Sam Esmailis paranoid. After his USA showMr. Robotdeveloped a massive fan following, he feared for leaks, especially in light of all the major twists and reveals in season 1. With season 2 currently in production, those fears haven’t subsided. Thankfully, the cast is bearing the brunt of the spoiler-y questions, and Esmail is at least teasing audiences what to expect in the next round.
Esmail and his starsRami MalekandChristian Slaterhit upthe SXSW Film Festivalin Austin for a panel called “Coding on Camera:Mr. Robotand Authenticity on TV.” According toVariety, the series creator confirmed that season 2 will tackle the topics of privacy and data encryption.
“What’s weird is we’re really going into thematically talking a lot about encryption and privacy, and this whole thing with Apple andTim Cookhappened, which I actually think is a really important issue that we’re really going to get into in the next 10 years or so. It’s not something that I think people really understand the nuances of, but it’s going to be interesting public discourse about it, because it really brings up the idea of the rights to privacy and do we have them, do we not?”
Without giving too much away from season 1, Esmail continued,
“Y’all know thatGrace Gummerwas cast — and she’s amazing by the way. Elliot committed a crime in the first season, and we’re gonna see the ramifications of that in the second season, I think that drives a lot about what the second season’s all about. And that’s why there’s the introduction of law enforcement that was kind of intentionally not shown in the first season, so that opens a whole new dimension there. And really I think the second season is about [Elliot and Mr. Robot] — that internal struggle, what does that look like, and how are they going to reconcile it?”
Esmail directs all 10 episodes ofMr. Robotseason 2, whileMichael Cristofer(Phillip Price) andStephanie Corneliussen(Joanna Wellick) were recently bumped up to series regulars.Ben Rappaport(Ollie) andTom Riis Farrell(Bill) also return alongside newcomersJoey Bada$$andChris Conroyas new characters Leon, a neighborhood friend of Elliot, and Derek, an attractive man in Joanna’s life.
