What I’m Watching: Mr. Robot (Season Premiere)

Mr. Robot: Season 2, Episodes 1 and 2 “eps2.0_unm4sk-pt1.tc” and “eps2.0_unm4sk-pt2.tc” (B+)

This double episode aired the night before the Emmy nominations came out and this show scored a very deserved Best Drama Series nod in addition to a few other mentions. I still contend that this is probably the most uniquely interesting show currently on the air, and this premiere only further strengthens that argument. In the wake of the increasingly shocking revelations in each and every episode last year, this premiere found Elliot struggling to keep a handle on what’s real. His regimen and his constant narration was, as usual, fascinating, and he seemed to be doing okay, listening to his friend talk incessantly about Seinfeld and staying away from the temptation to hack. The continued presence of Mr. Robot and his attempts to convince Elliot that, when people saw him, they actually saw Mr. Robot rather than Elliot, were enormously intriguing, especially when Craig Robinson, the strangest choice to appear in a role on this show yet, told Elliot that they had spoken much more than he seemed to acknowledge. The rest of the characters are up to some crazy stuff, with Darlene organizing a show featuring EvilCorp torching nearly $6 million, Angela finding a sense of cutthroat purpose in her new role, Joanna continuing to indulge her desires even without Tyrell, and a distraught Gideon apparently being killed by an a man who thought the world would be better off without him. It’s going to take a while to make sense of all this, but that’s the hook of this cool show.