MR ROBOT – SPEC SCRIPT

“Outermezzanine”

CHARACTERS

ELLIOT ALDERSON – RAMI MALEK

ALTERNATE ELLIOT (A.E.) ALDERSON – SAMI MALEK
MR. ROBOT – CHRISTIAN SLATER
WIFE – TBD
BOY - TBD

FADE IN
INT. HALLWAY – DAY
ELLIOT ALDERSON, wearing his black hoodie and a pair of ragged jeans, walks barefoot
down a brightly-it hallway. The fluorescent light is harsh and shows the dark circles under his
eyes. His hands hang limp at his sides. He looks up and lets his gaze follow the even row of
lights.

ELLIOT (V.O.)
“Now it’s dark.” That’s a line from a movie. “Blue Velvet.” A film by David Lynch about a
whacked-out view of suburbia, from nineteen eighty-six. Dennis Hopper is in it. He creates these
bizarre pauses in this bizarre world with just that one simple phrase: “Now it’s dark.”
ELLIOT stares forward again and continues walking, eyes forward, expression blank.

ELLIOT
It’s not dark here, but it might as well be. It feels dark. I can remember nothing. I feel nothing.
I’m me but I’m not me. It’s like the inside of my head has been scraped out and replaced by
shadows, and I don’t even care. My entire life is on “PAUSE” right now, and I don’t know why.
(pause) I’ve lost my shoes. That significant, somehow… isn’t it?

ELLIOT looks down at his bare feet, moving across a white tile floor, then looks up again. His
pace never changes.

ELLIOT
There’s something about this moment that should be peaceful. Escapist, almost. I shouldn’t mind
it, but I do. I mind it… but I can’t do anything about it. Even anger has escaped me.

ELLIOT slows as he walks past a tall glass square in the wall. On the other side of the glass is an
idyllic picture: a simple but tastefully-decorated living room with a multi-colored carpet runner
behind a sofa. There is a large window overlooking a quiet street. Beyond the window are well-
manicured hedges and lawns, and nice houses bathed in warm, bright sunlight. Elliot walks on.

ELLIOT (V.O.)
And there it is. Whacked-out Suburbia. Right on cue.

The picture of the perfect neighborhood evaporates behind him. He pauses, looks back to see
only a blank wall, then moves on. Ahead there’s another glass square. He stops and watches as a
BOY, approximately seven years old, runs by. The hallway that BOY is in has the same color
carpet runner on the floor as the other house scene. It is a stark contrast to the empty hallway that
ELLIOT walks. BOY stops at the glass and gives it a strange look, then walks by.

ELLIOT (V.O.)
That’s right kid. There’s something strange going on here. Nice house, though. Very “Leave It to
Beaver” in the 21st-Century sense. Bet you’ve got some good schools there, huh?
ELLIOT presses his forehead against the glass and watches as BOY moves towards a stairway at
the end of the hall. BOY pauses again with a puzzled look, then goes upstairs. ELLIOT steps
back, the scene disappears and becomes a flat wall again, and ELLIOT walks on to the next glass
window.

INT. HALLWAY – DAY

ELLIOT stops again, this time in front of a bedroom scene. A king-sized bed occupies the room,
with neatly-made sheets and pillows in place. To the left is an open bathroom door, and a man is
standing, barely in sight, at the bathroom sink. He appears to be shaving based on his actions.
ALTERNATE ELLIOT (A.E.) steps out of the bathroom with a wet towel around his neck. A.E.
wipes his face one more time with the towel and puts it on the bed. He picks up a white t-shirt
and puts it on. A.E. is wearing a pair of dress pants and no shirt. Like ELLIOT, he, to, is
barefoot.
ELLIOT studies A.E. for a moment.

ELLIOT (V.O.)
Me. That’s me. (pause) No, that’s… another me. Is this what my potential was? To be the
average middle-class citizen? Another brain-dead consumer being used by those at the top?
(pauses) I wasn’t this, was I? I am the polar opposite of this. Okay. I still don’t remember what I
was, why I’m here… but I know I’m not this. Nowhere near this.

