[AcGold]

So the 80's opening;

It was a reflection of his childhood. He went on a trip with his family when he was younger. A time in his life when he still had hope and cared for his dad. The purpose being to create as much positive stimuli as required to keep Elliots mind off reality. His dad continually referred to what is in the trunk as "baggage" very purposefully. This indicates Elliot has guilt about killing Tyrell hence the emphasis on baggage. We learned he had an abusive mom and that his father was endearing.

His dad was the only positive influence in his life and Mr. Robot is the only thing that stopped him from becoming traumatized to the point of psychosis/catatonia.

Say what you want but an inquisitive mind will see that episode was incredibly complex psychologically and revealed a lot about Elliots family and his past including Tyrell. He struggles with the fact that the only person he really had that understood him was killed by E-Corp. At the same time that same person accidentally caused him lifelong brain damage. His mind is an incredibly complex analysis on the nature of the human mind and tries to show us that Elliot is more like us than we'd like to think.