Review: Mr. Robot ‘410 Gone’

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Warning: Post contains spoilers

“Mr. Robot” season 4 episode 10 resumes with hackers Elliot (Rami Malek) and Darlene (Carly Chaikin) Alderson in the wake of their successful Cyprus National Bank hack. FBI Agent Dom DiPiero (Grace Gummer) recuperates from her injuries at the hands of her Chinese Dark Army handler in a hospital bed. On TV, a news announcement reveals that Chinese Security Minister Zhang has been outed as Dark Army hacker Whiterose (BD Wong). Although Dom is told to stay put in the hospital, she leaves. Dom cooks a rather pathetic grilled cheese sandwich, but her solitude is interrupted by Darlene who convinces Dom to join her in running away.
Elliot informs Darlene that he’s not leaving. “I need to go back to Washington Township,” Elliot explains. The Alderson siblings tearfully part ways before Leon (Joey Bada$$) drives Darlene and Dom to an airport in Boston. In a hilarious moment, Dom walks into a hotel room to fond Leon slouching on a bed, watching “The Land Before Time,” and rolling a joint. The last time Dom met Leon, he was employed by the Dark Army and shot four people in a barn. Needless to say, she’s perturbed. However, Leon explains that he’s freelance now. “I’m actually here to help Elliot and his sis.”

On the road trip, Leon, Dom, and Darlene stop at a rest area. While on a park bench, Darlene runs a script to evenly redistribute the Cyprus National Bank funds acquired while hacking the Deus Group. Arriving at the airport and slated for a trip to Budapest, Dom runs into Dark Army operative, used car salesman, and now published novelist Irving (Bobby Cannavale) at a Hudson News. Irving chats with Dom and reveals that the Dark Army isn’t interested in Darlene and Dom. In fact, they’ve scattered, presumably to deal with Whiterose’s project. With this new knowledge, Dom opts to stay despite Darlene’s protestations. In an ironic twist, Darlene has a panic attack, missing the flight while Dom changes her mind and heads to Budapest.

Observations:

“Mr. Robot” S04E10 “410 Gone” is a bit of a mixed bag. The return of Leon and Irving proves delightful. While Leon and Elliot met briefly in a coffee shop, Leon’s been largely absent from the fourth and final season of “Mr. Robot.” I love his references, from 70s political thriller “Three Days of the Condor,” to Kurt Vonnegut. “Dude, you’ve never seen ‘Three Days of the Condor’ and you’re a fuckin’ FBI Agent?” he chastizes Dom. “Normally I don’t go for that 70s paranoia shit, but this one really spoke to me.” Similarly, Irving’s reappearance is as quirky as ever. “I saw you butcher Santiago with an ax when he got out of line,” Dom stammers. “Yeah. That was fun,” Irving shrugs nonchalantly.

Darlene defends her redistribution of wealth to Dom. “This is illegal, this is stealing,” Dom pleads. “This isn’t what justice is supposed to look like. We have laws. For a reason.” Darlene counters, “And they were so powerful they wrote the laws to benefit themselves.” The Domlene dynamic is tumultuous, toying with the audience as much as its characters. In a truly unexpected turn of events, Dom whisks off the Budapest, leaving Darlene behind. One of the most cliche sequences in all of “Mr. Robot” is followed by one of its most shocking moments.

While I appreciate wrapping up character arcs, most of “410 Gone” feels like unnecessary filler. The pacing is off, particularly in the third act of the season. At times, “Mr. Robot” season 4 appears to try too hard to subvert viewer expectations, a problem plaguing “410 Gone.” Admittedly, it does ultimately offer an ending out of left field. But the build-up is dreadfully predictible. There’s little to no plot progression, and the entire episode merely seems like a feeble attempt to heighten the already existent anticipation at learning who Elliot’s other personality is, and discover what Whiterose’s project is, presumably some sort of particle collider from shots of it, and documents Elliot reads about proton-proton interactions.