I’m a regular at the Mr. Robot subreddit, and every time someone announces that they finished the show for the first time, I give them a list of Mr. Robot-related things for them to check out before they give the show another watch. Ever since the show moved to Netflix in certain countries, there’s been an influx of new watchers, so I like to help them out with additional content in case they’re itching for another fix but don’t feel up for a rewatch right away. I don’t really use Tumblr anymore but I figured I’d drop the list here in case people don’t know that there are other things outside the show that exist!
Mr. Robot is one of those shows that you absolutely HAVE to rewatch at least once. It’s a completely different story when you already know the major plot points. You will catch all the subtle hints and foreshadowing that lead up to the biggest reveals/twists, and you realize that Sam Esmail knew where he was going with the story from the very beginning (Fun fact: He originally penned the show as a movie, so he already knew how the story was going to end long before he knew it was going to be a show!). Remember how confusing 104 was? It makes a lot more sense on a rewatch. That’s just one of the many things that become a lot clearer when you revisit the show.
But the plot can be very dense and it might take awhile to fully digest everything before you’re ready to dive back in, so I always suggest checking out the following while you’re prepping yourself for that crucial rewatch.
- Remember the journal Elliot keeps in season 2? It exists, and you can read or listen to it yourself! It’s called Red Wheelbarrow (Duh); what’s neat about the physical copy of the journal is that it’s meant to look almost exactly like the one he keeps in the show. It’s in “his handwriting” (Not Rami Malek’s unfortunately, but it’s Courtney Looney, who was a writer for the show; she and Sam co-wrote the journal), and it comes with a bunch of neat little trinkets that serve as puzzles that you can decode! Some of the stuff that’s included are a postcard written by Darlene, a newspaper clipping, and a page ripped out from a book. There is an eBook version, as well as an audiobook narrated by Carla (The trans inmate). It’s a great addition if you’re a fan of the show and it provides a lot of important context! Chronologically, it takes place immediately after season 1 when Elliot gets arrested, all the way up to when he gives Carla the journal so she can burn it. You’re filled in on what he’s been up to in the early days of his jail time.
- There is a VR/360 video experience that you can watch on YouTube. Warning: It’s super sad. Watch out for Sam Esmail’s cameo! He also makes a cameo in each season of the show.
- There was a mobile game that was published by Telltale (It was developed by a different studio though). You can’t download it on app stores anymore, but you can download an emulator and the game file and play it that way, or you can watch a walk through on YouTube. It takes place shortly before the Steel Mountain hack in season 1, and it’s a must play if you’re a big Darlene fan. The premise is basically: Darlene loses her phone, you find it, and she forces you to do tasks for her and fsociety. It’s kind of like a text adventure game. It’s super fun; Darlene basically bullies you for the entire game and it’s great.
- When the show was still on air, there was an ARG that fans could play alongside each new episode. There were a bunch of complicated puzzles and interesting clues that added a lot of context to the show. A group of dedicated people solved each puzzle on Reddit; their sub is called r/ARGsociety and you can view every puzzle on their wiki page.
- You can watch deleted scenes, gag reels, and behind the scenes featurettes on YouTube! This playlist also includes a snippet of The Careful Massacre of the Bourgeoise, aka the movie Elliot and Darlene love watching every Halloween.
This show is packed with nuance and depth; you can spend hours dissecting everything and you’d probably only be able to scratch the surface. It’s such a brilliant show and I love it to bits. I’m always up for an opportunity to blab about the show as well so you can always message me if you want to talk about it, whether it be about the show itself or if you just want to gush about how much you enjoyed it (Though I’m on Reddit far more regularly than here so it’s probably best you messaged me there instead so I’ll actually get a notification for it lol).
