I just finished watching the first episode of Mr Robot, a series that made it's debut a little over a month ago, on of all places the USA Network, the former home of White Collar, and Burn Notice (do they also do Rizolli and Isles? I really need to catch up on that show) . I really enjoyed it and can't wait to get to the second episode after I write this. But I need to talk about some of it's flaws, first of all, it has one of the dumbest names for a good show since maybe Halt and Catch Fire. It sound's like something SyFy shows at 2am after a Tripping the Rift or Lexx marathon. It's a minor complaint that doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the show, but I had to get it out there.
The biggest flaw though, for me, is the main character is a real asshole. He's got some good qualities, he tries to help people when he can (exposing a child porn ring, and a cheating husband) but the rest of the time he reads to me like a guy who watched Fight Club when he was 14 and took it way too seriously, and so now he's really against corporations and the rest of us are all just sheeple, and I imagine he also has some ideas about 9/11 that he can't wait to tell you about.
Heeeeeeere's Robot!
The first episode has your man Elliot, played by Rami Malek, an anti-social computer expert working for a web security company, and doing some community minded hacking on the side., Malek for his part, does a yeomanlike job with the role, lending some emotional heft to a character I think is mostly a real jerkbag. I don't want to sound like I don't like the show so far, Christian Slater (taking a break from his usual poor man's Jack Nicholson impression) as the titular Mr Robot, is so far pretty good in his limited use. He's an actor I never really cared for or have even seen in anything in a while beyond his recurring character on Archer, so I guess we were due for a Slater renaissance. The Slaterssance? The show also doesn't make it 100% clear if Mr. Robot is even real, or just in Elliot's head, but I mean, he's probably real right? His name is the title of the show, I'm sure more will be revealed as the show moves forward. Speaking of which, I need to get back to watching.