It used to be that when a network wanted to host an early viewing of an episode somewhere, you had to go to their website. Or at the very least, their YouTube page. Last night, however, USA Network changed up the rules by broadcasting the first part of its two-hour Mr. Robot premiere on Twitter and Snapchat during a timed event.
Mr. Robot, a show about a group of hackers working to take down an evil conglomerate in New York City, will have its full premiere on July 13, but fans were pleasantly surprised last night when the network tweeted that they could get an early glimpse of the show at precisely 8:30 p.m. ET directly through the social media network. The network then announced that those who missed the show on Twitter could catch it at 8:45 p.m. on Snapchat and 9:00 on YouTube. The episode was also streaming directly on USA's website.
The move, which the network has referred to as a "leak" to keep in tune with the theme of the series, follows USA's last hack. During a Facebook Live Q&A, members of fsociety — the fictional hacktivist organization in the series — interrupted the broadcast Anonymous-style to debut a new clip from the show and talk about the new season. In the clip, fans got their first look at the elusive Tyrell Wellick after he disappeared last season and were able to see Elliot, the show's main character played by Rami Malek, coding away on his computer. Despite being on the run from the FBI, a major theme this season, it confirmed that Elliot would still be up to his usual tricks and use his hacking skills to get vengeance on evil, greed corporations.
Although the episode was only available on social media sites for a limited time, there are versions of it still floating around online. For those that want to wait until the two-hour premiere, that takes place at 9 p.m. ET on July 13.