Mr Robot Season 4 Episode 5: A near-dialogue free episode shows, but never tells about the daring Cypress National Bank hack job
Spoilers ahead for 'Mr Robot' Season 4 Episode 5 'Method Not Found'
*Slow clap* 'Mr Robot's' 'Method Not Found' episode deserves all the applause it can get. It's Christmas Day in 2015 in Elliot's world and this episode is Sam Esmail's present for us. The silent episode, save two lines, one spoken in the beginning and one right at the end, is the gift we hadn't expected but were thrilled to receive. While it might be called gimmicky, the fact is that this episode had so much packed in -- from striking visuals to the clever editing to the unrelenting and darkly comic Christmassy soundtrack, starting with a magnificently rendered 'Ode to Joy' -- that there was no time for intrusive dialogue. In the words of the King, Elvis Presley, it was all about a little less conversation, a little (ok a lot) more action, please.
This has got to be the most intimate 'Mr Robot' episode in a while where the lack of speech heightened the tension beautifully and let us breathe in Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek) and Darlene's (Carly Chaikin) quickened breaths as they infiltrated the Virtual Reality building and hacked into the Cypress National Bank, standing inches away from the guard searching the company's server room, row by row. It also brought out the wordless synergy of the siblings because hey, Christmas is all about family. All it took was one good hack with some unadulterated terror and signature adrenalin moments thrown into the episodic holiday cocktail.
After Darlene rescues Elliot from the vicinity of the burning Dark Army van, she says they don't have to talk as Elliot gasps in the car seat next to her, too full of the night's events to explain himself. Post that, the scene shifts between them preparing for the hack on Virtual Reality that hosts the servers for Cypress National Bank and executing it, with scenes featuring Krista Gordon (Gloria Reuben), Philip Price (Michael Cristofer) and Dominique 'Dom' DePierro (Grace Gummer).
Is the hack shown in this episode in the realm of possibility? Absolutely. But it is a stretch. But the episode is so beautifully put together that you never question the ifs and buts and concentrate on the how of this ingeniously stacked hack operation that resembles a heist movie. Like any good robbery, it starts with a distraction, courtesy Darlene (in a black wig) posing as Dolores Haze, a Virtual Reality employee with a malfunctioning card. As she engages the guard, Elliot slips in undetected right under the guard's nose.
Next, Elliot creates a fake employee entry for 'Dolores' in the system database that allows her to walk in after her credentials check out when the guard checks the said database at the reception. Elliot then disables the cameras with a firmware update before joining Darlene at their next pit stop in their hack. Darlene, during her time at the reception area, also gets the guard to leave a fingerprint on her wiped down phone which the siblings then use to create a 3-D printed finger-shaped mold that can bypass the server room's security access.
The fingerprint gets them into the main server room where Darlene gets administrator access into Cypress National Bank and the Deus Group's accounts. When the cameras come back online, Elliot hacks into the main lighting system to switch off the lights in those last crucial moments of the hack as the guard searches for them.
Once they are done, they scurry out like rabbits, only to see the cops at the building door called in by the suspicious guards. Elliot bodily pushes the guard aside, using the door they are hiding behind, and ends up with cops on his tail as he runs to evade being captured. Darlene disguises herself as a bystander emerging from the fitness studio in the same building, before rushing in her car to rescue Elliot again, who by that time, has been through a heart-stopping escape marathon through New York city that has nearly killed him. As he gasps for breath (again) in the seat next to Darlene, he clasps her hand in sibling solidarity and love. *Heart emoji*
Meanwhile, Krista blissfully prepares for a romantic Christmas with her boyfriend while she is being stalked by Vera's new accomplice. Price follows a convoluted trail of clues to finally get the location of the Deus Group's secret meeting. The meeting is on despite Tyler's disappearance and he texts Elliot informing him of this development.
Dom, following Janice's orders (all via cheery text messages and sinister emojis), tries to track down the perpetrators behind the burning Dark Army agent's van. Dom is a little too good at her job and her lead helps Janice (Ashlie Atkinson) to identify the "troublemakers" (Darlene and Elliot), thanks to the surveillance camera mounted on the traffic light. The same red light that Darlene breezed through without stopping after rescuing Elliot in the episode's beginning moments. Krista, after finally realizing she is being followed, runs into Vera who gives the episode its end line -- "we need to talk".
Piecing together these four parallel stories is the splendid visual and audio editing that grafts them together with the omnipresent, cheerful and ubiquitous Christmas songs played in shops and street corners everywhere and clever visual splicing of scenes. The funniest is when Janice stabs the dead stuffed dog and the scene cuts to the crying baby Jesus in a store's decorative glass front where Krista is shopping for Christmas goodies. This episode was crafted with love and sets the bar high for the rest of the season.
'Mr. Robot' airs on the USA Network Sundays at 10/9c.
