Yes this is my genuine opinion I don’t care. On my first watch I came into this episode with an open mind while still expecting it to be weaker than the rest of the season and loved it, and seeing it again it impacted me even more. I get why a lot of people like this less than the rest of the season but I’ll never agree. Also the last episode I’m seeing until after Christmas I think. [SPOILERS] One of the core reasons why people dislike this episode is because of the lack of focus it has in regards to Elliot, and I hate that I have to explain why that’s an incredibly short-sighted critique. I said this in my 2x8 review as well, but if you see this episode lacking Elliot as making this episode inherently flawed, you have wider issues with the way you perceive art, and you need to stop seeing it for what you want and try to understand what the artist is trying to achieve. It’s fine if you didn’t like the episode or the way they actually executed it, but just saying “no Elliot so this is bad” without explaining why that makes it bad is such a weak criticism. Furthermore, I don’t see why an episode mainly focusing on Dom and Darlene near the end of the show is such a bad thing. These are both characters who have had extensive arcs throughout the series across multiple seasons, them having a single episode spending the time to give them conclusions that were both necessary isn’t a bad thing at all to me. Yes, it’s a relatively calm episode in the midst of some of the most insane arcs in all of TV, but once again, that doesn’t make it bad, and if that makes this a bad episode for you I would assume that you simply value this show for being a tense Thriller series rather than for the thematic layers beneath that which characters like Dom and Darlene exemplify. This isn’t the only thing that makes this episode a necessary (and enjoyable/well executed) one in the context of this season for me either. Gone is not just an episode that exists to conclude Dom and Darlene’s characters as well as their respective dynamic, but it also exists to directly show us the impact of the events of last episode with the wealth redistribution. Throughout the entire show, particularly in season 2 after five/nine, there is an incredible amount of effort put into showing the impact that the events of the story have on society as a whole in order to make those events feel more real or severe. For example, the scenes of Dom talking to the diary owner in season 2 that serve no other purpose but to let us see how the world is collapsing financially in the wake of five/nine. If we weren’t to see the effect that the wealth distribution of the most powerful people on the entire planet has on the world as a whole, that would make the worldbuilding of the series feel deeply lackluster to me, especially considering how well done it is throughout the rest of the show. Dom and Darlene’s trip serves as a very efficient way to tie off two important loose ends that the series needed to focus on at once. My final defence for this episode is in regards to the most hated part of it, the final scene. It genuinely blows my mind that so many people consider this scene to be underwhelming or corny, I’ve genuinely never seen so many people misunderstand the point of a scene, and it’s not like the subtext of this scene is really difficult to notice like an episode like 405 Method Not Allowed either. The entire episode sets up for this scene to make it more satisfying, and it obviously isn’t intended to be a serious scene either which the usage of a Carly Rae Jepsen song makes very clear. Yes it’s melodramatic and completely odd for a show like Mr. Robot, but the show is self aware of that and is doing this deliberately. First of all, the argument that this scene is underwhelming because we spend an entire episode seeing Dom and Darlene together only for them to end up separate in the end. I feel like this ending stays incredibly true to the show as a whole, Dom and Darlene running away with each other to live happily ever after would not be realistic at all, especially when you consider what Dom and Darlene’s dynamic has been attempting to convey for the entire show. They are not meant for each other, their relationship is built upon violence and trauma, they first meet when Darlene’s boyfriend is murdered, their interactions in the following months struggle to have any authenticity due to their ulterior motives, and Darlene is ultimately responsible for Dom’s emotional stress during season 4. Despite that, the conclusions they reach are still driven by their personal care for one another as Darlene goes off the plane and Dom goes on in an attempt to meet up with one another. The series refuses to end the episode in a way that isn’t entirely unchallenging, but is still satisfying for how it stays true to their dynamic throughout the entire show, which was one plagued by horrible experiences that made their relationship impossible despite the fact that they cared for one another. Rather than having an ending seeing the both of them leave together, their conclusions are focused on seeing each of them personally overcome their own challenges instead of co-dependence on a relationship when neither of them are capable of thriving on their own. Dom, after suffering from insomnia for the entire show, finally sleeps, and Darlene finally overcomes a panic attack after being plagued by them ever since the start of season 2 due to her devotion to Elliot’s mission with fsociety. If you paid any attention to the characterisation of these two, you know that Dom’s insomnia and Darlene’s mental health were an integral element to both of them, and seeing them finally overcome these things is so deeply rewarding. These conclusions are both ultimately optimistic, telling the audience that after being freed from the conflicts that plagued them both so severely, they may finally improve and find their way on the right path. Dom is no longer working for the FBI or the Dark Army, no longer being controlled or enslaved in the working system that consumed her, and Darlene finally chooses herself rather than supporting Elliot even if she hurts herself along the way. With that, they finally find their own individuality and learn how to overcome their issues. This review isn’t trying to tell anyone they’re wrong for disliking this episode, if you don’t that’s fine. However, it is an attempt to prove that this episode was incredibly necessary for the season overall, and also that the ending isn’t “cringe”, but rather deeply thematically resonant for both Dom and Darlene, because both of those things are commonly said about the episode. One of the most profound and beautiful episodes of the show to me.