A month after he discovered the truth about Mr. Robot (Christian Slater), and erased the majority of the world's debt in the event now known as the "Five/Nine Hack", Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek) is now living off the grid, trying to weaken Mr. Robot's hold on his thoughts. The government is still searching for the source of the hack, while E Corp struggles to contain the hack that threatens to destroy them. Despite Elliot's attempts to move on, Mr. Robot insists that their work is not done yet, and continues to fight for control of Elliot's mind.
It only took 1 season to turn Mr. Robot into my favourite show on TV. It was an ingeniously well-written, developed, and paced story, all of which led up to a twist that changed the whole meaning of the show, and a season finale which changed the whole world of the show. Season 2 was set up to have an entirely new environment for the characters to exist in, and I was really interested to see how these characters would change with the world.
The characters were in much different places than I expected, especially the main character, Elliot. Rami Malek continued to give an incredible performance, bringing to life one of the most sympathetic and complex characters on TV. He's given many more chances to show extreme bursts of emotion this season, while still being blank and deadpan a lot of the time. The key is in his eyes, where his turmoil and frustration can always be seen clearly. Malek without a doubt deserves his Emmy, because of how realistic and surreal his performance can be, sometimes at the same time.
Now that the truth about who and what Mr. Robot is has been revealed, the dynamic between him and Elliot changed completely. But the relationship between Elliot and the audience, who he regularly addresses, is far more intriguing. In the first season, Elliot was angry at "us" for hiding the secret of Mr. Robot from him, and this season, he begins to hide things from us as well. Elliot becoming a less reliable narrator made this season less predictable, and led to some jaw-dropping moments. These new dynamics in Elliot's life led to more of the trippy, extremely stylized sequences that the show executes so well. What really makes those unique scenes work is the sense of humour that the show has about itself, and how deeply Sam Esmail understands his show.
We also met some new characters. My favourite of them was Ray, played by Craig Robinson. His character was able to relate to Elliot in a way that made complete sense, and never felt forced. But, like almost every character in the show, there's an unexpected twist to Ray's character. It was handled brilliantly, and showed that Robinson can be legitimately threatening. The other best new character was the FBI agent Dom, played by Grace Gummer. She was smart, capable, efficient, and dedicated to finding the answers behind fsociety. She made it difficult to decide which side to root for, because I found her just as entertaining and engaging as the hackers.
Well-established characters faced a lot of development as their worlds changed. The most interesting development was with Angela, who continued to climb the ladder at E Corp, and transformed more and more as she gained more footing and more importance. The other members of fsociety faced many challenges as well, along with a lot of paranoia. That paranoia came from the FBI tracking them down, and having to deal with the Chinese hacking group "Dark Army", both of which were interconnected with E Corp. All of these organizations were explored in ways that made the world of Mr. Robot feel much more layered and complex, and while that expansion of the story made it feel less focused at times, it was all interesting.
The story this season might have been even better than in the last season, perhaps because the story had a less singular focus. A distinct advantage it had was that there wasn't a clear end goal, which season 1 had set up from the very beginning. This season was much more unpredictable, and led to even bigger twists as the story progressed. The FBI investigation, more time spent with the E Corp executives, and the constant threat of the Dark Army made added more layers to the story, and how all of those points converge was superbly executed. The story wasn't as clear or consistent as the first season, but covering so much ground helped to keep the various storylines engaging.
Mr. Robot has a style unlike any other show, most notably in the areas of music and sound design, and especially the cinematography. Mr. Robot uses camera angles in a way that no other show does, giving a variety of unique perspectives on its world and characters. In that way, the camera almost feels like a character, giving a view on everything that feels very different from every other show. The show also has a very dark sense of humour, which it uses sparingly enough to make certain sequences stand out, and can change the tone of a scene at just the right second to make it even more memorable. Many more scenes this season used special effects or sound in such specific and detailed ways, as well as ways that were very unexpected. On a technical level, this season was just masterful. The accuracy of the show is what helps to make it feel real, whether it's in regards to hacking or mental illness. The attention to detail only makes the story feel more plausible, and even though I don't know anything more about hacking than what I've seen in the show, knowing that it's all like what real life hackers do makes the show more engaging. Even though the show doesn't take place in our world, it almost feels like it does.
And then there's the finale. Once again, and for completely different reasons than season 1, the season finale delivered a punch so powerful that it reduced me to tears. It was so masterfully built to and perfectly ended, and even though I'm salivating at the very thought of what season 3 will bring, I still need some time to think about this finale. It was so impactful, so significant, and so unexpected that I can spend hours thinking about it. Or days. Or, realistically, months.
In the end, season 2 of Mr. Robot may not have been as tight or as single-minded as season 1 was, but the way that the characters and the world grew over the course of this season makes up for it. The story moving so far outward indicates to me that we're going to be getting a much more complicated story than I initially thought, which is very exciting. Every character is left in such a strange place at the end of the finale, and I absolutely can't wait to see what season 3 brings. This season consistently left me wanting more, while also satisfying me, on almost equal levels. And there's also no other show that gets me as consistently excited week by week, and has me so emotionally invested. As long as it continues at the same quality, I don't see that changing.
