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| foxtel.com.au |
One of the best shows of the last year was undoubtedly USA’s Mr. Robot, a hacker drama by way of psychological thriller that constantly teased audiences and challenged their view of what was happening on screen. Couple that with some great performances and a surprisingly interesting story and you’ve got great television right there. Of course, all eyes were on creator Sam Esmail to see if he could deliver with a second season. With Esmail directing each episode and the episode count increased to 13, does Mr. Robot still have that magic? Let’s find out. Spoilers for season one of Mr. Robot follow.
At the start of this season, things are pretty screwed up for everyone in this show. The big hack of E Corp has left the corporation (and the US economy) reeling, with the perpetrators scattered to the winds. Angela Moss (Portia Doubleday) is still trying to get justice for her father from within, serving under the diabolical CEO of E Corp Phillip Price (Michael Cristofer), who is trying to work his alliance with the enigmatic Whiterose (B.D. Wong) to save his company. Darlene (Carly Chaikin) has been left in charge of a rapidly declining fsociety, which is now in the crosshairs of both Whiterose's Dark Army and the FBI, headed up by the fiercely determined and intelligent agent Dominique DiPerrio (Grace Gummer). In the midst of all this, Elliot (Emmy-award winner Rami Malek) has vanished, trying to escape the life of a hacker and rid himself of his troublesome alter-ego, Mr. Robot (Christian Slater). Many more plotlines abound, such as the disappearance of Tyrell Wellick (Martin Wallstrom) and a mysterious new friend of Elliot’s named Ray (Craig Robinson), but that’s pretty much the gist of it.
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| flickeringmyth,com
Let's not even start with what this crazy woman's up to.
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One thing I have to give this show credit for is that, unlike Bloodline (which tried something similar), the world is expanded in a way that feels meaningful and interesting. The characters are separated, but all have interesting situations of their own to deal with, while the newer characters each bring something new to the show. I was honestly surprised that I was equally as intrigued with Elliot’s war with Mr. Robot as I was with Price’s plan to save E Corp, as well as the other plotlines. The actors once again sell their parts in a convincing and real way (important for a show that has a questionable reality), and they keep your attention regardless of what’s going on. I also thought that Esmail made the wise decision to actually focus on the other plotlines that didn’t involve Elliot, with one episode not featuring him at all, showing that Mr. Robot isn’t just a one-trick Fight Club rip-off. Plus, it’s important for the audience to see more of this massive puzzle that Sam Esmail is creating, and by the end of the season you feel like you can fit some more of the pieces together and get a clearer picture, even if the full image is still out of reach.
The theme this season seems to be uncertainty, and it expresses this idea in more ways than one. While there are the mind tricks going on that make things difficult, it's actually the characters themselves that make us feel unsure about what's happening. Darlene, despite being a go-getter and a wannabe leader in season one, is way in over her head and with each step she takes the audience can't help but wonder if she's leading fsociety further towards their doom. Angela is in a similar position, wrestling with the idea that she's only contributing to the evil of E(vil) Corp with her actions, and that's she's losing her own soul in the process. Then there's Elliot, whose grand plans and ideas of revolution have borne fruit that he's not sure he even likes. There's a great scene where Elliot is being driven through New York City and he sees firsthand the damage he's done, and he wonders whether or not all of it was actually worth it. It builds on something I discussed from season one, where all of these great speeches about the evils of capitalism seem so naive and hollow, only for season two to reveal to us that they actually were. It's a wonderful turn of events from what might have seemed to be an overly self-righteous first season, and Rami Malek's performance really sells that doubt to us.
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| giphy.com
Spoiler alert for Season 3
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While the show’s actors and most of the writing are still great, the direction of this show really takes a step forward this time around, adding to the cinematic feel of this show. The influence of David Fincher still lives on, with Fight Club dominating the Elliot storyline and more of Fincher’s thrillers filling out the rest of it, but that’s not all. Esmail expands his directorial references throughout the season, crafting scenes that are reminiscent of early Tarantino (both in his use of violence and certain scenes involving Darlene and fsociety’s missions), while also adding in another David to the mix: David Lynch. There are certain episodes towards the ends of the season that have scenes straight out of Mulholland Drive, while Whiterose and Dom (at certain points) feel like they could’ve walked into an episode of Twin Peaks and been right at home. However, like the characters on that show, their quirks don't make them any less intelligent or dangerous (something you learn in no uncertain terms by the finale). It's just another brilliant layer of the show and adds to the idea of uncertainty, particularly when it comes to the ever changing idea of what's real.
Finally, the thing I want to praise the most about this season is just how “out there” things get. One episode has an opening sequence meant to be an 80’s sitcom, while another has Elliot asking the audience (the fourth-wall break is back) to search for clues to Mr. Robot’s schemes via a wide shot of his room with no idea of what to look for. The plotline involving Elliot’s attempts to rid himself of Mr. Robot produce some strange and unnerving imagery that you won’t find anywhere else, as well as one of the most ingenious “what the hell was that” twists I’ve seen on a show in a long time. Sam Esmail is not afraid to mess with your head and make you question what you’re seeing on the screen, and things only get weirder as the season wears on. If you didn’t like season one because you thought it was too complicated, do not come back for this one!
Unfortunately, there are actually a few things that I feel need to be criticized about this season. The first is that several concepts are brought up and then dropped almost immediately afterwards that actually could’ve made for cool episode arcs, such as Angela working for E Corp or the idea that Elliot and Mr. Robot can switch in and out of control of Elliot’s body. I think this might be the result of the extra episodes, since it gave the creators the room to stretch the story a little bit when they could have had a nice tight set of ten episodes and made the show better. One egregious example of this is the character of Ray, who shows up and seems to be important, only to leave halfway through the season and have his arc mean nothing. Why was he even in there if he wasn’t going to matter in the end? It just screams of what ultimately doomed True Detective season 2 in a way, where a gifted young creator was allowed to do whatever he wanted without anyone there to challenge him and made some missteps, even though this season was nowhere near as awful as True Detective got.
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| forbes,com
I'm so sorry to those I reminded that this season existed. My sincerest apologies.
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This issue carries over into the actual plotline, which feels like pieces are being moved into place rather than any real story progression. The only character that actually makes anything more than a lateral move is Angela, though her progression comes in the penultimate episode and is barely even seen in the final one. As I look back over the season I’m struck by how little actually happened when compared to season one. Elliot discovered the true extent of his illness by episode seven, learned about his split personality in episode eight, and spent two episodes dealing with the fallout of that and the big hack on E Corp. In this season, there is a big twist halfway through, then a few in the last two episodes and… that’s it. Certain scenes stand out as big moments, but in the bigger picture they don’t move the plot along in any real way. It was like this season was meant to answer some questions and provide build-up for season three without any real pay-off. And that’s the real sad fact of this season: it’s well-crafted and compelling, but ultimately feels like treading water.
Mr. Robot continues the interesting mind games and thriller plotline of the first while adding new elements that expand the world in a great way, but feels a bit too much like it’s holding the line for a more eventful season three. Despite my criticisms, though, I can’t stress enough how great and intelligent many of these episodes are or how beautiful the direction is or how wonderful the actors are, amongst many other positive things I could say about it. There still isn’t anything like Mr. Robot on TV right now, and even at its weakest the show stands above 90% of everything else. I just hope they pick up the pace a bit and really get down to the nitty gritty for season three, is all.
My Rating: 4 stars out of 5
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