Unauthorized
The final season primier wastes no time in setting the stakes and the level of danger that will spool out through the remaining episodes.
Starting right where we left off in season 3, a broken Angela talking to her father, Philip Price. Exploited and devestated by White Rose, Angela is angry and ignores her father’s pleas to leave things alone. Accept that she was used by a sociopath and move on with the rest of her life. Angela isn’t having it and dismisses her father, who when walking away removes a wire taped to his chest. He is passed by two Dark Army members who quickly assassinate his daughter. Price, now distraught, is quickly called by White Rose who does her awful best to smooth things over. Price didn’t everything he could to help Angela, she just wouldn’t listen. Now focus on the business at hand–migrating those ECorp servers to the Congo as fast as possible. White Rose’s endgame is now scheduled for the end of the year.
Elliot and Mr. Robot are doing everything he (they) can to stop the move to the Congo. He’s been tracking the Dark Army’s moves for months and has found a target for him to exploit, a lawyer that White Rose uses to launder money. Elliot does is old blackmail routine with limited results as his smooth talking isn’t as convincing as it used to be. The lawyer ends up dead and Elliot walks into a trap.
Meanwhile, Elliot’s sister Darlene is self–medicating over Angela’s disappearance. Darlene lost so much last year that she’s having a problem hanging on to reality. She thinks she saw Angela come out of a homeless shelter and begs Elliot to help track her down. Elliot says to stop that Angela is dead and Darlene doesn’t believe him. He hasn’t shown her the picture that White Rose sent him. Darlene is handling this so badly as it is, he’s afraid of showing her the explicit proof.
Dom is living with her mother and is also a pile of nerves. She’s so paranoid she pulls a gun on the guy remodeling her mother’s bedroom. Her mother tells her to get herself presentable as they are having a guest over for dinner. A woman comes over and the dinner gets rather uncomfortable as it’s clear Dom’s mother is trying to set her up for a date. You can’t blame her as Dom is in some serious need for human contact. Of course she doesn’t know what Dom has gone through, watching her partner get murdered, pulling her into the service of the Dark Army. Her heart is in the right place. But it turns out this woman works for the Dark Army. Dom has no reason to be paranoid…her head is in a vice and the handle is being spun to close it.
This episode had every element I love about this show. Drama and suspense out of the wazoo, awesome spy and hacking stuff, and a clear aim at what this season is about. I think every episode is going to be all killer and no filler. Sam Esmail is a fantastic writer and his direction remains top of the line. His eye for framing scenes is amazing. Even with the long break between seasons, Mr. Robot hasn’t missed a beat.
