7. She Was With You The Whole Time
One difficult technique that Mr. Robot manages to pull off impressively is balancing the main plots (Elliot's induction into fsociety and Tyrell's quest for power) with side stories that reveal further elements of each character's personality. The strongest of these involved Elliot's relationship with Shayla, his (eventual) girlfriend and drug supplier. Shayla is bullied by her dealer, Fernando Vera, who (as well as looking bizarrely like a young John Turturro) rapes her and reminds Elliot that he owns her. Elliot hacks him, getting Vera arrested for dealing both arms and drugs, but the dealer quickly finds out that it was him. Holding Shayla captive, Vera threatens to kill her if Elliot doesn't help him to escape. In a genuinely tense episode, Elliot must hack the prison's security system and set Vera free so he can be told where Shayla is. Vera's last words to Elliot before disappearing are gut-wrenching. "She was with you the whole time". As he runs away, Elliot opens the trunk of the car he's been sitting in and finds Shayla, her throat cut.