the new USA show MR. ROBOT: the rise of Rami Malek and the inexplicable solidness of Christian Slater

YOOOOOOO is anyone watching this show? this came out of nowhere, is on a network not exactly known for prestige and is pretty remarkable in its first 2 episodes. basically an anonymous type hacking group vs a diabolical megacorporation. it does so many things that shouldn't work - extreme voiceover, making its political views so blatant - but they do work.

http://www.ew.com/sites/default/files/i/2015/04/27/mr-robot-society.jpg

er rather

http://www.ew.com/sites/default/files/i/2015/04/27/mr-robot-society.jpg

ok lol I'm drunkish and can't post w/e this show rules. watch it.

this is so fuckin good

like some of the dialogue ("thats....when i decided to hack you") & a little of the fsociety stuff (dropping OWS clips into the agit-prop vid starring a guy in a sub-Fawkes mask lol) is too on-the-nose, but i could see this dropping some of the more overt signifiers & getting even better. the paranoia is so nicely screwed in.

the voiceover actually is really what makes this work i think like

except for that second episode hiccup ("did he let me?") it almost seems to be operating at just the same speed as the viewer, which is impressive

this is basically just Dexter. pretty cool so far tho

I watched the first 2 eps & it was okay, but im not gonna stick w it

hoos is prob the #1 target demo fwiw

At first I didn't think I'd be able to handle that bug-eyed freak staring at me for an hour a week (not even getting into the Christian Slater factor), but this is actually not terrible. It has a better grasp of computers than CSI: Cyber, which is nice. As summer TV goes, we could all do a lot worse.

NB: The big discussion around the show is how much of it/how many major characters (Mr. Robot in particular) are actually the main dude's Tyler Durden-like hallucinations. I'm not sure yet whether the eventual reveal will make it more or less interesting.

this is basically just Dexter. pretty cool so far tho

― Spottie, Thursday, July 9, 2015 7:03 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

idg the comparison here

alienated from society, walks around with a voiceover describing how he doesn't fit in but he wears a mask and pretends to.

that seems pretty much the emotional appeal of both shows to me.

I definitely get the Dexter comparison. Narration from the main character, a job that runs in parallel to criminal dealings, empathy for the dude even if he's doing some bad stuff

on the other hand, I really hope they keep going with the unreliable narration angle

haven't watched the third one, but did anyone else get a vibe from the first couple that Christian Slater's character could possibly not exist?

I really enjoyed the first episode, i really like the look of the show, can't believe its on USA tbh

was fun to see slater again! i forget how distinctive he is in his mannerisms and way he talks

where is the kid from? he's great

haven't watched the third one, but did anyone else get a vibe from the first couple that Christian Slater's character could possibly not exist?

― Upright Mammal (mh), Thursday, July 9, 2015 3:48 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ya def, though imo he throws the whole fsociety squad into question too--we see them interact with him separately from elliot, don't we?

xp he's most notably burned into my brain due to a particularly horrific scene in THE PACIFIC, in which he is great and kind of terrifying

also in one of the twilight movies, the master, short term 12, the oldboy remake, a bunch of TV besides the pacific including 24

really hope that slater isn't a tyler durden character, that would be lame

i've also only watched 2 eps but i am definitely into it, this + unreal = a shockingly good tv summer

I would try UnReal if it was on Hulu.

due to a particularly horrific scene in THE PACIFIC

omg i forgot about this and i wish it had stayed forgotten

I'm sorry man :/ I legit have never forgotten it

this show is 5 eps in and despite being an absurd high-wire act that seems like it could fall apart at any second it has remained fucking great

the drug trip episode was amazing, the heist too

I like that it's been breaking out of Eliot's perspective in the last couple eps, it's helped open up the world and make the whole thing feel a little less adolescent

exactly! like as much as I admire its commitment to Elliot's viewpoint overall because it's reflected in such a strong voice the supporting characters have their own - albeit occasionally nebulous - voice and agency, especially angela and the drug dealer (I can't remember anyone's name atm I'm a tad tipsy)

the corporate swede and even the now locked up dope connect as well provide really strong impressions in their POV scenes

Can't watch it anymore - it's become one of those shows that's only accessible on Hulu if you have cable. Of course, if I had cable, I wouldn't be watching shows on fucking Hulu.

just use one of the questionably legal sites man it's worth it!

