The 13-episode fourth season of Mr. Robot aired during the fall and winter of 2019. This ended up being the final season of what was, in my opinion, along with shows like The Americans, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul were the best cable dramas of the 2010s. It is nearly impossible to discuss the season's overall plot without giving too much away. Much of the season is about fleshing out Zheng's/Whiterose's story, including a backstory, and Elliot's takedown of both Whiterose's plan (which has been referred to throughout the series) and the group of the 1% of the 1% who run the country. Some of the cast is relegated to more of a recurring status this season (e.g., Portia Doubleday) while the roles of other cast members are expanded (e.g., B.D. Wong, who is terrific playing a dual role). The showrunners did an excellent job tying up all the threads and storylines, mainly in the second half of the final episode, making it clear (seemingly anyway) that the bulk of the story was planned out from the beginning.
The Blu-Ray set is a four-disc set. As with the prior season releases, the show looks great in the HD format, with great views of NY, especially the NYC skyline. The extras are pretty thin, which is the only drawback for me, but really only enough to knock the set down half a star. There are deleted/alternate/extended scenes for every episode and a seven-minute gag reel. There are no commentary tracks, behind-the-scenes material, or series retrospective, which is a shame because there is a lot to be said about how the series ended. It would have been nice to hear the thoughts of Sam Esmil, Remi Malik, and the rest of the cast.
Overall, the season and series were wonderful. It continued to be well-written and acted, and the characters were developed until the final episode. The series still earned a hard TV-MA rating, mainly because of the language and violence. Ever since Tyrell's wife was killed off, and his character took a different arc, the sex was toned way down, but there is liberal use of the f-word, so if swearing gets to you, you will not like the show. The series continued to take chances not only in the character development but also in things like having a dialogue-free episode, which I can only remember being done in season four of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. If you liked or loved the prior seasons, you will enjoy the payoff to the series that this season gives you. On the other hand, if you were not a fan of the prior seasons, this will not do anything to make you like it. I definitely recommend it for those who are looking for a great but very different drama, with the proviso that you absolutely have to watch the series from the beginning to be able to follow what is going on.
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