Mr. Robot is one of those last few shows that fully justifies the weekly episodic format. Almost every episode tells a complete story of its own and the cliffhanger endings keep you hanging at the edge of your seat. Since the much maligned season two, however, the show has fallen out of the spotlight, despite two solid seasons afterwards.
And that’s a shame, because Season 4 is a more than worthy conclusion to the series. Starting off with the bold move of killing off one of the main characters, it pits Elliot (Rami Malek) and Darlene (Carly Chaykin) in a race against time as they try to stop Whiterose by hacking the elusive, Illuminati-like Deus Group. In the meanwhile, gangster Fernando Vera has also returned, seeking to ‘break Elliot’ so that he would help Vera in his goal of becoming New York’s newest crime lord.
One of the best things about Mr. Robot has always been how Sam Esmail’s unique vision has transformed New York into a veritable maze. This has remained true since season one’s Fight Club-esque shenanigans, and even when season two revealed that Elliot was in jail following the attacks of 5/9. Esmail, who directed every episode since season two, is interested in using movies as a language of their own to tell stories in mythical formats. Maybe that’s why we have Angela learning that Price was her father (in full Darth Vader manner) and keeping in that fashion, Elliot also learns about new truths about his childhood later in season four.
Season 4, thankfully, is quite focused, and the plot, narrative and characterization is balanced well throughout its thirteen episode run. There’s a lot of tension as the Aldersons try to remain undetected as they go about their activities, which crescendos whenever the plot reaches a turning point, such as when they hack into a a suite of offices at a WeWork like company, Virtual Realty.
The characters are firmly in the center stage here, even antagonists like Whiterose and the vengeful Price. There’s an insightful episode where Elliot has to force his hand to get a woman to cooperate with him, and the woman is distraught at Elliot for basically ruining her life. Darlene also has to confront her fears of being alone, and Dom (Grace Gummer) has to deal with her circumstances as she struggles with her status as a Dark Army agent.
What’s striking about season 4 is that it resolves the main plot by episode 9. What comes next is a more personal affair, with Elliot dealing with some harsh realities and finding out more about himself than he wanted to. The last two episodes don’t even take place in reality, but instead in a Lynchian world that seems strangely perfect. When Elliot does resurface to have a final talk with Darlene, the conversation is strong and heartfelt.
In the end, Mr. Robot is a series more about trauma and grief than about conspiracy theories and cyber espionage.
Not all of it worked- the Wellicks feel like discarded plot points, for instance. Mr. Robot ends its run as a criminally underrated show, overshadowed by the likes of Game of Thrones and more recently, Watchmen during its original runtime. Here’s to hoping that a whole new audience discovers this in streaming and passes the world along to their friends and peers.