[rating=7.00] “Eps1.0hellofriend.mov”
Mr. Robot, the latest from USA Network’s original programming, is an important piece of pop culture. Or rather, it thinks it is. The show is based around Elliot (Rami Malek), a hyper intelligent (slightly autistic?) programmer who works at the bottom level of a security software company. Like many before him, working with computers means he’s automatically a hacker. In fact, the first 30 minutes are actually all about hacking. Who he hacks, who hacks his company, hack-hack-hackity-hack-hack.
In an effort to keep up the “we’re hip” façade, there’s various mentions of modern companies. Facebook, Apple, etc. The whole thing is fairly contrived; in fact the corporation that has enlisted his security company ‘Allsafe’ is literally named Evil Corp; a company that helps pay off student debt, only to enslave the consumer in more debt through them. Elliot is against big name corporations. And consumerism. And money in general, because that’s what this trope deems necessary from him.
In the opening sequence we get to see the “extent” of his hacking skills when he hacks a coffee shop owner who happens to run an extensive child porn ring through his servers. Elliot brings him down for no credit and no money. He does it just to know that he could do it (and, possibly, for the lulz). Of course, he has delusions. Or so we’re led to believe. He mentions being followed by men in black suits, but then we’re told it’s not real. His therapist tries to help him, keep him medicated. But it becomes some sort of game. He pretends to function, she pretends to believe him.
In the middle of the night Allsafe gets hacked. Elliot saves the day, but keeps the program in the system to tinker with later out of curiosity. Enter Christian Slater, or Mr. Robot for our purposes, a man who embodies the ideals Elliot has been spouting the whole episode. Mr. Robot and his team were the ones who hacked into the Allsafe system, and now they want to enlist Elliot’s help to finish what they started. The whole thing is very Fight Club, Mr. Robot acting as the Brad Pitt character. Is he real? Is he just a part of these delusions we now know Elliot has? Or are they delusions at all?
Elliot’s running monologue throughout the show is reminiscent of Dexter; he even has the shifty looks and seeming inability to tell a lie (and like Dexter he’s never questioned.) The difference here being that Elliot found the need to address the audience, breaking the wall for no reason other than to engage in the pilot. He has hang ups about interacting with people, and is in love with his childhood friend Angela with whom he works at Allsafe. After learning about Mr. Robot’s intentions, and even helping the process along through fabricated data, Elliot walks the city to celebrate the beginning of a new era. Standing in Times Square news reports flash Evil Corp’s corruption scandal he helped facilitate, and in an instant it looks like Mr. Robot even pops up on a billboard. Interesting, this lends to the idea that none of it is actually real. Remember, we still don’t know if Elliot is having delusions or not.
In the middle of his victory lap, he’s accosted by several men in black. So they aren’t just a paranoid delusion? They bring him to a large building where he’s confronted by a man we met earlier in the episode who was a lackey for Evil Corp. “I hope you see this too,” Elliot pleads with the audience as it cuts to black.
This could be a good show. It has all the makings to become interesting, immersive, and intricate. Elliot yearns to be normal, wanting to live in the “bubble” the rest of the world seems to thrive in. We know he’s got some issues, and hopefully the writers have mapped out where his brain needs to go in order to bring his plans to fruition. In addition to having Fight Club and Dexter-esque attributes, there’s also this underlying Matrix tone that seems to embody a big part of Elliot’s life. No, he’s not plugged into machines to sustain a post-modern world, but he might as well be. He treats everyday like it’s made up in his head. It’s a slippery slope, and hopefully we’ll reap the benefits of Elliot’s running inner monologue.
Some highlights of this first episode were his hacking of his therapist’s boyfriend, who turns out to be married with a child. Elliot blackmails him, and takes his dog for good measure. To be fair, thought…the boyfriend was a total asshole, and did not treat the dog very nicely. We learn also that Elliot is into drugs, but assures us he’s not addicted, and ends up sleeping with his drug dealer. After the whole hacking debacle, she’s still asleep in his bed. Having about as much empathy as a rock, Elliot quickly kicks her out without even thanking her for the free drug induced sexy session. Christian Slater’s presence was also a nice touch. He’s always been over the top, and it’s exactly what Elliot’s subdued persona needs. If in fact Mr. Robot turns out to be in Elliot’s head, it will be that much more interesting in the long run. Sidenote, wouldn’t it be great if Elliot turned out to be an alien? You know, because of the Men in…well, you get it.
