S04.E07: 407 Proxy Authentication Required

[AudienceofOne]

On 11/18/2019 at 4:44 PM, bobbyjoe said:

But having an Act One, Act Two etc mini play that’s set up to reveal that much of what we’ve seen for multiple season is linked to a never before revealed attempt at the sexual assault of a child?  That feels like grafting something that’s waaaaaay too weighty for this show to handle into the whole “surprise!” plot reveal gimmicky thing and you know, please, like, don’t. 

It's weird because it's almost like the reveal was far too obvious and cliched for the buildup while simultaneously coming out of nowhere.

I mean, it never made sense to me that Elliot would jump out that window so the fact his father was abusive isn't exactly the breathless revelation this episode made it out to be and yet the sexual abuse reveal still feels exploitative somehow in a way I can't really define. 

Maybe because the whole thing came about as a result of therapy-at-gunpoint, which to my mind is not what therapy is or should be. 

On 11/22/2019 at 10:18 PM, truthaboutluv said:

Maybe but I also saw it as all part of Esmail essentially doing a stage play within a television show format - the two rooms structure for example, Vera’s many long-winded soliloquies and of course the various acts.

YMMV but I thought the format and staging of the episode added to its brilliance. 

I've found a lot of this season's staging, direction, sound and light production to be out-of-this-world brilliant and this episode was no exception. The acting is also incredible. It's just the script itself that I thought wasn't quite up to snuff here. The vague suggestion that Vera's little manipulative plan was about to work until he got the knife low-key annoyed me, I guess. I know he'd just been broken down and Mr Robot abandoned him but he's still too smart for fall for Vera's bullshit. 

 

[truthaboutluv]

20 hours ago, AudienceofOne said:

I mean, it never made sense to me that Elliot would jump out that window so the fact his father was abusive isn't exactly the breathless revelation this episode made it out to be and yet the sexual abuse reveal still feels exploitative somehow in a way I can't really define. 

I think most people assumed there had been some type of abuse in Elliot's past - maybe physical or verbal, etc. Even if one didn't think it came from his dad, the glimpses into his and Darlene's relationship with their mother was enough to suggest that.

And I cannot imagine anyone didn't assume there had to be something fucked up in Elliot's past, for him to be so damaged as to disassociate. So yeah, I think his being abused wasn't a surprise but that it was sexual abuse some may not have expected or assumed. 

20 hours ago, AudienceofOne said:

The vague suggestion that Vera's little manipulative plan was about to work until he got the knife low-key annoyed me, I guess. I know he'd just been broken down and Mr Robot abandoned him but he's still too smart for fall for Vera's bullshit. 

I don't know. I think having to confront a truth that one has buried so deep as to disassociate from themselves, to hide from it, is a pretty valid reason to have a moment of giving up. 

Edited December 29, 2019 by truthaboutluv

[possibilities]

I don't think WE were supposed to be surprised. I think ELLIOT (in his dissociated state) having a breakthrough was the point.

My experience with multiples is that until they get to a certain point in their healing, they absolutely DO NOT KNOW things that the other personalities know, and that outside observers consider to be astoundingly obvious.

The whole point of developing as a multiple is to remove certain things from awareness. So, it's entirely normal for Elliot to not understand why he is the way he is, to not know he was abused, or to have buried his memory of the most traumatic part of the abuse, and even to not really ask himself any of the questions others might be asking, such as: why is he the way he is? To the dissociated person, the entire exercise of dissociation is to not have to think about or feel that stuff.

I don't think the show was doing this episode to shock the audience. I think it was trying to portray the experience of that moment of self-awareness, and that it did it with tenderness, not scorn. We were supposed to identify with Elliot and go through the process with him. The gunpoint was to increase the tension and create a sense of desperation both for the audience and for Elliot.

Without the threat, it would have felt to the viewers like a routine therapy session. Yawn. The show wanted us to feel emotionally on edge, and scared, and all that stuff a gunpoint scene elicits. Because that's how it feels to a person trying to face something that was so traumatic that they dissociated to bury it.

And what else would motivate Elliot to remember, other than saving someone's life (Krista) or his own? Facing death is one of the very few things with big enough stakes to get him to abandon his defenses and feel the pain he spent his life avoiding.

If you have ever been with someone when they have one of those kinds of breakthroughs, it does feel extremely over the top intense. The sobbing, wailing, shrieking, shaking, etc-- it IS like a massive storm. If anything, I thought they downplayed it, and rushed him through it, because the show only has so many minutes and the audience only has so much tolerance for the dramatics. I was fine with that, but I don't think it was overblown at all.

And then the possibility of reverting to something stupid like buying into Vera's manipulations? Also super-realistic. The main thing anyone usually wants to do is retreat to where it doesn't hurt anymore, and just let go of struggling against any kind of pressure. Reality is unappealing at those moments, so whatever-- pick a new delusion, anything to simplify and distract.

 

Edited December 29, 2019 by possibilities
fixed typo

[Jbingo]

The whole episode, with its staged set, 5 acts, thunder and music is just over giant ode to Hitchcock, right down to the way Hitchcock delves feel into the psyche.

I think the sexual assault plot twist is a bit much so close to the end and they need to back it up well, but I do like the Hitchcock love letter.