From the USA Network and showrunner Sam Esmail comes the hacker drama Mr. Robot. Starring Rami Malek, Carly Chaikin, Christian Slater, Portia Doubleday, Martin Wallstrom, Grace Gummer, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Christofer, Stephanie Corneliussen, BD Wong, Azhar Khan and Sunita Mani. Season 4 is slated for late 2018.
Young, anti-social computer programmer Elliot works as a cybersecurity engineer during the day, but at night he is a vigilante hacker. He is recruited by the mysterious leader of an underground group of hackers to join their organization. Elliot’s task? Help bring down corporate America, including the company he is paid to protect, which presents him with a moral dilemma. Although he works for a corporation, his personal beliefs make it hard to resist the urge to take down the heads of multinational companies that he believes are running — and ruining — the world.
After some people were a little TOO confused by the second season, Mr. Robot has kind of gotten back to business – back to the main PLAN and my god… What a thrilling, chaotic and fantastic third season it was. Shocker – Elliot didn’t die after getting shot in the second season finale. Did anyone think he would die? Because of that however, Elliot decides that his terror-hacking ways are at odds with the Dark Army’s true agenda which he finds out has much more devious consequences than he ever thought and now he’s in an all-out war with not only them, but his alter-ego Mr. Robot. Yes – we spend a large chunk of the season bouncing between “evil” Elliot (in Mr. Robot Christian Slater mode) and redemption Elliot who is trying his damndest to stop the Dark Army’s horrifying plans of global domination? Time travel? I’m not sure what the hell White Rose is planning, but she’s crazy.
Another huge plus this season was MORE TYRELL WELLICK. He was barely around in season 2 and it annoyed me. Martin Wallstrom is an incredible performer and Sam Esmail definitely course corrected that storyline, by even giving Tyrell his own damn episode to show us what he was up to last year during the fallout of their major hack in season 1. The introduction of Bobby Cannavale was a major win as well — he’s such an intriguing character, this sort of fixer for the Dark Army who, as it turns out, was in this from the beginning. This was easily Cannavale’s best performance since his run on Boardwalk Empire — and I dare say he’s involved in one of the most violent, horrifying acts of TV violence since Negan’s baseball bat killfest in The Walking Dead season seven.
I loved the second season of Mr. Robot — despite the wacky structure it had, which had Elliot lying to the audience for most of it until we realise he’s been in prison for several episodes. I loved that twist – a lot. It may have delayed the overall storyline “slightly”, but I found it ingenius. Season 3 is definitely ramping up towards what feels like an endgame, but we will be having a fourth season and I’m excited to see how Elliot battles the Dark Army going forward… Especially after what happens in the game-changing finale (which I must say is one of the best finales of 2017). There were several episodes where I felt like the tension was being accelerated to the point of agony and I’ve not seen that in many TV shows since Breaking Bad concluded. There was one episode in which a protest turns into a riot and a subsequent attack on the E-Corp building and it felt like the entire thing was shot in one take because I had to keep reminding myself to blink.
If you loved Leon, (Joey Bada$$) in season 2, get ready for even more of the Dark Army assassin this year. He doesn’t just love Seinfeld — apparently he’s a Knight Rider fan as well. He’s also like John Wick — on weed. There are so many wonderful and interesting characters on this series that I hate to see any of them go, but prepare to be FLOORED by some major ones that depart. Hell — it happens when you least expect it too, which is even more jarring. There’s an act of violence with a car that stunned me and I still have a hard time getting those images out of my head. For a show about computer hackers, there’s a shitload of violence and death. If you were worried that this season was going to be overly political in the wake of Trump’s presidency, don’t be — sure there is a little bit of that, but it absolutely does not drive the narrative of this show. Mr. Robot is about Elliot and his dad — who is also… Elliot… Sort of… The battle that these two have in season 3 is captivating as hell. Be prepared for one of the best TV fights of 2017 and yes — you will get to see Rami Malek slamming his own head into the floor.
Rating: [star rating=”4.5″]