Mr. Robot is my kind of show. It pulls inspiration from so many different corners of film and TV into one focused and concise story. It’s like someone figured out how to make the TV equivalent of chocolate coated bacon work.
The story follows Elliot, a young programmer with a tragic past, under the shadow of E-Corp (a worldwide conglomerate selling phones, tablets, your data, cars, groceries- you get the idea). From there he is pulled into a small hacking organization, fsociety, which aims to bring E-Corp, and the very concept of money,down.
That last bit may hint to one of Mr Robot’s inspirations. Anyway, why should you watch it?
It is the most modern show on the air.
Mr Robot knows its audience very well. It knows we know know what a phone home screen looks like, it knows we know what search engines look like and what brands there are, it knows all that and so much more about us. More importantly, it knows that we appreciate authenticity. There are no made up terms, the home pages of phones look like they should and even little things like how smartphone screens turn off when you put them up to your ear are little details which the show puts the effort to include. It’s satisfying not to be brought out of the moment because of a technological inaccuracy.
That, however, is just a small facet of Mr. Robot’s modern qualities. The most modern, and arguably, the most important is it’s attitude towards culture, race,sexuality and gender. Trenton, a Muslim woman, part of fsociety is probably the best example of this. Trenton isn’t a Muslim to prove a point. She is just happens to be Muslim. Yes, her character is somewhat influenced by this, but that’s not who she is. In other shows, a character in a minority exists usually to comment on or explore said minority. Trenton, however, bucks this trend and is interesting outside of her culture and is interesting as a person. Similarly, women in the show are also well developed outside of their gender and I’d say the show sports more strong female characters than male ones.
It’s got a very interesting visual style
Most of Mr Robot’s dialogue is framed oddly. Just look at it. Characters are pushed right to the bottom edge of the frame and talk out of it. It’s one of the more distinctive ways I’ve seen isolation and separation conveyed visually. It’s especially fitting as this is one of the main issues Mr Robot deals with.
The camera is also static in nearly every shot and since the subject is usually a small part of the frame. This stillness accentuates the isolation and discomfort many of the characters feel. Moreover, the whole visual style ignores many rules which are considered basics of cinematography while still looking amazing. This lack of normalcy can make you feel like something just isn’t right. It gives you a sense of unease. It’s genius.
Everyone is just so…complete
Complete really is the only way I can describe the majority of the characters. I don’t mean complete in the sense the characters are fulfilled and content. I mean in the way that they are fully realized. Everything from their upbringing and how this effected them to their skills to their weaknesses is there. You feel as if you are looking at people, not characters. This is what makes good stories. You can relate to Elliot, or Tyrell, or any of the many myriad of characters because you feel they are real.
It’s through these amazing characters we can truly believe their relationships, their goals, their addictions and truly understand them. It’s great to watch a show and just learn about people and how people are and this is a show which offers that.
There isn’t much I can say about Mr Robot without spoiling it. I would really hate if anything I said detracted from a someone’s experience of the show because it’s so great. I love it. Especially for episode 9. It’s like a sequel I never knew I wanted (watch the show and find out what I mean).
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