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Mr. Robot |OT| Byte Club - a new hacker thriller - Wednesdays on USA
- Thread starter brian577
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Discotheque
Banned
Dramatically I think the season peaked at episodes 7 and 8, with the last few minutes of 8 being the best of the season
This episode was alright, I didn't mind them glossing over the hack. They left a lot of loose threads for next season, that's fine they've been doing that kind of cliffhanger stuff all season long
I just had problems with that mr robot monologue with the family, man was that corny as hell.
I think I agree with that Matt zoller seitz article tho, the show is at its best with its observations of society. Not the mystery of mr robot, frankly I think ep 9 took a lot of wind out of its sails tbh. That was my least favorite of the season. Thankfully we're all clear on Elliot's identity disorder so that mystery will no longer be a focus. I hope they chill with the Tyler durden dual persona thing tho, its already feeling tired
This episode was alright, I didn't mind them glossing over the hack. They left a lot of loose threads for next season, that's fine they've been doing that kind of cliffhanger stuff all season long
I just had problems with that mr robot monologue with the family, man was that corny as hell.
I think I agree with that Matt zoller seitz article tho, the show is at its best with its observations of society. Not the mystery of mr robot, frankly I think ep 9 took a lot of wind out of its sails tbh. That was my least favorite of the season. Thankfully we're all clear on Elliot's identity disorder so that mystery will no longer be a focus. I hope they chill with the Tyler durden dual persona thing tho, its already feeling tired
Really? Most observations seem pretty shallow and misguided to me, which is a thing that works because Elliot and his friends are so fucked up, that you don't really take them at face value.
For me the show relies almost entirely on the way it's shot and put together, instead of its writing.
A scene like the shoe store one with Angela felt so clumsy for example, the way they bulldozed into that little conflict exposition for her character, by having a weirdly candid store clerk.
And the show has several moments like that, but it also has the cool title cards, with the cool music, and the episodes like the dream one, and so on and so forth, that make it feel special compared to a lot of shit on TV.
You could say this for many other shows, from Breaking Bad to The Knick, but this is on a whole other level for me.
Not even trying to slight it, i don't think writing is necessarily the most important element of a tvshow/movie (otherwise i couldn't love Argento movies, for example) but i guess TV is more reliant on it than a movie is, so the flaws will come out more prominently, sooner or later.
It seems like most complaints come from people wanting more of the "action" parts but the show wants to tell us most about Elliot and his problems. I want more of the latter but I can definitely see where the problem lies but in the end, when you can see all seasons intact, I think these critizisms will go.
Wellick is Swedish, his wife is Danish.
GavinUK86
Member
Wait, so the main arc was about the hack? I thought it was about Elliot/Mr Robot. I loved that they skipped "pressing the enter key" and showed us the aftermath, it was a stroke of genius. I'm way more interested in the characters and how they function in the state of the world than actually seeing the hack. That would've been boring to watch.
I enjoyed the finale a lot, it felt like it wasn't it enough though, it was missing something.
The long shot after the credits reminds me of something and I can't put my finger on it, I want to say Barry Lyndon but that feels wrong.
The long shot after the credits reminds me of something and I can't put my finger on it, I want to say Barry Lyndon but that feels wrong.
Pretty much, their views are as crazy as Ed Norton yelling at the mirror in 25th Hour (Which is actually what the Mr. Robot monologue at the end of the episode reminded me of), just lacking the power behind it.
Yeah but they didn't really show much development about the characters either, in this episode.
Harry Stewart
Member
Long shot of the limo in darkness made me think of Mulholland Drive.
My guess is that we'll see the "press x to win" next season mainly because the event is tied to the 3 days lost by Elliot and the disappearance of Tyrell. I think a lot of people here still think about hacking as seeing this.
