How Mr Robot’s massive Season 2 conspiracy ties into the Matrix, cartoons and South Africa

Warning: Minor Mr Robot Season 2 spoilers

Avid watchers of hit TV series Mr Robot will know how often the show likes to reference 80’s and 90’s pop culture.

The first ten minutes of episode 4 of the latest season begins with an homage to cheesy slasher films from the 1980’s with ridiculous gore and late title card.

It was another scene in the episode, pertaining to the illegal government surveillance of Elliot and the rest of F Society that really caused the biggest stir however.

It was revealed that the name of the surveillance group was “Berenstain”, a clear nod to the 1980’s cartoon and book series, “The Berenstain Bears“.

What is interesting about the Berenstain Bears is the massive amount of people who are convinced that the books were called the Beren”stein” Bears while growing up and that the “stain” spelling is new.

Thousands of people are so convinced that the name has changed that they argue that this is definitive proof of a “glitch in the matrix” or clear evidence of alternate realities crossing over.

Older South Africans may recognise a similar “glitch” in South Africa’s history in what has now been coined, “The Mandela Effect”.

The “Mandela Effect” refers to the the vast numbers of people who remember Nelson Mandela as having died in prison in the 1980’s and not 2013.

Psychiatrists call this phenomena confabulation, and is different from lying as there is no intent to deceive and the person is unaware the information is false.

As to how this all ties back in to Mr Robot? We will have to wait and see, but it is worth noting that protagonist Elliot cannot account for all of his time and that his memories don’t seem to sync up.