Mr. Robot (TV Series) eps1.4_3xpl0its.wmv (2015) User Reviews

Tense thrilling first half + slower heart sinking second half = great mid-season episode

[TouchTheGarlicProduction · 9/10 · 22 July 2015]

Once again, we have a front-loaded episode; all the tense action happens in the first half, while the second half goes into more of the drama and dilemmas.

The first half of the episode is the infiltration of steel mountain. This was wonderfully tense, beautifully handled by the writers and directors. You can really feel the unique aspects of Elliot and the premise at work here. I loved his way of manipulating his way in. As you might expect, some things go wrong.

Then, the episode splits off into different stories. Shayla applies to a job as a waiter. The drug dealer from episode 2 schemes. Tyrell manoeuvres. Darlene gets some bad news, forcing the group into a painful dilemma. Angela stays with her father. Despite being slower, this second half is still intriguing. It's an improvement over last week's tedious, meandering hallucinations.

The privacy breach, in the server and bathroom

[quincytheodore · 8/10 · 23 July 2015]

In the spirit of heist movie, Elliot marches through the front door to execute his plan. Armed with talking voices on his head and hangover from the withdrawal, he tries to sabotage Steel Mountain in broad daylight. Though it's not done with bungee cord and black suit, the effort creates incredible tension and a couple rather excruciating verbal jab.

Both Elliot and Tyrell are given equal spotlight here. These two can be utterly vehement when they dismantle their opposition. Rami Malek as Elliot shows more of humane side despite his increasingly dangerous work and occasional awkward interactions. Meanwhile, Tyrell is insidiously clamoring control. His method to pursue this goal is intrusive and relentless.

Tyrell carries himself with suave manner, that's precisely why he's so effective as antagonist. He is so normal, almost frighteningly like any other guy one can meet on the office or even walking down the street. It's a contrast to Elliot's awkward delivery. After a couple of eerie encounters, the pace softens up a bit as the show develops other subplots.

Dark army is still presented as vague party, it may soon be revealed whether they are friendly or hostile. A few other characters find themselves oddly connected to Elliot this episode. Two leading girls experience some turmoil, furthering relationship with Elliot, although it's more platonic than romantic. Another name from recent past also greets him, these changes may affect him later on, but for now the effort to sabotage data cache is suspended.

On the end note, the intense episode closes with an interestingly catchy techno soundtrack. The show might merit from this kind of audio delight in the future.

Be good, fight evil. (Mozart's Rondo alla Turca plays in background...)

[hamidullahgenc · 9/10 · 9 February 2017]

This episode explains a lot.

A-In his plan, Elliot was not careful enough to cover his tracks in turning Fernando in. This was a play of the screenwriters to further use Fernando and increase the tension; otherwise, as careful a person as Elliot, one would not do this kind of a mistake.

B-As Fsociety attempts to penetrate Steel Mountain, Mr. Elliot Alderson runs across, of all people, Mr. Tyrell Wellick in a vast complex. This is also a play to kick it up a notch. Okay.

C-The Dark Army withdraws for some reason as the series would end if they didn't. Okay, it has something to do with the CD Ms. Angela Moss plants in the AllSafe's system. Maybe the Chinese crew wanted to have the AllSafe for themselves. But why?.. Okay, for chaos... But still, was it that much necessary?.. Oh, one more thing; if they did not withdraw, we won't ever be able to see Mr. Tyrell Wellick mess with the world. (P.S.: I wish AyYildizTeam should have a say in all these. :) )

These were the highlights in the 5th episode aside from the things that got the last 3 episodes going, like:

1-Lesbian love / intimacy between an astray girl and a decent / middle class girl to get the audience's blood pumped up. Not a logical one;

2-Portrayal of Muslims in a poor way as not only doing the prayer /salah properly, but making it seem like Muslims are of an asylum trying to establish a bond with the real world; (No wonder Mr. President perceives them as a threat. My Gosh.)

3-Focusing on rich families' fixation on fetishism, sadomasochism and their doing anything to get what they want as it is their right / fate; (Classical music plays in background... Not boring at all.)

4-Whole "I cannot live without my drugs" routine that legitimizes the illegal / self-ordained acts; (P.S.: Capitalism is bad, okay; so is using drugs and / or indulging in riotous living / sensual pleasures.)

