Ah, Mr. Robot. I'll just spoil my thoughts for you now: this is my favourite show of all time, and I've been struck by the sudden urge to rewatch it, because I haven't since it ended, which was nearly three years ago now.
This does mean I'm putting Better Call Saul on hiatus for now, but trust me, I loved the first season enough that I will certainly return to it. And while I'm running admin on how my reviews for TV work, here's something I should have mentioned as far back as my review of the second episode of The Queen's Gambit: I will spoil every episode as I review them, because otherwise with a serialised show such as this, I don't think there's usually all that much interesting to talk about from episode to episode other than the plot.
Typically it'll be more or less the same quality of direction, acting, sound, cinematography, etc. Should that ever noticeably change from episode to episode, then I'll mention it, but otherwise I find that the only thing really worth talking about is what happens in each episode, and I mention this here because (and I cannot stress this enough) this is a show with HUGE twists in it. All the way through, and every single one of them is brilliant and deserves to be experienced, rather than read about.
So if you haven't seen the show, and you're reading this, do not, I repeat, DO NOT read any more of this review, or any future ones for this show until you've seen the respective episode. Take this as my recommendation right off the bat, and go watch this damn show because not enough people have, and if there is one thing I am determined to make more popular than it is by the time I die, it's Mr. Robot. I talk about it every chance I get, and I figured it was only right to finally bring that to the internet instead of annoying everyone I know anymore.
So where to start...well, as you might have guessed from the title, I find Elliot to be an extremely relatable character. I experience a decent amount of social anxiety, I have a certain penchant for my black hoodie that started round about the time I got about halfway through this show, I sometimes dream of saving the world...the only thing I can't do that he does is hack. I only got a C in GCSE Computing, and frankly I'd be surprised if I can still properly remember how to tell the bloody machine how to say "hello world".
And he's also such an interesting character - right from the very start of this episode you want to know what this guy's deal is, and the things he does are always intriguing to me. You could certainly make the case that he's a morally bad character, maybe not to the same degree as Walter White or BoJack Horseman, but there is a darker side to him for sure.
And I found that there's also a profound sense that he's hiding something in this episode, whether he knows it or not. If you've just watched the first episode and came back to this, trust me, you have no idea just how deep this show will delve into his warped mind.
The show even manages to give a solid in-universe reason for its narration - Elliot is talking to an imaginary friend he just created, because he feels like he can't truly connect with anyone else. And the narration doesn't fall into the trap of just telling the story or explaining the obvious to you, it does what all great narration does: give you an insight into the character's mind that you just couldn't get without it.
The only thing I do take a slight issue with concerning Elliot in this episode is him having sex. This might be an extremely petty complaint, but I can't help but remember how that felt just a little bit insulting to me as an extremely anxious 17 year old, and even though I'm a little better now, I can't help but imagine that sex must be a fairly rare event to most people with diagnosed social anxiety.
But anyway, all the other characters are so brilliantly written too, from the titular Mr. Robot, who is charming, witty and has a few secrets of his own, to Angela and how she wants to be friends with him, to a higher degree than he's comfortable with even though they've known each other since childhood.
And every single one of these performances is as downright perfect, and if memory serves, will remain so for the rest of the series.
The directing, editing and cinematography is similarly pristine, and will also remain so for the rest of the series if I recall correctly. The show has a visual style that's too unique to do justice in this review, but rest assured it looks phenomenal.
And you know what else is phenomenal? The score, composed by Mac Quayle for the whole show, is a jittery techno masterpiece, and perfectly fits both the story and themes of the show while being brilliant and perfect for whatever scene it's used in.
And especially considering that it's a pilot episode, it's structured and plotted perfectly. The world is set up, the characters feel defined, there's not one, but TWO major narrative hooks to keep you watching, like...damn this show gets under your skin quickly.
My only other issue is that some of the dialogue comes off as a little awkward. Sometimes intentionally so, which is fine, but other lines come off as kind of cringey to me, almost like something a little kid who thinks they're an expert hacker would say. Either that or a raging incel.
And Mr. Robot himself has some lines that are borderline rip-offs of The Matrix, which really took me out of the scene for a bit.
