Its been a while since I watched something that I enjoyed so much, that it left me thinking about an episode for hours on end. Endlessly analyzing every word to assure myself that I got the full meaning of the episode. This is what I believe Sam Esmail intended for the USA Drama Mr. Robot. He created a distrust between the watcher and the main character that I have never experienced before and set a new bar for TV.

Mr. Robot itself is a show about Hackers trying to take down an evil corporation, appropriately named Evil Corp, and save the world. The main character, Elliot (Rami Malek), is recruited by this group of hackers by a man named Mr. Robot. This man takes him under his wing and they work together to take down the company. If you thought this sounded cliché then you’d be right. I think what Esmail tries to do is put a major spin on the Hollywood hacker trope (think “Hackers”, 1995). This is incredibly evident in the first 5 minutes, where Elliot is talking to a psychiatrist about how much he hates the world. This is where the distrust comes in, because we see the world through the eyes of Elliot, what he sees and what is actually going on are two very different things. Without spoiling too much, Elliot could be schizophrenic. He hears and sees things in a way that make you wonder what is really going on. When the show does tell you whats going on, it’s often so big that you have to go watch all the episodes over again and see it from a different picture to really grasp what you just witnessed. The show does no hand holding, it gives you the information and you are to do what you want with it. It also isn’t the kind of show that makes you feel smart, it uses real world programs and hacks to make you delve deeper and deeper into the world and sometimes even forces you to collaborate with others to figure things out. Don’t get me wrong, you can go in and just watch and you’ll probably enjoy it. But to really get the full picture, you need to delve deeper.

But the story isn’t the only thing making this show. The casting lineup is superb. Rami Malek captivates audiences with his monotone “robot” like emotions. In my opinion, he really makes this show what it is. He is able to show many emotions, and show very little at the same time, making him a difficult character to understand. But I think that is the point. Beyond Rami, the rest of the crew is pretty solid with a few standouts. Christian Slater plays Mr. Robot and does a pretty good job on it, I think that he plays a solid crazy leader type. This also goes for the rest of the cast they’re all pretty solid. However, being solid is a step down for the show, so it would be great to see some improvements from the cast.

To put a long story short, Mr. Robot is one of the best shows on TV. It offers unexpected twists and turns that make you want to rewatch the entire seasons with a different perspective. That and a solid casting line up that really reinforce the story really make this show an amazing experience that everyone can enjoy.