Isolate him for half a season, but Elliot is still what makes Mr. Robot go

Review: S1's kinetic plot was impossible to replicate, but S2 has done a lot of good.

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[Helenus]

This season wasn't for me. I wasn't able to maintain enthusiasm beyond episode 2 or 3.

 

[Ozmodan]

Made it to episode 2 and stopped watching. I do not understand what all the hoopla is about on this show, I did not find it that good and I usually like sci-fi. To those that like it, enjoy.

I guess I would never make a good media critic as some of the shows lauded at the Emmy's did not appeal to me. Shame that many of these shows hae limited audiences.

 

[windnwar]

I made it to episode three and while me and my wife both really liked season 1, this one we were like wtf...


maybe i'll circle back around and try and watch the rest later, but I was not impressed.

 

[Da Xiang]

One of the most boring shows I've ever endured. I'm not so starved for recognition as an IT guy that I could get excited by a show just because the tech is more accurate than most. *yawn*

 

[chaos215bar2]

Isolate him for half a season…

Seriously, guys. Did someone forget the spoiler tag?!

Edit: For the 11+ people who apparently didn't get it, the TITLE (which I quoted) appears to be a major spoiler. I didn't read a word of the post, and I've unfortunately had to skip the previous ones because I'm not up to date. But it's kind of hard to avoid reading a post's title in my RSS feed.

 

[Malth]

For everyone complaining and giving up after a few episodes, you should really consider pushing through a few more ep's. It gets much better, the last 5ish episodes are all really solid.

 

[Jedakiah]

Season 1 had me thinking and talking about it for months after it finished. The way you the viewer were Elliot's closest friend, drew me to the character like nothing I've ever watched. It showed you his view of the world, I felt like I was experiencing his paranoia and hallucinations. And finally the overarching story, it was an awesome idea with a steady pace towards an ultimately satisfying finale. I felt a sense of closure but I still wanted more.

Season 2 has none of those things. Elliot is barely on screen, and when he is he distrusts you so much he lies to you constantly. Quite the opposite of the comradery you felt in the first season. With season 1 they used Elliot's skewed view of reality to keep us asking questions. Instead of that fundamentally interesting glimpse into how a mentally ill person perceives the world, this season relied heavily on just not showing the viewer any backstory to the scenes it randomly jumped between. They did this so much I found myself bored and disinterested, rather than intently digging for answers alongside Elliot. And the plot as a whole had no focus, no goals that we knew of, no reason to tune in next week.

While it had a few good moments I was very disappointed in this season. But at least season 1 can still stand on its own as one of the finest pieces of television ever. It does not need a followup to be great.

 

[rpgspree]

I watched the whole season; it takes about four episodes before it gets anywhere because it spent most of that lost in Elliot's head, fighting himself. They easily could have cut about an episode's worth of material out and not missed anything important. Sure, in the first season Elliot got lost in there sometimes, but at least the show made his personality quarks interesting and keep things mostly grounded somewhere in the real world.

In the second season, Elliot was still the center of the show, but was too far out of the overall narrative (and mind) to care about, and the rest of the gang wasn't much better. It takes most of the season for them to drag their asses out of the shadow of 5/9. The only one who had their shit somewhat together was Angela, who became too cold and apathetic. The only characters I found interesting were Dom and Whiterose.

The season would at least been bearable if they had tightened the narrative and got to the big score by the end, mirroring the first season. Instead, they punted it to the next season, which I hardly feel inclined to watch. And I rarely abandon a shows. Hell, I even manged to get through the entire run of Enterprise. But this? Meh... I'm starting to cut my losses.

 

[Peevester]

If you need spoilers in this topic, you're an idiot, so I'm just going to plow ahead.

I was unhappy with the finale, not because of where the story is going (I think that part is great), but that this is a season finale without even one secondary story thread ending, other than Wellick being actually still alive. Who was in the car trunk in the trauma vision then? Where did the shell casing come from in the Fun Society arcade that Dom found? Wellick being dead was KIND of important, and this twist put a lot of season 2 into a really weird place. What did Darlene see in the murder board that I didn't (does she even know who Wellick is? Is that why she was shocked, that some rando was at the center?) And what the hell is the deal with Angela? THIS JUST LEAVES MORE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS!

