Mr. Robot

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Written by KTP

Mr. Robot: Someone took their subtlety stick away, but it still makes for an interesting show.

Ah, rebellious youth. Always wanting to break shit and tear down the walls that the common folk built but never doing a goddamn thing about it. You know, like those fuckers that protest for some fucking interest group they don’t even belong to, but forget about it next week when they are picking up a mocha latte at the Starbucks on the corner. That changes with the premise of Mr. Robot, where a young security engineer suffering from social anxiety stumbles into a plan with the power tear it all down. It features out of left field star Rami Malek, that chick that was going to fuck Joaquin Phoenix in Her, and manages to highlight Christian Slater in a role that doesn’t suck. There are some problems with the narrative, but overall, still manages to stand out as a solid and interesting show.

Okay. On the surface, Elliot looks like a fucking mouth breather but he is far from stupid.

Mr. Robot puts you through the shoes of Elliot who, by day, works for AllSafe, a computer security company that provides services to a corporation that he secretly loathes. By night, he “hacks” people through their online activities as his way of interacting with society. You see, Elliot is all sorts of fucked up. He suffers from social anxiety, is constantly thinking people are following him, and a borderline drug addict. When the corporation, E Corp, has their servers attacked, his investigation shows that a hacking group “fsociety” was the cause. The group is headed by Mr. Robot who starts to recruit Elliot for their master plan of taking down E Corp and cancelling all debt in the world. Of course, things get complicated the more the series progresses while Elliot’s sanity takes several hits.

Tyrell is the over achieving corporate ladder climber that can shove coal in his ass and create diamonds. Shit diamonds.

This show constantly reminds the audience (almost panders) that this show revolves around tech. To be fair, the methods and applications Elliot uses to “hack” the world around him are grounded in reality. A reference to the use of KDE or Gnome in a Linux desktop between Elliot and a senior VP at E Corp seems to desperately prove its tech cred. That’s probably the worst offender, but most of the time, it works well enough. It’s almost a polar opposite to a show like CSI where tech references just advance the story or act as plot putty. The journey towards E Corps collapse and Mr. Robot’s (Christian Slater) performances make for a good show, but Rami Malek’s performance as Elliot is fucking awesome. His glazed over eyes and visibly distant persona he created sells the crippling social anxiety to the point that it’s impressive.

"Goddammit Elliot. I don't want to read your fucking My Little Pony fan fiction."

There’s been a mad rush between networks to create that hit show, but few have hit the mark. There are a few missteps, but there watching this Fight Club-esque oppressive world through Elliot’s damaged identity gives it a couple of steps above the rest.