'Mr. Robot' Virginia Sherwood/USA Network
"The previously filmed season finale of 'Mr. Robot' contains a graphic scene similar in nature to today’s tragic events in Virginia," USA network said in a statement.
In the wake of the Virginia TV station shooting on Wednesday, USA Network has postponed its season finale of Mr. Robot due to what it says are similarities between the episode and the tragic events.
"The previously filmed season finale of Mr. Robot contains a graphic scene similar in nature to today’s tragic events in Virginia. Out of respect to the victims, their families and colleagues, and our viewers, we are postponing tonight’s episode. Our thoughts go out to all those affected during this difficult time," the network said in a statement.
The scene in question from the finale of the critical hit depicts an individual sustaining a fatal gunshot wound during a TV interview – similar to the way reporter Alison Parker was killed on live TV while conducting an interview for WDBJ, the CBS affiliate in Roanoke, Virginia. Photographer Adam Ward and Vicki Gardner, the individual who was being interviewed by Parker, were also shot. Ward died from his injuries, while Gardner is in stable condition after undergoing surgery. The gunman, former WDBJ employee Vester Lee Flanagan II, shot himself after the attack and died of his injuries at a nearby hospital.
Instead, USA Network will repeat the season's penultimate episode and air the finale Wednesday, Sept. 2 at 10 p.m.
This is hardly the first time TV shows have had to delay episodes due to violent content. The season three finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which featured a high school shooting, did not air until two months after it's scheduled airdate because of the April 1999 Columbine massacre.
