Nearly two entire years have elapsed since the last episode of "Mr. Robot" graced our screens. This signifies an absence of nearly two years from the lives of Elliot, Mr. Robot (alongside Darlene, Dom, Angela, Price, Tyrell, and others), and a break from the sinister schemes of Whiterose and the Dark Army, as well as the devastating aftermath of the Five/Nine hack. For 22 months, Sam Esmail's unorthodox direction and his scathing, meticulously crafted dialogue have been absent from the airwaves. In that interval, his leading man, Rami Malek, claimed an Oscar, while American culture, influenced by the Trump administration and the rise of the alt-right, caught up with the show's bitter, paranoid themes. "Mr. Robot" has never been flawless, but thematically, it has consistently been a step ahead of its time.
Now, Esmail and his masterpiece have returned for a fourth and final season, nestled in the festive ambiance of the 2015 Christmas holidays, paying homage to the British television tradition of Christmas specials, akin to "The Office". (Aside: The inherently perplexing timeline of "Mr. Robot" momentarily blurred my perception, reminding me that the entire saga unfolds within the span of 2015.) Prior to hurtling ahead to December, the series offers a succinct recap of last season's events, a vital move given the often labyrinthine complexity of its narrative. We witness protesters demolishing the E Corp midtown headquarters, news clips of the Stage 2 cyber bombings partially orchestrated by Elliot and Angela, Price promoting Tyrell to E Corp CTO, Irving blackmailing Dom into spying for the Dark Army while brutally murdering Santiago with an axe, Mr. Robot's reconciliation with Elliot, and finally, Angela succumbing to Whiterose's influence.
Subsequently, the narrative seamlessly resumes with Angela and Philip Price on his estate. If memory serves, he has just stripped away the veil of illusion from her eyes, revealing the stark truth: Whiterose exploited Angela's lingering sorrow over her mother's demise to manipulate her into executing the Dark Army's orders, namely the cyber-bombing attacks. Her motive was to retaliate against Price, who sought to thwart her scheme to relocate the Washington Township plant to the Congo. There was no grand revolution in sight. Just a deranged cyberterrorist bent on controlling the world by whatever means possible.
Price strives with all his might to persuade Angela to step down, to embrace the reality of her brainwashing and strive to reconstruct her life anew. Yet, his efforts prove futile. Angela craves Whiterose's downfall with an insatiable thirst, and the moment she utters her intent to bring her to justice, all hope for diplomacy vanishes. She gazes, transfixed with horror, at an unseen horror beyond the frame. Panicked, Price begs her, imploring her to seek forgiveness, but Angela remains steadfast, unwilling to backtrack or flee. With a furious motion, Price departs, hastily extracting the concealed wire from beneath his shirt. Two Dark Army agents then approach Angela, who sits immobile, and execute her with two shots to the head. This literal bang marks the explosive commencement of Mr. Robot's final chapter. Angela's murder serves as both a catalyst for Elliot's determination to bring down Whiterose and the poignant prelude to a season-long tribute to the series' beloved characters.
Angela, Elliot's childhood companion and once his moral anchor, connected him to the world beyond his existence. Her descent into E Corp, fsociety, and ultimately, the Dark Army, led to her indoctrination and eventual mental collapse. Though Elliot isn't directly culpable for her demise, it is undeniable that their intertwined paths paved the way for her tragic end. The dual guilt stemming from Angela's death resonates deeply among her closest friends and further underscores Whiterose's menacing threatening presence, even as the world gradually begins to heal.
Titled "401 Unauthorized" (thankfully, from episode titles named after computer files), this episode underscores Esmail's dedication to streamlining Mr. Robot's narrative. It primarily chronicles Elliot's relentless pursuit of Whiterose, whom he has ostensibly been seeking since receiving a harrowing image of Angela's lifeless body. However, Esmail introduces Elliot's plan with a captivating subtlety, primarily through the lens of a fleeting new character.
