#stephen lin

I think I ran the gamut of emotions in this episode. My feels were literally all over the map. Elliot & Darlene’s hug... Elliot & Whiterose’s monologues... Elliot & Robot’s I love yous... the “meltdown”... happy, smiley Elliot... yay Hamburger Man... Angela... just 🥺🥰🔥😢🤯🤬🍔🤗

I don’t believe for a second that a nuclear meltdown occurred. It didn’t look like a nuclear meltdown at all. The reactor would have overheated & exploded, taking the building with it; things wouldn’t just go red like that. I think this is “are you red or purple” symbolism. That it was all fabricated by Whiterose/the machine to get Elliot to fall in line, play the game, & believe. The “smoke”, rumbling, & noises could be emergency personnel trying to break into the underground bunker where they are. Or, the smoke is a mind-altering drug being vaporized into the room. I just can’t imagine a nuclear disaster (pretty much killing/irradiating everyone in & around Washington Twp), as the endgame for this show & everything Elliot went through!

There is no alternate universe. It’s a simulation, highly-advanced VR, or a drug-induced dream. Elliot is imagining what his perfect world would be like: his dad is good, Angela loves him, he’s not socially awkward or mentally ill, he tells Tyrell what he really feels. Darlene never exists in this “world” because she is the trigger that starts him remembering his true past. She is his key to reality. Other weird things that wouldn’t occur in reality: New Elliot’s wake-up alarm is a mechanical voice similar to what Elliot & Angela hear on Whiterose’s phone. The persistent 11:16. New Elliot’s headaches & the bleeding in of E Corp are Our Elliot’s mind trying to break free of the dream/simulation. Ollie calls his girlfriend “Stella B”. Not Stella, or Stella Brown (or whatever her last name is), which a normal person would say in that situation. Our Elliot only knows her as Stella B. Our Elliot also imagines Ollie as even more of a douchebro because he hates him. Elliot imagines Edward as the good dad he wishes he was. New Edward is even overprotective, even more of a contrast to Old Edward. Tyrell is dressed down & scruffy because of what he confessed to Elliot in 404 about wishing he could go through life not caring what others think of him. He’s also dressed similarly to Gideon, who was a positive figure in Elliot’s life & the model for what a good boss should be.

Our Elliot appearing in this world is due to the malware, or the fact Elliot played the eXit game twice. He is going to see that perfection doesn’t exist because it’s not real. He will choose reality (& Darlene) over this perfect vision. Whiterose’s What-If Machine can try to show a perfect world but it will never succeed because 1) perfection doesn’t exist in the real world & 2) no Darlene. Darlene belongs in the world, in Elliot’s life, period. DARLENE MATTERS. Plus, Darlene & Elliot have so much yet to resolve.