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
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.
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