The 73rd Golden Globe Awards made for an exciting night for Mr. Robot fans. Devotees rallied over a nomination for star Rami Malek in the Best Actor in a Drama category, and cheered even louder for Christian Slater‘s victory in the Supporting Actor category. But both men look to be outshone by an unlikely costar in the forthcoming second season. Featured alongside the first season’s slew of returning players is Mr. Robot newcomer Barack Obama.

Throughout the trailer are shots of the President addressing the nation about its economic devastation incurred as a result of the Five/Nine hack, which the White House has officially attributed to fsociety and Tyrell Wellick. As the first season of the series concluded almost immediately after the hack, it’s enthralling to see just how big a toll the endeavor has taken on the U.S. on the whole. On the same token, we see that Elliot (Malek) is still unclear as to what exactly happened to him at the time of the hack—Mr. Robot (Slater) aims to jog his protege’s memory, but no dice.

Meanwhile, somewhat more surreal is the interspersed carnival motif, complete with fairground games and (shudder) clown masks, which we see the likes of Carly Chaikin and Grace Gummer (another newbie) traverse, lending to the expectation that Mr. Robot‘s sophomore outing could be altogether eerier than Season 1. Consistent among all the teaser’s many themes is the threat of menace: in the form of Elliot’s spotty memory, of the country’s dwindling fiscal state, of the dastardly Phillip Price (Michael Cristofer), and, again, of those freaky clown masks.

Are you thoroughly creeped out by Mr. Robot‘s second season trailer? Let us know!

We spoke to Rami Malek and Christian Slater about the show’s success.

Images: USA Network

Michael Arbeiter is the East Coast Editor of Nerdist. Find him (but please do not hack him) on Twitter @MichaelArbeiter.