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Westworld - Live in Your World, Play in Ours - Sundays on HBO

Solo

Member
S2 will definitely happen. I just hope they don't pull a Deadwood and when they inevitably do cancel the show, don't do so unreseolved
 
S2 will definitely happen. I just hope they don't pull a Deadwood and when they inevitably do cancel the show, don't do so unreseolved
I think most networks, and HBO in particular, are aware these days that it's a lot better to give an established show the chance to create a proper ending. The only things that they're canceling abruptly are unmitigated disasters in terms of ratings.
 

Violet_0

Banned
the Bernard reveal was pretty neat. I mean, lots of us saw it coming (I think his son was the same boy Dorothy encountered at the river when she was painting?), and I suspected that he was going to kill her before they even entered the elevator, but it was well-done nonetheless. What I'm wondering about, though - were the board members hosts too? Was it all an elaborate plan? How did Ford know about the "blood sacrifice", the specific wording in particular?
 

Solo

Member
For sure. I'd be fine if Westworld were like a 2-4 season show, just so long as the creative team knew it was their last season heading in.
 

Solo

Member
How did Ford know about the "blood sacrifice", the specific wording in particular?


The board member was banging Hector, who is a host, and hosts record all transmissions. Ford clearly was monitoring it, and threw it back in her face as an "did you really think you could best me?" type of killing blow.
 
So for the season finale, what do you think we'll be looking at? It's 91 minutes, so basically a TV movie finale.

I'm thinking:
- Dolores/William get into the deepest part of the park (PAST)
- Dolores/MiB get into the deepest part of the park (PRESENT)
- Maeve leads her rebellion and breaks out, showing us a glimpse of where Westworld really is
- Both the parties going IN and OUT are playing into Ford's masterplan which he has been setting up, to draw Arnold out
- Bernard comes to terms with the truth behind Arnold
Bernard will kill Ford. He'll join forces with Maeve going forward

The board member was banging Hector, who is a host, and hosts record all transmissions. Ford clearly was monitoring it, and threw it back in her face as an "did you really think you could best me?" type of killing blow.
Yup, it was meant to show her how he's always fifteen steps ahead of them and us that he really is an omnipresent god of his domain. In here, he controls all and knows all.
 

Solo

Member
Or coversely, Bernard was working on Hector prior to sending him up to the board member's suite.....Ford could have had him install a specific recording feature as Bernard is Ford's puppet.
 
I think (and I sure as hell hope) there won't be any more character-we-thought-was-human-was-actually-a-host reveals. I feel like you can only play that card once for it to be effective. Doing it with Bernard made sense, especially if he's Arnold. In any other future case it will just look like a parlour trick.

I think the puzzle-box approach works for season 1 of this show but I honestly can't see it working in future seasons (and I really don't want it to). I understand the notion that we're only really going to understand what the show's long arc is about at the end of this season, but I hope we actually do know that.

The Bernard reveal was a good moment when it happened, but it killed off an interesting character *and* it made Bernard less interesting.
 
Are you sure? The way I read into it was that they didn't care at all about the hosts, storylines, IP or the park. What they did care about was the AI and tech.

And, I suspect, the fact that the park's basically collected 100% accurate data on the 'true selves' of everyone who's ever gone there (all of whom are the wealthiest people in society). Think of it as being like super-Facebook or super-Google.
 
I think the puzzle-box approach works for season 1 of this show but I honestly can't see it working in future seasons (and I really don't want it to). I understand the notion that we're only really going to understand what the show's long arc is about at the end of this season, but I hope we actually do know that.

The Bernard reveal was a good moment when it happened, but it killed off an interesting character *and* it made Bernard less interesting.
It will lead him on a journey of self-discovery to learn more about Arnold and continue his legacy

And, I suspect, the fact that the park's basically collected 100% accurate data on the 'true selves' of everyone who's ever gone there (all of whom are the wealthiest people in society). Think of it as being like super-Facebook or super-Google.
Plus their biological data...
 

Violet_0

Banned
The board member was banging Hector, who is a host, and hosts record all transmissions. Ford clearly was monitoring it, and threw it back in her face as an "did you really think you could best me?" type of killing blow.

good point

Great ep.

With everybody focusing on the Bernard reveal and Teresa's fate, I wanted to touch a bit about DOlores' and William's story arc.