Thematically, I think this season should have ended one episode further, with stage 2 either happening or everyone racing to stop it.

 

[rpgspree]

Malth[/url]":1qm4dsfr]For everyone complaining and giving up after a few episodes, you should really consider pushing through a few more ep's. It gets much better, the last 5ish episodes are all really solid.

Sure, it gets better, yet still falls far short of season 1. As Jedakiah pointed out, season 2 ditched so much of what made the show great. What was left and what it ultimately amounted to may be enough for some, but for others it was too little or too late.

 

[naterajj]

Did everyone miss the after credit bonus scene in the Fry's parking lot?

 

[Voldenuit]

Am I the only one who loved the heck out of Season 2? The slow burn, the fakeouts, the directorial and cinematographic indulgences, the social and political commentaries that raised more questions than pithy answers.

I was watching a labor of love being unveiled in front of me one hour a week, and I loved it.

I disagree that Season 2 is better binge-watched, I really enjoyed the introspective nature of this season and how much speculation I'd indulge in before being trickled more answers a week later (or not).

Season 1 was a springboard, and Season 2 for me was the sense of freefall afterwards (in a good way). I'm hoping Season 3 will let us know whether we hit the pool or concrete at the end.

 

[Peevester]

Voldenuit[/url]":3sg2rxnd]Am I the only one who loved the heck out of Season 2? The slow burn, the fakeouts, the directorial and cinematographic indulgences, the social and political commentaries that raised more questions than pithy answers.

I was watching a labor of love being unveiled in front of me one hour a week, and I loved it.

I disagree that Season 2 is better binge-watched, I really enjoyed the introspective nature of this season and how much speculation I'd indulge in before being trickled more answers a week later (or not).

Season 1 was a springboard, and Season 2 for me was the sense of freefall afterwards (in a good way). I'm hoping Season 3 will let us know whether we hit the pool or concrete at the end.

You're definitely not the only one who loved it.

 

[Justin Credible]

chaos215bar2[/url]":1e8plrv7]

Isolate him for half a season…

Seriously, guys. Did someone forget the spoiler tag?!

Did you not read the very first line in the black box?

Warning: This piece contains spoilers for this week's episode of Mr. Robot as well as show's entire second season.

 

[slymenstra hymen]

This season was much worse than the first unfortunately, half a season with the main character in jail with no pay off. Elliot's relationship with Mr Robot hasn't changed at all and Ray's story went nowhere.

The cinematography was worse, instead of using weird shots to frame the characters emotions we'd get peoples heads in the corner of the screen randomly because that's what happened in the first season.

The ending was weak. It answered a few questions but then opened a ton more, all while throwing Back to the Future, Blade Runner and other references at you to try and throw you off.

It's turning into Lost and I don't like it.

 

[Peevester]

slymenstra hymen[/url]":26jldtom]This season was much worse than the first unfortunately, half a season with the main character in jail with no pay off. Elliot's relationship with Mr Robot hasn't changed at all and Ray's story went nowhere.

The cinematography was worse, instead of using weird shots to frame the characters emotions we'd get peoples heads in the corner of the screen randomly because that's what happened in the first season.

The ending was weak. It answered a few questions but then opened a ton more, all while throwing Back to the Future, Blade Runner and other references at you to try and throw you off.

It's turning into Lost and I don't like it.

The cinematography was fantastic, you're crazy. My favorite subtle thing was a sequence of two scenes, one where Elliot and Ray are playing chess, followed by Price and Angela having a confrontation in a room with white and black furniture and statues. I couldn't find a clip, sorry.

I don't know what show these naysayers are watching. Yes, it's not a straightforward series, but it's worth the trip!

 

[Justin Credible]

Peevester[/url]":35u9xae6]

slymenstra hymen[/url]":35u9xae6]This season was much worse than the first unfortunately, half a season with the main character in jail with no pay off. Elliot's relationship with Mr Robot hasn't changed at all and Ray's story went nowhere.

