Mr. Robot - Season One (1 Viewer)

[Josh Dial]

The show has already been renewed for a second season.


I watched the pilot and was quite impressed--one of the best pilots to come along in a while. Shades of Rubicon and Fight Club.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Caught the pilot a while back as a free download to my Vudu account.


The sheer pretentiousness of the protagonist/narrator wore on me after a while. And there were a few moments where Portia Doubleday's character was used as surrogate of the audience to ask really basic technical questions that it was implausible that even an account manager at a firm like theirs wouldn't know.


On the other hand, the look of the show was great, and I loved Christian Slater's Harry Lime moments as the nameless leader of Mr. Robot. It was also fun seeing Carly Chaikin from "Suburgatory" pop up in a completely different sort of a role.


Not sure this would make the cut against fall's TV competition, but I'll probably be sticking with it since summer is slimmer pickings.

 

[TravisR]

I like to see a few episodes before deciding how I feel about a show because pilots very rarely pull me in right away. Mr. Robot was definitely an exception because I was impressed from the outset. I'm not that familiar with USA's output but this seems like a much better produced and more adult or dramatic show than is usual for them.

 

[Josh Dial]

And there were a few moments where Portia Doubleday's character was used as surrogate of the audience to ask really basic technical questions that it was implausible that even an account manager at a firm like theirs wouldn't know.

By my count, she only asked about one thing: the rootkit, and it's fair to say that isn't a commonly known concept. I don't think she was being used as an audience surrogate at all actually, and the show's tech references were pretty good--the DDOS stuff in particular was nicely handled.


I have to give the pilot another watch, but there are some interesting things going with the way the shows visuals and sound are filtered through Elliot's POV. References to E-corp increasingly become "Evil Corp," even when the name is spoken by other characters; posters and ads change, too. Additionally, I think there's a chance the characters we (as the audience) are shown may not be reliably presented. Is Mr. Robot another Elliot personality, a la Fight Club? Heck, there's a possibility that Tyrell is also a personality (the suits following him around are his security detail), though that's just something crazy my friends and I were floating as an idea.


Based on the pilot's promise, I think the show is streets ahead of the average network television regular season fare. Just looking at Adam's ever-useful schedule in the 2015-2016 thread, and The Blacklist and Person of Interest are the only network shows I would consider remotely "prestige."


I also enjoyed Mr. Robot's use of real world IPs for verisimilitude. On most other shows, the references to facebook, Instagram, gchat, Steve Jobs, Bill Cosby, et cetera would make studio execs cringe. Not to sound self-serving to my profession, but kudos to the lawyers advising the show

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I have to give the pilot another watch, but there are some interesting things going with the way the shows visuals and sound are filtered through Elliot's POV. References to E-corp increasingly become "Evil Corp," even when the name is spoken by other characters; posters and ads change, too.

I will agree that the subjectivity (and therefore unreliability) of our window into this world is perhaps the most interesting thing about the show, especially given that the show has hinted that Elliot suffers from schizophrenia in addition to his social anxiety issues.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Enjoyed the pilot quite a bit. Interesting nontypical lead set against an intriguing back story. Christian Slater was an unwanted distraction though.

 

[Josh Dial]

Loving the show so far. Best show on TV this season (not sure if The Leftovers counts as this season).

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The last couple episodes have shifted from the telling the story exclusively through Eliot's POV to being more of an ensemble with Angela, Darlene and Wellick getting their own independent storylines.


I think of the main cast, Christian Slater's Mr. Robot is the only character who we continue to see exclusively through Eliot's POV.


I hope we learn more about Trenton, the young Muslim woman on the fsociety team. The little bits and pieces we've gotten about her have been intriguing.


Steel Mountain was obviously a play off Iron Mountain, correct?

 

[Alf S]

Still lovin the show. But I have to admit, I really have to focus on what's going on since there is so many little twists going on.


IMO, this feels like Fight Club and for a while there, I was convinced that only Elliot could see the Christian Slater character.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Wow! That 7th episode was brilliant.


Elliot is the quintessential unreliable narrator but I dare anybody to predict ahead of time how unreliable he has been.


Talk about breaking the 4th wall! The only thing they couldn't do was break our display screens. And they went as far they virtually could.


Fantastic writing.

 

[Stan]

Still lovin the show. But I have to admit, I really have to focus on what's going on since there is so many little twists going on.


IMO, this feels like Fight Club and for a while there, I was convinced that only Elliot could see the Christian Slater character.

I'm with you, I really have to focus on what's happening. It's very interesting yet at the same time very hard to follow.


As Adam mentioned above, nice to see Carly Chaikin. I recognized her, but just couldn't figure out why. Definitely not the blonde, super made-up girl she played in Suburgatory.

 

[TravisR]

Outside of Malek and Slater, I wasn't familiar with any of the actors but the cast quickly impressed me.


I try to tell as many people as possible to check out this show because it's this year's best show that no one is watching.

 

[Josh Dial]

Agreed. Best show in 2015.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I doubt there were very many audience members who hadn't considered that Mr. Robot was at the crux of Elliot's dissociative tendencies and his schizophrenic hallucinations, so the show smartly played the reveal as a begrudging admission rather than a shocking revelation. And the piano instrumental of the Pixies song "Where Is My Mind?" in the score later on was an acknowledgement to the audience they the show is covering territory already trod by Fight Club.

The thing is, though, it doesn't matter that it's not especially original if it serves the story well. It certainly realigns the pieces on the board, with fsociety as Elliot and Darlene's anarchic pet project instead of the nearly divine judgment of the enigmatic Mr. Robot. And the opening flashback with Slater as Edward Alderson was fascinating, since we often see him playing this charismatic human time bombs but we rarely get to see him play a fairly normal guy.

