It definitely feels like we’re entering a new golden age of television as every season sees the introduction of new shows that push the barriers for what we can expect to see on the small screen. Out of all the pleasant surprises from last year, none was as welcome as Mr. Robot, which appeared with little fanfare as part of the USA Network’s summer slate and quickly became a favorite of critics and a word of mouth favorite amongst viewers.
Now the second season is coming up and will debut on July 13, returning us to the world of Elliot Alderson and his fsociety hackers, as they deal with the fallout of a massive hack against monolithic company E Corp that has wiped out all records of the world’s debts.
“Season two gets really dark, really fast,” showrunner Sam Esmail told Digital Trends in an interview. “It’s even darker [than the first season]. We’re still nervous with every episode. We’re afraid people are going to hate it and call us out as frauds, or whatever. But we definitely love the attention.”
And while the story will go darker, the care that went into every shot that made the show such a pleasure to watch will remain the same.
“We definitely go for a cinematic quality, especially in our shots and our framing,” Esmail promised. “It lends itself to a really big-screen experience.”
The universe of Mr. Robot is also set to expand with the arrival of two new characters played by American Horror Story‘s Grace Gummer and Craig Robinson, who is best known for his comedic roles in The Office and films like Hot Tub Time Machine. BD Wong has also confirmed that he will return to expand on the mysterious hacker Whiterose, one of the most interesting characters from the first season.
Esmail has also told viewers to watch out for more references and remixes pulled from iconic anti-authority pop culture. The show wasn’t shy about borrowing from movies like Aronofsky’s Pi and Fincher’s Fight Club. This season is set to kick off with an homage to Taxi Driver, and will include more hat tips to Stanley Kubrick and David Fincher.
If the teaser is any indication, the show will also contain a number of easter eggs for the hacker-minded viewer. A phone number in the trailer (212-804-6003) connects the caller to a line that includes a binary encoding of a Francis Bacon quote along with a link to fsoc.sh, which prompts you for a password. How that password will be hidden in Mr. Robot season two, we have no idea … but we’ll be keeping a very close eye on the show to find that and any other secret messages tucked beneath the surface of our corrupt society.
