Sometimes, the best TV shows come from unexpected places. Obviously, there were the big ones like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones. When Vince Gilligan's drug drama ended in 2013, with HBO's landmark fantasy hit in full swing, I wondered what series would be next to capture our collective attention.
It took me a few years to find my next TV obsession, which aired on an unassuming basic cable channel.
The show I'm referring to was about the internet, of all things. It was created by a guy with no experience in television and starred a relatively unknown actor who played the central, flawed hacker genius who becomes involved in a superdangerous shadow government conspiracy. Solid performances, relevant themes, slick writing and epic world-building made it a must-watch show. It dominated the conversation and regularly kept me on the edge of my seat.
This show is an Emmy-winner, a game-changer and one of the best thrillers to ever hit television. Now, for the first time ever in the United States, it's available to stream in full on Netflix.
This is Mr. Robot.
Read more: Netflix Review: Our Top Pick in a Sea of Streaming Choices
Rami Malek plays Elliot Alderson in the hacker drama Mr. Robot. USA Network
"Hello, friend," Rami Malek's hacker antihero Elliot Alderson says in the opening moments of the pilot episode. He's talking to the audience. But moreover, I took it to heart that he was talking to me. As someone who related to his antisocial, black hoodie-wearing, outcast vibe, it felt as if Elliot was the TV embodiment of me -- if my goth outcast phase of the '90s and '00s never ended.
Without getting too into the weeds here, Mr. Robot follows Elliot, a computer programmer who works for a giant company, named E-Corp (or Evil Corp, depending on who you ask) by day and flexes his chops as a hacker at night. He gets recruited by a mysterious Anonymous-like organization that wants to crash corporate America. The only issue? He works for the company at the top of the greedy corporate food chain.
That's the nutshell explanation but there's more going on here than that. Add in a V for Vendetta-style anarchist cult, a mysterious mentor figure (conveniently named Mr. Robot) and a complicated mental health struggle and you have one heck of a layered onion to unpeel.
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