Time and time again - well in my experience anyway - it so often seems the case these days that the very best of shows on television have the most unassuming, simple titles. You get almost no indication of what a series is about. Shows with a more indicative title often seem to be making up for something. It's by no means scientifically accurate, but it seems to be more reliable than not.
From the pilots I've seen for upcoming shows already, the titles have proven a solid indicator, but perhaps none more so than upcoming USA Network psychological thriller Mr. Robot, created by Sam Esmail and produced by Anonymous Content and Universal Cable Productions. which kicks off on June 24 for a 10 episode run.
Annoyingly for the purpose of this article, USA released the pilot episode, titled "Hello Friend" online a few days ago (though it's geoblocked), thus beating me to a preview from the screener I checked out a week or so prior. This article might flick between a preview or review for you as a result, depending on whether or not you're Stateside - or know how to pretend to be.
Put simply, Mr. Robot's pilot was sublime. I couldn't fault it anywhere. Normally pilot episodes have the vibe of a massive sales pitch, or hour long promo. They're good at hooking a viewer as well as network executives, but you always know they are prone to significant change by the time the series is ordered and filming commences months, sometimes years later. Cast members and showrunners often back out, storylines get altered, and the gremlins that come from trying to get dozens of people to work together harmoniously on and off screen are scattered throughout the final product.
But Mr. Robot contained no trace of baked-in vibes or gremlins. The only giveaway that it is a true pilot episode was its running time, which sits at around 64 minutes. Cable networks commonly screen pilots which are quite a bit longer than the conventional 42-44 minutes given to most ad-supported series. Mr. Robot's 64 minutes were completely captivating. It contained some of the finest writing, acting, directing I've ever seen.
For those who have seen the pilot, you'll most likely be nodding your head in agreement by now. For those yet to see it, lets run through the details.
The central character in the series is Elliot, a New York based security engineer. Elliot is portrayed stunningly well by Rami Malek. Elliot is prone to delusions, has an anti-social disorder, chronic depression, and uses morphine to keep himself sane, for lack of a better word.
Elliot is highly intelligent, and extremely good at his job, but internally admits to hating it. That's because he's working for a cyber security company who contract services to the largest company in the world. The company, called E Corp, controls people's lives without them even knowing it because they conduct business in so many areas. Think Richard Branson's Virgin conglomerate blended with Google and a few seriously large banks and you can begin to understand how large the company is, along with the assets and products that people depend on day to day. It's not surprising that the nickname given to the company is "Evil Corp".
Being heavily introverted, Elliot understands this but is virtually helpless to change anything about the influence E Corp has on the world. However his computer skills make it easy for him to play vigilante, learning everything about a subject before confronting them and effectively forcing them to change their ways.
Anglea is a childhood friend of Elliot's and works alongside him, and without knowing it, provides a game-changing option for Elliot. A massive rootkit based attack on E Corp's network in the middle of the night sees Angela plead for Elliot's help in stopping it. Because of its nature, Elliot and the company boss fly to a Dallas server farm where Elliot successfully nuked the attack, but a message in the system files prompted him to forgo deleting the files. An encounter on the subway back home leads Elliot to the clubhouse of F_Society, home to Darlene, the outlandishly dressed hacker who created the rootkit Elliot thwarted, and "Mr. Robot". Put simply, the pair have their sights set on bringing down E Corp, and the rootkit was a subtle test for their newest potential recruit.
Reading what I've just written right now about the plot, it does sound bland and predictable. but I can't stress enough how truly exciting and captivating it is. This isn't the case of an evil villain being targeted with the endgame being a final shootout - in fact one of Elliot's more piercing pieces of dialog in his mind refers to "the one percent of the one percent". Unlike the bog standard evil supervillain in his mega fortress, there are many more heads to the beast. It's a refreshing concept.
The episode is written by creator and executive producer Sam Esmail and directed by Niels Arden Oplev. The remarkably clever thing about this episode is it spends a substantial portion of the episode inside Elliot's own mind. At times Elliot's own thoughts commentate the scene playing out in front of him. There are a couple of beautifully executed time warps in the episode too, whereby Elliot is reflecting on something that happened a short time prior, and we effectively flash back to the moment. The dialog in Elliot's mind is very witty and clever, and takes a sharp stab at many aspects of modern day society.
On the directing front, Niels Arden Oplev has everything covered. There are several brilliant sets, and many fantastic camera angles. Introverted characters demand extensive closeup shots, and these are executed with precision, aided greatly by Rami Malek's stunning performance. This guy is seriously talented, and this role is made for him. Malek has the perfect voice, and the perfect stature and demeanor. There's the occasional series that you would watch regardless because there's one or two actors which are so good they make it worth it. I'd argue Mr. Robot is one of them in my book.
Angela, played by Portia Doubleday, is another solid character. We actually learn more about her through Elliot than we do through Angela herself. Her relationship with Elliot is hard to describe, but their bond is clearly very strong. Assuming the title role as Mr. Robot is the vastly experienced Christian Slater, with Darlene being portrayed by Carly Chaikin. These two characters are an odd partnership, but plenty of personality is present in both of them, and I can't wait to learn more about them.
The final member of the main characters is Tyrell Wellick, played by Martin Wallström. Tyrell is intriguing because he is a Senior Vice President of Technology for E Corp, and takes a liking to Elliot when he toured his office. He's the big unknown, and if you've seen the pilot, you'll understand why.
To summarize, there's a hell of a lot to like about the first episode of Mr. Robot. The acting, production quality, and storyline are all exceptional, and I get the feeling that expanding the storyline will not be an issue. The vigilante theme reminds me strongly of Person of Interest in some weird way, with Malek's performance on the level of the likes of Hugh Laurie, Kevin Spacey and Tatiana Maslanay in terms of his prowess and ability to own the scene. And, for what it's worth, more than a thousand votes have seen Mr. Robot garner a staggering 9.2 overall rating on IMDb, putting it squarely in the top 20 television shows on that site if it continues. Regardless, that's a phenomenal reception after only one episode, and is just one of the many reasons why you should at least watch the pilot if you haven't already. Chances are you won't be disappointed.
Thanks for reading! I'm really looking forward to reviewing Mr. Robot for you this summer. As always, do share your thoughts and theories in the comments below, regardless of whether you've seen the first episode or not.
Mr. Robot premieres Wednesday, June 24, 10pm, on USA. Click here to watch the pilot episode online (US only).