But aside from that, this first episode is brilliant, and it's only up from here...
This does mean I'm putting Better Call Saul on hiatus for now, but trust me, I loved the first season enough that I will certainly return to it. And while I'm running admin on how my reviews for TV work, here's something I should have mentioned as far back as my review of the second episode of The Queen's Gambit: I will spoil every episode as I review them, because otherwise with a serialised show such as this, I don't think there's usually all that much interesting to talk about from episode to episode other than the plot.
Typically it'll be more or less the same quality of direction, acting, sound, cinematography, etc. Should that ever noticeably change from episode to episode, then I'll mention it, but otherwise I find that the only thing really worth talking about is what happens in each episode, and I mention this here because (and I cannot stress this enough) this is a show with HUGE twists in it. All the way through, and every single one of them is brilliant and deserves to be experienced, rather than read about.
So if you haven't seen the show, and you're reading this, do not, I repeat, DO NOT read any more of this review, or any future ones for this show until you've seen the respective episode. Take this as my recommendation right off the bat, and go watch this damn show because not enough people have, and if there is one thing I am determined to make more popular than it is by the time I die, it's Mr. Robot. I talk about it every chance I get, and I figured it was only right to finally bring that to the internet instead of annoying everyone I know anymore.
So where to start...well, as you might have guessed from the title, I find Elliot to be an extremely relatable character. I experience a decent amount of social anxiety, I have a certain penchant for my black hoodie that started round about the time I got about halfway through this show, I sometimes dream of saving the world...the only thing I can't do that he does is hack. I only got a C in GCSE Computing, and frankly I'd be surprised if I can still properly remember how to tell the bloody machine how to say "hello world".
And he's also such an interesting character - right from the very start of this episode you want to know what this guy's deal is, and the things he does are always intriguing to me. You could certainly make the case that he's a morally bad character, maybe not to the same degree as Walter White or BoJack Horseman, but there is a darker side to him for sure.
And I found that there's also a profound sense that he's hiding something in this episode, whether he knows it or not. If you've just watched the first episode and came back to this, trust me, you have no idea just how deep this show will delve into his warped mind.
The show even manages to give a solid in-universe reason for its narration - Elliot is talking to an imaginary friend he just created, because he feels like he can't truly connect with anyone else. And the narration doesn't fall into the trap of just telling the story or explaining the obvious to you, it does what all great narration does: give you an insight into the character's mind that you just couldn't get without it.
The only thing I do take a slight issue with concerning Elliot in this episode is him having sex. This might be an extremely petty complaint, but I can't help but remember how that felt just a little bit insulting to me as an extremely anxious 17 year old, and even though I'm a little better now, I can't help but imagine that sex must be a fairly rare event to most people with diagnosed social anxiety.
But anyway, all the other characters are so brilliantly written too, from the titular Mr. Robot, who is charming, witty and has a few secrets of his own, to Angela and how she wants to be friends with him, to a higher degree than he's comfortable with even though they've known each other since childhood.
And every single one of these performances is as downright perfect, and if memory serves, will remain so for the rest of the series.
The directing, editing and cinematography is similarly pristine, and will also remain so for the rest of the series if I recall correctly. The show has a visual style that's too unique to do justice in this review, but rest assured it looks phenomenal.
And you know what else is phenomenal? The score, composed by Mac Quayle for the whole show, is a jittery techno masterpiece, and perfectly fits both the story and themes of the show while being brilliant and perfect for whatever scene it's used in.
And especially considering that it's a pilot episode, it's structured and plotted perfectly. The world is set up, the characters feel defined, there's not one, but TWO major narrative hooks to keep you watching, like...damn this show gets under your skin quickly.
My only other issue is that some of the dialogue comes off as a little awkward. Sometimes intentionally so, which is fine, but other lines come off as kind of cringey to me, almost like something a little kid who thinks they're an expert hacker would say. Either that or a raging incel.
And Mr. Robot himself has some lines that are borderline rip-offs of The Matrix, which really took me out of the scene for a bit.
But aside from that, this first episode is brilliant, and it's only up from here...