BTW, I bet to anyone that Tyrell has the key to decrypt the data. And if I reach... I would say when Price is referring to the guy that he thinks did the hack is not Elliot, is Tyrell. Remember Tyrell was the one who gave the order to remove the honeypot and he was just fired by Price, motive and opportunity right there.
Those 3 days are going to be key for season 2, can't wait!
I wish Sam Esmail had a gaf account.
Totally agree with ivysaur here. There are more effective ways of not spoon-feeding your audience in a hackneyed, predictable way. Every intelligent viewer understands that the hack is just a vehicle for development and not the actual point. We don't need to see everything, but at least try to achieve a balance between payoff of everything you've built up and making the viewer want more. The finale almost completely killed the show's momentum for me.
I'm pretty sure whatever happened during the three day time skip will become central to whatever the second season will be about. They didn't skip over the launch to devalue the moment but probably because whatever happened between Elliot and Tyrell was too significant and necessary to keep hidden for the time being.
My silly theory:
My silly theory:
The one knocking at Elliot's door at the end is Tyrell. It is later revealed in the season that Elliot probably killed Tyrell with the popcorn gun during the launch, and Elliot's guilt over committing the murder has made him create a Tyrell like persona to cope with it much like with his dad.
Discotheque
Banned
Yeah the way its shot and the music is where it excels (I still think the Knick is the best on tv right now for that stuff though). And I do agree that the observations are shallow but I think they have a lot more to say about the chadacter than any scene we've had with mr robot. It's really sold his loneliness and indifference to society, with the added gimmick of adapting the fight club like thinking to today's social media oriented world
It's one of the more entertaining things about the show for me. I'm alrwady over this mr robot is Tyler Durden stuff and I hope we see less of what that was in the cyber cafe
Ah, damn. I'm concerned your theory is exactly what they will do, and
I really do not want them to go to that well twice.
Anyway, I'm on #teamivy. I thought it was an okay episode, but lacked the dramatic follow-through of what the season had been leading towards. And I think ivy in his posts means this in terms of not getting the simple plot payoff, but more importantly, getting to follow Elliot in the moment and seeing how he responds to the situation with Tyrell and going through with the hack. I understand the narrative conceit they were going for, but it reminds me of a creative writing professor I had for a "using suspense in story" class as an undergrad. She was insistent (wisely, looking back) that my story was going to be all the better for not stringing along the reader unnecessarily, and essentially she wanted me to be upfront with the reader about the information the characters had at their disposal--not to hide it from the reader to create suspense--and to just build the suspense from the situation, from there. (A bit rambly, but I hope that makes sense.)
Also, the post-credits scene gave me some mixed feelings. Expanded role for Michael Cristofer, I'll always be in favor of. He was incredible in Rubicon as Truxton Spangler. Just a really quality actor who clearly brings his NYC stage actor chops to his roles. Still, the reveal of a secret society was a bit too pat and tired for me. As I think I saw at least one other poster say, the best thing the show can do in regards to these characters in this secret society, is to flesh them out and make us really understand them as people.
Also, that Matt Zoller Seitz article. Thanks for posting it, Cornballer! I think it wisely and succinctly sums up why the show is good but not *great* to me. It's a compelling show to watch. I really dig it. The cinematography, direction, soundtrack, and acting are all quite good. I think the scripting might just be a bit too clever by half in this episode.
That was my first thought.
The creator basically stated this first season was a preamble to what he really wanted to do so it fits well. I'm not too worried about these particulars as the 'Where is my Mind" scene summed up my relationship with the show. The creators know we know, but they're asking for some trust because getting there is going to be a great ride. They've definitely earned my trust with an excellent first season.
Can't wait to see the role Joanna has to play next season. Her character is set up to have a significant impact. Let's see if Corneliussen can pull it off.
