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

Grace Gummer is good in this

She really is. She turned up in one episode of A Teacher, and I couldn't figure out where I knew her from until I resumed this--she was in a few episodes before I bailed last time. (I don't remember her her character in Frances Ha--Greta Gerwig's roommate?) Her conversation with Alexa that I mention above is classic.

I feel bad for Portia Doubleday, so much of what she gets to do is pointless or at least very tedious

The scene where Elliot's psychiatrist brings forth Mr. Robot reminded me so much of the scene in The Exorcist where one of the doctors does the same with Linda Blair--I'm sure it was an intentional allusion. I suspect Agent DiPierro's lollipops are too; I vaguely recall some film noir I can't place.

97% of the computer jargon loses me. Exploits, femtocells, rootkits--I just let it cascade by and assume the main point will be clear soon enough. Sometimes it's campy, like this bit from the S3 opener: "I've known Angela since I was eight. This is what she does. She doesn't love the people who love her. She loves the people who don't. This is her power-saver mode."

The Barenaked Ladies bit was funny.

Duh--Kojack!

Bobby Cannavale is the least likely looking Irving I've ever encountered, but I'm really enjoying his scenes--one of those cases where he's off in some movie of his own. "That's a YP, not an MP"--Boogie Nights, I assume. I'm liking a lot, actually, most everything except the Elliot/Mr. Robot gimmick. They should have written Slater out by the end of the second season. Loved "If You Could Read My Mind." Someone sent me a Vimeo link for the karaoke scene.

https://vimeo.com/181859596

(Maybe you can't link to Vimeo.)

That interlude with Elliot taking Shama's brother to the movies was so weird--and then, at the end, kind of touching, a rarity for this show. Elliot and Angela at the doorway, though, was way too John Hughes-y; Elliot may as well have stood outside her apartment with a boombox.

As gimmicky as I find Mr. Robot's appearances, there are some affinities with Ghost Patti in The Leftovers.

And Ghost Mac in Magnum PI

Finished S3, will finish for sure. There's been so much over-the-top drama the last few episodes, couldn't say what's next. (Only show I've ever watched that spent two seasons trying to undo the first.) The big revelation with Phillip Price may as well have been SCTV's Days of the Week. Thought the last 20 seconds of the season-ending coda was hilarious.

BD Wong must have cribbed from every Bond villain for Whiterose--keep waiting for him to say, "No, Mr. Alderson, I expect you to die!"

I feel bad for Portia Doubleday, so much of what she gets to do is pointless or at least very tedious

I'd disagree for the first couple of seasons, but by this point, yeah--they lost the character as she stumbled around in a zombie stupor the last few episodes. Hope they get her back on track.

S4, E1, 45 seconds later--not back on track.

I'm not sure whether it says more about the show or about me but I watched every episode and I don't remember hardly anything that you're referencing. I think it may have all exited my brain immediately after I experienced it.

Happens all the time with me with TV shows. And I often get to them long after the fact, so when I revive a thread and start posting, I realize I'm pretty much talking to myself. For anyone who does plan on watching this some day: after three seasons as one of the main characters, Angela's killed in the first minute of S4.

(That should really read "In case" rather than "For.")

oh god, I did watch the bit with the spoiler. there were rumors that there was some sort of behind the scenes drama behind that

I thought S4/E4 was one of the best in a while: Elliot and Mr. Robot and Tyrell wandering in the woods (like "Pine Barrens" in The Sopranos, or Saul and Mike stranded in the desert in Better Call Saul), DiPierro's dream, plus a couple of memorable character bits, Tobias the Santa and the cashier at the gas station. I have no idea where any of this going, and I haven't checked ahead, but I have a prediction: Tyrell is another part of Elliot. There was a hint a couple of episodes ago that there was a third part to Elliot's id--the part that Darlene was talking to about Vera's return--and then that was dropped. Elliot and Tyrell being one and the same doesn't make sense a thousand different ways, but then Tyrell never made a whole lot of sense either.

I didn't know till I looked her up that Grace Gummer is Meryl Streep's daughter. How could I? It's not like she looks and sounds exactly like the Meryl Streep of The Deer Hunter and Kramer vs. Kramer or anything.

As much as I liked E4, that's how drawn-out I found E5. The near-wordlessness of it was somewhat audacious, but that meant 1) a lengthy heist montage; not a fan of heist montages, least of all one that mostly takes place on computers (I was lost), and 2) a lengthy chase scene; whether in cars or on foot (Elliot's sudden transformation into Usain Bolt was impressive), ditto.

I'm baffled as to how Vera ultimately figures into this. Unless it all ends with a Tarantino shootout in an abandoned warehouse, and they just need an extra body on hand.

E6 (Part One, Part Two...) was bizarre. I thought, towards the end, that the big revelation about Elliot was a ruse improvised by him and Krista (earlier, Elliot had told her "He's looking for a show"). Dramatically, the revelation does seem a little pat.

The guy who plays Vera is so over-the-top, I actually enjoy the character on a Dr. Strangelove level. Sometimes he's a little scary, but mostly it's just laughs. His references to Frost/Nixon and Fox & Friends...yeah, sure. Black Army psycho Janice, though, she's really scary.