The cinematography was worse, instead of using weird shots to frame the characters emotions we'd get peoples heads in the corner of the screen randomly because that's what happened in the first season.

The ending was weak. It answered a few questions but then opened a ton more, all while throwing Back to the Future, Blade Runner and other references at you to try and throw you off.

It's turning into Lost and I don't like it.

The cinematography was fantastic, you're crazy. My favorite subtle thing was a sequence of two scenes, one where Elliot and Ray are playing chess, followed by Price and Angela having a confrontation in a room with white and black furniture and statues. I couldn't find a clip, sorry.

I don't know what show these naysayers are watching. Yes, it's not a straightforward series, but it's worth the trip!

Whole heartedly agree!
I watch the episode(s) once first because i enjoy it, then several times more to go on the hunt for the easter eggs. One in particular that hasn't been mentioned anywhere yet (that i've found anyway) is the poster on Elliot's wall that says "REGULATORS LETS DANCE!" is reference to (i think) to the 1988 movie Young Guns.

 

[slymenstra hymen]

Peevester[/url]":1np6vqe6]

slymenstra hymen[/url]":1np6vqe6]This season was much worse than the first unfortunately, half a season with the main character in jail with no pay off. Elliot's relationship with Mr Robot hasn't changed at all and Ray's story went nowhere.

The cinematography was worse, instead of using weird shots to frame the characters emotions we'd get peoples heads in the corner of the screen randomly because that's what happened in the first season.

The ending was weak. It answered a few questions but then opened a ton more, all while throwing Back to the Future, Blade Runner and other references at you to try and throw you off.

It's turning into Lost and I don't like it.

The cinematography was fantastic, you're crazy. My favorite subtle thing was a sequence of two scenes, one where Elliot and Ray are playing chess, followed by Price and Angela having a confrontation in a room with white and black furniture and statues. I couldn't find a clip, sorry.

I don't know what show these naysayers are watching. Yes, it's not a straightforward series, but it's worth the trip!

In the first season there was Scott Knowles and Tyrell are talking, Tyrell tries to dominate and talk down to him but Scott's head dominates the frame taking up most of the screen. They're both on the left side of the screen too, subtly showing them in conflict. As the conversation goes on it gets to a bit where Scott knows Tyrell wanted to be CTO and then we see Tyrell's head smaller and off to the side of the screen. After this Tyrell tries to walk away and Scott tells him he knows about the sexual advance on his wife in the the toilet and the shot of Tyrell after this is his tiny head at the bottom of the screen. That kind of thing was everywhere in season one.

This season where they put people on screen just seems random now is all I was getting at with that, there's still a lot of great imagery there but the cinematography is lacking compared to the first season.

 

[Goofball_Jones]

I still can't get past like episode 3 in the second season. The whole "Is it me? Was it him? Where was I last night? Is he gone? Am I sane?" gimmick thing has _really_ worn thin.

 

[Daniel]

I'm sure I'm biased as my job is in security so I was very much into the first season. But, I haven't enjoyed the 2nd season nearly as much. As many above me said, slow, dragging, I find myself just looking at my laptop in the background when I'm watching, just hasn't held my attention nearly as well as season 1.

 

[NathanMattise]

Did everyone miss the after credit bonus scene in the Fry's parking lot?

Added an embed for this just in case DVRs let some people down.

 

[Soroc]

BatCrapCrazy[/url]":zya4uq2v]

chaos215bar2[/url]":zya4uq2v]

Isolate him for half a season…

Seriously, guys. Did someone forget the spoiler tag?!

Did you not read the very first line in the black box?

Warning: This piece contains spoilers for this week's episode of Mr. Robot as well as show's entire second season.

He's complaining that the *title* is a spoiler for the season. Kinda hard to miss that on the main Ars page...