WIFE ENTERS, sees the towel on the bed and picks it up.

WIFE
Elliot! Towel!

A.E. grins and picks up the towel, then walks it back into the bathroom and hangs it up. He
emerges and grins at her.

A.E. (in a teasing voice)

Yes, dear!
WIFE gives A.E. a “don’t be a smartass” look, and the two embrace and kiss.

WIFE
Did you figure out what’s wrong with the computer?

A.E. walks over to a corner of the room where a running computer sits on a desk. He waves a
hand at it, leans over it and clicks the mouse a few times.

A.E.
Not a clue. It’s just something that came up after the last update. “Root element is missing”? I
mean, what the hell does that mean?

ELLIOT
You have got to be kidding me.

A.E.
It’s… it’s something about roots. Root kit. Root certificate. I don’t know.

WIFE
Well, I don’t know what to do with it.

A.E.
Me, neither. (stands up again and grins) This is what I get for not falling for the whole Nintendo
craze. When I was a kid, I spent my days playing soccer, and my nights over a chess board with
my grandfather.

ELLIOT (V.O.)
Grandfather? He’s got a grandfather. Do I have a grandfather? Well, of course, I have to have
had a grandfather, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.
 WIFE
Wouldn’t you know it? (she kisses him) I married the wrong type of nerd.

A.E.
Sorry, hon. Computers were never my thing.

ELLIOT (in disbelief)

Never your thing? Like, NEVER?

A.E.
I think we should just turn it off and turn it back on again.

WIFE
Well, that’ll be for the FORTIETH time this morning…

ELLIOT (shouting at the glass)

Hotfix! Come on, this is the basics, here!

A.E.
Honey, I can’t figure this out.

WIFE
Well, neither can I. I log in, do my work, and log out. I.T. repair isn’t my field.

ELLIOT
HOTFIX! HOTFIX, you ignorant fucks!
 A.E.
Talk to that lady from work about it, will you? She knows what she’s doing with these things.

ELLIOT
Come ON! The system holds your fucking hand and the network does the work for you! What
more do you fucking need?!? Come on, I can’t be this stupid! Not even in an alternative
universe, am I this stupid!

ELLIOT (V.O.)
Oh, my God. This is hell. I’m IN hell. Or Purgatory. My computer sins have caught up with me,
and now I have to sit here and watch Other Me be a moron for eternity. (pause) At least that
Elliot won’t be throwing on a Geek Squad hat and jumping into a van. THAT would be worse. I
can live with Other Me being technologically ignorant, but not CORPORATE ignorant.

A.E. STANDS and shakes his head, then A.E. and WIFE kiss. They pull apart as BOY, their son,
comes into the room and rolls his eyes.

BOY
Oh, boy. Not again.

WIFE
Not again, what?

BOY
You two are gonna skip breakfast again, aren’t you? I already told you, I don’t want a little
brother or sister.

A.E.
Okay, we’ll be right down.
 BOY
Yea, I’ve heard that one before!

BOY grins and starts to turn. BOY gives the bedroom mirror a strange look as he did in the
downstairs hallway, then EXITS. WIFE smiles and untangles himself from A.E.’s arms. A.E. lets
her get free, then he sweeps up behind her and hugs her again.

A.E.
Well, I am hungry for a little breakfast…

WIFE gives A.E. a friendly push back and disentangles herself from his arms.

A.E.
All right. Let me get my socks on. I’ll be right there.

WIFE
How about a shirt, too?

A.E. (teasing)
Elliot, towel! Elliot, shirt! It’s like you’re married to me or something.

WIFE
Or something. Two minutes. He’s got school, I’ve got work, and you’ve got your six-month
check up to get to. I’ll ask someone at the office about the computer. Luckily we’re a big enough
law firm to have our own IT guy. Or in this case, gal.

