‘Mr. Robot’ Invades Comic-Con: Cast On Elliot’s Shayla Obsession, Agent Dom, Angela’s Arc & Pokemon Go
Warning: Some spoilers about season 2 for Mr. Robot: Fans of USA’s Mr. Robot were dying to get into the Comic-Con panel so badly, they opted to sit through the network’s Colony panel. To give you an idea of the fandom for the show down here in San Diego, a father and a son literally dressed up as Mr. Robot and Rami Malek’s Elliot Anderson. That’s commitment.
At tonight’s panel, which excluded creator Sam Esmail as he’s deep in editing the rest of season 2 which recently wrapped, the cast comprised of Christian Slater, Malek, Carly Chaikin, Portia Doubleday and Grace Gummer, did their best to keep the lid on what’s yet to come. But of course, as is standard in a Mr. Robot panel, there’s always enough leaked out to placate us.
Among those season 2 details unwrapped today:
Malek hinted his dissociative identity disorder-suffering hacker Elliot Anderson is still hung up on the love of his life, Shayla, who was killed by a drug lord last season. “He’s still haunted by Shayla, he feels that he might be responsible…one day down the line, it will fly in the face and break him. Elliot has that tendency, but he always gets back up”. We also learn that Elliot eventually lets his guard down to his new friend Ray (Craig Robinson).
Portia Doubleday promised that Angela’s arc by the end of season two, “what ends up happening, no one will be able to predict.”
She explained that she needled Esmail on what makes her character, Elliot’s best friend-turned-E Corp employee, tick.
“There’s something dangerous to be said about her obsession with these affirmations,” said Doubleday referring to the confidence building exercises that Angela is putting herself through in the first episode of season 2. “What this is stemming from, is something quite explosive. She’s a troubling character and we see this shift from season one to two. She’s very malleable,” adds Doubleday.
Grace Gummer, who plays FBI agent Dom DiPierro, revealed a tad more about her character. “What you saw with Dom in the first episode isn’t what you get. She’s very complicated, layered and a weirdo. And I think she uses her work to cover up her own issues that she deals with. I see her as a bright light in a dark world, and she’s trying to find the people who turned the lights out. She has an instinct about who did it (the hack) and will stop at nothing to find that out.”
“I had to watch season one for information, because everyone’s consequences hinge on me,” added the actress.
With Esmail absent, Malek spoke about the grand thesis of Mr. Robot.
“Sam looks at situations in the world where a small group of people have gone up against things, where they’ve changed government or the way people live. The big question he’s asking: How can we go outside of each and every one of ourselves that has a lasting effect that benefits all of us?” explained the actor who recently received his first Emmy for best actor in a drama series.
“The show is about how we can affect the world we live in. Is technology an asset or is controlling us? We’re slaves to debt. Everyone has this accruing debt that we owe. We’ve just hit every aspect of how the top one percent of the top one percent rule the world we live in. What’s fascinating about the show is that we have this alienated, disenfranchised characters that everyone can relate to,” added Malek.
When the panel was asked by a Comic-Con attendee, “Who plays Pokemon Go?”, Slater unabashedly raised his hand to great cheers from Room 6BCEF. Chaikin then wagged a finger to the room, “From a Mr. Robot standpoint, are you aware of what access you’re handing over when you sign up for that game?”
Last week, Mr. Robot landed six Emmy nominations last week including USA’s first best drama nom. Even though Slater won a Golden Globe for the show in the supporting actor TV slot, many believe he was unfortunately overlooked by the TV Academy as his category was fiercely competitive this season.
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