 

[motytrah]

I think the problem is Sam Esmail directed all the S2 episodes. On it's face that shouldn't be a problem, but sometimes the best output comes out of having a creative conflict that needs to be resolved. Having a cadre of directors tell Esmail that the pacing is too slow would have certainly made him think about the layout.

I don't think S2 was bad per se, but I found towards the middle I was letting episodes sit on the DVR for a good week or so. Things really didn't start picking up until the back half of the season.

 

[cactus jack]

Despite a decent story, season 2 was overindulgent and overlong. They could have cut 4 episodes easily.

 

[Commander_Keen]

I agree that season 2 did take a dive in the beginning, but I feel it has mostly smoothed out. Or maybe the hiatus I took left me so lonely I made due, but either way it is working again for me.

 

[Justin Credible]

NathanMattise[/url]":wmzflivu]

Did everyone miss the after credit bonus scene in the Fry's parking lot?

Added an embed for this just in case DVRs let some people down.

This all well and good to watch, IF your american, the rest of us,i guess it's an "oh well".

 

[l27]

I was wondering when S2 would be on Prime and found this for anyone interested. "As of right now, we are expecting Mr. Robot Season 2 to be released around May or June 2017."

I can't wait.

 

[SixDegrees]

Soroc[/url]":d63agdse]

BatCrapCrazy[/url]":d63agdse]

chaos215bar2[/url]":d63agdse]

Isolate him for half a season…

Seriously, guys. Did someone forget the spoiler tag?!

Did you not read the very first line in the black box?

Warning: This piece contains spoilers for this week's episode of Mr. Robot as well as show's entire second season.

He's complaining that the *title* is a spoiler for the season. Kinda hard to miss that on the main Ars page...

Except it isn't. Not that I care much; I'm sick to death of all the pearl-clutching over spoilers. It's a story - not a magic trick. Knowing how it turns out doesn't spoil the telling in any way.

 

[ram8704]

Peevester[/url]":deou8y3g]If you need spoilers in this topic, you're an idiot, so I'm just going to plow ahead.

I was unhappy with the finale, not because of where the story is going (I think that part is great), but that this is a season finale without even one secondary story thread ending, other than Wellick being actually still alive. Who was in the car trunk in the trauma vision then? Where did the shell casing come from in the Fun Society arcade that Dom found? Wellick being dead was KIND of important, and this twist put a lot of season 2 into a really weird place. What did Darlene see in the murder board that I didn't (does she even know who Wellick is? Is that why she was shocked, that some rando was at the center?) And what the hell is the deal with Angela? THIS JUST LEAVES MORE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS!

Thematically, I think this season should have ended one episode further, with stage 2 either happening or everyone racing to stop it.

I thought this finale was a two parter? Darlene saw that Eliot is essentially a mastermind and that he is moving way more pieces on the board than just the fsociety members. She is seeing that the deaths of her friends could all be by his design. Well thats my guess so far.

 

[Voldenuit]

ram8704[/url]":jra82b7a]

Peevester[/url]":jra82b7a]If you need spoilers in this topic, you're an idiot, so I'm just going to plow ahead.

I was unhappy with the finale, not because of where the story is going (I think that part is great), but that this is a season finale without even one secondary story thread ending, other than Wellick being actually still alive. Who was in the car trunk in the trauma vision then? Where did the shell casing come from in the Fun Society arcade that Dom found? Wellick being dead was KIND of important, and this twist put a lot of season 2 into a really weird place. What did Darlene see in the murder board that I didn't (does she even know who Wellick is? Is that why she was shocked, that some rando was at the center?) And what the hell is the deal with Angela? THIS JUST LEAVES MORE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS!

Thematically, I think this season should have ended one episode further, with stage 2 either happening or everyone racing to stop it.

I thought this finale was a two parter? Darlene saw that Eliot is essentially a mastermind and that he is moving way more pieces on the board than just the fsociety members. She is seeing that the deaths of her friends could all be by his design. Well thats my guess so far.

Last night was the second part.

Will have to wait for S3 to see how the chips fall.

 

[Peevester]

ram8704[/url]":f7ygqjzp]

Peevester[/url]":f7ygqjzp]If you need spoilers in this topic, you're an idiot, so I'm just going to plow ahead.