(or borrow a cable password from somebody)

Totally enjoying this. The plotting is fine, but it's mostly the production -- so well made, very Fincher-y but with its own subdued weirdness -- and the cast. Rami Malek especially, but most of the leads are good, especially the women. Christian Slater is basically doing his Pump Up the Volume character 25 years on, which is ok but I'm glad he's not the focus of the show.

getting Jim McKay to direct a bunch of it was a good call

haven't watched the third one, but did anyone else get a vibe from the first couple that Christian Slater's character could possibly not exist?

― Upright Mammal (mh), Thursday, July 9, 2015 11:48 AM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this seems altogether possible considering that the point of the show is to carry out Tyler Durden's dream?

mystified that people are excited about this boring show, death to voiceover.

al do you even like fun

afaict no

i mean when christian slater is the most fun thing about your show, i question how fun your show is

entertaining prob a better word than fun, and unpredictable

voiceover is good here if only bc it's so thoroughly subjective to elliot, it doesn't exist (for the most part) to fill in storytelling gaps, it puts you in this damaged mind in a way that another method couldn't.

and sure I suppoze it can be compared to having the "anti-corporate 4 life skate or die mannnnn" viewpoint of fight club or w/e but I think it's manifested with greater complexity by far here, there is nuance that's not present in fight club - like the hackers question what their revolution would actually accomplish at times instead of being true believers all the way

also, while the anti-corporate viewpoint (that admittedly sometimes resembles that of someone who just read no logo or something) might seem like nothin new to a lot of us in a place like ILX, I'm still somewhat surprised that it's being paid for by nbc/universal.

then again the counterargument as voiced in that one black mirror episode is that that's part of the plan so, shit.

this show rules

the show is definitely getting increasingly fun. I've come to really like the trio of women, esp Shayla, who got the best line of this last episode ("...Obamacare.")

the voiceover is interesting because half the time he addresses "you" and it's obviously something else in his head that he's talking to

or he's talking to christian slater

imo the ideal would be that by the end of the season we find out, in a casual way, that Eliot's been hallucinating Slater, but only some of the time.

enough ppl have been addressing slater directly that i'm beginning to think he might be a real person, but that wouldn't stop elliot from hallucinating him in certain situations necessarily given how often he hallucinates in general, so that could make sense

I think (hope) the show's too smart to steal the Tyler Durden riff wholecloth. It's Durden-esque enough without having him actually be imaginary. I feel like it teased that idea early on, when he goes back to the boardwalk and they're all gone, but then resolved that they are actually real.

i dunno if people have been addressing slater directly - it always seems a bit ambiguous to me whether they're speaking to him or elliott.

i can't help thinking of this show as 'mr rowboat' for some reason btw

http://www.theonion.com/blogpost/i-rowboat-10875

pleeeease don't fight club

so yeah i guess they did just kinda flirt with this & then back away from it

i wish to take a long drive to the sounds of this show's synth score

although slater does speak to other characters in the last episode, Elliot isn't involved in the conversation and is almost invisible in his black clothes against a black arcade machine. when slater storms off after arguing with darlene Elliot steps in and starts talking - they never interact with the other characters at the same time. there's definitely a case to be made that elliot and Mr rowboat are alternate personalities, as much as I hope they're just fucking with us.

yeah i was eagle eyeing that and actually enjoyed the degree to which it felt like they were fucking with us by having robot's voice literally in elliot's head during the steel mountain sequence

also lol @ 'steel mountain,' are we all aware of irl offsite data storage facility 'iron mountain'

http://beforeitsnews.com/contributor/upload/291278/images/iron-mountain.png

iron mountain was one of my company's clients :/

my last job used iron mountain for everything!

God, there was a lot of grandiloquent speechifying in those last two or three episodes. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks everything should have ended with the E10 scene of Darlene and Dom in the park, just after Darlene finishes up with the bank accounts. That was great. Ending there would have left a lot unexplained, but now that I've seen the explanations, that would have been a lot more coherent.