A.E.
Well, only if you want to keep surfing your porn. (waves at computer) In fact, that’s probably
why it doesn’t work now.
 WIFE
Yea. MY porn. Get your socks on, Casanova. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.

WIFE EXITS. A.E. turns off the computer, then stands there, staring at it and shaking his head in
confusion for a moment before retrieving a pair of socks from a drawer.

A.E. (to himself)

I’ve been nauseous all morning, and you expect me to eat?

A.E. makes his way back across the room and looks up at the mirror. He freezes. ELLIOT and
A.E.’s gazes meet and lock. A.E. releases a cry of pain, trembles, and falls face-forward into the
glass separating the two. The glass shatters. A.E. falls backwards onto the floor. ELLIOT stares
at him in curiosity, then a slight smile comes over his features.

ELLIOT (V.O.)
Now it’s dark.

ELLIOT steps through the frame, and on and over the broken glass. His feet bleed but he does
not even wince. There are no physical sensations that reach him. He lies down next to A.E. Both
men turn their heads towards one another.

A.E.
Help… me. My heart. I…

ELLIOT
You don’t want to die. I know. But I do. (smiles) And now I can finally do just that. Or, we can.

A.E. (in disbelief)

What?
 ELLIOT
I’ve seen what was, what is and what could have been. I’ve seen it all. I’ve been inside, outside
and upside down. You remember that book? The Berenstein Bears?

A.E. (confused, in pain, shaking his head)

Please. My wife. My son—

ELLIOT
They’re not real. None of this is.

A.E.
(suddenly angry through the pain)
YOU’RE… not real!

ELLIOT
Maybe not. But I am the one in control. And I bring the darkness. Look.

Both ELLIOT and A.E. look up to see a silken blanket of shadow falling over the room, pulling
the light out of everything and turning the furniture, walls and windows dark, before it becomes a
mist and the world around them has dissolved in it.

A.E.
No…

ELLIOT
I know. You think you have so much to live for. Your wife. Your son. Your job. Your cute little
life here in your pretty little neighborhood. Let me guess. You even have the two-car garage,
right? But it’s all a lie. We’ve been lied to, Elliot. And we’re all ones and zeros in the end…
Suddenly, a hand comes out of the darkness and slaps Elliot across the face.

MR. ROBOT (V.O.)

Oh, cut the shit, Elliot.

The darkness parts and MR. ROBOT is standing there, angry. He kicks ELLIOT in the side.

MR. ROBOT
Goddamn it, I have put way too much time into you to let you fuck it all up this easy. And now
you want to take him with you, too?

MR. ROBOT goes to the area over A.E.’s head and stands there, his back to the two men on the
floor. MR. ROBOT moves his arms up and window suddenly appears from the darkness. Light
falls on A.E., whose expression of pain eases. He begins to breathe more normally.

ELLIOT (desperate)
No!

A.E. (to MR. ROBOT)

Thank you.

MR. ROBOT
Don’t mention it.

WIFE ENTERS with a phone in her hand and kneels beside A.E., as the darkness is pushed back.
With a sudden snap of clean, white light, the room is restored to its previous appearance and
WIFE is on the phone calling for an ambulance. The light grows even brighter, obscuring WIFE
and A.E.
ELLIOT screams “NO!” and reaches for A.E., but they are gone. He is back in the empty white
hallway again, with Mr. Robot kneeling beside him.
 ELLIOT
Why did you do that?

MR. ROBOT
Because he’s an innocent. He doesn’t deserve to die, and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let you
clear out the last bit of goodness in your soul out of some vindictive bullshit move against me.
(gives him another kick in the side) Now get up. We’ve got work to do.

MR. ROBOT starts down the hallway. ELLIOT watches him for a moment.

ELLIOT (V.O.)
Joan Vinge was right. “Reality is nobody’s dream.”

ELLIOT stands and follows, leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind him.