Mr Robot Review: Not Acceptable (Season 4 Episode 6)

Elliot’s a bad guy. Duh.

Mr. Robot Season 4 Episode 6, “Not Acceptable,” makes us face our concerns regarding the “hero” of this story with one twisted tale of villains and costly victory.

Most shows would suffer by making their big endgame feel irrelevant, but not Mr. Robot. By tarnishing their protagonist’s integrity beyond repair, the series forces us to reevaluate our allegiance to Elliot — again.

Elliot may find himself in the wrong but Mr. Robot couldn’t be more right about the direction of this episode.

The real gift we have to be thankful for this holiday season is Mr. Robot’s incredible cast. Rami Malek, Carly Chaikin, Grace Gummer, Gloria Reuben, Dominik García, Christian Slater — I could go on and on with this latest installment.

There is no standout as far as “Not Acceptable” is concerned. Everyone comes into this at a 10 when we can only handle an 8 right now.

Gummer and Chaikin are particularly great as Domlene collides once again. Between Darlene’s heart-pounding plea for her life and Dom’s devastating desperation for Darlene to kill her, it’s clear these two needed to find each other again.

Gummer has been bringing a lot of powerful emotions to the screen but without someone to play off of, she hasn’t quite been able to make an impression on this season. Thanks to Darlene and the constant screaming for one’s life, the stressful reunion of these tragic lovers has my teeth clenched from start to finish.

Maybe Dom should be the protagonist we stan. After all, she has done everything she can to make sure she doesn’t hurt the people she loves, including Darlene. I don’t see Elliot offering to off himself so Whiterose can’t access the shipping codes…

There’s something about Elliot’s latest move that feels more like the origin story of an unredeemable antagonist than the misstep of an honourable hero.

And there’s something horrifying about his treatment of Olivia that makes it impossible to look away as Elliot destroys this woman’s life — and doesn’t even care to realize it.

Malek and García-Lorido lean on the chemistry from their first onscreen meeting and this episode’s spectacular dialogue to deliver a devastating blow to the audience. 

Malek brings a level of acting to the table that one has come to expect at this point, but it’s his face, absent of emotion, that is nearly unrecognizable and downright chilling at times. However, the layers of emotion behind his cold demeanour slip through every once in a while and the audience gets a small glimpse of the dread Malek is so carefully trying to convey.

Not to be outdone, García-Lorido meets Malek’s intensity with the heartbreaking sadness of a defeated woman.

The pain in her voice as she describes to Elliot what will happen if any drugs reenter her system is unmistakable. Her life is over and she does everything with her limited willpower to make sure the audience understands that loss in its entirety.

Thanks to that convenient tidbit about the razor Olivia keeps in her empty pill bottle, the audience can see how this situation will end but Elliot cannot and that’s what’s so heartbreaking about his oblivious vigilante brigade. 

Mr. Robot puts us in an interesting position with this hostage dynamic. Elliot refuses to talk to us directly this season, already creating a wedge between us and the character. Putting Oxy in Olivia’s peppermint mocha is a betrayal that runs much deeper for the audience.

We can continue to root for Malek in this vicious tirade but can we possibly continue to root for Elliot when he’s got the blood of dozens on his hands?

All I can say is this entire storyline will go down as one of the best moments in Mr. Robot’s history. Someone better send this to the Emmy’s for consideration immediately.

Who would have thought we would live in a world where Mr. Robot is the one with the conscious.

Even so, I do find myself pleasantly surprised by this sudden change in Mr. Robot’s behaviour and the new dynamic Slater is bringing to the table this late in the game. His visible sympathy for what Elliot did to Olivia helps elevate the storyline in it’s quieter moments.

And I can’t but feel drawn in by his fatherly demeanour towards Elliot despite knowing he is anything but.

Part of me still longs for the Mr. Robot that enjoys burning entire corporations to the ground. Thankfully, Vera’s bizarre desire to break Elliot has led him straight into the persona’s crosshairs and something tells me Mr. Robot isn’t going to play nice.

Mr. Robot’s involvement in Vera’s endgame allows this hostage situation between the criminal and Krista to end on a high note. Not that Vera needs much help, what with his fascinating tale of the bully and the little bitch to keep us entertained long enough for an even better tale to unfold.

Mr. Robot gives us a seemingly flawless episode yet again.

Here’s the thing, this raw and difficult too swallow episode is right for all the wrong reasons. The wrong reasons being that this episode sets Elliot on a path he can’t come back from.

Elliot throwing away all his morals makes for a thrilling and slightly terrifying installment. It does not, however, make for a promising conclusion to this series.

It’s becoming more and more clear as the episodes tick by that this series is planning to end on a bleak note. And while I know a happy ending is out of the question for Elliot now, I would like to have a shred of hope come from this experience.

Mr. Robot enjoys the irony of a life unfulfilled and that almost always involves robbing a character out of their proper ending. Angela and Johanna’s final moments are a testament to that. Regardless of how awful Elliot is, his journey should feel complete.

But if anyone can turn this thing around and make a bleak ending something worth watching, it’s Sam Esmail.

“Not Acceptable” rounds out a stellar episode with a blast from Christmas past.

The always wonderful Leon makes a triumphant return to give Elliot some sage advice and to point out that the two are standing in the same coffee shop from the pilot episode. Joey Bada$$’s cameo is a pure and wholesome moment on an episode of Mr. Robot that is anything but.

This latest installment solidifies the degree of talent this cast has to offer and the lack of protagonists we have to root for. But with a cast of characters so good at being bad, it’s hard to be upset by that fact.

This episode won’t make you feel sorry for the protagonist but it will make you feel sorry for the people missing out on some truly spectacular television.

Top Lines From “Not Acceptable”:

Mr. Robot: “Off to play the hero. If that’s even what we are anymore.”

Leon [to Elliot]: You be strange now, but don’t be a stranger. Know what I mean?

Mr. Robot: “That sense of dread. It only happens when you cross a line you didn’t even know existed. Maybe that dread is a good thing. After all, when you realized you’ve crossed a line, that means you still had one. And then when those crossed lines are all behind you, up ahead is only darkness.”

Olivia [to Elliot]: “I may work for monsters but you are one. And you’re the worst kind because you don’t even know it.”

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

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