NEW YORK—The very, very long line to get into the Mr. Robot book panel at the 2016 New York Comic Con’s BookCon demonstrates how much this TV show has captured the fascination of a huge audience. The attention to minute detail, the Easter eggs, the psychology, and the crazy plotting have led to some of the hottest water cooler/Reddit conversations of 2016. The show has also inspired our own Nathan Mattise to analyze every single episode on Ars' TV podcast Decrypted.

Jennifer Hahn

Jennifer Hahn

Jennifer Hahn

Jennifer Hahn

Jennifer Hahn

Show creator Sam Esmail (who has been listening to the Ars podcast) and writer Courtney Looney showed off a trailer for the new book that answers questions about the current seasons of the show (no, they would not give up anything about Season 3).

During the panel, they talked about how much they love the discussions of Mr. Robot on Reddit, as people figure out the puzzles and pinpoint the complex details of the show (Esmail said he was surprised that one detail in particular has NOT been figured out, but wouldn’t let on what it is). Esmail and Looney mentioned New York as an important character in the show. Romero’s story about the F-Society arcade on Coney Island is an actual legend, for example, and the crew actually shoots in the real arcade (not a sound stage). And yes, during the pilot episode the crazy guy who walked right up to the camera in the subway was actually a random stranger, and they kept him in. When asked what company E-Corp was modeled on, Esmail was shocked that hardly anyone guessed it is Enron.

After the brief trailer, Esmail and Looney discussed their upcoming tie-in book, Mr. Robot: Red Wheelbarrow (aka "eps1.91_redwheelbarr0w.txt"). Red Wheelbarrow is a recurring theme in Mr. Robot Season Two, inspired by the poem by William Carlos Williams that Tyrell recites in the S2 finale. The writers nicknamed their new book “the prison episode” because it covers events between Season One and Season Two. Red Wheelbarrow is essentially Elliot’s marble notebook from when he was in prison, and he’s transparent this time (no more lies). The notebook is what Elliot asked Hot Carla to burn, but... she didn’t.

Red Wheelbarrow looks like the notebook you’d have bought for school as a kid, but definitely not for kids. It appears partially burned, handwritten (adapted from Rami Malek’s and Christian Slater’s actual handwriting), and it has text written in the margins, interjections by Mr. Robot, drawings like a scannable QR code (which links to somewhere hilarious), and some NSFW drawings by Mr. Robot. Items are even inserted in the pages à la Danielewski’s House of Leaves. The items include a brochure from the church group, a blank envelope, and a greeting card.

Though stuff falling out while you’re reading is annoying, Red Wheelbarrow is a fun look inside Elliot’s head and is great at filling in the gap we missed when Elliot lied to his “friends,” the audience. When asked about what it was like to delve into Elliot’s thoughts so deeply, Esmail replied “I mean, it’s fucked up.” Elliot's delusions and desperate attempts at control are enjoyable, yet disturbing.

The only hint about Season Three Esmail would drop: more Leon. Mr. Robot: The Red Wheelbarrow will be released on November 1, 2016.

Look for more on Mr. Robot when Decrypted, Ars Technica's Mr. Robot podcast, returns next summer with Season 3. Catch up on all of our S2 episodes below, and if you enjoyed the podcast consider giving us a rating on iTunes (helps discoverability) or reaching out with feedback via the comments or e-mail (helps us improve it going forward).

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