Mr. Saturn
Member
There has been no indication that they are going to do a Mr. Robot type deal with Tyrell. None whatsoever. Could it happen? Sure, but there's been no sign of that happening yet and maybe in the first 10 minutes of season 2 we'll see that Elliot did kill Tyrell and now he exists only as an hallucination. I would be initially disappointed in that, but I would want to see if they anything different with Tyrell in terms of execution. Honestly though Elliot hallucinating Tyrell due to feeling guilt over killing him (this is all just speculation) seems like a weird idea to me. I mean Elliot and Tyrell didn't have very many interactions this season.
I'm thinking Tyrell is alive and he's going to double cross Elliot to get back into Evil Corp.
Any of what you said is entirely possible. I agree. It's just one of those things where you read someone's theory and think to yourself, damn I could see how they could *think* that's smart but then have it fall flat in execution. We'll see, for sure. I'm trying to keep an open mind, I just don't want them to go to the "he was in my head all along" reveal well again. Once is good, and it was handled pretty well I thought, but more than once is not so good, typically.
Mr. Saturn
Member
Yeah definitely, if I'm being honest I really hope they don't pull some sort of Elliot killed Tyrell and now he's having hallucinating him due to guilt. Like you said I'm going in with an open mind.
Someone else posted that Tyrell is probably alive and has the encryption key, with the goal of going back to ECorp and rescuing the day. Then that resets the world to pre-apocalypse and everyone gets their data back and everything's fine, setting up Elliot's arc of needing to create a more meaningful change in the world going forward.
Even if private debt is wiped out, the concept and mechanisms of private debt still exist in the world. Just because everyone's student loans are nuked doesn't mean banks are out of the student loan business going forward. That's the change Elliot needs to bring about.
Or it could be something even more radical, as Darlene hinted at the next phase being "infrastructure."
Esmail said that he conceived the show as a movie, and this would be the end of the first act, with the reveal of the secret society. He likened it to The Matrix where the Matrix is revealed to Neo 30 minutes in, and that the rest of the film is him dealing with the world as it truly is.
I'm not sure if you can critique cliche as "unoriginal." People don't rag on Daredevil because it's about a masked man with a secret-identity. Mr. Robot is clearly making a pop-culture collage a la Quentin Tarantino.
Way off. It's clearly a 2015 show and its technological depictions are contemporary. This isn't Hackers where they try and depict a bleeding edge that doesn't exist and misses the mark doing so. No full-3D graphical fly-bys of directory trees, no talking computer viruses, no "woah, that's a six-eight-six chip" trying to anticipate Intel's branding before they release their products.
They hired Angela after her suit cost them 10s of millions. The characters at Evil Corp always maintain that business isn't personal. Hell, after that guy killed himself Price just started shitting all over him because he was shitty at his job. If Tyrell can undo this he'll be protected.
But then again I feel like Angela is only there through her relationships. She knows Mr. Robot, and BD Wong knows who she is too, through her ex-boyfriend. So when Price says they know who's behind it, does he mean he knows BD is responsible through the virus uploaded by Angela (ostensibly by her ex-BF)?
Poor Shayla, forgotten already
I was heartened when Esmail said on a podcast he wasn't particularly interested in Vera's story. He said something to the effect that people responded to Vera being a strong character and he felt that he's capable of making strong characters in future and there's no reason to hold on to this character or that just because they're established.
Cornballer
Member
Dominican Power
Member
Zeus Molecules
illegal immigrants are stealing our air
I was really hoping to get an continuation of that storyline. At least some closure with Elliot eventually getting revenge for Shayla or something.
liliththepale
Banned
Yep. As a programmer, the encryption of the data instead of deletion immediately jumped out at me. I guess there's a chance it was done to sound more menacing to the audience, but I doubt that given the relative accuracy of the tech in other episodes.
Someone, either Elliot or Tyrell, has the decryption key. This has hostage situation (like the Cryptolocker malware) written all over it.
