By
Dhruv Sharma
Published 3 minutes ago
Dhruv is a Lead Writer in Screen Rant's New TV division. He has been consistently contributing to the website for over two years and has written thousands of articles covering streaming trends, movie/TV analysis, and pop culture breakdowns.
Before Screen Rant, he was a Senior Writer for The Cinemaholic, covering everything from anime to television, from reality TV to movies.
After high school, he was on his way to become a Civil Engineer. However, he soon realized that writing was his true calling. As a result, he took a leap and never looked back.
Sign in to your ScreenRant account
Summary
Generate a summary of this story
follow
Follow
followed
Followed
Like
Like
Thread
Log in
Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents:
Try something different:
Show me the facts
Explain it like I’m 5
Give me a lighthearted recap
A thriller masterpiece that hardly has any bad episodes premiered almost 10 years ago, but it still has one of the best pilot episodes in the history of television.
The ending of a story is its most important part because it determines how one remembers the entire narrative journey. However, the second-best part is, arguably, the beginning because, without a gripping hook, one might not even invest in what lies ahead. Owing to this, pilot episodes, especially in thrillers, can potentially make or break entire TV shows.
To ensure that viewers get a taste of everything it has to offer, a ten-year-old masterpiece in the thriller genre delivers such a brilliant opening episode that it becomes hard not to crave more as its credits start rolling. Many TV shows in the thriller genre have great openings, but this one easily offers one of the best early hooks.
Mr. Robot’s Pilot Episode Is Unforgettably Brilliant
Elliot with his black hood up while standing next to a chain-link in Mr. Robot
There is absolutely no action, over-the-top drama, or spectacle in Mr. Robot's very first scene. It begins by first establishing that its main character, Elliot (played by Rami Malek), is paranoid about a few men following him. In the next scene, Elliot comes off as a badass vigilante hacker who drops an anonymous tip to the cops about the illegal activities a coffee shop owner carries out through his server.
In hardly ten minutes, the show brilliantly hints at everything the viewer needs to know about the main character:
- He has crippling social anxiety.
- He is a genius hacker.
- He cares little about money.
- He is an unreliable narrator.
- He wants to make the world a better place.
Voiceovers in shows and movies can often feel pretentious. However, Mr. Robot's incredible pilot episode makes good use of Elliot's voiceover to add complex layers to his characterization. He seems both hyper-observant and absent-minded, both understandable and unreliable, only through the early voiceover. This makes him an incredibly interesting character who seems to mean well, but his intentions remain shrouded.
Depictions of hackers on-screen often feature neon-lit keyboards with 3D GUIs and raining texts of code. From its opening moments itself, Mr. Robot rests on realism even with its portrayal of hacking by walking through everything from a hacker's ability to recognize patterns to the hardware he uses to find and research his victims.
Mr. Robot also never feels too quick with its pace in its opening episode, and none of its story developments feel like exposition dumps. Yet, with just one episode, it familiarizes viewers with the stakes and key players involved in its story.
Before the pilot episode's credits start rolling, the show hints at everything, including Elliot's mental health struggles, romantic interests, addictions, role in the cybersecurity ecosystem, and future involvement in an overarching conspiracy.
There is also subtle commentary about capitalism and corporate power in the opening episode through the introduction of the mega corporation, E-Corp, and the hinted plans of Fsociety. Yet, as a viewer, you somehow realize that, at its core, the show is about nothing but loneliness and isolation.
Despite Setting High Standards In The Beginning, Mr. Robot Gets Better With Each Episode
Sometimes, movies and shows have such strong opening episodes or sequences that they end up getting crushed under the weight of their own brilliance. They deliver some of their best story beats early on in the narrative and later struggle to maintain the same quality. Mr. Robot, thankfully, does the opposite. It has a strong pilot, but it often delivers episodes that are even better than the opening.
In its four-season runtime, Mr. Robot rarely stumbles, never leaving viewers with a dull moment. The thriller show's brilliance comes from many separate elements, but Sam Esmail's creative vision and Rami Malek's performance are the two key drivers of Mr. Robot's hypnotic pull in the pilot episode and beyond.
Mr. Robot
TV-MA
Crime
Drama
Thriller
8/10
8.7/10
Release Date
2015 - 2019
Network
USA Network
Cast
Rami Malek, Christian Slater, Carly Chaikin, Martin Wallström, Portia Doubleday, Michael Cristofer, Grace Gummer, BD Wong, Stephanie Corneliussen, Vaishnavi Sharma, Sam Esmail, Michelle Santiago, Kenneth Kopolovicz, Rachel Emma Slack, Ingrid Matias, Mario Telles, Chris Tera, Brandy Gardener, Kendrick Alan Reinsch, Kristopher Lee Weaver, Alice Schaerer, Greg Murphy, Laura Maselli, Maya Jasmin, George Goulart, Joseph Valle-Hoag, Michael Nagle
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
Main Genre
Drama
Genres
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Executive Producer(s)
Steve Golin, Chad Hamilton, Kyle Bradstreet
Producers
Christian Slater, Rami Malek, Margo Myers
Seasons
4
Powered by
Expand
Collapse
-
Mr. Robot
We want to hear from you! Share your opinions in the thread below and remember to keep it respectful.
Be the first to post Images Attachment(s) Please respect our community guidelines. No links, inappropriate language, or spam.Your comment has not been saved
Send confirmation emailThis thread is open for discussion.
Be the first to post your thoughts.
- Terms
- Privacy
- Feedback
5 hours ago
8 Weirdest Spider-Man Cameos Outside The Superhero Genre
10 hours ago
HBO Max’s Trending Romance Show Subtly Avoids Prestige TV's Biggest Criticisms
16 hours ago
4 Best HBO Thrillers Nobody Remembers
1 day ago
This Netflix Underdog Is the Only Choice for 2025's Anime of the Year
Shorts
By
Michael Keene
Dec 5, 2025
0:43
10 Actors Who Went TOO FAR For a Role — the wildest transformations you won’t believe
By
Michael Keene
Dec 5, 2025
0:38
A24’s Rise Isn’t Luck — The Hidden Strategy Changing Hollywood
By
Kem Ramirez
Dec 4, 2025
0:48
Did Man of Tomorrow secretly introduce Brainiac?
By
Liam Crowley
Dec 3, 2025
0:33
Why The Leftovers Is The Greatest TV Show Of All Time
By
Ash Crossan
Dec 3, 2025
0:40
George Clooney Reacts To Panned Thriller 40 Years Later
Trending Now
10 Superhero TV Shows I Knew Would Be Masterpieces After The First Episode (#1 Changed Television)
7 Marvel Shows That Are As Good As Batman: The Animated Series
10 Forgotten Anime That Deserved to Win Anime of the Year But Didn't