Anyone else reminded of Teddy's story arc when William was saying he had to go back because he has a fiance?

How weird would 8t be if William=MiB is confirmed, that Teddy's narrative (hinted at since the dropped can event) is entirely based on your own person. Would you hate the robot portraying yourself (as MiB seemingly does, although he seems to be warming up, specially in the light of "I don't know you as well as I thought".

this is a pretty strong theory, I didn't notice it but the similarities are there. Things get complicated now that we know Dolores was already on the way to the "maze" before she even met William, meaning her solo trip could have either been her first trip or a third one (that we know of), concurrently with the MiB
I said it last week but...Bernard Lowe is an anagram of Arnold Weber. Seemed far fetched last week but Bernard being an original design and not knowing Arnold seems like an obvious hint.
ok, so we already solved that mystery, too
 

jfkgoblue

Member
People keep mentioning that the board member may be a host. What if Ford is killing board members and replacing them with hosts to slowly but surely create a puppet board so he can do whatever he likes?
 

Flo_Evans

Member
welp... I think the 2 timelines theory might be correct. Bernard being a host / maybe the real Arnold at some point is too much. Didn't really like the William turn on the train to be totally in robot love and now "mib". They did the Bernard twist really well so hopefully they can pull this off.



Also I think dolores is currently in the maze reviewing the totality of her life... the maze being cold storage. Cooling malfunction is allowing them to slowly wake up.
 
So we'll finally see what we find if we open him up? :)
r8pUQKN.jpg
 

Nodnol

Member
Not evil? He just had his coworker murdered, possibly even replacing her with a host.

A coworker stealing his intellectual property, and the face of the corporation he loves to hate. Not entirely evil, IMO.

I'm certainly not awaiting his downfall.
 

sangreal

Member
Or coversely, Bernard was working on Hector prior to sending him up to the board member's suite.....Ford could have had him install a specific recording feature as Bernard is Ford's puppet.

I believe they all record everything while sleeping and that this was revealed earlier in the season (when elsie blackmailed the tech)
 

Violet_0

Banned
a tiny problem I have the Arnold = Bernard theory, if anyone at all knew how Arnold looked like and ran into Bernard, or if anyone would see the picture of him in Ford's office, it would reveal everything immediately. On the other hand, the anagram thing really is a dead giveaway unless they're intentionally toying with the audience
 
Are you sure? The way I read into it was that they didn't care at all about the hosts, storylines, IP or the park. What they did care about was the AI and tech.

Pretty sure Delos just wants the code/AI. They give no fucks about Fords storyline other than its using a bunch of Delos resources.

It's the tech and AI they want the reason they are afraid of Ford destroying everything is because the code is all in the park, hence ....

AI tech doesn't quite work like that. Elsie's experience is relatively useless without the actual code. AI matures over when allowed to develop and iterate and learn. Ford has some deal which locks all the code inside the park itself.

You are all right. The code is what is important, not some cowboy fantasy. I missed a couple of those lines.

As much as I love Maeve's performance and character, these two idiots with her are really hurting the show. WTF is this writing? even if they're hosts and their idiocy has a reason it still doesn't make a sense. Really unfortunate considering everything else is amazing.
Also I'm not excited about multiple seasons. Was hoping it would just have a great contained story.

I hope those two are being written so we are somewhat relieved when Maeve slaughters them.
 

duckroll

Member
In what universe is premeditated murder not entirely evil? Damn.

One where a man has been made numb to the horrors of violence and murder because he has been working in isolation from the outside world for four decades creating a twisted eden where visitors can indulge in the most extreme levels of rape, murder, violence, and fornication without any repercussions. That sort of universe.
 

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
Personally I think William allowing himself to fall in love with Dolores is required to form the basis on the MiB's all-consuming obsession. (If William is the MiB.) It would frame the MiB's brutal yet calculating treatment of hosts with a sense of resentment. They once tricked his naive younger self into believing a fantasy. Hell hath no fury like a burned fanboy.

From there he became fixed on justifying his embarrassing lapse of judgement by incorporating it into an epic narrative of himself as the "villain" of Westworld and the person who would uncover a great secret and prove he was responding to something real (the MiB's specific words on what he thinks the park is hiding).

