates and put in solitary confinement where’s he’s forced to make peace with Mr. Robot. Ray is where things get a bit tricky. Most likely, he’s either the prison warden or a counselor. It appears Elliot blames Ray for his time in solitary confinement (which Elliot imagines as a basement in Brooklyn).
This explains why Darlene has been so involved in fsociety and why Elliot felt justified trading a pen and paper for his keyboard. If what we know about Ray is true, Elliot was able to build the FBI hack from Ray’s office computer. When Ray asks Elliot to fix his website and finds out the truth, that’s when he turns Ray in. Elliot is able to just walk out of Ray’s office without being questioned by the FBI because he's already an inmate. Ray let some prisoners get involved with his website, and that’s why they were after Elliot at the end of the episode. Elliot may have been granted early release for turning in Ray or struck a deal with the FBI beforehand, but what is he serving time for in the first place?
Was Elliot arrested for hacking Krista's boyfriend? It may have been Michael Hansen and the police knocking at Elliot’s door in the season finale. Krista continues to see Elliot in prison because while she felt violated, she believes he was just trying to protect her. That is the most plausible theory, but maybe Elliot turned himself in to escape the wrath of Mr. Robot? It's unlikely he’s been caught for the Five/Nine hack or killing Tyrell Wellick because it's Tyrell's face all over the news, not Elliot's. The arrest must be related to something more minor, maybe even just a petty drug charge, considering he’s been granted early release after just a few months.
The episode also suggests Elliot and Whiterose are still working together. Leon may have even been sent by the Dark Army to protect Elliot in prison. He effortlessly stabbed four guys with no hesitation and left Elliot with a suspicious request. “When you see Whiterose, make sure you say I did you good.”
When will Elliot see Whiterose? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
