Major spoilers for Mr. Robot Season 1 are below, so go watch it and then come back!

Season 2 of USA’s unexpected summer hit Mr. Robot is currently in production, and creator Sam Esmail has been dropping a few hints here and there about what the new season might contain. Recently, we learned the series will tackle themes of privacy and data encryption, which of course was also a part of Season 1. Esmail said,

What’s weird is we’re really going into thematically talking a lot about encryption and privacy, and this whole thing with Apple and Tim Cook happened, which I actually think is a really important issue that we’re really going to get into in the next 10 years or so. It’s not something that I think people really understand the nuances of, but it’s going to be interesting public discourse about it, because it really brings up the idea of the rights to privacy and do we have them, do we not?


mr-robot-season-2-rami-malek-christian-slater
Image via USA

Now, Esmail has told EW something a little more personal regarding Elliot’s (Rami Malek) state of mind — namely, Mr. Robot (Christian Slater). The end of Season 1 revealed that, in fact, Mr. Robot was a real person, but the person Elliot has been interacting with is the mental spectre of his father, or another aspect of his own personality. Esmail said,

“Now that Elliot is aware [of the truth about Mr. Robot], that has opened the door. We’re literally externalizing Elliot’s mentality and his inner conflict, Mr. Robot being the other half of Elliot,” Esmail says. “In the first season, because Elliot wasn’t aware, there was a mystery about who Mr. Robot was and what his real motivations were. Now we know, so what does that mean? What does Elliot really want?”

He went on to further clarify,

“What you’ve got to understand is that when Mr. Robot and Elliot go at it, he’s really going at it with himself,” Esmail says. “What I can say is that they’re communicating, but it’s almost under duress. Obviously, Elliot can’t escape him, and Mr. Robot doesn’t want to leave. It’s a conflict, but it’s actually more of an impasse that they somehow have to negotiate.”


This isn’t exactly groundbreaking news for fans, but it does address any lingering doubts about whether or not Slater would return in his Robot role. Still, Esmail also said, “I can comfortably say that Season 2 is very different from Season 1.” Even though Season 1 was excellent, and it would be great to have more of the same, I trust Esmail (who will be directing all 10 episodes of the new season) to bring us something twisted and compelling once again.

Still, the biggest question that remains for me is: where the hell is Tyrell Wellick (Martin Wallström), and what connection does Elliot have to his disappearance? We do know that his creepy wife Joanna (Stephanie Corneliussen) has been bumped up to a series regular, so that is something …

Mr. Robot Season 2 will premiere later this year (probably summer-ish) on USA.

mr-robot-malek-wallstrom
Image via USA

mr-robot-rami-malek
Image via USA
mr-robot-rami-malek-fsociety
Image via USA