LogFAQs > #964072574

Seriously, I never see this show mentioned too often, I know it does have plenty of acclaim of course, but in general talks where I frequent it just never comes up really. I'm on the last stretch of episodes, and this show has been an absolute delight from front to back.

Mr. Robot is a show about Elliot Alderson, a cybersecurity engineer by day, a hacktivist and vigilante by night, who deals with constant social anxiety, feelings of loneliness, depression, and struggles with his own identity. He wants to make a splash, a dent in the corporate evils of the world, and so he's coerced into joining a hacker group called Fsociety to bring his smaller visions into a grandeur plot to truly shake up and turn the world upside down. Now at first, you might be annoyed with how on the nose and blunt everything might seem, and the characters can even seem obnoxious and self-righteous, but it's all to service to the show's first huge twist and from there each character blossoms into their own complex individual that quickly break away from their initial one-note personality traits to weave an intricate web of trauma, triumph and emotions that keeps leaving wanting to dig deeper and deeper into what makes these characters tick.

Mr. Robot is of course a political series - modern in its approach and prescient to current events. It presents several perspectives, conservative, liberal, socialist, anarchist - characters present their viewpoints usually through monologue but their beliefs tend to be challenged by others and does leave ambiguity open for you to choose a side with (a participant aspect of the show I'll get into next). One clear thing is Mr. Robot as a whole is definitely critical of wealth, big companies, and internet age surveillance, spying, and privacy on both sides - it usually sees E-Corp (an Apple/Google-esque entity) and Elliot as two sides of the same coin - both intrude on your personal lives, and Elliot may seem like a hero for what he does, but two wrongs don't make a right and as the show unfolds and evolves, Elliot's actions are shown more and more in a villainous light and it becomes clear his methods are not truly what the world needs.

What I think Mr. Robot does best, however, is confront the viewer with their sense of morality and control. It does what I've always wanted to see in a show after being used so effectively in video game format so often - using psychological tricks to disorient the viewer and make them an active character in the show's events and proceedings. New twists every couple of episodes constantly redefine your perspective, recontextualizing whole seasons all the way back to the start. I've never felt so involved watching a television series before - not only does it demand constant attention with miniscule attention to detail, but Elliot always talks to you, confides in you, trusts in you (or not), demands your input, and you, a silent observer, can feel helpless or even intrusive, turning Elliot's greatest tools against him - again going back to that feeling of control, having power, or lacking it, as grander machinations leave you like a marionette attached to the puppeteer's strings either way and laughs at your believing you ever had a choice to begin with. Touches of psychological horror makes you feel even more powerless - as events spiral out of control, even for characters you thought untouchable, fear stricken into the hearts of the most steadfast and brave individuals, you start to question your own life and the way its controlled and managed by the people in it and perhaps above it.

The show wouldn't be as thrillingly captivating without its dazzling camera work. The show's cinematic ambitious are proven justified time and time again especially once the show really takes off in S2 and beyond. Off-kilter shots again play into that psychological aspect, while the camera follows closely and steadily when occasional bursts of violent carnage occur, showing gruesome detail to remind you of the high stakes at play. S3 and S4 ESPECIALLY get flashy, with one episode even presented as one continuous shot (and I will never not love something like that).

I highly recommend this show, and though I haven't finished, I feel confident knowing they will stick the landing as they have so thoroughly stuck everything else. Every episode just leaves me feeling breathless and with so many thoughts running my head and I love it as one of my favorite TV experiences I've had in a while. So if you've ever thought about giving it a shot or never even heard of it, I hope I could convince you to start it up ASAP!