Review: Mr. Robot ‘409 Conflict’

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Warning: Post contains spoilers

“Mr. Robot” season 4 episode 9 finally sees its protagonists Elliot (Rami Malek) and Darlene (Carly Chaikin) Alderson taking on Chinese Dark Army mastermind Whiterose (BD Wong). Mr. Robot (Christian Slater), one of Elliot’s dissociative personalities, chats with young Elliot and Elliot’s mother. “How is he?” Elliot’s mother asks. “It’s not going to happen today,” Mr. Robot reveals. “There’s no point in waiting here now.” Mrs. Alderson demands “You know where he is. You need to bring him here.” The various personalities discuss a yet unknown personality. “Once the hack is done, then maybe I can get through to him,” Mr. Robot suggests. “I’m going to show him what he did.”
In a hotel room overlooking the Deus Group meeting location, Elliot and Darlene wait for members to arrive. There’s a knock on the front door, and former E Corp CEO Philip Price (Michael Cristofer) strides in. “There’s one last thing I need from you,” Price informs Elliot. “I want you to destroy Whiterose’s machine,” Philip reveals, handing Elliot a flash drive. “Everything you need to know about her project, it’s on here…It’s what [Angela] wanted.”

However, when Price shows up to the Deus Group meeting, it’s just himself, Whiterose, and a handful of Dark Army goons. “I see I’m the first to arrive,” Price quips. “Technically, I was first,” Whiterose corrects. “I’m an old man, Zhang,” Price addresses Whiterose. “I gave up on foreplay long ago. Let’s just skip ahead to the part where you try to fuck me.” Across the street, Elliot and Darlene realize that something’s off. Elliot then hacks Tyrell Wellick’s (Martin Wallström) email. Wellick, current E Corp CTO, and the nominee for E Corp’s new CEO, was killed unbeknownst to Whiterose. Darlene and Elliot discover that the Deus Group meeting has been moved to a venue near Wall Street. Unfortunately, Darlene isn’t able to penetrate the airtight security.

Cleverly, Darlene releases an FSociety video doxing the Deus Group. This thereby forces Deuse Group members to leave en masse. Darlene manages to capture their phone numbers on the way out, a key element in pulling off the Cyprus National Bank hack poised to drain the Deus Group, and accordingly Whiterose, of any financial capital. But there’s still one phone number missing: Whiterose’s. Elliot manages to obtain this at the last minute, and Darlene and Elliot pull off the Cyprus National Bank hack. Confronting Whiterose for the last time, Price boasts “You just remember Zhang. You did all this to yourself…You didn’t lose the game, you just ran out of time.”

Observations:

“Mr. Robot” S04E09 “409 Conflict” ranks as one of the best episodes in the season, and series. After years of fighting E Corp or Evil Corp as Elliot not-so-lovingly refers to it, Darlene and Elliot emerge on top. Price’s character arc proved surprising. While Price initially served as the primary antagonist, he morphed into a mercenary hellbent on taking down Whiterose rather than continuing to amass power.

The Christmas miracle ending offers a much-needed respite from the series of depressing events comprising the majority of “Mr. Robot” season 4. A frenetic pace coupled with composer Mac Quayle’s heightened synth-score maintains an unrelentingly taut atmosphere that doesn’t let up until the show’s final moments.

Nevertheless, there’s much left to sort out. We still don’t know exactly what Whiterose’s project is. Likewise, Whiterose, who murders Philip Price quite publically, probably won’t simply accept this loss. And it’s yet unclear who is Elliot’s mystery persona. I’m excited to see where the series progresses from here.