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

i cant wait for the second season of this

aw hell yeah

excellent use of sonic youth (among other v. solid soundtrack choices this episode)

guess i should watch this show

Music choices and original soundtrack uniformly great.

I like this show, it's very watchable, well-made, but it sure does pull a lot of trope-y, narrative cliches.

I'm 4 episodes in. Not sure I LOVE it, but it's watchable. As LocalGarda says, there are some pretty daft tropey moments that make me want to switch off and never watch it again, but something about it makes me come back. Ep4 felt like it took a cool tonal twist that I wasn't expecting. I found myself getting mixed up between the random/cool/freaky girl who lives next door and the random/cool/freaky girl who works with fsociety, but maybe that's the idea?

the similarities there are 100 percent deliberate imo

so in a completely unsurprising development the season 2 premiere was fucking lit

i have no idea what craig robinson's deal is but his presence is v welcome on the show - also like getting a look inside e corp from multiple perspectives (grunt level, higher-ups, PR, etc.)

(SPOILERS) not sure how long they can play out the tyrell wellick string but it's understandable of them not to reveal what's up with that right away (SPOILERS)

on a more general note, the fact that the most general aspects of the plot have been done before kinda plays in the show's favor. its mastery is in the execution, and its examination of mental illness (the main element of which is outsized for dramatic purposes, obvs, but it nails the day to day aspects of things like depression and anxiety in a genuine manner).

I didn't notice it was going to be over an hour, making the second section a pleasant surprise

also EMMY NOMINATED YO

I did not like most of that double premiere :(

2 much ~mr robo mythology~
not enough ~people just boopin around nyc~
but more of the latter as it went on so it's fine it'll be good once it's back to anxious tap-tap-keyboard-tappin' + eli initiating

BEGIN TROJAN.VIRUS PROTOCOL ? 

it wd be a bummer if its fundamental tension + only option for continued longevity was contingent on the by-now-not-fresh suspense generated by waiting for carrie to dissolve in time for an action sequence in homeland, waiting for christopher moltisanti to get high again in the sopranos, &c; it is so much better when it is just in smooth ultra-modern procedural mode. i cd've watched the woman jog around union square for hrs

I love this show but I stuggled a bit with these 2 new episodes. Felt like not a lot happened? I did read the writer/showrunner hinting this season was going to be more of a focus on his mental illness which is cool, but a risky move given it could end up being confusing and drawn out.

I just watched the first two episodes of S1, and I... did not enjoy it at all. Really slow and dour and humorless. Does it get better or is this the whole thing?

Humorless is definitely not a word i would choose to describe this show

Yeah stick with it, but if you find things like internal monologues hard to get with it might not be yr thing.

Ok I will. So far the only humor I've seen is the arcade game is changed from Duck Hunter to Mallard Murderer, which I don't care for.

Also the villain who looks like Cillian Murphy playing Patrick Bateman is bad. And usually cliffhangers pull me in but these seem weak so far.

ultra-monotone monologue is biggest ish w/s2 so far i think; there are a couple of moments in s2 when eliot disengages Corpse Mode & reminds you what a great + weird presence + plasticity he has but dialing up the inertia feels a lil too close to cliche i think

Different sucks for different folks

I wasnt looking to this show for humour at all, fwiw.

honestly the biggest bummer of the s2 double premiere for me was the scene of E-Corp guy explaining The Way Things Work. zzzzzz

I liked his new Seinfeld-obsessed friend.

that is totally a thing in the world, people who are suddenly aware of and obsessed with seinfeld

idgi but I am an old

craig robinson playing a regular dude instead of an avatar of ridiculous comedy is a nice change of pace

I'm waiting for the reveal that Robinson is fbi

https://0x41.no/mr-robot-s02e01-easter-egg/

ways this seasons premiere evidences the series has jumped it;

Black dude from the office showing up - no ones asking for you here man

Sonics youths bull in the heather - as if

both of those things are gd imo

bonus lol if you are comic book guying someone who works in an office listening to SY

The dialogue in this episode was definitely OTT portentous, and his buddy who just discovered Seinfeld disappears immediately after Craig Robinson shows up, for whatever reason.
Not sure you can drive a whole season of this show on a single mystery, especially not one as potentially inconsequential as "where is Tyrell Wellick?"

Also way to just off the most sympathetic character right away, what is this, GoT

Yeah the boss being killed was brutal :( He was the one guy in the show who really didnt deserve any of this shit.

TBH I wasnt feeling this new season much, but I'm willing to give it some time. S1 needed some patience too really.

http://www.theverge.com/2016/7/18/12213340/mr-robot-digital-aftershow-hosted-by-the-verge-starts-this-week

Every week after the show, Emily Yoshida, Russell Brandom, and I will be breaking down the episode, looking at the tech and hacks involved, talking to guests from the cast and crew, and taking questions and feedback from fans on Twitter and (of course) our very own Mr. Robot IRC channel.

obviously I will be joining the irc channel via a vanity domain

my reaction to this show reminds me of nothing more than how I reacted to Pump Up the Volume (waddup C Slate) which also took punk rock themes and presented them in a super cartoonishly corny way. I am aware that this is what ilx likes but I couldn't stomach PUTV and I can't hang with this either.

I feel like you have confused this show and the excellent movie Hackers

The dialogue in this episode was definitely OTT portentous, and his buddy who just discovered Seinfeld disappears immediately after Craig Robinson shows up, for whatever reason.
Not sure you can drive a whole season of this show on a single mystery, especially not one as potentially inconsequential as "where is Tyrell Wellick?"
--El Tomboto

something tells me wellick will ultimately end up being the reddest of red herrings. there's only so much you can do with him now that he's fully unhinged before it becomes one note

he's in a village in northern europe with no internet access imo

or possibly trying to work with eastern europe hacker groups

i watched the first season a week ago and now im caught up on the new episodes. outside of some episodes of Mad Men and maybe True Detective (both ultimately better shows imo), I don't think I've seen a tv show really lean so heavily on evoking a particular mood and for the most part do it really well. in the case of Mr. Robot I guess it's the dread-laden ennui of the protagonist, someone who finds himself adrift from the world at large and therefore sees its full contingency clearly. cyber-gnosticism. (or "techgnosis" in erik davis's phrase.) long takes! unorthodox framing! deep rumbles on the soundtrack!

are we talking True Detective season one or two in your rankings, here?

one

*whispers* season two wasn't even remotely as bad as the internet made people think it was *runs away laughing maniacally*

sry what were we talking about? right. stoked for tomorrow's episode!

oh agreed, it was...
tomorrow is the day, robot fans!

depressed fbi agent who is a walking advertisement for the lonely human talking to amazon's computer voice... good stuff

Not quite sure that was a ringing endorsement of Amazon's product

not at all! very realistic, though

when you're not sure how to go forward, you go backward. *cue flashback