Review: Mr. Robot Season 4 Episode 1 ‘Unauthorized’

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Warning: Major spoilers ahead

When USA hit series “Mr. Robot,” created by visionary Sam Esmail, debuted in 2015, it ushered in a television show like none before. “Mr. Robot” season one remains one of the most inventive show runs of all-time. Following hacker Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek), the “Mr. Robot” featured a massive twist that one of its main characters, Mr. Robot (Christian Slater), was actually Elliot dissociating, a manifestation of his father.
In the aftermath of the 5/9 attack carried out by fsociety in collaboration with the Chinese Dark Army, Alderson realized that the destabilization of financial institutions failed to redistribute American wealth. Instead, it set up a fresh means for the one percent to continue to maintain wealth and power. Post-five/nine United States economy was relegated to a predominantly cash-centric environment, with the flow of money controlled by E Corp. Rather than a new utopia, 5/9 fostered a bleak dystopia. However, Elliot planned to stop the Dark Army’s Stage 2 plan by redistributing paper records to buildings nationwide. Unfortunately, Angela Moss (Portia Doubleday) realized that Elliot sought to thwart Stage 2 and gets Elliot fired. Stage 2, set into motion by the Dark Army, was a series of cyber bombings to destroy paper records that would allow E Corp, or Evil Corp, to undo the damage wrought by the 5/9 attack.

Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, Elliot fails miserably. The Dark Army succeeds in blowing up 71 buildings around the US. Angela, delusional and convinced that Dark Army mastermind Whiterose (BD Wong) can somehow save those who have died including her mother, is revealed to be the biological daughter of Evil Corp CEO Philip Price (Michael Cristofer).

As “Mr. Robot” season 4 episode 1 “Unauthorized” opens, Price begs Angela to give up trying to exact vengeance on Whiterose. But the broken, neurotic, yet resolute Angela refuses to acquiesce. In a gut-wrenching scene, Price shuffles back to his sprawling estate while a pair of Dark Army goons strut toward Angela and murder her with cold, calculating precision.

Action then jumps to a Christmas Party where a lawyer, Freddie (Jake Busey, looking eerily like his father Gary Busey), receives a mysterious package. Inside, there’s a disc with footage of Freddie chatting on a webcam site with an underage girl. Blackmailed by his child pornography habit, Freddie then gets a phone call on a burner phone. On the other end of the line, it’s the voice of Mr. Robot who then provides detailed instructions on how to copy his email inbox to a flash drive which Elliot intends to intercept. While Elliot does indeed gain access to the flash drive, Freddie makes the mistake of bringing along his ID card, and is tailed by the Dark Army. Freddie commits suicide, but not before offering a lead for Elliot.

Meanwhile, Darlene (Carly Chaikin), Elliot’s sister, struggles with the death of Angela. Darlene is convinced that she saw Angela at a shelter earlier, though her cocaine-addled state surely contributes to her mania. Tyrell Wellick (Martin Wallström) maintains his post as CTO at Evil Corp. In a brief scene, Wellick appears perturbed, and it’s unclear why.

FBI Agent Dom (Grace Gummer) lives with her mother and is in a constant state of paranoia after her discovering that fellow FBI Agent Santiago was working with the Dark Army. However, it appears that Dom’s unease is fully justified. Even a seemingly-innocent churchgoer who befriends Dom’s mother turns out to be a Dark Army collaborator.

Obvervations:

“Mr. Robot” S04E01 opens with a brief recap of what’s previously transpired. Then, it launches into a shocking opening where series protagonist Angela is murdered by Dark Army thugs. A distraught Phillip Price, Evil Corp CEO, appears to plot revenge on Whiterose after she orders Angela, Price’s daughter, killed.

Elliot continues planning means to take down Whiterose. His goal is to shoot Whiterose through the metaphorical heart. But since, as Elliot admits, Whiterose lacks a heart, he focuses on the lifeblood of Dark Army operations: money. As such, he uses financial documents from Freddie’s inbox to track a paper trail of shell corporations to Cyprus National Bank.

In a clever Easter egg, Elliot searches Freddie’s email inbox for “Silver Shamrock,” which in turn leads him to documents signed by a particular Conal Cochran. It’s a reference to the famous, or infamous, “Halloween III: Season of the Witch.” The third entry in the “Halloween” franchise, it’s the first and only “Halloween” film not featuring Michael Myers. “Season of the Witch” sought to transform the “Halloween” series into an anthology where each subsequent movie concentrated on a different Halloween-related story. Conal Cochran, owner of the Silver Shamrock company, hatches a plan to murder children around the United States. In this way, it’s a bit similar to the Stage 2 attack with Cochran and Whiterose as sinister mastermind kind. Moreover, “Halloween III: Season of the Witch” has been labeled decidedly anti-capitalist, a running theme in “Mr. Robot.” Since “Halloween III,” or the night no one comes home, is one of my favorite horror flicks, so I loved this bit.

“Mr. Robot” episode “Unauthorized” harkens back to the golden age of “Mr. Robot” season one. It’s frenetic yet well-paced, and features Elliot and Mr. Robot once again as co-collaborators. Still, there’s a twist. This go around, it’s Mr. Robot offering narration to the audience rather than Elliot. What sold me on “Mr. Robot” as a series was its dedication to tech, groundbreaking storytelling abilities, and the emotional journey of its characters, notably Elliot. That’s all back and with a more grounded plot, at least for S04E01. There wasn’t nearly enough Wellick, though I suspect he’ll be back in full swing as the season progresses. “Unauthorized” concludes with Elliot drugged and supposedly left for dead in a delightful scene which features a cameo by series creator Sam Esmail. However, Elliot is saved when Phillip Price walks in. Perhaps he plans to recruit Elliot to aid in taking down the conniving Whiterose once and for all. “Mr. Robot” season 4 episode 1 “Unauthorized” reminded me why I fell in love with the quirky USA series back in 2015. Welcome back, friend.