TV this week: A hit with hacks and hackers

Ella Navarro & Ben Hamilton

Sep 18, 2015

Pick of the Week

Mr Robot
MSVT1 Fri 22:00

We told you months ago it was going to be ‘the series of the year’ and we weren’t wrong. This drama from USA Network has wowed everyone since opening at the Tribeca Festival to great reviews.

Rami Malek (and his haunting eyes) is outstanding as an antisocial cyber-security engineer with an anxiety disorder, whose only contact with people is through hacking. His life is turned upside down when he is hired by an important hacker group led by Mr Robot (Christian Slater) to destroy the company he works for.
Creator Sam Esmail does a great job at maintaining the suspense and keeping this psychological thriller realistic (it has won praise from actual hackers!) and anchored in the real world. For once, the main character doesn’t have Asperger’s.
With a score of 9 on IMBD, the wait is over for cyber Robin Hoods – get ready to hop on this rollercoaster.

Also New

SVT2, Mon 23:45 Kidnapped for Christ (Photo by Hansen & Pedersen Productions)

It sounds like a daft satire on dealing with unruly youths, but acclaimed documentary Kidnapped for Christ proves the truth is always more frightening.

Parents send their kids to Escuela Caribe in the Dominican Republic to sort them out. It is a correctional facility, and their kids need to be cured … of delinquency, traumas, homosexuality.

This might be one of the most bizarre yet harrowing programs you’ve ever seen.
Of course it will enrage the Bible-belt with its aspersions, as will The God Question (DRK, Wed 23:40) in which a clever computer is asked whether there is a higher deity. We won’t spoil the surprise.

If there is one, he’s probably watching over the subject of Daredevils – the Human Bird, (DR3, Wed 20:10) a base-jumper who since adolescence has used the sport to ease his suicidal tendencies.

Elsewhere, the lads will enjoy the Spike Guys Choice Awards (Zulu, Sun 20:55); we’ve got Oliver Stone’s second Castromentary, Looking for Fidel (SVT2, Tue 22:45); British prank show Bad Robots (BBC Ent, Mon 23:00) winds up the technophobes; Morgan Spurlock (SuperSize Me) tackles US college football in Inside Man (DR3, Fri 17:20); and there’s another chance to see Louis Theroux: African Hunting Holiday (DR2, Wed 23:00) – maybe you can spot Cedric the Lion. (BH)

Coming Soon

Only a bastard would attack a woman like this

The Bastard Executioner
From Kurt Sutter, the creator of The Shield and Sons of Anarchy, comes a series bursting with action and passion.
Set in newly-conquered Wales in the 14th century, a time of bloody infighting and uprisings against the English, a warrior has an encounter with a divine messenger who tells him his destiny is to become an executioner.

Expect echoes of the all-out violence of Game of Thrones, as nothing is more fearless than a Welshman who has nothing to lose.

With 64 on Metacritic, this should fill the emptiness felt after Sutter called it a day with Sons of Anarchy. (EN)

Sport of the Week

The Globe, Fri 21:00 Rugby World Cup: England vs Fiji (Photo by Craig Boyd)

It’s baffling to see Viasat has purchased the Rugby World Cup rights, but isn’t showing the opening ceremony or live coverage of the first game. Only one option! Head to The Globe on Nørregade for English commentary. Elsewhere, Arsene Wenger is frothing at the bit at the thought of Chelsea in the EPL, the NFL continues, and we’ve got the Singapore GP (3+, Sun 13:00). (BH)

Film of the Week

SVT4, Sat 21:30 Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Ever seen Waiting to Exhale starring Angela Bassett and Whitney Houston? Well Angela’s only gone and made a film about Whitney and it’s Houston, oh my god do we have a problem. Gangster Squad with Sean Penn is also horrible, while Seeking a friend for the end of the world has one joke – everyone must try smack before Armageddon hits town. (BH)