I think after the events of episode nine and how it tackled Elliot figuring out who Mr. Robot was, I was expecting the finale to feel transitional in the way that it did. Like that was such a big moment and sort of brought to an end one aspect of the show (or at least a specific arc of that aspect), that I was prepared for the next episode to feel like it was moving towards a new phase. And because of that I didn't mind that this finale felt like it was setting up for Season 2 and leaving a lot of questions for then rather than putting a period on Season 1. So I think expecting that made it land better for me than some others here who have mentioned it didn't feel like a traditional finale, but I can understand why it might bother some.
Likewise I could see why jumping the three days would bother some, but I liked it. One of the things I love about this show is how fully it puts us in Elliot's shoes. With the narration and how he sees the world bleeding into what we see. And the way it dealt with his drug addiction earlier in the season. The jump once again helps put me in his shoes. I'm trying to figure out what I missed. I'm waking up to a world where I don't full understand what is going on. I'm trying to piece together what happened with Tyrell and so on just like Elliot. I really look forward to exploring what did happen in those days as the show rolls on and Elliot figures it out. If they had told this more linearly, it may have been fine, but I feel I may have missed out on this feeling I just explained. So that aspect really worked for me too.
Likewise I could see why jumping the three days would bother some, but I liked it. One of the things I love about this show is how fully it puts us in Elliot's shoes. With the narration and how he sees the world bleeding into what we see. And the way it dealt with his drug addiction earlier in the season. The jump once again helps put me in his shoes. I'm trying to figure out what I missed. I'm waking up to a world where I don't full understand what is going on. I'm trying to piece together what happened with Tyrell and so on just like Elliot. I really look forward to exploring what did happen in those days as the show rolls on and Elliot figures it out. If they had told this more linearly, it may have been fine, but I feel I may have missed out on this feeling I just explained. So that aspect really worked for me too.
Yeah, Joanna doesn't have a soul.Joanna Wellick will simultaneously haunt and enchant my dreams from now on . Christ Jesus at that scene with Elliot.
I noticed that too lol. I was like WTF isn't she pregnant?
Cramoss
Member
"If you have done something to him, I will kill you"
PHOENIXZERO
Member
Joanna is scary, just her demeanor and the way she looks and speaks and those eyes while still having no idea what really motivates her... For a character I think a lot of us laughed and rolled our eyes at when she first appeared, Esmail, the directors and Steph Corneliussen did an amazing job with making a beautifully unsettling character.
unholyrevenger72
Banned
NotTheGuyYouKill
Member
Just caught up with the finale. I thought that it was excellent.
- It's definitely Tyrell wearing the fsociety mask in that video. I could recognize those weepy eyes anywhere. Martin Wollstrom constantly looks like he's on the verge of breaking down and crying in every scene.
- Rami Malek continues to murder it.
- Angela is slowly going to the dark side. Make sure you don't go in too deep in your undercover mission!
- Angela's boss is a horrid, horrid excuse for a human being.
- The on-air suicide was disturbing as hell. I grimaced and winced when it happened because it looked so realistic. Definitely inspired by Bud Dwyer.
- WHITE ROSE IS PART OF THE ILLUMINATI!? ANGELA'S BOSS ALREADY KNOWS IT'S ELLIOT/TYRELL? Dun dun dun.
- The soundtrack in this show is god-tier.
- That scene between Joana and Elliot was just phenomenal. Gotta be the highlight of the episode for me. It starts off fairly innocuous and quickly becomes nerve-wracking and terrifying. For a second, it went from a techno-psychological thriller to a horror story.
She's a goddamned terrifying Queen of everything. She's fantastic.
- It's definitely Tyrell wearing the fsociety mask in that video. I could recognize those weepy eyes anywhere. Martin Wollstrom constantly looks like he's on the verge of breaking down and crying in every scene.
- Rami Malek continues to murder it.
- Angela is slowly going to the dark side. Make sure you don't go in too deep in your undercover mission!
- Angela's boss is a horrid, horrid excuse for a human being.
- The on-air suicide was disturbing as hell. I grimaced and winced when it happened because it looked so realistic. Definitely inspired by Bud Dwyer.
