[Spoiler Alert: If you have not seen the Mr. Robot tv series on USA Network, stop what you’re doing. Go find it, watch it and come back. Otherwise, serious spoilers ahead.]
Season 4 – Episode 403 (Forbidden)
As this episode begins, we’re in flashback to 1982 and the backstory that sets the foundation for Zhang/Whiterose’s ambitions. In a relaxed moment shared between Zhang and Chen in their hotel room, Zhang glances over to the television and the music video of Boy George and Culture Club performing Time (Clock Of The Heart). And that sets the beat for the heartbreaking storyline that follows. We also hear the familiar audible pulse of a watch. But this time it’s Chen’s watch beeping, echoing his obsession with time, and with Zhang/Whiterose deriding Chen’s fixation by saying, “You and that pesky watch.” This comment—coming from the eventual hacker of time.
As the backstory continues, we jump back and forth from 1982 to series present-day 2015. At the centerpiece of the unfolding drama is Whiterose’s project. Standing in front of a hanging formal gown, Zhang says to his assistant Wang Shu, “I will be wearing this the day my project is shipped. The day we begin to build a new world.”
Recall that in Episode 3, Price provided us more of the history behind the rise of Whiterose’s mysterious project, and we learned that this project has been central to every aspect of Whiterose’s pursuits. The power, money, influence and brutality were all in service to the delivery of this presumed time-altering and world-changing project. Let the enormity of that motivation sink in for a moment, relative to Mr. Robot and time travel.
Wang Shu presses Minister Zhang on some urgent issues. Of top priority is the suspicion that the recent hack of the Grand Central Station’s surveillance system may be an indication of Elliot Alderson’s next move, and further suspicion that Phillip Price’s abrupt resignation request from the Deus Group may also be part of chess moves Elliot and Price may be making together.
Wang Shu says, “Well, it’s like you always say: There is no such thing as a coincidence.”
To which Zhang replies, “Very well. Refuse Price’s demands and keep on digging.”
Wang Shu says, “We will figure this out, Minister Zhang. It will just require some patience.”
The concept of patience often doesn’t sit well with Zhang/Whiterose, but we leave this scene before Zhang resolves his obvious hesitation. Later in the episode, we rejoin their discussion with Zhang saying to Wang Shu, “No. Give Phillip Price what he wants. Let him know that we will arrange a Deus Group meeting to confirm a successor. Schedule the meeting for tomorrow. If there’s one way to disrupt a man’s plans, it is to destabilize his timeline. If they are indeed planning something together, we will not wait for them to make a mistake. We will force them into one.”
Wang Shu tries to make the point that getting a meeting together with the entire Deus Group, the next day—Christmas Day—is a tall order. To which Zhang responds, “I have been trying to ship my project to the Congo for the last 302 days and counting. Anything that will disrupt that will no longer be tolerated. I have officially run out of patience.”
Wang Shu argues that, “When Phillip Price resigns, you will have no CEO at ECORP.”
Zhang says, “Wellick. Call Mr. Wellick and offer him the CEO position. Tell him you are speaking for Whiterose. I have no doubt that he will accept.”
This dialogue between Zhang/Whiterose and Wang Shu is key to setting up some further time travel theorization in the next episode. Let’s keep these plot dynamics in mind as we dig deeper into the further mysteries the very next episode brings us.
Season 4 – Episode 404 (Not Found)
As the Mr. Robot series winds its way to its inevitable conclusion, the plot focus continues to narrow on the implementation of Whiterose’s mysterious project. In service to this goal, it’s imperative that Tyrell Wellick attend tomorrow’s secret Christmas Day meeting of the Deus Group, where he will succeed Phillip Price as CEO of ECORP.
As Zhang/Whiterose has said, anything that disrupts the shipment of his project, “will no longer be tolerated.” To be clear, Tyrell Wellick not appearing at the Deus Group meeting will certainly disrupt the project and create risks that could delay the shipping of the project to the Congo.
What happens next in this episode is a set of circumstances that will—most certainly—disrupt the project. Tyrell and Elliot are literally lost in the woods. Tyrell gets shot in the stomach by a Dark Army operative who was presumed to be dead. Understanding the inevitability of his mortal wound, Tyrell takes a final walk into the woods, presumably to die. What happens next is enigmatic in every sense of the word.
Clutching his bleeding stomach, Tyrell plods and ambles through thick trees and the snow-covered forest floor, stumbling at times, picking himself back up again and continuing on—until he comes across something. Tyrell slowly approaches some object on the ground that’s emanating a blue-purple light. We only see this glowing, pulsating light as it’s cast upon Tyrell’s upper body and face as he kneels down to gaze upon it. The scene transitions to white, and the episode ends.
We don’t know what has happened. While we can only speculate, let’s string some known facts together and see if the pieces form a picture:
- We know that Whiterose is laser-focused on the move of her project to the Congo and the importance that Tyrell Wellick plays in the sustainment of the Deus Group’s alignment to her cause.
- We know that Whiterose showed something to Angela that convinced her beyond any doubt that Whiterose’s project was real and viable.
- Whiterose apparently brought a younger version of Angela to meet with an older Angela in the strange room with the fish tank. Whiterose seemingly has some way to pluck people out of one timeline and drop them into another.
- Whiterose hacks time.
In the very next episode, we’ll learn that regarding Tyrell Wellick’s implied death, there is no body found. In spite of a broad sweeping of the “crime scene” by law enforcement—and recovery of the body of the Dark Army operative from the burned-out van—there’s not a trace of Tyrell Wellick. Whatever the glowing object was that Tyrell stumbled upon, he and it are missing. We can only speculate about what that means. However, given Whiterose’s determination to carry out the delivery of her project without any disruption, and given the well-funded reach of the Dark Army, it’s not difficult to imagine that Whiterose would employ any and all available resources to preserve her plan.
