Mr. Robot: Episode 1

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS

I know very little about coding and hacking so I was worried that a lot of this show might go over my head. Of course, a few things did, but man, this is a new hit show for USA Network. From the first line, I was drawn to Elliot’s voice (Rami Malek – Need for Speed, Night at the Museum) and his screen presence. You can’t take your eyes off of him! Watch the first five minutes to see for yourself in this extended preview.

His character is lonely and socially awkward and takes morphine on the reg to manage the feeling of isolation. His only friends are his pet fish and his childhood friend, who works with him at his day job in cyber security. What caught my eye was the cinematography that portrays the differences between his day job and his nighttime vigilantism of hacking people who do bad things, such as child pornography peddlers. His office life is filmed with bright, fluorescent lighting. Everything is pretty dull from the cubes, the coloring on the walls and even the clothes he wears. When he punches out and zips up his hoodie (his Bruce Wayne to Batman change) the shots become darker and are filmed in a sepia-like filter, showing that he’s got this other side – his more mysterious hacker side.

We meet Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) yet don’t find out much about him, and he has a very interesting proposal for Elliot – to take down E(vil) Corporation – which is a firm his day job protects from security breaches like the one Mr. Robot wants to initiate. Due to the Chief Technology Officer of E. Corp being an “arrogant moron” and disrespecting someone Elliot cares about, he takes Mr. Robot up on this offer. At the end of the episode Elliot is brought in to room full of men in black suits – including the VP of Technology for the company they plan to take down…are they after him? Or are they in on it?

I can’t wait to see how they develop Elliot’s character and the storyline in this fast-paced thriller. I believe this is a breakout role for Rami Malek and we’ll be seeing a lot more of him. And it’s always fun to watch Christian Slater – he plays such interesting characters (Heathers, Pump Up the Volume)

One final note: I love the opening! I’m usually a fan of a theme song and cast introduction, but this is crisp, clean, and fits the show. Domo Arigato – Mr. Robot – for getting me hooked with the pilot episode.

Catch the premiere episode of Mr. Robot on USA at 10/9c on Wednesday, June 24 or watch it early online here.