The ‘Mr. Robot’ Premiere Gave Us TV’s Best Music Moment This Year

There’s nothing quite like Mr. Robot on TV right now, or ever, really. It’s a visually rich, daring show about hackers and the father figments of their imagination who shoot them. In last night’s season two premiere, there was BDSM, Seinfeld references, Meryl Streep’s daughter as an FBI agent, a Barack Obama cameo, Christian Slater being a real dick to Elliot, bull balls, multiple instances of the word “f*ck,” and an Evil Corp officer who set fire to $5.9 million in cash in Battery Park while wearing an fsociety mask. Oh yeah, and the scene was set to Phil Collins’ classic “Take Me Home.” What a show.

About that Phil Collins scene: There have been some memorable musical moments on TV this year — every episode of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend comes to mind — but this might have been the best. For one thing, the scene, shot by Sam Esmail, was tense and suspenseful; you weren’t sure who was coming for the bags of money, and why fsociety sent a bike messenger. Plus, “Take Me Home” is a great song, and surprisingly relevant to Mr. Robot. Collins has said that the lyrics concern an inmate at a mental hospital. It’s hard to discern that while casually listening to the song on the radio, but the lyrics — “There’s no point escaping/I don’t worry anymore/I can’t come out to find you/I don’t like to go outside” — reveal a dour experience that Elliot can probably relate to.

Also, the music video’s a goofy, achingly ’80s delight.

The “Take Me Home” scene really resonated with Mr. Robot fans.

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Collins took them to church, and home.