Season 4 – Episode 405 (Method Not Allowed)
Setting time travel aside, this episode serves as one of the many examples of groundbreaking filmmaking, cinematography and storytelling that has become a signature of the Mr. Robot television series. This is a show that takes risks and pushes the boundaries of expectations. This episode is practically a silent episode bookended by a few words spoken only at the beginning and at the very end. Consider it a break from time travel analysis and a retreat into pure visual storytelling.
Season 4 – Episode 406 (Not Acceptable)
A third of the way into this episode, we find ourselves in a large presentation room. Whiterose/Minister Zhang is standing in front of a Promethean board. He’s approached by his assistant Wang Shu. She suggests they eliminate Elliot Alderson, citing the risks with the evening’s meeting of the entire Deus Group. Zhang emphasizes that if Elliot is killed, his shipping hack dies with him. Wang Shu continues to plead her case, but Zhang says in response, “Think about what you’re saying…I will not get this close only to watch it slip away again. I want you to locate Mr. Alderson and bring him in. He should see the full potential of what we’re working towards. It’s time he learns we’re on the same side.”
Mr. Robot Time Travel Theory Red Alert!
For the entirety of their conversation, Whiterose/Zhang and Wang Shu are looking up at the illuminated board with its mathematical equations and diagrams. While much of the content on the board is only partially viewable and blurred in detail, there’s enough visible clarity to suggest that what we’re seeing has some relationship to quantum physics. As Whiterose/Zhang delivers the line, “He should see the full potential of what we’re working towards,” it’s clear that this board contains some mathematical representation of at least a part of the mysterious project that’s on its way to the Congo.
Is this the best evidence yet that Mr. Robot is about time travel? Season after season, and episode after episode, we’ve seen clues, allusions and thematic suggestions to time travel. But, in this episode, we’re seeing something tangible up on that board. And that picture is clear in the suggestion that time travel or time manipulation will be realized through mathematic and scientific principles. If there’s a “time machine” emerging from within the Mr. Robot story, this episode confirms that it will be built on the foundations of physics.
While we only get a few quick glimpses of the glowing whiteboard, and a good deal of the content is blurred in its focus, some of the larger diagrams seem to suggest the Quantum Double Double Slit Experiment.
For a crash-course (YouTube-style) check out this short video clip.
Are we finally seeing the “time travel” smoking gun in Mr. Robot? Let’s string some storyline facts together and see what theoretical picture emerges:
- Season 1/Episode 8: Whiterose tells Elliot, “You hack people. I hack time.”
- Season 3/Episode 1: In the Washington Township Nuclear Power Plant (site of Whiterose’s project) we heard this puzzling hallway conversation from a scientist/lecturer leading some kind of tour. His words bear repeating. He said, “I love a great mystery. And I’m fascinated by the greatest unsolved mystery. Do we see reality as it is? If I close my eyes and imagine…that everything we experience, everything we see, think, and do, is unfolding simultaneously in a parallel universe. And if so, how many copies of our cells exist? And might our mental states be conjoined? For better or worse.”
- Season 3/Episode 10: Whiterose says to Grant, moments before he dies, “Know that I will find you as soon as our project is complete.”
- Multiple Episodes: Whiterose goes to any and all lengths—and at any cost, even to human lives—to ensure her “project” continues.
- Multiple Episodes: Whiterose is laser-focused on moving her project to the Congo, presumably because the Congo holds some natural resources or elements that will allow the project to be completed and deployed.
- Season 4/Episode 6: We now have evidence that Quantum Physics may be the scientific basis for the realization of Whiterose’s project.
With all of this right in front of us. Are we ready to conclude that time travel is the underlying story reality of Mr. Robot? While the evidence we’ve been shown would certainly seem to support that hypothesis, there remains the possibility that it’s something else entirely.
Time travel—as a theory—in Mr. Robot, is only relevant if we have confirmation about the container within which the Mr. Robot universe exists. It may very well be that a story “container” could include time travel as a construct. But it only takes one larger story reality wrapped around the visible storyline to confirm or rule out time travel as a theory. We all know the familiar tropes for perceived story realities residing inside of larger unseen story realities: it was all a dream; it was a delusion or hallucination…. We’ve seen those stories. What we don’t know is whether Mr. Robot is one of those stories. Sam Esmail has said that upon the final reveal—of what the story is about—all questions will be answered and wrapped up in a definitive way. He’s also said that no one out in social media has yet guessed what the story reality of Mr. Robot really is.
The question we all have for Sam Esmail is…how long will you keep us guessing?
Season 4 – Episode 407 (Proxy Authorization Required)
For anyone who thought the “silent episode” would be the groundbreaking episode of the season, this next one blows that assumption out of the water. While there’s nothing specific here to further drive the time travel narrative, this episode is a taut, risk-taking, tour de force of impressive performances and brilliant filmmaking art.
Hope to see you back next month as we break down more episodes. Between now and then, will there be yet another “big reveal” that answers our driving question about time travel? Let’s keep watching!
David La France
Latest posts by David La France (see all)
- The Mr. Robot Paradox: Series Retrospective – Goodbye, Friend… - February 25, 2020
- The Mr. Robot Paradox: Season 4 (Episodes 12-13 / Series Finale) - January 28, 2020
- The Mr. Robot Paradox: Season 4 (Episodes 8-11) - December 27, 2019
Waiting for the next analysis…
We finally saw a glimpse of the time travel/paralle universe story.