As I’m sure nearly everyone has heard by now, Mr. Robot’s fourth season will be its last. Ever since I binge-watched the series last Christmas, I’ve been in love with it, and I’m saddened by this news. To be honest, I was just as upset to hear about Mr. Robot ending as I was to learn that season eight of Game of Thrones will be the last one aired (both final seasons of Mr. Robot and Game of Thrones will premiere in 2019).
With that being said, I’ve decided to dedicate a small homage to Mr. Robot by posting my favorite scenes from the show, in no particular order. Just a slight warning: most of these clips focus on Elliot, but let’s face it, he had some of the best ones! Enjoy!
WARNING: THESE SCENES INCLUDE ADULT LANGUAGE, BRIEF NUDITY AND VIOLENCE. THEY ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR WORK OR TO VIEW AROUND CHILDREN. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Season 1 – Elliot’s Introduction
Mr. Robot hit the ground running in its pilot episode. We’re introduced to Elliot in the first five minutes, where he explains to a local coffee shop owner, Ron aka Rohit, that’s he’s a hacker that learned Ron runs a child porn site. Ron initially believes that Elliot is telling him this information to extort him, but Elliot cooly informs him that that’s not the case. This scene draws you in, thanks to the on-point dialog and Rami Malek’s tremendous acting ability. We learn so much about Elliot’s character in such a small amount of time, and so much drama begins the minute the show starts. Iconic scene.
Season 3 – Trenton and Mobley’s Failed Escape Attempt
At the end of season two, we see that Leon, who is a hitman employed by the Dark Army, has caught up with Trenton and Mobley (now known as Tonya and Frederick), despite their best attempts to hide out in Arizona. Midway through season three, it’s revealed that Leon has kidnapped the two hackers and has them out in the desert, digging a grave while Trenton and Mobley are tied up in the back of Leon’s caddy. Trenton manages to get free, and Mobley urges her to drive away while Leon is distracted. Problem is…Trenton doesn’t know how to drive. Leon’s reaction to the botched escape makes this scene even more hilarious.
Season 1 – Elliot’s “F**k Society” Soliloquy
Here’s another great part from Mr. Robot’s pilot episode that teaches us more about Elliot’s character. During his session with his Krista, his psychologist, she asks what bothers Elliot so much about society. Elliot pretty much lets us know (and only us), and truer words have never been spoken.
Season 1 – Tyrell Kills Sharon Knowles
Tyrell’s scenes always keep viewers glued to the screen, thanks to his Patrick Bateman-esque persona. I have to say, Tyrell’s most memorable—and chilling—scene in the Mr. Robot series has to be the one where he kills Sharon Knowles after he’s passed up for the CTO position at E Corp in favor of Sharon’s husband, Scott. After learning he lost the promotion, he invites Sharon on the roof of the building for a little hanky panky, and a potentially hot love scene quickly becomes a nightmarish show of brutality. I actually watched this particular part on television before I became a fan of the show, and it stayed burned in my mind. FKA Twigs’s “Two Weeks” playing as the craziness unfolds adds to the storyline’s steamy beginning devolving into a horrifying end. Sadly, there’s no online clip of this scene. If you have Amazon Prime you can stream the episode (along with the rest of the first season), or you can purchase the season one Blu-ray.
Season 2 – Elliot’s In Prison!
Mr. Robot is known for plot twists that completely mess with your mind and make you rethink your universe, and season two definitely threw us a curveball. For the majority of season two, we’re led to believe that Elliot is staying with his mother after the 5/9 hack. Apparently, he’s on an extremely strict schedule, which includes waking up at a certain time, keeping a journal, watching basketball games with Leon, eating at the local diner, going to a church group, continuing regular sessions with Krista, doing dishes, then turning in for bed at a particular hour. However, towards the end of the “eps2.5_h4ndshake.sme” episode, we learn why Elliot’s daily routine is so rigid all of sudden: he’s actually in prison for theft (stealing Flipper the dog in the pilot episode). Once we learn that Elliot is in prison and not his mother’s house, we watch as Elliot’s delusion—and our deliberately misguided storyline—beautifully fades away into the grim reality piece by piece. Elliot even apologizes for being an unreliable narrator and promises never to leave us in the dark again. Best reveal ever.
Season 2 – Elliot’s First Day In
The only thing better than how we learned that Elliot is really in prison is when we witness what really happened during his first day inside. Now that Elliot clued us all into his actual whereabouts, he goes on to reveal the details of his arrest, trial and being processed. Seeing all the characters we came to know—or thought we knew—as they really are and how Elliot handles his first day in prison is really cool (plus, we’re officially introduced to Leon!). Public Image Ltd.’s “The Order of Death” serving as a soundtrack to the scene is golden. Did I mention that the overall soundtrack for Mr. Robot is phenomenal?
