hacker show on USA - Mr. Robot

[destrekor]

They at least tried to get some of the tech right but, as an actual hacker, suspension of disbelief required with stuff like this.

Ditto any medical show for actual medical professionals, etc.

As far as substance abuse in our industry.. pretty accurate tbh in some cases :\ ... though agree it's done for drama in this case.

Well no matter the show or movie, there is always going to be the "altered for plot's sake."

I mean, even with all the hullabaloo regarding Interstellar and the new science that was both developed and showcased in the movie, and the intent to do hard science, there were still accuracy sacrifices for the sake of plot.

I think even Europa Report, dubbed a very accurate movie that had some NASA collaboration to help ensure scientific accuracy, had to have some "plot science" (at least, I assume - you get to have some leeway when developing "futuristic ideas" that are "based on hard science.").

 

[Auric]

Another obvious connection to Dexter, in addition to narration and serial vigilantism, are his trophies of the latter -i.e. the data discs he keeps and disguises as music rather than concealing (their case is casually kicked underneath furniture).

 

[SKORPI0]

Ouch, missed episode 2 last night.... :\

 

[qliveur]

Holy shit! 97% on Rotten Tomatoes?!

Checking it out now.

 

[Charmonium]

Holy shit! 97% on Rotten Tomatoes?!

Checking it out now.

I think a lot of movies and show get a biased rating from RT just because they tend to be more hipster, edgy or whatever. There are a lot of pretty decent to good films that get trashed on RT and some marginal shit that gets high marks.

 

[qliveur]

It's still a decent indicator for checking something out.

I'll still form my own opinion.


EDIT: Will keep watching.

 

[TheAdvocate]

Missed episode 2. The first hour was some of the better if not best basic cable tv in a while.

Of course on a tech board the focus is all about authenticity of the hacks, etc, but the brilliance of the show is Elliot's inner dialogue and all the ways that permeates him and his story, and just how damn well they pulled it off, without it getting preachy or boring. The protagonist has so many inner conflicts, and the actor is so believable. I loved it. Game of Thrones shied away from all the inner dialogue in the books because they said it was unfilmable. This show says that's bullshit.

It does have its cliché plot points - you guys already pointed some of them out. There's even a mashed up fight club/Morpheus speech delivered by Christian Slater, and just as obvious, the blue pill or red pill moment when he switches folders (probably the only moment I cringed, because it was a little too overdone to spoon feed the audience) at the conference table near the end. Yet, despite being done a bit before, it tries to tackle the same themes without the conceits of the fight club or some parallel computer universe like the Matrix. Unless they go off the rails, this show will work better because it is rooted in a familiar, real world.

Grantland had a nice writeup on it, and they say that the 2nd and 3rd episodes fall a little short of the pilot. But that first hour was so good that I can take some A minus material as long as the plot doesn't stall.

BTW, the actress that played Angela was great. Yes the rootkit line was also too obvious, but as far as the tension and affection between her and Elliot, they nailed it. Do not undervalue chemistry. They have it.

The backstory of Elliot trying to find his own crusade and social justice while abusing the system as much as the people he despises... that's fantastic. They only hinted that Neo did that in the Matrix. I like seeing it play out, and I'd love seeing it possibly backfire if he takes it too far. Or maybe that's the main storyline as he gets involved with fsociety (yeah that name's a little too blatant too). So many angles they could take with his character. I'm on board for the ride.

Add on point - isn't one of the True Detective season 1 producers on board? There's some of that same moodiness to the show. And it's a good thing.

 

[Childs]

Its a pretty good show, although I'm not sure how much of it is his delusions. I kidna think this is like Fight Club on steroids, so all of fsociety is imaginary. You dont really see them interact with other people except people in black suits. Although I think his drug dealing neighbor was looking at the hacker chick. Anyways, its interesting enough minus some of the crime worthy tech dialog.

 

[Charmonium]

Its a pretty good show, although I'm not sure how much of it is his delusions.

That's an interesting point. If they go the route that the entire thing is a delusion then I'm going to be really pissed. That's just a cheap shot as far as I'm concerned. But the idea that some of it could be delusion would be interesting. My first choice for a hallucinated scene would be the meeting with the 11 lawyers.

The problem then though is how are we ever going to know what the real plot is.

 

[destrekor]

That's an interesting point. If they go the route that the entire thing is a delusion then I'm going to be really pissed. That's just a cheap shot as far as I'm concerned. But the idea that some of it could be delusion would be interesting. My first choice for a hallucinated scene would be the meeting with the 11 lawyers.

The problem then though is how are we ever going to know what the real plot is.

I wouldn't say it's a cheap blow, but it has to be done right, and honestly, should be used very rarely these days. Too many good stories have ended that way, and it does get cheap if more and more follow that end.

 

[Lifted]

It appears to be more of a direct rip off of fight club to me. In both the first and second episodes, the members of f society only respond to and interact with Elliot, never with Mr Robot. The second episode is the most obvious as Darlene is starring at Elliot while supposedly asking Mr Robot a question. Mr Robot = Tyler Durden. I have high hopes that that there's much more to it.

