Mr. Robot Season 4 Episode 2 Review: Payment Requested
Paul Dailly
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It's kill or be killed.
That was the stunning realization Darlene came to on Mr. Robot Season 4 Episode 2 after learning that Elliot was going full steam ahead with his plan to take down Whiterose.
Whiterose already said that Elliot would be killed the moment his plan came to fruition, and by extension, that extends to Darlene. She has been there for too much stuff to be allowed to continue with her life.
Darlene was all over the place on Mr. Robot Season 4 Episode 1, but now that she knows the truth, she's ready to join the fight and take down the Dark Army once and for all.
The biggest surprise was that the pair bonded over the death of their mother. If you watch Mr. Robot online, you know their relationship seemed like it was never going to recover.
But Darlene made a great point when she told Elliot that fsociety was part of Elliot's biggest wins to date, so they can try to complete this final hurdle together.
Darlene managed to keep her composure when she realized that Elliot was trying to find Susan, aka the woman she killed on Mr. Robot Season 2.
Softening the blow was the news that Susan was in Dark Army all along. Despite struggling with the knowledge that she played a part in the woman's death, Darlene likely feels a small sense of relief that Susan was working with the bad guys.
Darlene, Elliot, and Mr. Robot uniting against Whiterose seems like the perfect final arc for this series, but Sam Esmail has proven to be the King of subverting expectations.
Elliot: Do you want to go back to not talking, fighting, blocking each other out?
Mr. Robot: No, I want to work together.
Christmas is fast approaching, and it's hard to imagine the next 11 episodes taking place over a handful of days. The likely scenario is that the takedown of Whiterose will happen much sooner than that and that the rest of the series will focus on the aftermath.
Whiterose is a master manipulator, and the producers did a masterful job of editing those opening scenes putting the character's face alongside some big political figures to illustrate how she's been behind everything from the get-go.
People should be afraid of Whiterose. She's a cutthroat villain who won't be happy until she achieves world domination. Price essentially throwing his resignation as CEO of E Corp into the ring made for a comical scene.
Price is a pretty despicable human being in his own right, but he's starting to understand that what Whiterose and the Dark Army are doing is not right.
Related: Mr. Robot Season 4 Episode 1 Review: Unauthorized
It took him losing his daughter to come to that realization, and that's partly why he is ready to get some revenge. It's just a shame that we may already have witnessed his last stand.
Price: Consider yourself lucky, Mr. Alderson... that I was the one alerted when you walked into that apartment. It's my duty to dispose of any intruder and report the attempt.
Elliot: But you didn't. Why?
He was cold as ice towards Elliot when he told him he set the wheels in motion for everyone to be in the same room.
He wants Elliot to know that he's not doing this to benefit the hacker, he's doing it to avenge his daughter and to restore order in a world that is being governed by people who want to force people to follow them.
The only logical thing Price could do was tender his resignation because it would make the right amount of waves to get all of these villains in the same room.
Crazy, right? Yeah, I never thought we'd still be here, either. But we were goners. But, here we are, still alive, but that's not the crazy part. The crazy part is, we were saved by him, the enemy. One we've been after this whole time Question is, what is the angle? What's the cost? Because one thing we know by now, it ain't free.
Mr. Robot
But what does Elliot plan to do when he has them where he wants them? That's the bigger question here, and it's doubtful that Dom and the FBI will be able to do anything to help.
Darlene revealing the return of Elliot's former nemesis was great because it brought back that division between Elliot and Mr. Robot. They were working too well together for my liking.
We know they were both telling the truth that it was not one of them who spoke to Darlene that fateful night, and that's the beauty of having a character at the wheel with multiple personalities.
My first instinct was that this new person inside Elliot's head was Angela. It would explain how Elliot was surprisingly calm in the aftermath of his best friend and love interest's death.
Related: Mr. Robot to End With Season 4
Now that we know this person is a he, it means we'll be waiting to find out the truth. Given Elliot's complicated past with Tyrell, he would be the likely person in this scenario.
But with Tyrell still very much alive and kicking, it would make things even more confusing.
Speaking of Dom, she realized the hard way that she needs to make the Dark Army feel like she's getting results. Agent Horton's death was cruel, but the moment Dom said she was 99% sure, it was clear he would not be living for much longer.
Dom is in a very tough spot in that she's being controlled by the Dark Army, or she runs the risk of herself and her entire family ding a grisly death.
Price: It won't work, your heist.
Elliot: But you just said the Deus group funds Whiterose's project and the Dark Army. If I can find a way to rob the Deus group, Whiterose loses everything.
Price: But, like I said, the Deus group is impenetrable, Whiterose designed it that way.
Mr. Robot: You can get us in.
Price: Excuse me?
Mr. Robot: It's like you said, E Corp is a front for the Deus group. Last I checked, you're still the CEO. We can take them all down if we work together. You have to have a contact at the bank that can get me the Deus group account numbers, a real contact.
She already witnessed Santiago's death at the hands of Irving, so she knows Dark Army is not about empty threats. She's scared shitless that anyone close to her dies.
There has to be a moment in which Dom crosses paths with Darlene and Elliot again to allow them to come together to fight this final battle together.
Then again, how do we know this second person in Elliot's head has not already made a deal with Dom?
Darlene: What's the hurry? She's not going to get any deader.
Elliot: You know, for someone who refused to enter this room the last few years, you seem pretty comfortable now with her gone.
Darlene: Don't you feel a little relieved? I know I sound like a total dick, but you feel it to, right?
Elliot: I guess.
There are so many unanswered questions right now, but Mr. Robot Season 4 is firing from all cylinders. Any episode that has Whiterose tearing down the Christmas tree he just decorated in a fit of rage is a success in my book.
What are your thoughts on the final season?
Are you on board with introducing a new voice inside Elliot's head? Will Dom snap before she gets a chance to take Dark Army down?
Hit the comments below.
Mr. Robot continues Sundays on USA Network.
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Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
