Mr Robot, the ‘defining show of the 2010s’ reaches its ‘bittersweet’ conclusion

The fourth and final season of Mr. Robot, starring Rami Malek and Christian Slater in Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning performances respectively, is now streaming first on Showmax.

Vice recently called Mr. Robot “the defining show of the 2010s”, saying, “No other show on TV grappled so seriously and thoughtfully with the staggering human cost of wealth inequality and late-stage capitalism.” 

Elliot Alderson wanted to save the world: by breaking it first – in “the single greatest incident of wealth redistribution in history.” It was daunting, even for a hacker as brilliant as Elliot, given his debilitating social anxiety disorder, clinical depression, paranoia and delusions. But he was not alone. Elliot had a secret: an imaginary friend, living inside his head called Mr. Robot. And that bastard was more than up to the task.

Elliot also had fsociety, a small but talented group of vigilante anarchists working to bring down the financial system by encrypting the files of the world’s largest finance conglomerate, E-Corp, erasing everyone’s debt, and turning credit cards into plastic junk with a few clicks, in what became known as the Five/Nine hack.

Of course, utopia failed to spring up overnight, and the ensuing game of global dominance brought the real monsters out of the woodwork. 

Now we’re four seasons in, and the final showdown is about to begin. “Hello again, friend.”

“One of the decade’s wildest rides”

In its roundup of 21 TV Shows That Explained The 2010s, Vox called it, “One of the decade’s wildest rides” and “one of the most prescient shows to emerge,” while Variety listed it among the Best 25 TV Shows of the Decade, calling it “a show that perfectly suited its era.” 

The final season was named on Best of 2019 lists from AV Club to Complex, among others, and has a 97% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where it was #34 on their list of the Best TV Shows of 2019. 

In addition to Slater’s Best Supporting Actor win, the series won a Golden Globe for Best Drama Series, and was nominated for a further five, including Rami’s 2020 nomination for Best Actor. Mr. Robot also scooped two Emmys – Rami’s Best Actor win and Outstanding Music Composition – and was nominated for nine more. And it won at the prestigious Peabody Awards, which recognise socially conscious storytelling.  

Spoiler Alert for Season 3!

Ever since the successful execution of Mr. Robot’s plan in Season 1, Elliot has been dealing with the consequences, which were so much bigger than he anticipated. The real-world stakes rose significantly in Season 3 with synchronised explosions at 71 E-Corp buildings, where Elliot realised that in the real world, The Dark Army’s “Stage 2” is people dying. Thousands of people. And that he had to try to fix what he broke. The finale saw Elliot reverse the Five/Nine hack and, it seems, finally make peace with his own personal demon: Mr. Robot. 

But if Elliot and Mr. Robot are besties now, where does that leave our relationship with Elliot in the new season? Let’s face it, Mr. Robot is many things, but you wouldn’t mistake him for a nice person. “We definitely question the morality of Elliot and what he’s done,” says series creator and two-time Emmy nominated writer-producer Sam Esmail. “Is he really morally or ethically making the right choices? That gets put to the test this season in really interesting and dark ways.”

The final season takes place over the 2015 Christmas holidays, bringing a “sentimental, reflective tone” to the story’s conclusion (which Esmail planned from the outset). But don’t break out the tidings of comfort and joy just yet, because it’s also finally becoming clear who the “final boss” – and the real puppet-master – is. 

Speaking on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Rami said, “I didn’t get to share as many scenes as I would have loved to last year with Christian Slater, and we are back at it, fiercely, in a showdown with our arch nemesis … Whiterose.”

Along with Emmy nominee BD Wong (Jurassic Park) as Whiterose, this season’s returning cast members include Portia Doubleday as Angela, Carly Chaikin as Darlene, Grace Gummer (daughter of Meryl Streep) as FBI investigator Dominique DiPierro, Martin Wallström as Tyrell Wellick, Elliot Villar as Vera, and Emmy nominee Michael Cristofer as Phillip Price. 

“I loved our first season,” Rami told Colbert. “For me, that was my favourite season, and I think this is equal to it or better. It’s a great way to end it. It’s bittersweet.”