My prediction above about Tyrell was wrong. I still don't understand what was going on with that character.

He made sense early on as Patrick Bateman. The last couple of seasons, not at all.

Remember when I was watching it I thought that was a pretty great ending and then being surprised when I found out there were a few more episodes to go xp

I did really like that 20 minutes or so of Elliot's shadow life, the one where he's engaged to Angela. That could have worked as an ending too; it would have been baffling, but I would have been okay with that. Very reminiscent of the Sopranos episode where Tony fantasizes some other life as a businessman (when he was on his deathbed, I think), and Six Feet Under tried that briefly too (Nate and David in the van, headed out to the beach). It's not the same thing, but The Leftovers episode that flashed back to the day leading up to the departure had the same feeling.

I finally came back to this show after watching S1 when it aired - so many negative opinions about S2 that I figured I wouldn't like it. I ended up really liking S2 with reservations, and S3-4 were even better. the directing, performances, and score carry a lot of the weight on this show through some wheel-spinning, but I liked pretty much every weird additional mystery and twist. it felt much more planned out than, say, LOST. The one thing I consistently found weak was the dialogue, though I liked a lot of the 4th-wall-breaking voiceover stuff and I usually don't like voiceover. it's just so well-integrated here. finale was pretty drawn-out and I would have preferred a trimmer, less explain-y ending, but overall a satisfying end to the show

still need to watch the 2-part finale lol

Just watched s1.

The Swedish guy rmeinded me of Jeremy / Sebastian from Naked which made it amusing, until it was less amusing. Kept thinking of Aranovksy's PI as well, both in tone and also specifics like the paranoid voiceover, the neighbour girl, electronica soundtrack etc.

Not read this thread past that point so nae spoilers if possible.

An unreasonable ask, I realise.

This, like Legion, was a show I was obsessively into and then just suddenly stopped watching in S2. I might pick it back up some time.

I do that with quite a few shows cos I generally pick up DVD sets here and there and have to be invested or intrigued enough to continue. I guess I was partly fishing for opinions on whether it's worth going all in to the end (end?).

Yeah, I would guess that it's a show that works better as a binge than as something with extended gaps between episodes. There are certain conceits that felt very grueling when dragged out over the course of weeks that I can imagine being much cooler if viewed over the course of hours. And since you are apparently avoiding spoilers upthread, I will tell you that the general consensus of those who stuck it out is that the show did a kind of remarkable job of landing on its feet in the end. Given how completely insane it gets at times, I'm still a little surprised.

S2 can be a struggle but after that the show finds a groove that's consistently watchable and sometimes great

This, like Legion, was a show I was obsessively into and then just suddenly stopped watching in S2. I might pick it back up some time.

― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Monday, September 13, 2021 12:00 AM (ten hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I was exactly the same with both of these shows. Loved S1, bailed like 2 episodes into S2.

Legion was great but also kind of emotionally exhausting too

i keep forgetting that i have two episodes left in this show

i posted almost the exact same thing five months ago, go figure

I kinda mentioned above but S3 and S4 are excellent. I enjoyed S2 but it was the weakest of the seasons

I really enjoyed the first season and bailed on the stodgy 2nd, went back a few yes later and watched it to finish, great show, Rami's casting was perfect as his performance is astonishing, at times, completely sold the nerdy ego vrs the complex vulnerability of his character

I want to watch Comet again but I don’t know if I’ll be able to replicate the exact way the edible hit me 30 minutes into my first viewing.

seeing ramy on james bond posters now is kinda weird

Was thinking of starting Esmail's Leave the World Behind this weekend--anyone seen it?

Watched it last night. Mostly pretty decent but it falls apart in the last 15 minutes by over-explaining and being so on the nose. Hitchcock didn’t tell us why the birds were rebelling against Man…

I'm halfway through and it's really starting to feel like M. Night Shyamalan.

that was definitely a movie by Sam Esmail

I liked the book, will watch the movie eventually.

