Mr. Robot: Season 4.0 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Mr. Robot: Season 4.0 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 13, 2020

Mr. Robot's run as one of televisions most dynamic shows saw it garner a wide response from acclaim to confusion that saw audiences both celebrating its debut season but quickly losing interest through seasons two, three, and four if its sharply declining ratings are to be believed, a shame because it was one of television's most dramatically satisfying and structurally rewarding shows this side of Better Call Saul. Timely but also timeless as a high risk exploration of both mammoth corporate and technological malfeasance and the intricacies of a genius but broken mind and spirit, the show has put together a legacy of excellence that culminates in season four, a bold step forward that both embraces the series' roots but finds new avenues of dramatic and character exploration as it approaches its end.

It is highly advisable that newcomers, or fans in need of a refresher, return to the beginning rather than jump in with season four. 'Mr. Robot' is a complex show with a number of unorthodox moving parts. The show can be confusing even with a base knowledge of its concepts and narrative arc. It's rewarding in total but will certainly be off-putting if one jumps in partway through. See below for links to the first three seasons on Blu-ray.

• Season One
• Season Two
• Season Three

Official synopsis: 'Mr. Robot' follows Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek), a cybersecurity engineer who, along with Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) and fsociety, starts a revolution to change the world. Season Four will pick up where the third season finale left off, delving into the pros and cons of Elliot hitting "send" on the email that could reverse Five/Nine.

The studio season summary is vague, and rightly so. Mr. Robot is not a show that plays well with foreknowledge, hints, sneak peeks, or spoilers. Episode summaries, as seen below (and, yes, spoiler alert), grow ever shorter and more vague as the season closes in on the series finale, or finales in some respects. But this is not a show that can be appreciated by plot points and highlights alone. While the dramatic currents and narrative details are what broadly drive the show, the greatest rewards come in watching it unfold and learning that its secrets are often hidden in plain sight, by soaking in the complimentary cinematography and absorbing the performance details that together accomplish as much, if not more, than the story ebbs and flows. Esmail is a master craftsman who uses every tool in the bag to its full usefulness and then finds new ways to put them to work, be those structural, narrative, or often the marriage of the two. Season four is, then, much like the three to come before it. It's a powerhouse of technical achievement, a masterwork of sight and sound that has benefited from Sam Esmail's vision as director across most of the series' 45 episodes. He wrote more than half of the episodes, too, and in television where there's often steady turnaround on the other side of the camera, that singular voice and steady influence is often overlooked when considering total series cohesion and vision. Many shows have proven more than capable with multiple hands crafting a single piece of art, but Mr. Robot makes a compelling case for steadiness and absolute clarity of vision.

The following episodes comprise season four. Summaries are courtesy of the Blu-ray packaging and purposefully make use of grammatically and structurally confused construction (vague spoiler alerts):

Disc One:

• Unauthorized: xmas time, elliot + mrrobot are BAK. darlene deals with real sh*t. tyrell's bored. dom's paranoid AF.
• Payment Required: elliot + darlene come together. dom gets dark army vibes. wtf is deus group? price has answers.
• Forbidden: whiterose has the feels. elliot owned by his own hack. an old foe chillz in wait.

Disc Two:

• Not Found: elliot, mrrobot and tyrell walkin' in a winter wonderland. darlene meets a bad santa. dom is DTF.
• Method Not Allowed: no xmas lolz for dom. darelliot gives a run-around. krista plays hookie. quiet pls, the show is on.
• Not Acceptable: vera tells a tale. darlene gets an xmas surprise. elliot goes rougue.
• Proxy Authentication Required: whois mrrobot.

Disc Three:

• Request Timeout: janice wants all the deets. elliot is shook.
• Conflict: fsociety v deus group.
• Gone: we stan domlene.

Disc Four:

• eXit: enuf is enuf. elliot goes to the washington township power plant.
• Whoami: say hi to Elliot.
• Hello, Elliot: Goodbye, Friend

Mr. Robot: Season 4.0 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mr. Robot: Season 4.0 hacks onto Blu-ray with a 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer. While there's nothing extraordinary in play, the 1080p presentation is of very high quality, handling every obscure angle, closeup shot, and varied environment with commendable precision and clarity. Sharpness and clarity enjoy steadfast, consistent excellence, where applicable; there are moments of intentional background (and sometimes foreground) blurring and some hazy environments, but in general the structural craftsmanship within most any given shot's parameters are quire pleasing to the eye and complimentary to the show. Facial closeups are well defined, boasting consistently high yield definition of facial hair, pores, freckles, and other qualities that give the image authenticity and accuracy. Ditto clothing. There's a fair sense of depth, often evident in Esmail's perspective shots and unorthodox camera placements and angles. Color enjoys good saturation and honest neutrality. Tones are intense as necessary and reserved when they should be. The picture maintains this balance in every lighting condition, whether intensely bright outdoors or warmly lit low light interiors. Shadow details are strong and black levels appear deep and true. Noise is evident in some frequency in lower light conditions but is never seen at extreme density; it's obvious but not overly intrusive. Otherwise there are no significant source shortcomings or encode flaws of note. This is a good all-around high performing presentation from Universal.

Mr. Robot: Season 4.0 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mr. Robot: Season 4.0 features the series staple DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack, the only audio option available on the disc. Like the video presentation this track is best described as well-rounded and technically sound, offering its variety of intensive score, ambient detail, dialogue, and the occasional extracurricular high yield action-type effects with equal clarity and delivery accuracy. Ambient effects are agreeably positioned and offer some of the best fundamental sound moments in the show: bustling city exteriors in episode one, elevator music in a bank in episode two, and so forth. Music plays with a wide range of styles, from airy to deep, all working the front stage heavily, the surrounds in support, and the low end to balanced breakthrough extension. The track is consistently enveloping listeners in well engineered delights that are always harmoniously integrated into the greater whole; sound plays a vital role even in, often, casual scenes and help define a mood or punctuate a point or elicit an emotional response. It's finely engineered in every way, rounded out by clear, articulate, center positioned and well prioritized dialogue.

Mr. Robot: Season 4.0 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Mr. Robot: Season 4.0 contains extras on every disc, but the collection is rather sparse in total, primarily comprised of deleted scenes. A gag reel is included on disc four. No DVD or digital copies are included.

Disc One:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Scenes from 401 Unauthorized (1:36), 402 Payment Required (5:49), and 403 Forbidden (3:19).

Disc Two:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Scenes from 404 Not Found (2:29), 405 Method Not Allowed (3:56), and 406 Not Acceptable (2:30).

Disc Three:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Scenes from 408 Request Timeout (7:34), 409 Conflict (3:35), and 410 Gone (7:21).

Disc Four:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): One scene from eXit (3:56).
• Gag Reel (1080p, 7:22): Humorous moments from the shoot.

Mr. Robot: Season 4.0 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Season four was a while coming but doesn't disappoint. It's both departure from and return to the show's roots, a robust construct that takes everything good about the show and embraces it while chucking out some of the less desirable components that certainly didn't hinder middle seasons but that did shift the paradigm a bit. It's mesmerizing storytelling beginning to end, considering this season both in isolation and certainly within the prism of the whole experience. Mr. Robot: Season 4.0 is a little short on extras but the video and audio presentations are first-rate. Note that Universal has also released the entire series in a single box, which is the best place for newcomers to jump in. Season four, and the entirety of Mr. Robot, comes very highly recommended.