A Handshake is a kind of repair, and in Season 2, we saw the beginning of what appeared to be a repair between Elliot (Rami Malek) and Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) during the "handshake" episode, only to see the agreement torn apart by Elliot's nearly deadly paranoia at the end of the season.

Before we got to that handshake, however, we saw some really insane violence between the two personalities...or did we?

I have explained this many times before but I believe that the "nice" Elliot that we know is only the most dominant personality in a larger Elliot ecosystem including Mr. Robot and E-Prime (the combination of all things Elliot Alderson).

In a person with Dissociative Identity Disorder, the Alter's (Alternative Personalities) are just the parts of a person most well-suited to deal with the particular situation at hand.

So, the Elliot we know is the parts of E-Prime's personality most well-suited to handle the day to day operations of E-Prime.

This is very similar to the practice of division and compartmentalization that happens in addiction.

Many addicts create a separate "public-facing" personality that makes it seem to all the world as if the addict is a normally functioning human being while behind the mask there are entire other worlds of being full of cravings and fantasies.

This division is similar to dissociation in that both involve being unable to honestly confront or be open to certain social realities in real time.

How do I know this? Well, I am not a medical professional, but I do suffer from Depression and Panic Disorder, I am a Recovering Addict (6.5 years of Sobriety), I also spent a week researching DID before Season 2 because I wanted to be accurate, and I did research and write an eBook on addiction and recovery.

I could certainly be wrong, but I feel I am making educated guesses.

So, anyway, we know, also similar to addicts, that Elliot has a much easier time getting to know people by hacking them than he does face-to-face. He can talk to people, interact with them, and even care about them but has a very hard time connecting on any deep level (with the exception of Darlene, Angela, and maybe Tyrell).

So what am I suggesting?

I am suggesting that the larger Elliot, when taken as a whole, is a much angrier person than we see in our experiences with the "nice" Elliot. The five/nine hack could, for instance, be seen just as easily as an attempt at revenge as much as an attempt at "saving the world."

This anger, when not addressed or properly satiaed would/could be just like the pain an addict might feel in withdrawal. In other words, it is no surprise to me that this other kind of withdrawal, the withdrawal from his revenge plan, is very physically painful to Elliot.

I am suggesting that the larger Elliot came up with a plan to take down E-Corp and wants to finish the job so badly that the destruction of E-Corp is the equivalent of Heroin to him.

I am saying that the division we see between Mr. Robot and Elliot is a DID version of someone arguing with themselves about choosing to continue or stop participating in desired but unethical addictive behaviors.