Mr. Robot Season Premiere Review: Unauthorized (Season 4 Episode 1)

Mr. Robot is back just in time to celebrate the holidays.

And don’t call it a comeback because Mr. Robot Season 4 Episode 1, “Unauthorized,” is the farthest thing from a reintroduction after three years off-air. This premiere is a seamless continuation of our beloved hacker drama that doesn’t waste time pulling the trigger on this ambitious season.

The “previously on” recap leads us right back into Price and Angela’s conversation. Cristofer and Doubleday’s ability to fall back into their conversation without missing a beat is commendable and easily overshadowed by the shocking threat that lingers just out of frame.

This premiere is a harsh reminder of Mr. Robot’s brilliance and its incessant need to burn the world we love to the ground one episode at a time.

MR. ROBOT — “Unauthorized” Episode 401 — Pictured: (l-r) Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson, Carly Chaikin as Darlene — (Photo by: Scott McDermott/USA Network)

In a shocking turn of events, Angela will not be sticking around for the holidays.

Her death is unexpected and unsettling, to say the least. Yet, her brutal end is a justifiable move for the series. It has been nearly three years since we put ourselves in the line of fire with Elliot and while we like to think we know the stakes, it’s important that Mr. Robot reminds us.

Unfortunately for Angela, she is the perfect catalyst and too reckless of a character to walk away from this series unscathed. Her death was always coming but for it to happen this soon in this way — wow Mr. Robot you got us, you got us real good.

This scene is impeccably well crafted in the way all deaths on this show seem to be. Esmail finds a cinematic beauty and empathy in these twisted murder scenes that just making everything that much harder to watch unfold. It is incredible witnessing Angela’s demeanour change as she latches on to an image the audience can’t see until it’s too late. Angela’s death scene is filled with techniques that make a simple scene a horrifying feast for the eyes.

As someone who didn’t love Angela’s character, I think using Darlene’s connection to Angela really helped drive home the emotional repercussions of losing this character. I mean just seeing Darlene’s reaction to those ballet shoes on the floor was enough to feel the weight of Angela’s absence.

Also, can we thank Darlene for asking the important questions about Flipper? Seriously Elliot, where is your dog? That landlord excuse sounded incredibly ominous man.

Despite Malek’s recent ventures into film, he slips back into Elliot’s small screen shoes with ease and it’s no surprise his time spent with Slater’s imaginary Mr. Robot is some of the best work this episode has to offer.

The hiatus between Seasons 3 and 4 makes it difficult to remember the fact that Mr. Robot is a part of Elliot’s subconscious. However, those able to keep up are rewarded with some rather clever transitions and cutaways when the two interact.

Slater’s comedic timing with Freddie works to heighten a voice we could already listen to for hours without complaint. His charisma and confidence seem to compliment Elliot’s cool demeanour now more than ever. Under any other circumstances, these two would make the best comedy team if so many people weren’t dying.

I love that scene in the apartment where Mr. Robot takes on Elliot’s meltdown, banging on windows and slamming the phone receiver in the background of the scene while Elliot calmly comes to terms with what’s happening.

Not to mention, Mr. Robot talked to us! What an unexpected change of pace for the narrative structure we know and love.

Introducing a man named Freddie while “Another One Bites The Dust” plays in the background could just be a coincidence but with Esmail, I’m going to go ahead and guess it’s not. I couldn’t think of a better way to pay tribute to Malek’s latest career success and Queen with this subtle nod.

Christmas time in New York is the perfect backdrop for this final season. It’s an excuse to take Mr. Robot from the stuffy offices and abandoned arcades to a much larger scale of Grand Central Station.

This show cleverly uses the holidays as a way to demonstrate everyone, including Elliot’s, need to live in the distraction. It’s completely on par with the theme of this show and is almost enough to justify airing this Christmas centric season in October — almost.

The holidays also offer the perfect excuse to have Shameless actress Emmy Rossum cameo and as an “Annoying Christmas Caroler” none the less. I’m sure Esmail is quite proud of himself for coming up with that one.

For anyone that loves to get in the mood for the holidays early but despises Hallmark movies, this might just be your time to thrive. Keep that ominous Christmas music coming!

MR. ROBOT — “Unauthorized” Episode 401 — Pictured: Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson — (Photo by: Scott McDermott/USA Network)

None of this really matters though, not when the last five minutes completely blow everything else out of the water.

It was a concern that Mr. Robot would consider Angela’s death enough of a WTF moment to make up for the years we’ve been without this show. Thankfully, that is not the case and in the last few minutes of the premiere, Esmail gives us one of the most dramatic and ingenious WTF moments television has ever seen.

And let’s be honest, it wouldn’t be a proper season of Mr. Robot if we didn’t have at least one of those.

But I mean come on — this ending is on another level. That moment of seeing Esmail’s face come into view is a slap in the face of its own and then he has to go ahead and utter that “Goodbye Friend” line.

It’s a clever cameo that twists the knife in even deeper and forces up emotions of admiration for Mr. Robot’s showmanship as we watch Elliot die.

MR. ROBOT — “Unauthorized” Episode 401 — Pictured: (l-r) Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson, Christian Slater as Mr. Robot — (Photo by: Scott McDermott/USA Network)

What I love most about this clever cliff-hanger is the choice to not leave us hanging. Seriously, thank you Mr. Robot, some of us have to go to work the next day.

The credit fake out may feel more like a personal attack than anything. Regardless, it’s a brilliant use of deception when we are least expecting it and allows us the brief comfort of knowing Elliot is alive.

Mr. Robot continues to take the confines of television we think we know well and throw them back in our face.

We know, deep down, Elliot can’t die in the premiere of his own show but we also know this show doesn’t do traditional, so for a moment, this little life or death situation feels very real. The credits feel very real until we notice Esmail’s name linger a second too long and by then it is too late.

The final minutes of “Unauthorized” are one big slap in the face you can’t help but love.

This premiere accomplished everything it needed to but is it greedy to ask for more? 

I wasn’t too sure about “Unauthorized” at first. After Angela’s heart-pounding death scene, you could feel the episode’s momentum slow. However, one has to recognize that every moment of this episode is crafted meticulously to build to that grand finale and therefore is necessary to the integrity of the story.

What I love most about Mr. Robot is its desire to embrace the audience. Esmail knows what fans are looking for and he gives it to us fanfare and all. But he also toys with us and brags about how much smarter he is than us through these characters. And at the end of the day, it feels like we are a part of this somehow.

No series makes it’s viewers feel more important and useless at the same time than Mr. Robot does.

Welcome back, Mr. Alderson. We’ve missed you.

What did you think of this episode of Mr. Robot? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Mr. Robot airs Sundays at 10/9c on USA.

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