I was unhappy with the finale, not because of where the story is going (I think that part is great), but that this is a season finale without even one secondary story thread ending, other than Wellick being actually still alive. Who was in the car trunk in the trauma vision then? Where did the shell casing come from in the Fun Society arcade that Dom found? Wellick being dead was KIND of important, and this twist put a lot of season 2 into a really weird place. What did Darlene see in the murder board that I didn't (does she even know who Wellick is? Is that why she was shocked, that some rando was at the center?) And what the hell is the deal with Angela? THIS JUST LEAVES MORE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS!

Thematically, I think this season should have ended one episode further, with stage 2 either happening or everyone racing to stop it.

I thought this finale was a two parter? Darlene saw that Eliot is essentially a mastermind and that he is moving way more pieces on the board than just the fsociety members. She is seeing that the deaths of her friends could all be by his design. Well thats my guess so far.

It is a two-parter, but that's the second part.

It's possible that the whole plan wasn't evident to Darlene until she saw the magic murder board, I'll give you that. Or she may have simply been shocked at how accurate it was. I just don't know how to read her reaction.

 

[JackOfAllLanterns]

S1 mirrored Breaking Bad in its pacing...

And season 2 mirrors Better Call Saul in its pacing: slow and unable to get to the point, yet supremely entertaining nonetheless.

The binge-watchers who are waiting to stream this on Amazon Prime are in for a treat. They get to skip the week-long wait and rampant speculation between episodes, which will alleviate the pacing issues quite a bit.

 

[Lofwyr]

Malth[/url]":2j1qv6cr]For everyone complaining and giving up after a few episodes, you should really consider pushing through a few more ep's. It gets much better, the last 5ish episodes are all really solid.

"Hey, if you didn't like something, you should totally consume more of it because there is a small chance you'll like it at the end but probably not" isn't really a very good reason to watch something. Not everybody likes everything, and if they don't want to "push" through it (especially in the case of something optional like a TV show), there's no real need to. This isn't "eat your veggies, they're healthy." We're all entitled to walk away from the TV table.

 

[Peevester]

Lofwyr[/url]":a52vlo2g]

Malth[/url]":a52vlo2g]For everyone complaining and giving up after a few episodes, you should really consider pushing through a few more ep's. It gets much better, the last 5ish episodes are all really solid.

"Hey, if you didn't like something, you should totally consume more of it because there is a small chance you'll like it at the end but probably not" isn't really a very good reason to watch something. Not everybody likes everything, and if they don't want to "push" through it (especially in the case of something optional like a TV show), there's no real need to. This isn't "eat your veggies, they're healthy." We're all entitled to walk away from the TV table.

Not fair. Sometimes shows don't pay off in a given week, and that's definitely the case here. The creator himself says he didn't write it as an episodic, or even season-level series - it's one whole story that considers the whole over any single episode being self-contained. Esmail obviously times his cliffhangers and revelations to occur on a show boundary (though sometimes this season he had to cheat and extend the run time), but not much else takes it into account.

 

[BobsYourUncleBob]

slymenstra hymen[/url]":14d6kge5]This season was much worse than the first unfortunately, half a season with the main character in jail with no pay off. Elliot's relationship with Mr Robot hasn't changed at all and Ray's story went nowhere.

These complaints are very difficult to confront, let alone resolve.

Since Mr. Robot is Elliott (an "un-reconciled" personality/version of Elliott), I'm not sure what type of relationship change the OP hopes to see take place. S2 reveals stresses & conflicts between Elliott & Mr.R that are at a decidedly different level of intensity than S1. This constitutes an evolving, changing relationship. between the two.

While in "reality" Ray may be a jail administrator that oversaw Elliott's term of incarceration, he was largely presented through a fantasy re-imagining of the role he played in Elliott's life.

What hopes or expectations are placed upon these relationships, exactly?

