Robot
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Its been almost two full years sinceMr.
That means its been almost two years since weve last seen Elliot and Mr.
Robot (or Darlene, or Dom, or Angela, or Price, or Tyrell, etc.
Sam Esmails off-center direction and caustic, labored writing has been off the airwaves for 22 months.
Robothas never been perfect, but, thematically, its always been slightly ahead of the curve.
Robot reconciling with Elliot; and, finally, Angela falling under Whiteroses influence.
There was no larger revolution.
Just a psychotic cyberterrorist trying to control the world by any means necessary.
Except it doesnt take.
She stares, chilled to the bone, at something offscreen.
Price, panicking, pleads with her to beg for forgiveness.
But she wont relent and she wont run.
Price walks away, furiously removing the wire hidden in his shirt.
Two Dark Army agents approach the seated Angela and shoot her twice in the head.
A literal bang to beginMr.
However, her death clearly also functions as the beginning of a season-long elegy for the series characters.
401 Unauthorized (thank God for no more episodes titled after computer filenames) continues Esmails commitment to simplifyMr.
The DVD contains footage of him masturbating to a clearly underage girl on a live video chat.
Just as Freddy begins to freak out in his office, Mr. Only this time, Lomax isnt just another pervert causing far-reaching, incalculable emotional and physical damage.
He has something Elliot needs.
The tense Grand Central sequence featuresMr.
It sports clean direction, with clear sight-lines of the space and strong spatial reasoning.
The reveal of Elliot on the train might be Esmails single best moment on the series in years.
He kills himself in the middle of 42nd Street with the gun he brought to threaten Elliot.
Even if Lomax werent an objectionable human being, his death wouldnt affect Elliot like it used to.
He no longer talks to the audience; now, Mr.
Meanwhile, 401 Unauthorized catches us up on a few other characters in Elliots sphere.
Darlene blames herself for Angelas death and takes copious amounts of drugs to cope.
Despite some especially try-hard dialogue and obnoxious aesthetic choices,Mr.
Maleks palpably pained screams before hes pumped full of a lethal dose of heroin are fairly harrowing.
But its too late.
Elliot begins having visions of his family as they watch him slowly die.
Elliot and Darlene comforting each other.
Elliot and Angela in better times.
Flashes of Shayla before her murder.
A brief glimpse of fsociety in its original form.
The iconic shot of Elliot triumphantly throwing up his hands in Times Square after he took down Terry Colby.
As the dial tone from the landline rings out over the soundtrack, Elliot fades from this world.
Its all over too soon.
Except that Esmail pulls a classic fake-out and returns to the action immediately after the first title card.
One of the men gives Elliot Narcan to revive him.
He shoots right up, gulping down air as quickly as he can.
Philip Price walks into the room.
Welcome back, Mr. Alderson.
Ive accepted this as necessary suspension of disbelief for this show to work, butMr.
Robotreally plays fast and loose with the split identity.
Music corner: Bobby McFerrins Dont Worry Be Happy plays while Prices men kidnap him from Garcins apartment.
I mean, how proud of your life can you be?