- WHITE ROSE IS PART OF THE ILLUMINATI!? ANGELA'S BOSS ALREADY KNOWS IT'S ELLIOT/TYRELL? Dun dun dun.
- The soundtrack in this show is god-tier.
- That scene between Joana and Elliot was just phenomenal. Gotta be the highlight of the episode for me. It starts off fairly innocuous and quickly becomes nerve-wracking and terrifying. For a second, it went from a techno-psychological thriller to a horror story.
Joanna Wellick will simultaneously haunt and enchant my dreams from now on . Christ Jesus at that scene with Elliot.
She's a goddamned terrifying Queen of everything. She's fantastic.
I would think it's a trap and i wouldn't mind
I agree with this, but it's gonan be tough to keep Christian Slater around, if they don't find a balance in the Elliot/Mr.Robot rapport.
Mr.Robot obviously represent a side of Elliot's personality, the more incendiary and rebellious side of him, that he tries to constantly repress.
They should probably keep going on that angle, instead of focusing on him choking himself or talking alone in a crowded place.
I agree with you on Joanna, she'll make a good nemesis, and it's basically what many assumed was going to be Tyrell's role, before he turned out to be a walking psychological mess.
That's a twist i really liked, even if Joanna's archetype isn't all that original in and out of itself, it's interesting in the context of the story.
Angela however, who started out as my favorite female character in the show, got a rushed development of her arc, this past episode.
My assumption was that she was forced to join Evil corp to give her a second perspective on things and challenge her own beliefs, but that didn't really happen, instead she just started befriending and smiling to people who wear their inhumanity on their sleeves, and didn't feel very convincing to me, it felt too sudden and quick of a development to cram into one episode.
It seems to me like she would be the sort of person that deals with E corp's shit because she has somewhat of a passive and calm demeanor, and she lets people talk shit because she is not as reactionary as Elliot and his friends (in the scene where Colby tries to humiliate and destroy her self confidence, she kept her cool even though she was visibly shaken.. i'm sure any of the show's hackers would've lost their shit at something like that).
But she's obviously not a cynical individual, and i can't ever see her turn around to liking any of the people at E corp, so that will be interesting to see, i just don't like how they crammed scenes that should've taken a lot of time and development into one episode, with the result of having forced, unearned bullshit like the shoe store moment.
Watched the pilot ages ago when it aired and then didn't watch anymore for several reasons, finally slowly catching up to this, on episode 3 now and I love it.
Then I came to read the start of the thread up to those eps to see how people were reacting to it and I read all that fight club theories and i felt more stupid than I've felt in years, I completely missed that for whatever reason, and Fight Club is one of my favorite movies ever!
I actually don't even know if that's the angle the show went with, just the fact I didn't also think it makes me angry, as you all said, it was right there. Fuck.
I'm disapointed in myself
Onward to episode 4 then
Edit: and now Im watching it a completely different light too, not unlike you would rewatch fight club after knowing the twist
Then I came to read the start of the thread up to those eps to see how people were reacting to it and I read all that fight club theories and i felt more stupid than I've felt in years, I completely missed that for whatever reason, and Fight Club is one of my favorite movies ever!
I actually don't even know if that's the angle the show went with, just the fact I didn't also think it makes me angry, as you all said, it was right there. Fuck.
I'm disapointed in myself
Onward to episode 4 then
Edit: and now Im watching it a completely different light too, not unlike you would rewatch fight club after knowing the twist
Discotheque
Banned
it displays it's influences right on it's sleeve. hell in episode 9
. gotta say joanna is gorgeous btw. looks so much like angelina jolie in mr. and mrs. smith. just as threatening in the eyes too. phew.
they even play a rendition of pixies' where is my mind
MisterFalcon
Member
Fried Food
Banned
So I've just learned that this show is apparently a thing that I should probably watch.
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