Introduction
Rami Malek is a wonderful actor isn’t he? While he has now starred as Safin in No Time To Die and Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, you could argue it was Mr Robot that helped to boost his profile. Amazon Prime’s fantastic show about an advanced computer hacker, struggling with his mental health and past, and the dilemmas he faces not only pushed Rami Malek into the mainstream but also hoovered up a ton of Emmys and awards. Before I properly get into the list, here is some history about the show.
History
Mr Robot debuted on Amazon Prime in June 2015 and ran for four seasons until December 2019. As mentioned above, the show follows a cybersecurity engineer, Elliot, who suffers social anxiety and mental health problems as he begins working for a suspicious anarchist company. The show garnered huge praise for its story and the dilemmas it presented with how Elliot interacts with others as a result of his mental health. . This dilemma really provides great moral quandaries and provides the backbone to many episodes along with a very anti-film industry/anti-capitalist tone. So, without further ado here are the best Mr Robot episodes ranked.
Best Mr Robot Episodes – Top 10
10: whoami (S4, E12)
Kicking off the list of the best Mr Robot episodes is whoami. So, what happens in this episode? Well Elliot wakes up in a thriving suburbia where his mother and father are still alive. That’s shocking enough before he gets the realisation that they never abused him as a child. The revelations keep on coming… Also this episode features two different Elliots which ends up with them causing a massive earthquake which kills the alternate Elliot. Man, that’s hurting my head…
9: eps1.7_wh1ter0se.m4v (S1, E8)
Well this is nice. While seasons 3 and 4 were probably slightly better overall you can’t ignore Mr Robot’s first season. Case in point Episode 8 from Season 1. So what happens here? Well, there are two massive revelations for Elliot involving side characters. The first is Darlene is actually his sister (doubly shocking as he kissed her two seconds before…) However, the second one reveals that Mr Robot is actually Elliot’s father. The other major highlight for me is the introduction of eventual antagonist Whiterose. So many great reveals here…
8: shutdown_r (S3, E10)
Coming in at number 8 in the best Mr Robot episodes is the season 3 finale: shutdown_r. So what happens in this episode? Well, Elliot and two of his accomplices are captured and one of them, Dominique, is forced to become an FBI mole. Eventually, Elliot and Dominique make peace and vow to reverse the villain’s plan, Five/Nine. Again, Rami Malek shines as Elliot while the confrontation between Dominique and Vera at the end sets up their respective arcs throughout Season 4.
7: eps3.5_kill-pr0cess.inc (S3, E6)
Next up on the best Mr Robot episodes is Episode 6 from Season 3. Yeah, I’ve called it this because the title is quite wordy… Anyway, this episode sees the classic villain tricking the hero into helping them with their plan. In this case, Elliot believes he has foiled the villain’s plan only for a series of explosions, killing thousands, was only amplified by his involvement and actions. All I’m saying is that if this plot device ain’t broken, don’t fix it as it continues to be a great way to test a character’s morals in the face of villainy. Wow, that got rather serious very quickly.
6: eXit (S4, E11)
Yep, this is the first half of whoami which sets up the following episode. While Elliot attempts to perform a world saving hack he isn’t able to, which leads to the ‘end of the world’. Other highlights in this episode include a wonderful philosophical debate about the nature of people, hatred and the world itself. That’s not even mentioning the setup of the alternate Elliot at the end of the episode and his relationship with Mr Robot. God damn, this episode is just fantastic.
Best Mr Robot Episodes – Top 5
5: 409 Conflict (S4, E9)
So, at the halfway point of the best Mr Robot episodes is 409 Conflict. So, what sort of madness goes down in this episode? Well it’s rather tamer by Mr Robot standards with an argument between Mr Robot, Magda and Young Elliot. There are two reasons this is fantastic. One is the fact that this is entirely in Elliot’s mind. The second reason is that Elliot isn’t actually awake during this. The rest of the episode is alright but this argument serves as another great debate in Mr Robot.
4: 405 Method Not Allowed (S4, E5)
Good lord, Season 4 of Mr Robot was great wasn’t it? More evidence of this is 405 Method Not Allowed narrowly missing out on the top three. So, what happens in this episode? Well, it sees Elliot and Darlene giving themselves 40 minutes to get the necessary information from their target company: Virtual Realty. While Elliot leads the police on a foot chase, Darlene escapes with the information in disguise. This episode ranks highly because of the performance of Malek as Elliot and the dynamic shown between Elliot and Darlene.
Best Mr Robot Episodes – Top Three
3: eps3.4_runtime-err0r.r00 (S3, E5)
Kicking off the top three best Mr Robot episodes is Episode 4 from Season 3. And yes, I’m just calling it that because I don’t want to write that title multiple times. So what happens in that episode? Well, Elliot goes to work at a UN vote. But the only problem is that he has no memory of the previous four days. To try and evacuate the building, he tries to call a bomb threat in but to no avail. Eventually he does get in the building but not quick enough to thwart the plan. Man, why is this show so good?
2: Hello Elliot (S4, E13)
Narrowly missing out on the top spot in the best Mr Robot episodes ranked is Hello Elliot. Great news, it’s another season 4 episode. So, what makes Hello Elliot so good? Well, it’s the final episode (so far) of Mr Robot, it follows on whomani and it’s just a really good episode. Case in point, Elliot has to deal with the consequences of killing his alternate self and it also deals with Elliot’s multiple personalities which have developed across the show. By this point, his friend Krista is another one of his personalities. Yeah the show gets very weird in Season 4 at points. Anyway, the ending scene of Darlene seeing Elliot wake up in a hospital bed is just wonderful and actually quite wholesome.
Best Mr Robot Episode
1: 407 Proxy Authentication Required (S4, E7)
And the best Mr Robot episode is… 407 Proxy Authentication Required. So, why is this episode the best? Well, it takes all the emotional drama and ramps it up to 11 with a hostage situation and the loss of Vera. This is a hard one to judge because Vera really had a shifty philosophy but this episode sees him and Elliot having a heart to heart about their troubled pasts. Other highlights include Krista helping Elliot realise that Mr Robot always existed and the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father was real. Good lord, that is so much emotional character development.
