By Amber McGee
Editor in Chief
With the second season of the Golden Globe winning drama Mr.Robot supposedly coming in the summer of this year, there’s no better time to introduce yourself to this series than now.
Mr.Robot premiered in June of last year, and since then it has received heaps upon heaps of praise. In fact this hacker drama did so well in its early release on streaming sites that it was renewed for a second season before it even premiered on the USA Network.
I’ll spoil you now: this show can be described as cyber thriller, but there are no actual robots that appear. Even if there were, with the directions this show goes, there’s no promise they’d be safe. Maybe it’s for the best we left the androids at home this time.
So if there’s no true robots around, where does the title come from? You see, Mr.Robot follows Elliot Alderson, played by Rami Malek, a cybersecurity worker who finds himself joining a group of hackers. This group, who call themselves fsociety, is led by none other than the titular man himself, Mr. Robot, played by Christian Slater. Over the course of 10 episodes viewers will follow Elliot as he tries to decide whether following fsociety, who want to take down the world’s largest corporation, is the right choice.
There’s just one small thing: Allsafe, the firm where Elliot works, is currently the main support for that corporation.
This is just one of the many conflicts of interest that takes place in Mr. Robot. Truthfully even after finishing the first season I’ve realized there’s little things I missed. This show is packed with subtleties that demand attention.
One of those subtleties is not, however, the obvious references to Anonymous through the actions of fsociety. It doesn’t detract from the show at all, in my opinion, but it still did make me laugh every now and then.
Silliness aside, for its admittedly occasional weird pieces of dialogue (anyone who has watched The Soup most likely knows about that ever infamous peeing scene), one thing that I think Mr. Robot does an excellent job of is making viewers feel just as confused and anxious as Elliot is.
This is a role that Rami Malek fits into perfectly. His acting in any scenes where Elliot is having an anxiety attack, depressive episode, or even suffering from drug withdrawals are top notch.
Slater as well does a good job, but another character who impressed me way more than I originally expected was that of Tyrell Wellick. There’s not much I can say about his character without spoiling the show, but just like Rami, Martin Wollström does an excellent job in his role.
Mr. Robot is an enjoyable show, and the nice soundtrack is a bonus. The ending of the first season does at first seem to be anticlimatic, but remember, season two is nearly here. If you need any more reasons to check this show out, it’s been reported that this next season will deal with encryption and privacy issues, much like that of the recent case of Apple vs. The FBI.
So in conclusion, there’s no real robots. There is Rami Malek, an amazing antagonist with an even more amazing wife, cyber drama, and there’s even a dog. If that doesn’t get you to watch it, then boy are you missing out.