 

[Peevester]

BobsYourUncleBob[/url]":xpfz6j2l]

slymenstra hymen[/url]":xpfz6j2l]This season was much worse than the first unfortunately, half a season with the main character in jail with no pay off. Elliot's relationship with Mr Robot hasn't changed at all and Ray's story went nowhere.

These complaints are very difficult to confront, let alone resolve.

Since Mr. Robot is Elliott (an "un-reconciled" personality/version of Elliott), I'm not sure what type of relationship change the OP hopes to see take place. S2 reveals stresses & conflicts between Elliott & Mr.R that are at a decidedly different level of intensity than S1. This constitutes an evolving, changing relationship. between the two.

While in "reality" Ray may be a jail administrator that oversaw Elliott's term of incarceration, he was largely presented through a fantasy re-imagining of the role he played in Elliott's life.

What hopes or expectations are placed upon these relationships, exactly?

Ray was a prisoner who had pull with the guards, if I remember right, not an administrator.

 

[chaos215bar2]

SixDegrees[/url]":1yhwsgb0]

Soroc[/url]":1yhwsgb0]

BatCrapCrazy[/url]":1yhwsgb0]

chaos215bar2[/url]":1yhwsgb0]

Isolate him for half a season…

Seriously, guys. Did someone forget the spoiler tag?!

Did you not read the very first line in the black box?

Warning: This piece contains spoilers for this week's episode of Mr. Robot as well as show's entire second season.

He's complaining that the *title* is a spoiler for the season. Kinda hard to miss that on the main Ars page...

Except it isn't. Not that I care much; I'm sick to death of all the pearl-clutching over spoilers. It's a story - not a magic trick. Knowing how it turns out doesn't spoil the telling in any way.

Well I'm glad you've decided that for all of us.

Personally, I enjoy nothing more than to come into a major blockbuster movie or highly anticipated television show knowing nothing beyond the fact that it's good and it's in a genre that I generally like. No trailers. No expectations. Nothing. If possible, I won't even look up a movie's running time, so I can't quite be certain when things are going to wrap up. The best part of this approach is, if I like something, I get to experience it again in a completely different manner, knowing exactly what to expect and what to look out for.

Obviously that isn't always going to happen. I don't go to extreme lengths to isolate myself from any inadvertent exposure to plot details. But it's pretty arrogant to think that because spoilers don't matter to you, the entire concept is silly.

/rant

Now, I do understand the title is probably a pretty minor spoiler, but that's only because I assume the writers and editors at Ars Technica are smart enough not to put a major one where everyone will see it. Not actually knowing most of what's happened this season, the fact that Eliot is "isolated" (somehow) for an extended period of time and the approximate length of that time seems like it could be a pretty major plot point.

 

[TenThousandThings]

Peevester[/url]":22iz9zbd]... this is a season finale without even one secondary story thread ending, other than Wellick being actually still alive. Who was in the car trunk in the trauma vision then? Where did the shell casing come from in the Fun Society arcade that Dom found? Wellick being dead was KIND of important, and this twist put a lot of season 2 into a really weird place. What did Darlene see in the murder board that I didn't (does she even know who Wellick is? Is that why she was shocked, that some rando was at the center?) And what the hell is the deal with Angela? THIS JUST LEAVES MORE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS! ...

Definitely agree with your overall view. People who bailed after the first few episodes missed a lot, even if the prison thing did seem interminable for those of us invested in Elliot's inherent moral sense of right and wrong.

I'll add another question for you: How is Leon out so soon after he killed so many prison guards, even if he was protecting Elliot?

Darlene does know who Wellick is, since he is all over the news, but she may not know he was involved with Mr. Robot. Maybe that's what she realizes when she looks at the FBI's board -- that he was more involved than she knew. I mean, she has knowledge the FBI doesn't, so she can see things in their board that Dom cannot. For example, it's possible that she sees the larger plot by E-Corp, that Mr. Robot is being used, something like that.

 

[TenThousandThings]

Peevester[/url]":2aj8bt1b]Ray was a prisoner who had pull with the guards, if I remember right, not an administrator.

No, he is the prison warden. He is called that during the big reveal/flashback.