'Mr. Robot' Season 2 Premiere Episode(s) Review (SPOILERS)

Image from Variety

By Darian Scalamoni

            Mr. Robot is one of the best shows on television. Yes, I know it sounds crazy in this golden age of television but after binge-watching season one two weeks ago, I can confidently say that in my opinion, Mr. Robot is a top five television show currently being broadcast. Last night, the two-episode season two premiere aired and I’m here to review it so I will say now that this is a SPOILER review. I will be spoiling things from the past season as well as this episode so if you have not watched, please don’t read on from here.

            Now that that’s taken care of, the Season 2 premiere came out as a slow burner into the new summer run, it seemed that there was a methodology to how they wanted to play out this opener to the USA Network drama. Now we’re in the wake of the hack created by fsociety, led by Elliot (Rami Malek) and thoughts between our main characters are all scattered due to its impact.

            Last season, we eventually found out that Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) was just in Elliot’s head as a projection. Also, the controlling force that is Mr. Robot is actually Elliot’s father who has been dead for years. Similar in the vein of the Tyler Durden twist within Fight Club, Elliot is starting to gain control by telling himself that exact thing within a journal. Within the confines of last season, Elliot figured out that he would alternate between being Mr. Robot and seeing Mr. Robot, but now the self-conscious alter-ego has gotten sneaky because Elliot has realized that it’s all in his head. Dealing with it though, is easier said than done.

            The two-episode premiere had a lot of great elements throughout and did an even better job of not giving the viewer a clear indication on where this season was headed. The show still feels like season one while giving itself its own identity thanks to the brilliant writing and direction by the creator, Sam Esmail. One big moment that was gasp worthy was the surprising murder of Elliot’s former boss and friend, Gideon. Once Elliot went through with the hack, he began to act weird seemingly giving Gideon the opportunity to connect the dots that he was involved in some way. He then confronts Elliot to just bring this to the police or he will. Within minutes of the second episode, we see Gideon getting a drink before a random anarchist seems to accuse Gideon of being a “crisis actor” before saying he’s going to be a hero tomorrow before pulling the trigger.

            Within the premiere, we also get a brilliant score that includes songs from Lupe Fiasco and Phil Collins. Even more so, the use of Collins’ “Take Me Home” was chilling when E Corp’s representative had to publicly burn $5.9 million dollars in Battery Park. This is just one of the amazing scenes within the episode. Along with the score, we had new faces join the cast this year including Sandrine Holt as E Corp’s lawyer who deals with a dilemma where her smart house goes haywire. Also, Craig Robinson joins the cast as a mysterious man interested in Elliot’s abilities who may have already come to an agreement with Mr. Robot. Also, rapper Joey Badass gets in on the fun as Elliot’s Seinfeld-loving friend Leon and Grace Gummer as an FBI agent who is assigned to the hack. The group of new players seem to fit seamlessly in the series in all different capacities and roles.

            Though we don’t get much of an answer when it comes to what happened with Tyrell, his wife Joanna is out there with a new BDSM partner and it seems he’s trying to get in touch not only Joanna but also, Elliot. Tyrell has been blamed solely for the E Corp cyber-attack but maybe he has answers to what happened to Elliot during the three days during/after the hack.

            Overall, the series returns this season to top form building off of the excellence that was season one. Though, the episodes focused heavily on Elliot and his attempt to hide from his damaged psyche, it also touched upon some new and old characters while providing some shock value. Behind an amazing cast, writing, direction and song choices, I can’t help but to give the first two episodes a high score.

9.5/10