An Acclaimed Thriller Series With An Oscar-Winning Actor Is Streaming For Free

Even in the post-streaming-wars era, now that streamers are producing fewer titles than before and canceling or scrapping the ones they have, there is still so much TV out there that it's hard to watch all the big shows everyone is talking about — let alone catch up on older, popular shows. It doesn't help that streaming has made it so finding older titles is next to impossible, between licensing and just a lack of interest in preserving media. One very underrated player in the streaming landscape, however, is Tubi.

This free streamer is the closest to replicating the feeling of going to a video store back in the day, with a bit of an eclectic library full of buzzy indies, big blockbusters, horror gems, and even a fair amount of classic titles, including anime! It's truly a must-have for movie and TV fans, and in 2025 they are offering one of the weirdest and best shows of the late 2010s, starring an Oscar-winning actor — "Mr. Robot."

That's right, the first season of "Mr. Robot" is streaming for free on Tubi. Granted, you'd have to go elsewhere to find the remaining three seasons, but this is enough to get your attention and introduce one spectacular story. Created by Sam Esmail, "Mr. Robot" was unlike anything else on television at the time, a complex show full of shocking twists and turns, with an incredible performance by Rami Malek and a story that resonates even more today than when it first aired. If you've never experienced this show, now it's your time to start.

A big part of what made the first season of "Mr. Robot" so captivating was its mystery box approach. Sure, the show was full of mysteries, unanswered questions and shocking plot twists, but much like how "Lost" balanced its lore-building with exquisite character drama, "Mr. Robot" made the narrative framing of Elliott having a seriously damaged mind part of the mystery in a way that didn't drown out the story. The unreliable narrator framing allowed the show to introduce or do away with mysteries and have them be a part of Elliott's character arc rather than a way to keep audiences engaged for one more week.

"Mr. Robot" set a new standard for depicting mental illness on TV without being exploitative, with a nuanced portrayal of anxiety, schizophrenia and DID, with Elliott's journey being an enthralling and tragic story. Still, the show was not afraid to get weird, with an episode featuring '80s TV star, Alf, and even an entirely silent episode. Meanwhile, on the macro, the way "Mr. Robot" tackled the post-Occupy Wall Street world and the rise of tech-oligarchy has only become timelier and more prescient as time has passed, with the show offering a poignant message and a rather accurate and thrilling portrayal of hacker culture and cybersecurity in the modern world.

Then there's the look of the show, which earned a lot of praise for how unconventional it was. "Mr. Robot" often places characters in the corner of the frame, or at the bottom of it, in order to show their isolation and increase the feeling of paranoia in the story. This was a highly experimental show, and if you embark on this journey just know that it only gets better after the first season.