Shows like Mr. Robot gained a cult following because they push the envelope when telling stories that are more than often off the beaten path. While they might not have the best viewership ratings, the shows end up winning awards and end up praised by fans long after the more popular shows have come and gone. Mr. Robot starred Rami Malek in his breakout role as Elliot Alderson, a cybersecurity engineer who speaks to a man only he can see and hear, the titular Mr. Robot (Christian Slater). As the show wore on, it turned out nothing was what it seemed and the twists and turns were smart and frustrating at turns.

Mr. Robot continues to be a popular show, years after it aired its series finale aired in 2019. This was a show that was a slow-burn mystery, with cutting-edge directing and effects, top-notch acting, and a great story from start to finish. Mr. Robot also approached the idea of how technology plays into a world that still seeks anarchy on a certain level. It is a universal story but is also not new for fans of movies and television. With so many great TV shows based around the same ideas of rebelling against authority, fear of technology, and mind-bending plots, there are plenty of shows like Mr. Robot for fans to discover.

20 Halt And Catch Fire (2014-2017)

Halt and Catch Fire Season 3 characters standing together and looking at the camera in a promo image
  • Available to stream on AMC+

Halt and Catch Fire was an AMC series that ran from 2014 to 2017, with four seasons. The show was set in the past, taking place in one decade period from 1983 to 1995, tracking the growth of the World Wide Web, with the title itself referring to machine code. With shows like Mr. Robot all about computer hacking, it provides a nice counterpoint to see a series about where the internet really got its start as a tool for everyone to use. If it wasn't for the World Wide Web, there would be no hackers like Elliot Alderson, so this is a nice look at where it all began.

19 Control Z (2020-2022)

A promo image from Control Z.
  • Available to stream on Netflix

The plot of Mr. Robot followed a clandestine group planning a mass terrorist act via computer hacking. Part of the suspense was trying to realize who was to blame, who set everything up, and how everyone played their roles in the entire organization. For people who love shows with this type of mistrust and deceit, the underrated 2020 Netflix drama Control Z could be a perfect show to binge on. The series was about a hacker who exposed the secrets of students in their school, as they systematically set out to destroy everyone's reputation.

18 Altered Carbon (2018-2020)

Anthony Mackie as the new host body of Takeshi Kovacs as he looks at himself in the mirror in Altered Carbon
  • Available to stream on Netflix

Mr. Robot wasn't a science fiction series, but it played with the same tropes. For fans who loved the technological aspects of shows like Mr. Robot, there is a Netflix sci-fi series that is just as smart and featured two very different seasons before its cancelation. Altered Carbon was a show that took place in the future where the wealthy could their consciousness and then it into a new body after they died. In the first season, the consciousness of a wealthy man is ed into a former soldier, tasked to find out who killed him.

17 Counterpart (2017-2019)

JK Simmons in season 1 of Counterpart.
  • Buy on Prime Video & Apple TV

The Prime Video series Counterpart plays with the idea of two different sides to the same person, similar to the themes in shows like Mr. Robot. In Mr. Robot, Elliot has dissociative identity disorder with an alter named Mr. Robot - a duplicate of his dead father. He has to come to with who he is during the series. In Counterpart, the series presents counter Earths, where there are versions of the same characters in both worlds. J.K. Simmons plays a boring analyst who ends up transferred with his counterpart, who happens to be a secret agent.

16 12 Monkeys (2015-2018)

James and Cassie in 12 Monkeys on Syfy.
  • Available to stream on Hulu

Based on the movie of the same name, SyFy made 12 Monkeys into a series that lasted for four seasons. Much like shows like Mr. Robot, this series played around with a clandestine group that plans to destroy the world. Much like the movie, a group from the future sends people back in time to find a way to stop the incident that decimated the planet. The series was allowed to finish its run, so unlike many SyFy shows that end up canceled in their prime, 12 Monkeys has a beginning, middle, and end, and is ready to binge right now.

15 BrainDead (2016)

Spray-painting on Braindead.
  • Available to stream on Paramount+

Braindead was a short-lived show that centered on politicians and people in Washington D.C. acting overly aggressively and radicalizing their political beliefs. The show had relevant social commentary on America's current political world while also having engaging storytelling and a mysterious and slowly revealed explanation of what was happening. It's an engaging and unique show, and nothing is as it seems when it comes to the political landscape. This bears a strong similarity to shows like Mr. Robot in that manner.

14 Mindhunter (2017-2019)

An FBI agent walking in Mindhunter.
  • Available to stream on Netflix

Mindhunter is based on the real-life work of criminal profilers who coined the term serial killer and the show focuses on some of their first case studies of serial killers and looks into the psychology behind what made them kill. Mindhunter is an intense slow-burn show with stunning cinematography and deep commentary on why people are the way they are. This might be a little different in pacing and structure than shows like Mr. Robot, but it is similar in that both shows take a look at the human mind and asks what makes a person do something so outside the norms of society.

13 Silicon Valley (2014-2019)

The cast of Silicon Valley.sitting down and looking at the camera
  • Available to stream on HBO Max

Although Silicon Valley is more comedic than shows like Mr. Robot, it still operates with technology as its central plot and has some commentary about the potential dangers of new technology and how success can change people. Most of the series is an inspiring look at how the team of misfits creates a new and impressive app, which causes some of the of the team to let the fame get to them and think they're unstoppable. The obsession with success and the technology focus of the show make it similar to shows like Mr. Robot.

12 Bodyguard (2018)

Richard Madden in a hallway in Bodyguard
  • Available to stream on Netflix

Netflix's Bodyguard presents a tangled plot where the audience is never sure who to trust including the protagonist, which is a similar narrative of shows like Mr. Robot, where Elliott is revealed to be an unreliable narrator and protagonist. Bodyguard also deals with conspiracies within the government and is an intense and unpredictable show. With both shows offering twists and turns, and both featuring major moments that change everything a person thought they knew, they share more in common than some fans might believe.

11 Hannibal (2013-2015)

Hannibal Lecter eating.in Hannibal
  • Available to stream on Hulu

Hannibal follows the iconic psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter as he sees patients during the day, but secretly kills and eats people outside work hours. Criminal profiler Will Graham interacts with him unknowingly and Hannibal plays with him and his team as they try to solve the murders he's committing. Hannibal is a stylish cat-and-mouse game storyline with extreme consequences. On top of the unreliable protagonists in the shows, they both also feature auteur showrunners creating visually dynamic showcases for their stories, with Bryan Fuller creating Hannibal and Sam Esmail behind Mr. Robot.