On the festive yet fateful night of his firm's Christmas bash, Freddy Lomax (Jake Busey), an intoxicated, hyper-agitated, and openly sexist attorney of Lomax & Looney Law, unwraps a package at his office that contains a DVD, a phone, and a USB drive. The DVD harrows him with a haunting footage of him indulging in a revolting act—masturbating to a clearly underage girl during a live video chat. As Freddy's panic intensifies, Mr. Robot's chilling call blackmails him into transferring all his emails onto the USB and instructs him to bring it to Grand Central Station. This moment eerily echoes Elliot's debut maneuver in the series pilot, where he brought down a coffee-shop owner harboring a child-pornography server. However, Lomax is not merely another perverted figure inflicting indescribable emotional and physical devastation; he possesses something Elliot desperately needs.
The Grand Central sequence showcases Mr. Robot at its finest. It boasts impeccable direction, with clear visual pathways and a keen sense of spatial awareness. Esmail's meticulously crafted screenwriting, devoid of the unnecessary "coked-up Henry Hill" remark that underscores the importance of restraint in pop-culture allusions, propels the narrative forward with pragmatic urgency while delivering vital information at precisely the right pace. Most crucially, it is revealed that Lomax's firm has aided Whiterose and her accomplices in laundering money through shell corporations.
Elliot's appearance on the train might very well be Esmail's magnum opus moment in the series in recent years. Digging through a mountain of data, Elliot unearths the Cyprus National Bank. However, his manipulation of Lomax comes at a heavy cost—another soul weighs heavily on his conscience. Though they manage to elude the Dark Army's tail at Grand Central, Lomax swiftly realizes outside that Elliot cannot shield him from Whiterose; he is merely extracting information from him. In despair, Lomax takes his own life in the heart of 42nd Street with the gun he intended to use against Elliot.
Even if Lomax were not a despicable human being, his demise would still fail to impact Elliot as deeply as it once did. He has learned to compartmentalize his immense grief following Angela's murder, immersing himself in Whiterose's plan as a means to evade confronting his pain. He no longer confides in the audience; instead, Mr. Robot assumes the role of breaking the fourth wall, a delightful twist that unfolds late enough in the episode to serve as a genuine surprise.
Meanwhile, "401 Unauthorized" offers us glimpses into several other pivotal figures in Elliot's orbit. Tyrell Wellick still presides over E Corp, perceived as a hero for his company's data recovery efforts and loan initiatives in the wake of the Five/Nine hack reversal, yet he wallows in an abyss of despair. Darlene, consumed by guilt over Angela's demise, drowns her sorrow in excessive drug use. Dom, increasingly paranoid and sleep-deprived, seeking refuge in her mother's home, evading any FBI inquiries about Santiago. Her resolve weakens, however, when confronted by a Dark Army operative masquerading as one of her mother's church acquaintances.
Despite some cringe-worthy dialogue and jarring aesthetic decisions, Mr. Robot has rediscovered its emotional heart by delineating and reaffirming the ties between Elliot's actions and those he yearns to avenge or protect. If Whiterose remains unchecked, the Five/Nine reversal will have been in vain, and countless loved ones will have perished for nothing. When Dark Army operatives abduct him from his Jean-Paul Sartre-inspired trap apartment, Elliot beseeches them to spare his life, if only to atone for his transgressions. Malek's heart-wrenching screams, prior to being injected with a lethal dose of heroin, are hauntingly vivid.
Then, Mr. Robot briefly mirrors the final season of The Sopranos as Elliot lies prone on the floor, barely conscious, grappling to reach the phone before succumbing to blackness. But it is too late. Elliot's mind begins to conjure visions of his family watching him slowly slip away. These visions metamorphose into a montage of his life's pivotal moments, allowing Esmail to indulge nostalgically in the show's highlights. The Mr. Robot shop. Elliot and Darlene finding solace in each other's embrace. Elliot and Angela in happier times. Fleeting images of Shayla before her untimely demise. A fleeting glimpse of fsociety in its nascent form. The iconic scene of Elliot triumphantly raising his arms in Times Square after bringing Terry Colby to his knees. As the dial tone of the landline echoes through the soundtrack, Elliot's consciousness fades from this realm. It seems over all too suddenly. The screen darkens. The credits roll.
Yet, Esmail employs a timeless deception, resuming the narrative immediately after the first title card. One of the men administers Narcan to Elliot, reviving him. He bolts upright, gulping air desperately. Philip Price enters the room.
Welcome back, Mr. Alderson.
