“Mr. Robot” returns for season two intense as ever

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Peter Kramer

Malek and Slater are on the set of “Mr. Robot”. The season two premiere of “Mr. Robot” aired on July 13.

Angel Kim, Staff Writer

After successful first season that has earned multiple accolades and stirred discussions concerning cybersecurity and psychology, “Mr. Robot” returned to the small screen for its second season on July 13. The first two episodes, “eps2.0_unm4sk-pt1.tc” and “eps2.0_unm4sk-pt2.tc” aired as a double feature and was followed by a live interview of the cast.

Created by Sam Esmail, “Mr. Robot” follows Elliot Alderson’s (Rami Malek) journey as a hacker haunted by a character named Mr. Robot (Christian Slater), who at the end of season one is revealed to be a figment of Alderson’s imagination. Season two begins by describing a strictly routine lifestyle that Alderson has adopted in attempt to reduce Mr. Robot’s control over him. Meanwhile, Darlene Alderson (Carly Chaikin) leads fsociety in attacking E Corp and Angela Moss (Portia Doubleday) finds herself enjoying working for E Corp.

As the episodes progress, however, viewers will become captivated by the plotline. In addition, new characters, both Alderson’s peers and E Corp staff, are revealed. Malek delivers an engaging performance, especially at the end of the second installment, where he is able to successfully overpower Mr. Robot for the time being and proceeds to laugh almost maniacally.

For those who are interested in visuals, the cinematography in “Mr. Robot” is as impressive as the first season. The filming style was consistent throughout the episodes, where quite a few “rules” for framing shots are broken, and broken effectively. The lowly lit interiors and overcast skies add to the show’s dark mood.

The “unm4sk” episodes persuasively bring the tagline of “Mr. Robot”’s second season, “Control is an illusion”, to life. While the season two premiere of the show adequately answered many questions returning viewers had, the most prominent mysteries, namely Tyrell Wellick’s (Martin Wallström) disappearance at the end of the first season, are yet to be resolved.

“Mr. Robot” airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST through USA Network.