On one hand, Tyrell Wellick joining forces with Elliot is a nice bit of narrative economizing, since it brings a storyline that had been sort of floating off on its own into the main thrust of the series. On the other hand, it further shifts the balance of the show since Wellick is as close as we get to an opposite pole from Elliot. Instead of wondering where Wellick's story is heading, we now wonder whether he's trying to burn Evil Corp to the ground as payback or working with Elliot as a means to get back to that moment Gideon Goddard described, where he diverged from his path to greatness. And if he finds that moment, will he sell fsociety out in order to be welcomed back into the fold?

I hope we get to see more of Stephanie Corneliussen as Joanna. She's the most fascinating character on the show for me. A Lady Macbeth character for sure, but with all of these interesting discordant notes, like the reveal that she gave birth to a baby as a teenager and put it up for adoption.

Of the main POV characters, Angela is the most thinly written -- probably a reflection of the fact that she's the most in over her head. Because of that, it's especially fortuitous that an actress of Portia Doubleday's caliber was cast in the role. She imbues Angela with a rich internal life that is not necessarily there on the page. It would be easy to play Angela as merely self-righteous or indignant, but she brings a lot more interesting colors to the table. She is idealistic, but not completely naive.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

USA Network pulls "Mr. Robot" season finale due to Virginia shooting

The network's statement:
"The previously filmed season finale of Mr. Robot contains a graphic scene similar in nature to today’s tragic events in Virginia. Out of respect to the victims, their families and colleagues, and our viewers, we are postponing tonight’s episode. Our thoughts go out to all those affected during this difficult time"

 

[TravisR]

^ Just to add to that, the episode is on next week.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Very strong wrap up to the season; I liked that they didn't jerk us around with fsociety always on the verge of taking Evil Corp down until the latest setback is thrown in their path. Having the hack be successful and essentially sending us down a rabbit hole to create a world that is increasingly divergent from our own was the braver and more interesting choice.


HitFix has a pretty good interview with the show's creator/showrunner/mastermind Sam Esmail. One thing I found interesting is that he's not planning to push the subjectivity any further next season. In fact, now that the audience is aware of Elliot's dissociative disorder, he's going to throw in more objective glances at what the world looks like outside Elliot's head.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

I loved it. The S1 finale aired this week. This show pushes the unreliable narrator to the nth degree and short of jumping out of the TV screen plays with the 4th wall in amazing ways.

It also has a distinctive shooting style that frames characters in off balance ways - ie shots where characters normally would be in the center of the screen are almost off the edge. It's disorienting but does an amazing job of catching the main character's state of mind. I'll say little more to not ruin the discoveries this wonderful gem offers but it also does gorgeous location shots of buildings and architecture. You'll understand as you watch. It reminds me of Hannibal in the way it establishes a unique visual style.

The show has probably generated little buzz till now because while engrossing it's not a high energy show that one can crow about. Much of the season is an internal journey until you go - in my best Keanu Reeves impersonation - WHOA!

 

[Josh Dial]

The show has probably generated little buzz till now because while engrossing it's not a high energy show that one can crow about.

Actually the show has tremendous buzz about it, with critics everywhere praising it as the best of the season (summer or otherwise). I believe it has the distinction of being the only show with a "perfect season" on Rotten Tomatoes and other aggregators (at least for a few days).


For me, nothing else compares this year: Mr. Robot is simply better than everything else, on almost every level.


You hit the mark perfectly, Lou, regarding framing. Not only does the show frame shots with characters almost off-screen, it does other interesting things like capture only the tops of their heads (nose and above) while talking. Also, the show often reverses the typical framing/shooting of a dialogue exchange: generally characters are assigned a "side" of the screen, and speak from that side, so as they dialogue passes back-and-forth, the camera switches (sort of part of the 180-degree rule). Mr. Robot often switches that up, so the camera lingers on the non-speaking actor, or shows the back of the speaker instead of their front. Kubrick did this a lot, too.


Speaking of Kubrick, there are a lot of interesting parallels to the way Kubrick shot his films. I think my favourite shot was in the finale, when Elliot was on the subway, seated next to the lady with the parrot on her shoulder. In the background was a lady dressed in blue walking up stairs with a yellow handrail. The blue dress and yellow handrail mirrored the blue and yellow parrot, and in a quick glance, looked like a reflection in the window. Very clever.


The finale had other Kubrick references, too:

• Darlene's heart-shaped glasses were reminiscent of Lolita;
• the end of the world party poster looked like the Dr. Strangelove poster;
• the suicide recalled Full-metal Jacket;
• the speech at E-Corp mirrored a shot (I think) from Eyes Wide Shut;
• the music playing during Elliot's tour through the E-Corp office was used in Eyes Wide Shut (Shostakovitch Waltz No. 2); and
• the post-credit scene with Whiterose began with a long tracking shot of a limo approaching a mansion, also like Eyes Wide Shut.

I'm sure I missed some--anyone else see Kubrick references?


Brilliant first season.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Actually the show has tremendous buzz about it, with critics everywhere praising it as the best of the season (summer or otherwise).

For me, the buzz came late in the season. - it was halfway through the season before more than a handful of critics talked about it regularly.


Yes the framing was so unique. It was offputting till I realized - or at least I interpreted it that way - as being used to reflect Elliot's mental state.


Great insights on those Kubrick shot compositions, thanks for sharing Josh.