5-Cheating (on) and framing is normal so long as you have the "reason" and you do not get caught. (Bad people must be put on trial, yeah. But in a humane way.)

6-Lastly, one has got to be a complete maniac / crazy to want the world to become a better / just / rightful place as they would probably have a tough childhood and received no love whatsoever that could have kept them in denial of the unjust state of affairs in this "fish tank" called Earth.

I give this one a "8,5." Yes.

Here is a saying from my culture on the matter:

'Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "Shall I not tell you what distinguishes the best of you from the worst of you? The best of you are those from whom goodness is expected and people are safe from their evil. The worst of you are those from whom goodness is not expected and people are not safe from their evil."

Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2263.

Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to At-Tirmidhi.'

Somebody made it up for last week's mistake

[Haniwilliam7 · 10/10 · 23 July 2015]

After last week's episode, I was sad and angry at the very same moment. Sad because I thought that a show with a great potential is losing it and angry because of my searching for a new promising show is over and now I'm heading back to the very same point where I started.

This episode is summarizing everything you need from a TV show. Also it had the intense of a breakthrough which wasn't not so thrilling to the degree that makes you forget the other great aspects of the show. Plus seeing other deep aspects of people's life and going more in some of the characters' inner sides which made the show multidimensional instead of being built only on one hero's life. I still liked the show in its way of opening more and more clues for potential development in the near future without making the viewer loss concentration at the main storyline.

Offcourse, the show still maintaining it's amazing formula of camera work and sound tract which made me captured even in a boring episode like the previous one with all the hallucinations.

To summarize, this episode is the nearest one to the pilot and if anyone thinks of leaving after last episode, please reconsider your decision.

Elliot Succeeds and Fails Spectacularly

[uawiseguy2 · 10/10 · 28 February 2020]

Elliot's first fsociety mission, the infiltration of Steel Mountain, Is filled with tense failure and surprising redemption. His successive oversight when it comes to his personal relationships makes this episode perfectly balanced in terms of building stakes for Elliot's future. Angela's father also makes his first appearance and I really hope nothing horrible happens to him.

Rewatch, 9.45/10

[dcdude-26988 · 9/10 · 29 June 2023]

Since only 9.6-10 get rated a 10/10 by me, this doesn't get that rating, but I can tell you, this comes close. Lots of things about this episode were amazing. I know for a fact that I am about to rate the next episode a 10. I also know that my mom will really like the episode as well. My favorite characters in this episode were Elliot, Mr Robot, and Darlene. My favorite things about this episode were the Protagonist, the action, and the pacing. Just like Daemons, this wasn't the best episode, but this was still a great episode in general. I haven't really considered an episode to be perfect before, so lets see about 4x07, 4x09, 4x11, 4x12, and 4x13, cause those were my top 5 on first watch.

Another Good One [7.7/10]

[panagiotis1993 · 8/10 · 12 June 2023]

My Reaction / Review for Mr. Robot Season 1 Episode 5: The fourth episode was good and I gave it a rating of 7.5/10, I hope this one is just as good or better, let's see. Love how Elliot says that Mr. Robot's flaw is that he is absolutely insane, the irony haha. Lol they actually used wikipedia to sell the lie? Awesome. What about the cameras in the building though? Isn't everything recorded? Im a bit confused about the plan. I feel bad for Bill, he seems like a kind guy. Tyrell is there? Damn. Tyrell knows about Elliot's dirty work, that could be a game changer. Angela's dad looks cool. Im glad she broke up with her boyfriend, the dude was insufferable. These names ''evil corp''. ''fsociety'', ''dark army'' are too funny if you think about it. A good episode overall, my rating is 7.7/10.

Please. Tell Me To Hit Execute.

[wandernn1-81-683274 · 7/10 · 8 September 2021]

Poor Fernando!!! He layed out a case against him on social media!!! Lesson? Learn it.

Some great scenes in this ep.

The Tyrell moves he makes on Sharon Knowles. +1 Star

The Eliot scenes with Darlene at the HQ and on the train. Set to Tangerine Dream. +1 Star

Oh man, F Society forever. 7/10.

Seen it all before

[nb99 · 5/10 · 16 August 2022]

I thought the clichéed cold turkey episodes were done with but apparently not. A serious drop off in quality for the series. Not sure if I'll even bother with the rest after this.