On June 24, 2015, one of the best thrillers to ever exist premiered on cable television. Sam Esmail’s Mr. Robot was, and still is, an excellent combination of all-around digital wizardry, high-class crime, and the deeply layered human condition. The series premiered on USA Network, with Rami Malek leading an incredibly talented cast. Even though this show about a troubled computer hacker and his quest to save the world won Golden Globes and Primetime Emmys in its heyday, the actual viewership numbers for Mr. Robot tell a little bit of a different story.
Almost half of the overall viewers from the first season walked away during its second season run. For a show that grabbed so much attention at first (both from the general viewing audience and critics), how did this come to be? With so many revelations on hand, such as seeing how far the Wellicks will go for success in E Corp, discovering that Whiterose and Mr. Price are working together, and the fact that Elliot’s supposed father is just a delusion, the continuation of Mr. Robot should have been a banger. Let’s not forget about the successful fsociety hack, which threw the entire world upside down. What happened here, and did Mr. Robot ever truly recover from this sharp decline?
What Happened to ‘Mr. Robot’?
Mr. Robot
- Release Date
-
2015 – 2019
- Network
-
USA Network
- Showrunner
-
Sam Esmail
- Directors
-
Jim McKay, Christoph Schrewe, Niels Arden Oplev, Nisha Ganatra, Tricia Brock
- Writers
-
Sam Esmail, Adam Penn, Randolph Leon, Kor Adana, Robbie Pickering, Lucy Teitler, Kate Erickson
When we return to this chaos seven months later, though, everything has oddly slowed down. Characters are separated from one another, E Corp’s digital currency quickly mitigates the supposed destruction of the world’s debt, and Elliot, overwhelmed by Mr. Robot’s presence, is now hiding at home with his mother. To go along with that, online complaints at the time focused on character progression and story direction. Sadly, Elliot also faced some of this backlash. People didn’t like that he was becoming too much of an unreliable narrator (Season 2’s new setting turned out to be a prison after all). Another critique was that there were too many subplots that didn’t add anything to the crux of the show (Tyrell’s wife and, to a lesser extent, Angela). But once you get to Season 3 and 4, all of these aspects are dearly needed.
Related
Every Season of Mr. Robot, Ranked Worst to Best
Against all odds, the sheer quality of Mr. Robot endured, and turned it into one of the best dramas of the decade.
In contrast to the first 10 episodes, where all the main characters could (and did) interact with each other, these same characters are now pulled apart in the second season. When Elliot was going through his own mental battle, Darlene (Elliot’s sister) had to make some rash decisions while becoming the temporary leader of fsociety. Angela is on her solo mission, climbing the ranks of E Corp. For the majority of the season, Tyrell was missing. Instead, we focus on his wife. But here’s the thing — this show revolves around Elliot’s journey first and foremost.
‘Mr. Robot’ Season 2 Means a Lot More Than You Might Think
Elliot is the one who talks to the viewer. He’s the one who wants to save the world, as he says. To unravel more of who he is and what he’s capable of, Esmail and the other writers had to isolate him. If we hadn’t had this back-and-forth struggle, there would have been no reconciliation and sequential teamwork between Elliott and his alter ego later on. However, with Elliot sidelined, Darlene becomes a more central character. She deals with the dark army, the FBI, and the looming threat of death all at the same time. She grows into a much bigger presence than she was in Season 1, and it’s all thanks to what happens here.
Related
How Mr. Robot Quietly Captured the Cultural Zeitgeist
The hit show combined fiction and reality seamlessly to quietly capture the cultural zeitgeist in an enduring manner that remains relevant today.
The traumatic nature of the situations she finds herself in (this time around, with more violence) helps the audience see that Elliot actually has someone viable on his side. Then there’s Angela and Tyrell’s wife. Both of their overall arcs are admittedly slow. I was becoming increasingly frustrated trying to understand their place in the show. As much as Angela was situated to be Elliot’s tether to a more realistic world in Season 1, she seems to be focusing more on her new corporate position (which frustrated the USA network audience) as well as her relationship with Price. Her few but personable moments with Elliot make a big difference in Season 3 (and four, for that matter). They push each other away at different points due to secrets they are holding, but end up reuniting momentarily as well. You need to see these interactions to make later scenes feel more impactful.
Supporting Characters Mean a Lot in ‘Mr. Robot’
The same goes for Tyrell’s wife. Even though she never morally grows, her unwavering importance as a mother connects to his constant pleas to see his wife and baby. When his request cannot be answered, he quickly grows into a different kind of person. On top of these isolated perspectives, new faces are thrown into the mix, like Grace Gummer’s Dominique DiPierro and Craig Robinson’s Ray. Since Dominique (and her career in the FBI) takes time away from seeing familiar faces, that might throw some viewers off at first. Surprisingly, she ends up helping both Elliot and Darlene survive the dark army from the inside.
On the other hand, Ray is, in fact, an expendable character, but his arc ultimately brings Elliot closer to his goal of understanding his mysterious fatherly friend. Although there is a noticeable change in pace that takes a little getting used to, the second season is a must-watch to fully grasp these characters and appreciate what happens later on. While the ratings never fully recovered, the series thankfully ran its full course, and lucky for you, Mr. Robot is now available to stream on Netflix, so you can see what this great show was all about for yourself.
