There’s a lot you can learn about hacking from Mr Robot, some of which might not be as complex as you think. Alex Casey lists some life hacks from the pilot episode. 

I watched the first episode of Mr Robot last night, the much-buzzed about cyber thriller that has hacked through the dark web all the way to New Zealand, exclusively available here on Lightbox. Brooding, stylish and extremely tense, the drama is jam-packed with social media paranoia and more hacks than a disastrous open mic comedy night. It’s essential viewing, an eye-opening look into our terrifying technological world – even if you aren’t a code savvy computer superhero. 

Now, I’m an idiot who doesn’t even know their Skype login –  let alone how to hack into any kind of ‘mainframe’ – but I once stayed up all night reading a life hack website until I started to think I wasn’t “hacking life” anymore. I don’t know how to administer any sort of worm or trojan horse, but I do know how to fix a jandal with nothing but a bread bag clip and a heart of gold. Praised as “the only TV show that actually understands the internet,” here are some of these important life hacks – one the crown jewels of the internet – that I picked up from the Mr Robot pilot episode. 

1) Tie Hack

The ultimate style hack. Don’t go and make “things so complicated”, because Avril Lavigne’s signature look is back and better than ever. 

2) Name Hack

Is there an evil organisation in your cool television show? Don’t beat around the bush, save time by calling it exactly that. A technique previously only used by Disney films, this alarmingly on-the-nose naming decision is not only an exquisite writing hack, but is a beacon of clarity in Elliot’s murky world, where nothing anybody says is actually what they mean. 

3) Dog Hack

If you have the power to bring down greedy, ruinous companies with your fingertips, it’s also okay to use this power to lock down a good dog as a bit of a treat. 

4) Scarf Hack

Christian Slater has clearly spent up large at The Silk Road for this look. The Silk Road being a scarf shop in Brown’s Bay.

5) Title Hack

Simple and powerful, the word art counterpoint to the sweeping three hour motion picture presentations that we have seen from the likes of True Detective recently. Trim the fat, hack off the crap, nobody wants to see that many motorways running across Vince Vaughan’s face. Perfect.

6) Phone hack

Ask to borrow someone’s phone to ring your Mum, and ring your own phone number. You’ve then got their number forever, and can then punk them with poop emojis until the stars turn cold. Thanks Mr Robot.

7) Fight Club Hack

The parallels are difficult to avoid. There’s a pessimistic protagonist who sits in his dreary office staring into space:

A relentless internal monologue about hating the symbols of the modern world:

And a Marla Singer type:

Mr Robot has revived many of the nihilistic, vigilante themes from the crisis-world of Fight Club for a 2015 audience. I shudder to think what Tyler Durden would be like on social media, he’d be Snapchatting you every three minutes with Minion memes reminding you that you are not a beautiful snowflake and liking and then unliking your Instagrams just to fuck with you. Hell on wheels, no thank you.

8) Crying Hack

For the folks playing along at home, a cranny is a great place to cry AND be safe in the event of an earthquake. Life = hacked. In one of the most devastating parts of the episode, Elliot sits cramped under the table of his apartment, crying hysterically. “What do normal people do when they get this sad?” his monotonous voice within asks. This is one of the most crushing scenes I have seen in a long time, an explosive spike of despair in an otherwise flat-line of purposefully dulled detachment. 

9) Facebook Hack

Honestly, just don’t use it. Elliot is watching, eyes on stalks, as you click ‘like’ on Maroon Five and tell your nearest and dearest about how you haven’t shaved your legs since July. He’s lurking, smirking, and judging. 

10) Lookalike Hack

Just like Rami Malek is not actually a giant gecko in a hoodie – this is not actually Amanda Seyfried

We’ve been catfished from start to finish, Mr Robot has pwned us again.

Click here to watch all 10 episodes of Mr Robot, available exclusively now on Lightbox

This content, like all our television coverage at The Spinoff, is brought you thanks to the truly wonderful people at Lightbox. Do us and yourself a favour by clicking here to start a FREE 30 day trial of this fantastic service.

Woah, busy alert! I see you, shuffling papers and scrolling through your calendar with a furrowed brow. Life is crazy, life is hectic. TV? Forget about it! What a nightmare! Lucky for you, we have had a scan of the week ahead and have got your five essential television appointments booked. Sit back, relax and let the trusty Spinoff guide you through your television week.

Songs From the Inside, Monday 9.30pm on Maori TV

Returning for a third and final season, Songs From the Inside takes some of New Zealand’s most prominent musicians behind the walls of New Zealand prisons. Once there, they work with prisoners to write, perform and record their own original music. This season takes us into the prisons of Christchurch, with Scribe, Ladi6, Troy Kingi and Anika Moa as the musical mentors. Earlier this year I interviewed Anika Moa about her work on Songs From the Inside:

“It changed the way I perceived the prison system. It’s changed the way I perceive people in general. Because anyone that’s been in prison, they are generally there because their whole life has been tormented with drugs and alcohol and abuse. It’s all been carried on to them. You’ve got to learn to not judge people that are in prison. Look in your own backyard before you start judging other people.”

Kid Criminals, Tuesday 9.30pm on TV One

This two-part series debuts on TV One this week, taking viewers behind the bars of Indiana’s juvenile prisons. With inmates as young as 12, Kid Criminals profiles the kids themselves, prison guards and staff, as well as the backgrounds that have led them all to this point. What treatments will they receive? What skills will they need to re-join society? Will Anika Moa pop up with a guitar? Sadly, not for this time.

Struggle Street finale, Wednesday 8.30pm on TV One

The final part of Struggle Street, a documentary series examining extreme poverty in the western suburbs of Sydney, airs on Wednesday. Observational, impartial and absolutely relentless in its gaze, the camera takes us inside the homes of families gripped by unemployment, drugs and mental illness. It’s some of the most harrowing and eye-opening television of the year.

Home and Away, Thursday 5.30pm on TV2

Look, we all love it when Ed Sheeran pops up on a fictional television show. He’ll do it here. He’ll do it there. He’ll do it anywhere. This week he’s taking his luscious red locks to the sandy shores of Summer Bay, where he is guaranteed to be strumming a guitar in The Deli for no reason.

Dogs: Their Secret Lives, Friday 7.30pm on Prime

Finally, someone’s asking the big questions.

Bonus binge: Twin Peaks on Lightbox – With David Lynch finally locked in for a 2016 reboot after throwing a big tanty about money, it’s a great time to relive this piece of haunting, surreal, and damn good television.

This content, like everything we do at The Spinoff, is brought you thanks to the excellent folk people at Lightbox. Do us and yourself a favour by clicking here to start a FREE 30 day trial of this truly wonderful service.