Mr. Robot Season Finale Review – Is Any of It Real?

Well…was it? Geez… that was something, right? And by something, I mean, nothing. Or was it everything? Ok, let’s try that again. Mr. Robot, Who wants to talk about the finale? Ok, here we go. Also, spoilers are below.

I’m not gonna lie guys, I was a little disappointed when I heard Mr. Robot didn’t have any actual robots. I mean, it’s Robots! But of course, it wasn’t false advertising, but rather a pretty clever metaphor for a show about a socially inept and severely troubled hacker who is recruited to join an anarchist movement called F society.

So much had happened during the course of the show and it built up to a much anticipated season finale. To be completely honest, it had some really brilliant moments and some fairly meh moments. Let’s take a look:

What it hit

That Danish threat scene

I’m starting with this scene, because holy crap, this scene though. Hands down the best scene in the entire first season. Elliot spends the entire episode looking for Tyrell Wellick, after waking up with no recollection of the past three days. He remembers being with Tyrell so surely he can fill in the blanks except he is nowhere to be found.

Elliot goes to Tyrell’s house, where he bumps into the Tyrell’s uber creepy wife. And they have the most unnerving exchange in the history of the show. The music was so unsettling that it added to the intensity between the two, with so much subtext and creepiness that it made the whole thing enjoyable in its creepiness.

Then of course, there was that calm smile as she says in Danish “If you have done something to him [Tyrell], I will kill you.”

Yeah… I know.

Sudden music stops

This happened quite a bit in this episode and reminded me a lot of The Departed, which is always a good thing. Background music will be blaring and suddenly it will come to a complete halt.

I love how it immediately snaps you back into the realm of the show, like someone who is being put into or woken up from a trance like state.

My favourite use of this was in the scene with Elliot’s “family” in Times Square scene where he wants to be left alone and suddenly everyone and every sound disappears. Just beautiful.

That on Air Suicide Scene

As terrible as it sounds, this scene was visually amazing. I know that this one scene was the reason the airing of the season finale was delayed by one week as a similar incident (someone getting shot in the head on live TV) happened in real life.

Out of respect, the USA network decided to postpone the airing of the episode.

In this episode, a representative from Evil Corp is on live TV following the conglomerate being taken down by F Society and they need to respond. But Evil Corp has now been exposed for being corrupt and, you know, Evil.

So the dude, who was pretty antsy leading up to the interview, takes a gun out of his bag and puts it in his mouth, blood sprayed on the wall behind him, and dripping from his mouth as he crashes onto the floor, with blood over Angela’s very expensive shoes. Angela’s next scene features the most judgemental and opinionated shoe salesman ever

You witnessed this thing, and you’re here to buy new shoes?

Fair question, though.

What it missed

No Tyrell Wellick

But then again I initially thought he was the F society man in the mask that kept showing up on tv, but I could be wrong. A common thought amongst viewers is that Elliot is the man in the mask, or maybe Tyrell was the man knocking on the door right at the end.

But as my favourite character throughout the season, I really missed Tyrell’s presence in this episode. He brings a certain unpredictability to the show that I find alluring.

Pretty much no pay off

Elliot is searching for Tyrell, has a mental breakdown in Times Square and just goes home. Tyrell is nowhere to be found. The episode is all about the world crumbling but there is very little movement from any of the major characters. Everyone is just watching the world burn.

Biggest character development by far is Angela who seems to be taking a dark turn. She sees a man she works for shoot himself on live TV and kind of shrugs it off towards the end of the episode. I’m interested to see her character arc in Season 2.

End credits scene

It left a little to be desired to be honest, although it was nice to see White Rose again, even if he/she was a little different, but I was expecting something much more. The whole thing done in one take was pretty cool though.

Overall season review

Most interesting character on the show: Tyrell Wellick – standout performer for me, hands down. Married to the hottest creepiest woman alive, with a newborn baby, a penchant for having sex with men to get ahead in his job, paying homeless people to fight them and choking a woman to death on a rooftop. So complex in every way.

Creepiest character on the show: Tyrell’s wife – I couldn’t read her at all. At first I thought she was just a freak but she’s been pulling strings the whole season through. Motivating her husband to do whatever it takes to get to the top. Plus, “If you have done something to him, I will kill you.” Still gives me chills.

The twist was very Fight Club, of course. But I have to admit I didn’t see it coming. It made perfect sense in the most non-sensical way imaginable. Plus, that piano version of “Where is my mind?” Yes.

Mr. Robot rating: 8 / 10