Oh yeah I didn't like that part. Vera was a ludicrous creation.

Many beautiful images in E10.

https://phildellio.tripod.com/darlene.jpg

God, there was a lot of grandiloquent speechifying in those last two or three episodes. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks everything should have ended with the E10 scene of Darlene and Dom in the park, just after Darlene finishes up with the bank accounts. That was great. Ending there would have left a lot unexplained, but now that I've seen the explanations, that would have been a lot more coherent.

My prediction above about Tyrell was wrong. I still don't understand what was going on with that character.

He made sense early on as Patrick Bateman. The last couple of seasons, not at all.

Remember when I was watching it I thought that was a pretty great ending and then being surprised when I found out there were a few more episodes to go xp

I did really like that 20 minutes or so of Elliot's shadow life, the one where he's engaged to Angela. That could have worked as an ending too; it would have been baffling, but I would have been okay with that. Very reminiscent of the Sopranos episode where Tony fantasizes some other life as a businessman (when he was on his deathbed, I think), and Six Feet Under tried that briefly too (Nate and David in the van, headed out to the beach). It's not the same thing, but The Leftovers episode that flashed back to the day leading up to the departure had the same feeling.

I finally came back to this show after watching S1 when it aired - so many negative opinions about S2 that I figured I wouldn't like it. I ended up really liking S2 with reservations, and S3-4 were even better. the directing, performances, and score carry a lot of the weight on this show through some wheel-spinning, but I liked pretty much every weird additional mystery and twist. it felt much more planned out than, say, LOST. The one thing I consistently found weak was the dialogue, though I liked a lot of the 4th-wall-breaking voiceover stuff and I usually don't like voiceover. it's just so well-integrated here. finale was pretty drawn-out and I would have preferred a trimmer, less explain-y ending, but overall a satisfying end to the show

still need to watch the 2-part finale lol

Just watched s1.

The Swedish guy rmeinded me of Jeremy / Sebastian from Naked which made it amusing, until it was less amusing. Kept thinking of Aranovksy's PI as well, both in tone and also specifics like the paranoid voiceover, the neighbour girl, electronica soundtrack etc.

Not read this thread past that point so nae spoilers if possible.

An unreasonable ask, I realise.

This, like Legion, was a show I was obsessively into and then just suddenly stopped watching in S2. I might pick it back up some time.

I do that with quite a few shows cos I generally pick up DVD sets here and there and have to be invested or intrigued enough to continue. I guess I was partly fishing for opinions on whether it's worth going all in to the end (end?).

Yeah, I would guess that it's a show that works better as a binge than as something with extended gaps between episodes. There are certain conceits that felt very grueling when dragged out over the course of weeks that I can imagine being much cooler if viewed over the course of hours. And since you are apparently avoiding spoilers upthread, I will tell you that the general consensus of those who stuck it out is that the show did a kind of remarkable job of landing on its feet in the end. Given how completely insane it gets at times, I'm still a little surprised.

S2 can be a struggle but after that the show finds a groove that's consistently watchable and sometimes great

This, like Legion, was a show I was obsessively into and then just suddenly stopped watching in S2. I might pick it back up some time.

― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Monday, September 13, 2021 12:00 AM (ten hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I was exactly the same with both of these shows. Loved S1, bailed like 2 episodes into S2.

Legion was great but also kind of emotionally exhausting too

i keep forgetting that i have two episodes left in this show

i posted almost the exact same thing five months ago, go figure

I kinda mentioned above but S3 and S4 are excellent. I enjoyed S2 but it was the weakest of the seasons

I really enjoyed the first season and bailed on the stodgy 2nd, went back a few yes later and watched it to finish, great show, Rami's casting was perfect as his performance is astonishing, at times, completely sold the nerdy ego vrs the complex vulnerability of his character

I want to watch Comet again but I don’t know if I’ll be able to replicate the exact way the edible hit me 30 minutes into my first viewing.

seeing ramy on james bond posters now is kinda weird

Was thinking of starting Esmail's Leave the World Behind this weekend--anyone seen it?

Watched it last night. Mostly pretty decent but it falls apart in the last 15 minutes by over-explaining and being so on the nose. Hitchcock didn’t tell us why the birds were rebelling against Man…

I'm halfway through and it's really starting to feel like M. Night Shyamalan.

that was definitely a movie by Sam Esmail

I liked the book, will watch the movie eventually.

By the end, I liked about half of it: the sinister massed deer, the Tesla pile-up, clunky dancing to "Too Close." In terms of sounding an alarm, I didn't think it was all that convincing.

imo the entire apocalyptic background and happenings were window dressing for the actual plot mechanic: the lack of trust and basic human connection necessary for survival when every person has their own preconceived notions and agendas that are ultimately irrelevant

having the one seemingly paranoid character be not that much into conspiracy theories (he was just reacting to the factual information he had) was a choice

i still enjoy esmail's visual style but this was all a bit of silliness. good performances, but didn't really have anything to say.

This was a really good movie, sort of frustrated by the massive online chorus of "Why did it not end with rescue and hugzzzzz"