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'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

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Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#131

Post by jorams »

tech2 wrote: post #57
scrollaway wrote: post #48

If you like Mr. Robot, you should watch Person of Interest. POI is a pre-snowden series about a world "in which the NSA has a system which spies on every american citizen in order to fight terrorism" (sounds familiar?). The show begins with the weak premise of "help us fight crimes we predict will happen", but don't be fooled by its appearance of a run-of-the-mill CBS show. Without spoiling it too much, I do want to…

Except that the main storyline is likely to be rushed to completion due to the final season being massively cut in length.

The last season has been out for a while. I ended up being very impressed by just how well it's executed. When the cut was announced after season 4 I thought it could only end in disappointment, but after watching season 5, I truly felt like the series ended how it should have ended.

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#132

Post by okwhatthe2 »

scrollaway wrote: post #48

If you like Mr. Robot, you should watch Person of Interest. POI is a pre-snowden series about a world "in which the NSA has a system which spies on every american citizen in order to fight terrorism" (sounds familiar?). The show begins with the weak premise of "help us fight crimes we predict will happen", but don't be fooled by its appearance of a run-of-the-mill CBS show. Without spoiling it too much, I do want to…

My sexagenarian, extremely-religious parents watch POI, as do their friends.

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#133

Post by pault »

Demoneeri wrote: post #44

I've watched S01 but I'm not sure I'll watch S02. The cliché about dysfunctional people in IT is too much for me. I'm a normal person and I don't have difficulties in dealing with other human beings. Also the part about vilifying companies and loving big government is not my cup of tea. At least in Person of Interest both were bad. Last part, vilifying money as a medium of exchange is just absurd. Are they expecting…

> The cliché about dysfunctional people in IT is too much for me.

I hate this so, so much. I enjoyed Orphan Black but the biologist character was just such a babbling idiot that I kept having to fight the urge to fast-forward through her scenes (I have to say though, the actress that plays the clones has a pretty amazing range. Not all of the characters are great but sometime I had to remind myself that it was the same person playing all the roles).

This seems to have originated with the procedural crime dramas; the "geek tank" full of adult children that spout technobabble to eye-rolling detectives and are unable to communicate technical concepts to non-technical people. I have a few friends in research. None of them have lip rings or dreadlocks and they are all able to carry a conversation with people of diverse backgrounds and education.

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#134

Post by satysin »

gonehome wrote: post #99
Osiris wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I watched the first few episodes and really didn't like it. I wasn't aware that the plot of the show moved past the episodic crap of the first season. Maybe I should pick it up at season 2?

I've been confused by the positive comments it has gotten from people in tech - I found it unwatchably bad and that it actually got worse (not better) as time went on. Everything from the 'machine' itself, to the cringe acting and writing, dumb tech concepts (woman who 'speaks' for the machine) and all their vigilante killings that only happen in New York. I couldn't take it. Watch Halt and Catch Fire - it's a thousa…

All of the characters in H&CF are great but god damn I love Lee Pace's Joe MacMillan. The overall production is great as well with mostly correct terms and hardware for the time.

I really enjoyed season 1 of Mr. Robot but season 2 really hasn't been the same, it is way too mind trippy for me now.

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#135

Post by jorgecastillo »

scrollaway wrote: post #48

If you like Mr. Robot, you should watch Person of Interest. POI is a pre-snowden series about a world "in which the NSA has a system which spies on every american citizen in order to fight terrorism" (sounds familiar?). The show begins with the weak premise of "help us fight crimes we predict will happen", but don't be fooled by its appearance of a run-of-the-mill CBS show. Without spoiling it too much, I do want to…

I myself like the Silicon Valley series way more than any of those two.

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#136

Post by JD557 »

mcguire wrote: post #46
dllthomas wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

V yvxr ubj gurl syng hc gbyq hf sebz gur irel ortvaavat gung Ryyvbg jnf haeryvnoyr. "Rivypbec" orvat n "fznyy npg bs frys-ulcabfvf" be ubjrire vg jnf jbeqrq.

I find it disturbing that Google can't do rot13.

DDG seems to handle it just fine if you add "rot13" to your query, though :)

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=rot13+V+yvxr+ubj+gurl+syng+hc+gbyq...

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#138

Post by atombath »

Ignoring everything else, Mr. Robot builds a spectacular atmosphere, which is an almost impossible task in television. This show is wonderful. I'd say it competes with Game of Thrones on quality and it's my favorite show right now.

They get the technical details right enough to earn respect. Sometimes you need to give artistic freedom to the writing as long as it doesn't devolve into a graphic of Pacman eating data. Gives you some meaningless pride when you see a protagonist empty a can of Pringles into the trash, knowing exactly what they are doing.

If someone has a problem with the series, my natural reaction at this point is that they're pretentious... it's not fair but imo really that's what all the criticism has boiled down to:

You noticed the heavily telegraphed twist? Good job! Gold star for you!

You're going to criticize a show with such wonderful atmosphere building for having long episodes? Wow, your time must be really important!

He uses the wrong text editor or Linux flavor? You must be a master, could you please fix my iPad?

The characters are flawed or mercurial? Could you please elaborate on the strengths of two-dimensional characters?

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#139

Post by brickmort »

JustUhThought wrote: post #54

Sorry, rip-off from Fight Club is just too obvious and sustained. No can do.

I thought so too at first, but it really becomes it's own story despite that fact, especially after the first season. The similarities are not unintentional. Sam Esmail doesn't hide the fact that the series is inspired by Fight Club.

Re: 'Mr. Robot' may be fiction, but its hacking plots are all too real

#140

Post by barleymash »

JustUhThought wrote: post #66
scrollaway wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does a TV series rip off Fight Club?

Good god man. You asked that question? Movies rip-off books, books rip off real life, tv rips off movies. Format doesn't stop one from appropriating material. Just google Fight Club and Mr. Robot. There are plenty of interviews with the creator of Mr. Robot where he explicitly discusses the Fight Club connection. Straight from the horses mouth. I don't have a problem with referencing other works, but it's got to the…

I read and loved Fight Club, loved the movie, and love Mr Robot. Sam Esmail (Mr Robot creator) even says in interviews that Fight Club is his favorite movie, and certain threads, characters, etc are an homage to that. I mean, he even plays the same song ("Where is my Mind") during part of the "reveal" in Mr Robot. However, as other viewers have mentioned it wasn't really MEANT to be that big of a reveal. In fact, the /r/MrRobot subreddit had that theory nailed very early on in Season 1, and I would argue that knowing that reveal was coming didn't detract from any enjoyment.

Anyway, I totally get why you feel that way about the Fight Club similarities, and at first I felt that way too. But if that is the main reason you stopped watching, I urge you to give it another shot! I think there is so much more to the show than that story thread.

Edit: Also, just curious, how far did you make it before you decided to stop watching?

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