After watching every episode of Mr. Robot, some more than once, I can say with certainty that it is one of the best shows on TV.
The first thing I noticed about Mr. Robot was its energy. In the pilot, there is certainly a lot of it. But energy is not the only thing the show does right. The relationships in the show are realistic, plausible, and ever-developing. What really amazes me is the attention to detail that the showrunners employ. Every hack is meticulously planned and most happenings in the show could happen in real life, at least according to the showrunners and many hackers online. However, this is not a gimmick show, as shown by the second season. While it was panned by many, in my opinion it was the deeper and more meaningful of the two seasons. There may have been less focus on the hacking aspects of the reality of the show, but there was much more introspection and philosophical ponderance. The second season’s strength also comes from the setup for season one and the slow pace that lets the characters get tons of development. This slow pace allows for the buildup of incredible tension over the 12-episode season two, so much that I could barely wait for the next week to come after episodes 10 and 11. This is a sizable portion of the beauty of the show. It lures you in so you must keep watching, and leaves you pondering the occurrences in the latest episode for days.
Now, while the second season was enthralling, season one was incredible in a different way. As I discussed before, this was perhaps the most energetic season of TV I have ever seen. Not only does it have an incredible vibe, it also is one of the smarter shows I have seen, with multiple insightful speeches on the current climate in terms of politics, religion, and economics. As a bonus, even though it is a thoroughly political show, it is quite easy to project your own values onto it. Whether you think the big corporations are trying to kill us or that the real villains are the government officials, this show has messages to which most can connect. The commentary that came off the worst to me, however, was the criticism of organized religion. Even though I’m not too into organized religion either, the quippy lines Elliot—the hacker protagonist, played by Rami Malek—employs to attack religion have been worn out by speakers, and are not nearly the best arguments against religion. I don’t like to nitpick, but I’m sure this came off as very pretentious to many viewers. Besides those scenes, the commentary stays mostly in agreeable terms, not straying from fairly common and logical sentiments that are found among many libertarians, anarchists, and liberals in the U.S.
And just because it stays safe doesn’t mean it stays docile. Steve Jobs and Apple are attacked directly in the first episode, and the show has no qualms about going after Blue Cross Blue Shield. It is the daring social commentary that allures so many, and while I can’t say I dislike it, it certainly is not my favorite thing about the show. At times in some episodes, it seems the writers are trying to make Elliot sound “edgy” or different when the show does not benefit from him holding an unpopular opinion. Again, the religion rant is an example of this. It appears that the writers have attempted to make Elliot into a living Reddit. While this may appeal to a niche of fans, this is not a good strategy if they want the show to be more popular.
All things considered, while Mr. Robot may have a problem with its fringe rants at times, the show is one of the most captivating programs I have ever taken the time to view. The cinematography, acting, writing, and score come together to form a near perfect show in my eyes. I only hope more people will give it a chance; it is a special show that taps into the zeitgeist better than any current show.