Bombshell

“but what if i did?”

“… then i’m best friends with a murderer.”

and what if i told you that was the most loving line i’d heard? what if i told you in this entire series about erasing the worst of us having a friend say they’ll still love you even if you murdered someone. what if your best friend saw your deepest darkest thought and true self you’re afraid to show in the light and embrace it fully because that’s what friends do…

except it's not.

at no point after the patrick is a robot reveal did i buy that eli was truly in love with patrick. sure, he was advocating for him to get a cut of the money, and he said he's in love even though it would seem ridiculous to love a robot, they've been together for years. but he ultimately doesn't treat patrick like a person. let's go to the cabin and fuck and you can make me an omelet??? that's not how you talk to a person you respect, let alone love. eli doesn't truly respect iris, he doesn't recognize her personhood, and he ultimately doesn't recognize eli's. he doesn't see the companions as people, and that includes his boyfriend.

this is speculation but i doubt he would have given eli 100% control after learning that eli knows about his true nature, just to be on equal terms. he wouldn't have told patrick that he's a robot just for the sake of having an honest relationship with the man he supposedy loves. eli doesn't want an honest relationship with patrick on equal terms. in the end, eli is just as much of an incel as josh. eli controls and uses patrick and the fact that he claims to love him doesn't change that.

eli's "loving" relationship with patrick is juxtaposed with how josh treats patrick once he resets him - patrick believes himself to be in love, only to be used for josh's own goals, subject to josh's whims. but eli did the same thing. he was just not as much of an obvious dickhead about it. but he still controlled patrick and had no intention of changing that, perhaps ever.

- abusive relationships

- heteronormative misogyny

- sex work

- casual misogyny and fragile masculinity

- objectification (regardless of gender)

- robots and sentience

- the creation vs the creator

- AI and modern technology

- women realizing their desires and pursuing their own autonomy