Season 3 – Elliot Hits Undo
The opening scene of “eps3.1_undo.gz” isn’t just my favorite montage from the Mr. Robot series, it’s one of my favorite montages, period. In this scenario, Elliot takes the steps to undo the 5/9 hack and prevent the Dark Army from committing a terrorist act, all while committing to a daily routine like an average working class citizen. Elliot also manages to rid himself of any E Corp minions that stand in his way of stopping the Dark Army’s plan and/or are doing their own dastardly deeds to get ahead. That way, Evil Corp won’t be so…evil. One of the best things about this opening scene is that it introduced me to trunk clubs and emojis without mouths! This extremely well put-together sequence had the extra added bonus of being presented to the tune of INXS’s classic, “New Sensation” (did I mention this show’s creators have great taste in music?). Unfortunately, I couldn’t find an online clip of the actual scene to post here, but the entire episode—along with the other episodes from season 3—can be streamed on the USA website.
Season 2 – Mr. Robot: The Sitcom
In Mr. Robot, we’ve seen that Elliot deals with traumatizing situations by creating his own reality. The “eps2.4_m4ster‐s1ave.aes” episode is no exception to that rule. After Elliot endures one of the worst beatings he’s ever received, he copes with the fallout by imagining he’s living in a ’90s sitcom. The first 30 minutes of the episode has to be seen to be believed. I was only able to post the excerpt of the hilarious Full House-esque “opening credits” (pay attention to the dark lyrics over the happy music). Even though the faux opening is great, the sequence in its entirety is golden. When this episode first aired on TV, USA went so far as to include ’90s style commercials about E-Corp, The Careful Massacre of the Bourgeoisie (the fictional horror film that inspired the fsociety masks), and Suits. They even threw in a few real ’90s commercials and their actual TV spots from the decade! Man, that took me back (shows how old I am).
Season 2 – Elliot Hopped Up On Adderall
While Elliot is taking some time out at his “mother’s house,” he continues to have constant visions of Mr. Robot. To make his alter ego go away, Elliot scores Adderall from Leon. Much to everyone’s amazement, it works and we see Elliot in a way we’ve never seen him before…happy and super animated. Of course, it’s a drug-fueled faux happiness, but it’s just nice to see Elliot smile for a change (at least it was for me. Leon didn’t care too much for “Happy Elliot.”). Elliot truly seems to be enjoying himself, until the combination of him taking too many pills and going days without sleep makes everything go left. This is another scene that I couldn’t find online. Once again, I recommend either streaming it on Amazon Prime or purchasing the season two Blu-ray, because it’s a trip. It’s especially gut-busting when Elliot gets the holy ghost during church group and later ends up a little too excited during a basketball game.
Season 3 – Elliot Comforts Angela
After Angela learns that the Dark Army manipulated her into committing the most heinous terrorist attack since 9/11, she understandably suffers a complete mental breakdown. Darlene urges Elliot to speak with her, and at first he refuses, due to the fact that he’s furious with her—not only for her role in the attack, but for manipulating him to help her with it. However, after some soul searching—thanks to Trenton’s little brother—Elliot goes to Angela’s condo to see about her. Angela never answers the door, but Elliot still speaks to her through the wall, trying to relieve her by reliving favorite childhood memories. The clip I found on YouTube is only part of the scene, regrettably. Considering that the entire “eps3.7dont-delete-me.ko” episode is a gem, I highly recommend streaming it on USA’s website.
Season 3 – Derek and Joanna Break Up…Permanently
This is another eerie incident in the show. After Joanna Wellick tricks her boy-toy, Derek, into lying to the police about Scott Knowles murdering his wife Sharon, she quickly drops him like a bad habit and publicly lets it be known that she has no intention of leaving Tyrell (who’s hiding out at the moment). Derek loses his everloving mind and begins stalking Joanna after she makes her declaration on national TV. Her bodyguard/hired hitman tries to set the record straight with Derek, but to no avail. He responds with guns blazing—literally—and a bullet hits Joanna right in the forehead. Joanna’s bodyguard catches a bullet too, but he manages to survive and shoots Derek in the gut, taking him out. The creepiest part of the scene is seeing Joanna’s infant son screaming his head off with his mother’s blood splattered all over him, as Roxette’s “Listen To Your Heart” plays in the background. Unsettling.
These were just a precious few of my favorite scenes. If I listed every last one of my favorites, this article would be the length of War and Peace. So tell me, what are your favorite scenes/storylines from Mr. Robot? Let me know in the comments section!