Summary: Flashbacks show Whiterose trying to become ambassador to USA. He is with a lover who wants to live in USA where their relationship will be allowed. Whiterose gets a higher promotion instead but this means that they have to remain in China. Distraught, his lover kills himself. In the present, Whiterose suspects Elliot and Price are working together but arranges the Deus meeting anyways, intending on making Tyrell the next CEO. Darlene tells Elliot that Susan's contact is Olivia, but after getting this information they fight when Elliot doesn't let her work with him. Elliot breaks into her house and discovers that he needs her USB key that she has on her. Elliot tracks her down to a bar where she has been stood up and tries to sweet-talk her to get the USB, but they end up forming a genuine emotional connection. Elliot texts the USB code to Darlene and heads home but notes he is being followed. He gets home where Tyrell is waiting for him with news that he is going to be CEO. Vera is watching Elliot and takes note when he visits Krista.
The Good: Mr. Robot and Elliot remain the beating heart of this show. I thoroughly enjoy seeing how their dynamic alters every season. After a 3-season rollercoaster ride of situations for these two, we now find ourselves at a place where Elliot and Mr. Robot's roles are reversed. Now it's Mr. Robot who is talking to us and who is trying to pull Elliot back from executing a ruthless plan. The story has developed organically to get to this point, and I'm enjoying this new dynamic where Mr. Robot intervenes to ensure that Elliot does not go too far in his quest for revenge. And Mr. Robot's intervention led to Elliot finally making another meaningful human connection with Olivia. They connect at a bar in hilarious fashion (see: Best Moment) with Elliot being his socially awkward self, and Olivia connects with a lot of what he feels and struggles with. Their heart to heart near the end of the episode was a terrific scene, helping Elliot feel less alone and reminding him of his own humanity. Some nice touches included Elliot mentioning his promise to Mohammed, and Olivia revealing that her bottle of oxycontin is just a reminder. The latter especially was nice because it meant that Elliot's brutal plan of blackmailing Olivia actually would not have worked, and that Elliot making this connection was the only way that his plan would have worked. It's nice to see that in a cruel world, sometimes it is still the right move to do the more humane thing. Elliot's moment with Krista was sad. Elliot has been reliant on her for much of the show's run and they had developed to have a good relationship last season. But now that she knows what she knows about him, their relationship has been fractured, and it is brutal to see Krista shouting so viciously at Elliot, who had just wanted to thank her. This scene hurts, but it also appears to have significant plot relevance as it ties back in with Vera. Vera's scene was a good catch-up to see what he's been up to. He isn't a threat (yet) but he is setting up his own goals which I bet will interfere with Elliot's plan at the most inconvenient time. I enjoyed the scene where Vera murders his guy for being incompetent in terms of reading people. Vera is a wonderful, unpredictable personality and I'm happy that he's back in the show. I really like how this season has been visually conveying the Elliot/Mr. Robot dynamic. With both of them on screen together at all times (often 1 in the foreground and the other in the background), you never know when the other is going to intervene and take over. Sure, it might not logistically make sense when Elliot and Mr. Robot are doing different things, but I'm reading this as an artistic liberty, not an actual depiction of what is happening. Obviously Elliot would be doing both tasks in his own time. I think the small suspension of disbelief is worth it to get such creative filmmaking. Whiterose's backstory opened the episode. I had my problems with it (see: The Bad), but it was nicely visualized. The sequence was stylistic and it told a sensible story that explained some of Whiterose's behaviours. She is likely looking to make a parallel world where she would be able to spend all of her life with her lover, a man that she likely projected onto her many other paramours that she has had over the years. Further, this sudden death is likely why Whiterose picked up her obsession with time (an obsession that her lover also had), understanding that every second she has is precious. The funeral flowers Whiterose picked out for her lover was a cool origin for the Whiterose name. The Bad: While I liked Whiterose's backstory and I think it makes sense, it can't help but feel anticlimactic and underdeveloped. Whiterose isn't just some villain with a sob story, she is a massive powerful world figure, and surely there is more to the creation of this urban legend than just the story of a lover killing himself. I wish that Whiterose's backstory had spent more time on the struggles that a transgender person in China would have to endure. That would have been much more illuminating on her character than what we actually got. Plus it's much more original than the story of a loved one dying causing a character to become evil, which is an overused trope. Tyrell looked like such an idiot at the end of the episode. Sure he isn't the smartest character in the show, but he's certainly intelligent enough to understand that Elliot shushing him means that something is up and that he should not reveal his confidential plan. If this moment is how Elliot's plan gets busted by the Dark Army, I will be very frustrated. Tyrell is unhinged with a god complex, he has never been written as this stupid. The Unknown: Is Vera turning his eyes onto Krista now? That can't be good. What is he going to do with her? He wants to partner up with Elliot. How does he plan to get Elliot to accept? Will Elliot accept? Why did the episode spend so much time on Olivia? I imagine that he role in the show is far from over considering how important she was here. Now that Elliot has a connection with her, will he endanger his plan by remaining close to her? Will he be able to screw her over, knowing that the Dark Army will likely kill her if he does? Who is following Elliot? Is it actually the Dark Army or is it someone else? Have they bugged the apartment? Did they hear what Tyrell told him? What does this mean for Tyrell's new position and Elliot's plan? Best Moment: Elliot being incredibly awkward while talking with Olivia in the bar was hilarious. The best part was that I somehow did buy into it actually being enough to charm her despite how ridiculous it all was. Character of the Episode: Elliot. Conclusion: Another solid episode as season 4 lays its foundations. Score: 66
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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