Sorry but it doesn't look very promising. Typically, once all the foliage curls and hangs downward and is more dry and brown than lush and green, it is pretty much a done deal.

Like much of the PNW, you probably experienced extreme heat last June as well as one of the driest summers on record and that does not bode well for any newly planted rhododendrons without a lot of careful attention to watering.

Certainly you can make a cut and look for green inside the stem. All brown? It's dead.

Green inside or under the bark is not always a guarantee the plant can or will survive. That is a bit of an old wives' tale :-) It can take time for the interior tissue to dry and turn brown so just because it may look green and vital now does not negate the plant is on death's doorstep. Or already dead.

I think it died a long time ago given the mummified flowers. Did you plant it in full bloom? That would exacerbate the effects of drying out after planting.

You can buy a new one for $25 to $35.

If you see green you can you can prune it back some and wait and see, If it's all brown, it's dead.

OOps, hadn't read the above. Too bad:(