By the end, I liked about half of it: the sinister massed deer, the Tesla pile-up, clunky dancing to "Too Close." In terms of sounding an alarm, I didn't think it was all that convincing.

imo the entire apocalyptic background and happenings were window dressing for the actual plot mechanic: the lack of trust and basic human connection necessary for survival when every person has their own preconceived notions and agendas that are ultimately irrelevant

having the one seemingly paranoid character be not that much into conspiracy theories (he was just reacting to the factual information he had) was a choice

i still enjoy esmail's visual style but this was all a bit of silliness. good performances, but didn't really have anything to say.

This was a really good movie, sort of frustrated by the massive online chorus of "Why did it not end with rescue and hugzzzzz"

it falls apart in the last 15 minutes by over-explaining and being so on the nose.

only if you think of the "explanation" presented by the character as having anything to do with what's actually happening

i will concede that the Julia Roberts / Ruth dialogue in the shed near the end is too on the nose

The very ending--what the strange daughter did--was one of my favourite parts. Kind of obvious, I know, but in a good way: felt like it had to end that way.

ps the involvement of Barack and Michelle in this movie has created an entire online ecosystem of people who think it's a leak of plans for the impending satanic NWO takeover

it’s funny that a bunch of people online think the 13 year old was weird when she just wants to finish the one thing that was interrupted. maybe the wide-eyed stare at all the weird shit was part of it?

i’m sure each character maps on to some psychological archetype in some way

xp I can see where the Obamas as producers (they just have a Netflix production deal, who cares) is hatching some conspiracy theories but I doubt they’re that hands-on

conversely, I was aware of the production credit and when Ali and Hawke’s characters are negotiating with Bacon’s, I thought “both of these guys are different parts of Obama’s internal dialogue”

I actually love that there's just that one shot kind of hauntingly establishing there's a woman inside Danny's house, wife, daughter, doesn't matter

only if you think of the "explanation" presented by the character as having anything to do with what's actually happening

I don't think his speech has to be the 'real story' - it was an retelling of things we'd already seen (cars going haywire, transport isolating everyone, communication down, etc.) turned into a narrative. The viewers all got to make that narrative up as we watched, having the prepper lay it out at the very end was unnecessary. (If that conversation came halfway or two thirds in, maybe, but it acted as a summation.)

it was F Society, obviously

anyone else spot the E Corp logo on the meal kit buckets in the back of the pickup at the beginning?

this was super entertaining. great cinema? probably not but a thoroughly enjoyable 2+ hours. I loved the ending. Also it's an interesting choice to put Hawke and Bacon in the same movie as they are morphing into the same guy as they age.

I think this is my third go-around with Mr. Robot--just starting S3--and honest to god, Tyrell and Joanna Wellick are the two most puzzling characters I've ever encountered in a TV show.

Perplexing, not puzzling--meant to use a stronger word.

they just have strong bdsm vibes, that's all

That might be the only thing I understand about them. I was thinking more in terms of their relationship to fSociety and Elliot and everything that transpires. I spent the first season wondering which side Tyler was on and the second season wondering if he was Elliot himself. And she's even more confounding to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi71x5hoaN8

Almost finished. Good use of Carly Rae Jepsen over Darlene and Dom at the airport.

Finished up last night. Remembered almost nothing specific from the last two or three episodes, except how nuts and convoluted it got (and that they would have been better to end with Darlene and Dom on the park bench as people start getting their money)--I still couldn't explain to you how much of the four seasons is real, how much dream/fantasy, and how much somewhere between. Such obvious homages to Lynch (twice) and 2001. "Heroes and Villains" was a nice surprise.

Last thing I'll say on my deathbed: "I still don't fucking understand Tyrell Wellick."

he is just a social striver looking for a cult with a dommy wife

I honestly think my first misreading of Wellick, that we'd find out at some point that he was another manifestation of Elliot's split personality, would have made more sense than what we got. Wellick would have been the corporate, buttoned-up side of Elliot--the social striver, yes--that Elliot recognized in himself (he was, after all, a technological genius with a job at All-Safe) and found loathsome. Obviously they would have needed to restructure the story to accomodate this, but that I would have understood.

I think he was always the guy who sailed through the corporate talking head path but felt a sense of loss he wasn’t the disruptive hacker guy, with all the projected coolness. And he literally goes back to the woodshed with an axe in atonement for his corporate sins! His wife is content with making him feel pathetic