Mr. Robot

Synopsis

Elliot Anderson, is a hacktivist looking to bring down the "1% of the 1%." However, criminals are working to thwart him as well as others close to him and mistakes are made along the way.

Review

This show ended in 2019, so I will be a little more liberal about saying things that are intentionally spoilers, also because it was so frustrating. Like the ending is absolutely a copout, retcon, and magical tie-in of Deus ex machina, and you know how much I hate that.

I have attempted to watch this show multiple times since it came out in 2015. In fact, I was stationed overseas for the first couple episodes and when I came home, I attempted to catch up to the show and watched the rest live. However, the pacing of the story since the first season has been absurdly slow. To the point that I would say, with an average season being 12 episodes, there are only 4 episodes that matter with the occasional scene that has a continued value. So if you include all the scenes that aren't in those 4 episodes, you MIGHT have 6 episodes a season that matter.

Let us talk about the technical nature of the show. This is about a cyber vigilante who wants to take on and "Save the world." This hacktivist, someone who hacks for a political or social reason, uses tools and techniques that are in line with the industry. What is incorrect is the amount of time that it takes. They are unreasonably well-informed and capable without being followed by 3 letter agencies. The only big issue with this is that a lot was done on a cell phone. While technically you could do that, you never would as typing would be excessively slow.

While I think this show was some of the worst writing that could ever have been done and the 4th season was a complete money grab, the best acting occurred in the 4th season. Remi Malek and Christian Slater could be on a clinic for the midseason monologues and dialogues. Some serious emotion and energy and love put into those scenes. It was emotional. It was powerful. Furthermore, it came 3 seasons too late for it to justify you watching 4 seasons to have the scene make sense. Speaking of the worst writing, Angela's character as the most somersaults I have ever seen in a character. You could argue that she was brainwashed, but she had already decided to go down that road before then. She has no backbone and constantly flops to the morals and ethics of whomever she is appealing to. She also does Elliot dirty for no reason.

I feel like I need to make mention of the social problems that were shoved down your throat in this show. While they are issues, the actions taken are NEVER the right way to go about fixing the issue. Also, you should be able to live your life as whomever you want to without interference. These heavy topics are said verbally over and over and over again to the point that it feels like the only sentences being made by the characters.

My Rating

This was a terrible show and that makes sense that I couldn't continue it and that it was full of holes and magic when it was directed by the same person as Leave the World Behind, Sam Esmail. He has a habit of creating stories that just feel long and empty or completely illogical. I mentioned that this show has a magical element to it. In the last season there is this constant story about White Rose's machine. I don't remember this machine being mentioned EVER in detail until the last 3 episodes. I barely remember it being mentioned other than a machine that has all the important information on it. This machine was in a bomb bunker under a nuclear facility and that is what saves Elliot when a bomb goes off. It's never mentioned before, just there to save him. There is also this wannabe cathartic ending where Elliot and his others merge, and it just feels forced. I have been attempting to finish this show for this review for over a year. There are about 48 episodes, I think less. I had 3 episodes left and couldn't care. It took me over a month to watch the last 3 episodes and I did it just to finish the show. It was a poor performing show that could have been cool, but is relegated to the Madam Web of the Cyber world due to poor writing and directing. It's a 5 only because of the outstanding performances of Remi and Christian in the last season. Otherwise, because of the grueling sludge to finish it, it would have been a 3. Those performances were outstanding and almost redeemed the entire show.

Parental Rating

Language throughout that is unnecessary, drug use, sex, blood, gore, and psychological torture at times. There is not a chance that either of my parents would watch this beyond the first few episodes at most. For them, between what they would call "Behavior that I cannot understand" and the litany of immoral content, they are not watching this. Even if they were interested, I don't think they'd get past the first season do to speed. Rejected by both.

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