 

[destrekor]

That's an interesting point. If they go the route that the entire thing is a delusion then I'm going to be really pissed. That's just a cheap shot as far as I'm concerned. But the idea that some of it could be delusion would be interesting. My first choice for a hallucinated scene would be the meeting with the 11 lawyers.

The problem then though is how are we ever going to know what the real plot is.

It appears to be more of a direct rip off of fight club to me. In both the first and second episodes, the members of f society only respond to and interact with Elliot, never with Mr Robot. The second episode is the most obvious as Darlene is starring at Elliot while supposedly asking Mr Robot a question. Mr Robot = Tyler Durden. I have high hopes that that there's much more to it.

I just gave some more thought to this.

Even if this is the route they go, if they make it a worthwhile journey, I won't mind.

It was much the same with Lost. Starting about two or three seasons from the end, a lot of evidence began pointing to a certain conclusion (

Spoiler

it was purgatory

), and the internet discussion boards were all arguing whether or not it was going to end that way, and if it did, how cheap of an ending that would be. But in the end, I thought it was ultimately very well done - especially for everything that show was about, it was going to be hard to have a conclusive ending that wasn't asinine.

I am curious how a show like Mr. Robot could carry on such a concept through multiple seasons and have it end like that. Perhaps it could end like that after one or two seasons, and then continue on afterward instead of ending at that juncture. That would be something new, for sure, as every story that uses that plot device always ends at the reveal. To carry on and see how everything works for the character after the reveal, that would be new and a welcome turn of events.

 

[JujuFish]

It was much the same with Lost. Starting about two or three seasons from the end, a lot of evidence began pointing to a certain conclusion (

Spoiler

it was purgatory

)

Spoiler

I don't know if you're saying that the evidence pointed to it being purgatory, or that it actually was purgatory all along. If the latter, that wasn't the case. Only the flash-sideways in the last season was purgatory.

 

[destrekor]

Spoiler

I don't know if you're saying that the evidence pointed to it being purgatory, or that it actually was purgatory all along. If the latter, that wasn't the case. Only the flash-sideways in the last season was purgatory.

Spoiler

The final scene, where they all met with Jack at the funeral home(?) for his dad's funeral, it very much seemed that they were all dead and just waiting to get everyone back together to agree to move on.

Hmmm... I just did a little research, and I guess I understood it all wrong. I've been meaning to rewatch the entire show, had started to awhile ago but other things grabbed my attention at the time. I dunno, I find the notion that the island wasn't purgatory very odd, I think they got sloppy with the writing if it isn't. It seems like the show-runners basically outright said the island wasn't purgatory, although they liked the idea of that. Whatever, it was a good ride.

 

[smackababy]

So, after the second episode, I swear to god this is Fight Club for the afraid to fight generation. Christian Slater is a less handsome and bad ass Brad Pitt. If this actually ends up being a delusion, I will show the writers what a fucking terrorist group looks like...

 

[Hugh Jass]

If this actually ends up being a delusion, I will show the writers what a fucking terrorist group looks like...

 

[destrekor]

lol

 

[who?]

Screenwriters believe that a characters flaws make that character interesting but sometimes we Americans want heroes to be perfect.

 

[destrekor]

Screenwriters believe that a characters flaws make that character interesting but sometimes we Americans want heroes to be perfect.

We do?

F that.

 

[smackababy]

Screenwriters believe that a characters flaws make that character interesting but sometimes we Americans want heroes to be perfect.

Screenwriters believe that there has to be good vs evil to make good conflict. No. It needs to be two forces who truly believe they are the good side.

 

[qliveur]

LOLost. Damon fucking Lindelof. :x

I watched that shit all the way through twice, because I thought I'd missed something, and the second viewing pissed me off even more than the first.

Don't waste your time.

 

[who?]

Reportedly the movie of "The Lone Ranger" had flawed heroes and people didn't like that.

 

[dank69]

My impression of Tyrell after episode 3:

 

[xeemzor]

They at least tried to get some of the tech right but, as an actual hacker, suspension of disbelief required with stuff like this.

Ditto any medical show for actual medical professionals, etc.

As far as substance abuse in our industry.. pretty accurate tbh in some cases :\ ... though agree it's done for drama in this case.

Your comments on drug usage are on point. I know a decent amount of people in the InfoSec universe and most did some kind of drugs as a teenager. The whole "hacker culture" was largely started by people who largely didn't fit in with normal society, hated rules, and were naturally curious. It's changing somewhat but the effects still linger.

 

[toliman]

Ditto. I knew of a few who spent time looking for psychedelics and nootropics, etc. It was their glitch to be tokers and experimenters.

Smart though. ( first time I'd heard that pi soundtrack...) and usually, more insane than stable. I'd probably expect to see them in a cheap suit and a minivan, driving their kids around the suburbs, it was the quirky 90s when hacking was aligned with counterculture, etc. Naive days.

At times, Mr Robot seems more like a 90s story script, updated 20+ years with current events and ideas. There's some dated hacker references, mostly the scripts used to dictionary cracking, and the ransomware/ RAT on a CDr.

They just need a flip phone to show up, or a pager.