It only took 1 season to turn Mr. Robot into my favourite show on TV. It was an ingeniously well-written, developed, and paced story, all of which led up to a twist that changed the whole meaning of the show, and a season finale which changed the whole world of the show. Season 2 was set up to have an entirely new environment for the characters to exist in, and I was really interested to see how these characters would change with the world.
The characters were in much different places than I expected, especially the main character, Elliot. Rami Malek continued to give an incredible performance, bringing to life one of the most sympathetic and complex characters on TV. He's given many more chances to show extreme bursts of emotion this season, while still being blank and deadpan a lot of the time. The key is in his eyes, where his turmoil and frustration can always be seen clearly. Malek without a doubt deserves his Emmy, because of how realistic and surreal his performance can be, sometimes at the same time.
Now that the truth about who and what Mr. Robot is has been revealed, the dynamic between him and Elliot changed completely. But the relationship between Elliot and the audience, who he regularly addresses, is far more intriguing. In the first season, Elliot was angry at "us" for hiding the secret of Mr. Robot from him, and this season, he begins to hide things from us as well. Elliot becoming a less reliable narrator made this season less predictable, and led to some jaw-dropping moments. These new dynamics in Elliot's life led to more of the trippy, extremely stylized sequences that the show executes so well. What really makes those unique scenes work is the sense of humour that the show has about itself, and how deeply Sam Esmail understands his show.
We also met some new characters. My favourite of them was Ray, played by Craig Robinson. His character was able to relate to Elliot in a way that made complete sense, and never felt forced. But, like almost every character in the show, there's an unexpected twist to Ray's character. It was handled brilliantly, and showed that Robinson can be legitimately threatening. The other best new character was the FBI agent Dom, played by Grace Gummer. She was smart, capable, efficient, and dedicated to finding the answers behind fsociety. She made it difficult to decide which side to root for, because I found her just as entertaining and engaging as the hackers.
Well-established characters faced a lot of development as their worlds changed. The most interesting development was with Angela, who continued to climb the ladder at E Corp, and transformed more and more as she gained more footing and more importance. The other members of fsociety faced many challenges as well, along with a lot of paranoia. That paranoia came from the FBI tracking them down, and having to deal with the Chinese hacking group "Dark Army", both of which were interconnected with E Corp. All of these organizations were explored in ways that made the world of Mr. Robot feel much more layered and complex, and while that expansion of the story made it feel less focused at times, it was all interesting.
The story this season might have been even better than in the last season, perhaps because the story had a less singular focus. A distinct advantage it had was that there wasn't a clear end goal, which season 1 had set up from the very beginning. This season was much more unpredictable, and led to even bigger twists as the story progressed. The FBI investigation, more time spent with the E Corp executives, and the constant threat of the Dark Army made added more layers to the story, and how all of those points converge was superbly executed. The story wasn't as clear or consistent as the first season, but covering so much ground helped to keep the various storylines engaging.
Mr. Robot has a style unlike any other show, most notably in the areas of music and sound design, and especially the cinematography. Mr. Robot uses camera angles in a way that no other show does, giving a variety of unique perspectives on its world and characters. In that way, the camera almost feels like a character, giving a view on everything that feels very different from every other show. The show also has a very dark sense of humour, which it uses sparingly enough to make certain sequences stand out, and can change the tone of a scene at just the right second to make it even more memorable. Many more scenes this season used special effects or sound in such specific and detailed ways, as well as ways that were very unexpected. On a technical level, this season was just masterful. The accuracy of the show is what helps to make it feel real, whether it's in regards to hacking or mental illness. The attention to detail only makes the story feel more plausible, and even though I don't know anything more about hacking than what I've seen in the show, knowing that it's all like what real life hackers do makes the show more engaging. Even though the show doesn't take place in our world, it almost feels like it does.
And then there's the finale. Once again, and for completely different reasons than season 1, the season finale delivered a punch so powerful that it reduced me to tears. It was so masterfully built to and perfectly ended, and even though I'm salivating at the very thought of what season 3 will bring, I still need some time to think about this finale. It was so impactful, so significant, and so unexpected that I can spend hours thinking about it. Or days. Or, realistically, months.
In the end, season 2 of Mr. Robot may not have been as tight or as single-minded as season 1 was, but the way that the characters and the world grew over the course of this season makes up for it. The story moving so far outward indicates to me that we're going to be getting a much more complicated story than I initially thought, which is very exciting. Every character is left in such a strange place at the end of the finale, and I absolutely can't wait to see what season 3 brings. This season consistently left me wanting more, while also satisfying me, on almost equal levels. And there's also no other show that gets me as consistently excited week by week, and has me so emotionally invested. As long as it continues at the same quality, I don't see that changing.
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