the new USA show MR. ROBOT: the rise of Rami Malek and the inexplicable solidness of Christian Slater

I want to defend the extreme framing a) because it's one of the only bits of visual flair that doesn't feel ripped off from kubrick or fincher and b) it can reasonably be interpreted as a visual manifestation of Elliot's inability to engage with people earnestly

that's true, and i like them. like i said i'm a sucker for that yes earnest 90s indie vibe.

slothrop i don't have any problem with characters being earnest with each other. but the show is pretty short on the sort of humor i like, which i've described upthread - teasing, basically, taking down a peg - either by the characters, or the script, or the director. but i get that it's sort of an adolescent angsty comic book and have made my peace with that. i'm over it! i like the show! i just get frustrated with it, like i would with some sullen teen.

i find the show quite funny sometimes.

i was kinda wondering if anyone's brought up the likelihood that the unlikely saga of shayla and the drug dealer and his treacherous brother are ALSO all in Elliott's head? Like if we're gonna get a number of B/C plots with a more than passing resemblance to remakes of 90's film that may or may not actually be real but are meant to enact elliott's internal psychodrama? to trump the prior week's revelation with the bombshell that tyrell and his 50 shades of american psycho story are further fever dream would take massive cojones.

someone mentioned that possibility on a grantland podcast - 90s movies he saw w his dad that are manifesting themselves in his head. I do think shayla and the dealer were real tho, same with tyrell

xps tracer I do see where you're coming from more or less, I may legit be slightly too sympathetic to attitudes typically held by sullen teens (I was one/kinda am one at heart still in my late 20s lol)

xp, they certainly baited the hook for that theory with dad taking him to see pulp fiction, yes.

that would be extra super dumb/annoying esp since we've had scenes of his co-workers consoling him for his loss etc

well is the sequence of dad and sis talking at the bar meant to be in elliott's head? or was he acting the role of mr. robot then? I don't really wanna go back and second guess this show too much as it might not take scrutiny well and i'm enjoying it as is.

Mr. Robot ‏@whoismrrobot 42s42 seconds ago
The previously filmed season finale of Mr. Robot contains a graphic scene similar in nature to today’s tragic events in Virginia.

Mr. Robot ‏@whoismrrobot 1m1 minute ago
Out of respect to the victims, their families and colleagues, and our viewers, we are postponing tonight’s episode.

Mr. Robot ‏@whoismrrobot 51s52 seconds ago
Our thoughts go out to all those affected during this difficult time.

critics who've seen it all say it's the right call to delay it a week, i will take their word for it

whoa that's fucked up

Ouch.

yeah if they think its best to delay it then i'm glad they're delaying it

That's a shame tragedy becomes an unintentional plot spoiler?
&just when I got my full size tv back.
Well, will look forward to next week.

Ppl on my FB feed complaining as if the murder of 2 people is such an inconvenience. It'll be on next week ffs.

the principal actor played PSH's son-in-law in The Master, right?

Started watching this show last nite. The missus read some blog saying it was like a mash-up of Fight Club, Matrix, Taxi Driver and American Psycho. Having watched the first episode, would have to add Peep Show to that list - couldn't help hearing the internal monologue in the voice of Mark Corrigan, cf the episode where Mark hacks into Sophie's email.

the principal actor played PSH's son-in-law in The Master, right?

That's him. Mostly people seem to know him from The Pacific (still unseen by me)

No comments on the finale?

Much of it was kinda meh and wheel-spinny compared to much of what came before. That one scene, though. Jesus. Totally understand why they pushed it back a week. Not to spoilerize, but that was maybe the most graphic depiction of that particular act I've ever seen outside of the infamously-filmed real-life version of same.

i dropped this after the roof murder. nothing anybody did was making sense anymore. i feel like the writers were just like "oh this would be crazy" and wrote it.

this season is basically the first act of the original script sam esmail wrote for mr. robot when he wanted to do it as a movie, just with a lot of additions. the general skeleton of the whole overarching story was and is planned - like it or not, these arent seat-of-pants writing decisions a la the latter seasons of LOST

finale was fucking great precisely because it wasnt a big-bang thing full of more #tweests and watercooler shock moments, it centers around how these earth-shaking events are dealt with as traumatic bruises on the main characters, which has been the point of the series all along imo

just started watching
have to say, the music choice is still lovable. "world destruction"!

I feel like I JUST heard "World Destruction" on another series this year?

Anyway I liked how truly disorienting and weirdly paced the finale was, skipping over the actual hack the whole season was theoretically building towards, never showing us Wellick, completely stranding Angela at Ecorp. Loved the scene w/ Elliot and Wellick's wife and baby.

Yeah! "I feel like she can hear us?"

B.D. Wong is the best

for a moment there the times square set looked kinda hokey and when slater started in with "well whats REAL" i worried for half a second they were gonna go with 'actually this is all a tv show'

lol yes I had a similar thought

there were definitely some cornball elements but I'm willing to give the show some room 'cause it's out on a wild limb so often

Overall I think the story is fine but not exceptional -- a fairly smart rewiring of Fight Club and V for Vengeance, with a big dollop of William Gibson thrown in. What makes it for me is the production, filmmaking and casting. It has its own distinct vibe and has sustained it well.

I get more Anonymous-tinged crap than V for Vendetta, although fsociety is an actual meeting group

It was kind of late when I watched, but that was BD Wong in the last scene, right? Meaning the Chinese darknet group is working multiple sides

yep that is whiter0se

using BD wong in that role is another 90s film reference, to cronenberg's m. butterfly

why DID times square look so hokey

because it was a pretty funny green screen composite

also because times square is hokey irl

well and like

*obvious tight shot of 20 people with signs implying large crowd* was dumb as hell

oh also that One Scene was unexpectedly graphic dang

yeah, the individual in question suddenly becoming more calm in his affect was a major "uh oh" and having a character you can relate to noticing that while everyone else in the room is too busy to pay attention....

also I am kind of amazed in 2015 we get that with no cutaway

Stuff that gets a pass on TV (even network TV) in 2015 would've earned a movie a hard R 20-30 years ago.

who am I kidding, I watch and love Hannibal and there's worse stuff there on the reg

Stuff that gets a pass on TV (even network TV) in 2015 would've earned a movie a hard R 20-30 years ago.

Yeah, but that was during crackdown times. You would be amazed what got into G- and PG-rated movies in the 70s.

I had a dark lol @ them apparently exploiting the air delay to ADR in that line about the Ashley Madison hack

I was impressed they got the Ashley Madison ref in there

I assumed that was what happened, unless they'd just filmed the episode sometime in the past week.

just a quick dub prob

ya that was p good

this didn't really stick the landing and the final ep was mostly a lot of loose ends waggled and some new ones added
all in all it felt like an ad for season two
i liked this show a lot but it's not hannibal / americans level just yet. very very good first season, hope they can keep the ball rolling now.

all in all it felt like an ad for season two

yeah the knock at the door smashcut felt like a frustrating copout

also uh is it fair to call the wong scene a "post-credits" scene on tv, that seems weird

Does anybody else worry that this show is gonna have the steepest Season 1-to-Season 2 dropoff in quality since Homeland?