10 TV Shows That Make You Question Your Own Reality
1. Mr Robot
Without spoiling any of the twists in this one, Mr Robot is a heavy contender for one of the shows to best utilise the concept of the unreliable narrator over the course of its 4 seasons. It covers Elliott Alderson (played by Oscar winner Rami Malek) as a cyber-hacker who is at the centre of a global economic crash under the charge of a mysterious secret society.
Where the show plays with the audience’s concept of reality is in the manner in which Elliott relays the story, by directly addressing the viewer from his perspective throughout. When we first meet Elliott, it’s clear he is socially awkward but the levels of his social and emotional disconnection to everyone around him slowly takes root over the course of the series. Over time, we begin to see that the emotionally detached and unstable Elliott is not entirely reliable in relaying the story to the audience, with some excellent twists dropped at significant points in the story which surprise the lead character as much as the viewer.
By establishing that Elliott is unaware of the full machinations of his own psyche, it makes the show feel dangerous in the sense that we struggle to comprehend the truth of what we’re being shown - how much of what is happening on screen is what is really going on and how much is part of Elliott’s delusions? It’s an audacious concept for a show that aired on the relatively unassuming USA Network in America, more commonly known for its procedural cop / detective shows. Add into that the stylish, avant-garde tone with a bunch of crazy twists and a stellar cast, and you have a criminally underrated show that’ll make your head spin and question everything around you.