It’s been a while since we’ve come up with any of our crazy theories here at Mr Robot Hacks HQ, but as we sat down to watch some of the old episodes, something struck us – that Elliot and Darlene aren’t actually Brother and Sister…

Now, we know we might be some months (or years!) behind, and realise this kind of discussion must have been had by fans before, but the more we thought about, the more it made sense.

The Evidence:

Well, let’s start with the most obvious. When Elliot kissed Darlene and she recoiled in horror… Darlene repeatedly asks Elliot if he has forgotten who she is, but the scene has been written in such a way that Elliot remembers and reveals “You’re my sister”

Darlene never says it. Elliot does. But why doesn’t she say it? Why has the scene been specifically written so that it’s Elliot’s reveal?

Okay, so on Dom DiPierro’s FBI Evidence Board, she is listed as Darlene Alderson but on USA Network’s own Season 2.0 poster of all the characters, Darlene’s surname is strangely absent. Why?

They give Elliot’s full name, so why not Darlene’s? It’s not as if they didn’t have room, as they spelt out Dom’s longer name – does this mean USA Network know something we don’t?

Darlene was noticeably missing from all the early Alderson family photos and only Mr and Mrs Alderson and young Elliot appeared in a hugely important Season 1.0 moment; Sam Esmail saying “there’s a reason why [Darlene is] not in the Times Square sequence.”

Hmmmm. Could that mean…

Theory Numero Uno:

That Elliot and Darlene are in fact Foster Brother and Sister? Think about it. Elliot grew up in an abusive household. While Edward let him name his computer shop, defended his thievery and took him to see Pulp Fiction – he also threw him out of a window, landing him in hospital and possibly causing his brain to go horribly wrong.

We know that Mrs Alderson is now in some kind of care home, meaning that at some point (probably) after Edward died, she couldn’t cope, was institutionalized and Elliot taken from her.

When these facts are taken in consideration, they could mean Elliot went into foster care, where he met Darlene and they became so close they were LIKE brother and sister. They could have been fostered out to a family and actually grown up together as siblings.

This would explain Darlene’s horrified reaction to the kiss – while not actually biologically related, in her mind, they are brother and sister.

Theory Numero Duo:

Mr Robot (the show) has pulled the rug from under us many times, sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much. But what if the whole two seasons so far have been pulling our legs in another way. Namely that Darlene doesn’t exist!

Most scenes that feature Darlene and Elliot feature only Darlene and Elliot but she has also shared screen time with Mobley, Trenton, Romero, Dom, Cisco and especially… Angela – who she’s known since they were kids.

Yea, other people regularly interact with Darlene and we know she’s currently in FBI custody with Dom… but wouldn’t Elliot be exactly the type of messed-up kid to invent an imaginary sister to get him through the pain of growing up alone in care?

And isn’t Elliot the kind of kid who would name his imaginary, curly-haired brunette sister Darlene after the cool, feisty, take-no-shit-from-anyone sister in a sitcom he’d have definitely grown up with – Roseanne?

What if Darlene was another alter ego of Elliot’s? A female anima to his male animus? They are pretty similar types of people to start wth – male and female counterpart already, right?

Wouldn’t it be the most Esmailian trick of all? I can completely imagine revisiting this below scene to find only Angela standing there in the graveyard with Elliot.

Case in point, would you agree that there’s something far too intentional in the way these two shots have been filmed – the way Elliot looks at Darlene and her positioning. Maybe that’s just me wanting to see that.

How do we explain Angela, Cisco, Trenton, and Uncle Tom Mobley and all interacting with Darlene?

Well, as ever Mr Robot Hacks has a theory about that too, but that’s a whole other post for another time!