Whether you missed the hype the first time around or you’re looking to jump once more down the rabbit hole of “Mr. Robot’s” many mysteries, Rami Malek’s hit hacker thriller series just landed on Netflix. And already viewers can’t seem to get enough.
All four seasons of USA Network’s Emmy-winning “Mr. Robot” arrived on Netflix on July 3, and the techno-thriller is already sitting pretty in the #5 spot on Netflix’s top 10 shows. It’s hardly a surprise that fans would be eager to revisit the series; “Mr. Robot’s” anti-capitalist portrayal of withstanding the yoke of tech-driven corporate control feels as relevant today as when it premiered 10 years ago.
Before diving in (or should we say hacking in?) to the show, here’s everything you need to know about “Mr. Robot” on Netflix — and why it deserves to be your next binge-watch.
What is ‘Mr. Robot’ about?
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“Mr. Robot” follows Elliot Alderson (Malek), a brilliant but troubled cybersecurity engineer in New York City. While working for the megacorporation Allsafe Cybersecurity, he’s recruited by an anarchist known as “Mr. Robot” (Christian Slater) to join a society of hacktivists.
Their radical mission includes wiping out global consumer debt by encrypting the data of one of the world’s largest corporations, which is also Allsafe’s biggest client. Caught between his day job as a tech worker and his new secret mission to destroy the very system he serves, Elliot walks a dangerous tightrope.
All the while, he also grapples with severe mental health challenges, including anxiety, depression, and dissociative identity disorder. His fractured sense of reality often fuels his hacking abilities, giving him a unique edge, but at the cost of serious problems in his personal life — many of which he doesn’t fully understand or even recognize.
Beneath that premise, however, lies a gripping psychological thriller that explores the isolation of a hyper-connected digital age as well as the perils of unchecked consumerism and capitalism. The show blends the high-stakes tension of an espionage thriller with the unsettling paranoia of a psychological drama. It doesn’t just make computer hacking exciting to watch (and with an impressive level of technical accuracy, I might add), but demonstrates how it can be a catalyst for revolution.
Stream ‘Mr. Robot’ on Netflix now
All four seasons of “Mr. Robot” landed on Netflix on July 3. The show was a sensation when it first premiered back in 2015. “Mr. Robot” wrapped up in 2019, before the rise of TikTok and transition to AI-powered everything sparked by ChatGPT and the like. Technology has only become further entrenched in our lives since then, likely why viewers are eager to watch Elliot and his fellow hackers turn the very tools of corporate control against their creators. Its message is just as resonant today as it was when season 4 wrapped.
I’m far from the only one raving about USA Network’s hit show. The first season received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series, and Malek won Outstanding Lead Actor for his breakout performance. Every season of “Mr. Robot” earned a 90% critics’ score or higher on Rotten Tomatoes, and the series finale is a particular high point with the second-highest rating of the bunch (96%, just shy of the first season’s 98%).
The Guardian’s Richard Vine described “Mr. Robot” as “perfect binge-watch material: turn it on and on again.” The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus for season 1 reads: “‘Mr. Robot’ is a suspenseful cyber-thriller with timely stories and an intriguing, provocative premise.”
With the show’s recent arrival on Netflix, longtime fans who watched “Mr. Robot” during its original run on USA Network can now revisit it a decade later, while newcomers finally have a chance to discover why it’s earned such a devoted cult following.
Stream “Mr. Robot” on Netflix now.
