Mr. Robot has only aired a few short episodes at this point, and while the show immediately had flair and a central storyline, some shows do peter out after their freshman seasons, especially if future seasons haven’t been wholly planned. Luckily, that doesn’t seem to be the case with Mr. Robot. The drama’s creator, Sam Esmail, took to social media to answer a fan's question over the weekend and revealed that if USA wants to keep the series, he has an ultimate plan for the show in the works.
I have an ending and it's about 4 or 5 seasons away.
The Twitter user who managed to grab Esmail’s attention merely asked Esmail if he had any plans already in the works for Season 2, but he got even more information out of the producer. While we have no idea if Mr. Robot will actually live on to see Season 4 or Season 5, it’s still good to know that the show has an idea regarding where it is going and what kind of show it wants to be long-term.
Not that Mr. Robot should have much trouble staying on air, at least for a little while. The 2015 summer TV drama opened to OK numbers, but that was after the network pushed the pilot out on audiences via numerous streaming sites in advance of the cable release. Subsequent airings of the series have done well enough that USA has already signed on for a second season of the series. At minimum, Season 2 will be comprised of 10 episodes, but if the show continues to do well during its first season, the order might end up being higher.
Anyone who has watched Mr. Robot should know that the series is intricate but still character driven, following the antics of an organization of hackers who are looking to take down a big corporation. While the actual computer work has been spot-on, the focus on the series is on Rami Malek’s Elliot, a socially disconnected but competent hacker who gets sucked into a brand new world. The series isn’t light or airy and it does take chances, as in this week, when much of the focus was on Elliot’s withdrawal from intense drug addiction instead of the go-go-go hacking plans. As such, it's different than a lot of other shows on TV.
For a long time, USA Network has been known for light and airy TV fodder, including the recently-renewed Suits, but also former programming like Psych and White Collar. The network is obviously looking to go in a different direction. And if Mr. Robot is one of the first forays this new era of drama programming, I’m interested to see what else the network might have up its sleeve.