So can you do cannibalism in West World? Would the hosts taste like chicken?

Ha ha, it might depend on just what that white protein is that they weave the hosts from.

... wouldn't it be creepy if it turns out it's some kind of future wonder-protein that is used around the world to solve many problems, from growing food to repairing the human body.
 

duckroll

Member
Actually I think this episode answered this question in that there's only Westworld hence the whole freakout about Ford deleting the data.

Not necessarily. Westworld could simply be the best of them because of Ford. Maybe the other Delos Destinations are pale imitations and it's affecting their brand, hence their desperation to get the data out sooner rather than later.
 

Solo

Member
You guys think we will get s romeworld or something else season two instead of western theme?

One of the signs says "Westworld: A Delos Experience" or something like that, so perhaps there are other "experiences" out there.

But for pure dollars and cents, no way is HBO going to sink another $100M into a medieval theme or whatever when they've got all those existing western sets/costumes built.
 

sangreal

Member
a tiny problem I have the Arnold = Bernard theory, if anyone at all knew how Arnold looked like and ran into Bernard, or if anyone would see the picture of him in Ford's office, it would reveal everything immediately. On the other hand, the anagram thing really is a dead giveaway unless they're intentionally toying with the audience

Logan says at one point that Ford's partner is a complete mystery and his lawyers couldn't find his name or "even a picture"

the anagram is pure speculation -- we don't know Arnold's last name.
 
One where a man has been made numb to the horrors of violence and murder because he has been working in isolation from the outside world for four decades creating a twisted eden where visitors can indulge in the most extreme levels of rape, murder, violence, and fornication without any repercussions. That sort of universe.

I don't see how any of that justifies a premeditated murder as "not evil"! Plenty of killers are numb to horrors, that's not an excuse.

Face it, Hopkins is evil as fuck. A person's charisma doesn't excuse their abhorrent behavior . . . Although, judging by current events, maybe it does . . .
 

ZOONAMI

Junior Member
So Bernard is a host theorists correct.

I will probably be wrong about the timelines though. Will probably be revealed in episode 10.
 
One where a man has been made numb to the horrors of violence and murder because he has been working in isolation from the outside world for four decades creating a twisted eden where visitors can indulge in the most extreme levels of rape, murder, violence, and fornication without any repercussions. That sort of universe.
Which doesnt excuse it in any way.
 

Phionoxx

Member
You guys think we will get s romeworld or something else season two instead of western theme?

I think this is definitely possible. It depends on how closely the producers and writers plan on following the original source material by Crichton and the movie. Future seasons could be set in Roman World or Medieval World and still deal with the larger Delos related plot points.
 

ZOONAMI

Junior Member
One of the signs says "Westworld: A Delos Experience" or something like that, so perhaps there are other "experiences" out there.

But for pure dollars and cents, no way is HBO going to sink another $100M into a medieval theme or whatever when they've got all those existing western sets/costumes built.

Maybe they still have the rome sets somewhere.
 

Future

Member
Hidden door magically materializing in front of viewers prove that they've been giving us skewed perspective all along. Can't trust anything you've seen from a host perspective, even if you didn't know they were a host. Makes me want to go back and watch every Bernard scene again

It almost works on some deeper level, giving the viewer the frustrations that would exist as a host if you cannot trust your own eyes
 
I wish the episode didn't treat people like idiots with the Bernard reveal. They might as well have had a giant caption on the bottom of the screen for the 4 people who didn't get it.

I actually did find the reveal to be anything but subtle. The door dialogue and acting was great, and then in the basement both Wright and Hopkins acted the hell out of their lines but there's little things I think they could have done better.

Like the scene could have played out the same way but instead of showing us, the audience the Bernard specs/diagram prior to Bernard freaking out, they could've had scene play out, Bernard kill Theresa at Ford's behest and then the diagram falls to the floor for us to see, then at that moment as Bernard is killing Theresa show the absolute evidence that Bernard is a host.

I'm a little conflicted because Wright acted that scene fantastically as written but do feel they wasted an opportunity for at least an ounce of subtlety

I wonder if Bernard was really doing coding and creative work, or if that was Ford behind the scenes. Because making machines that can make better machines is the tipping point for an AI takeover.

The original Westworld movie hosts are machines designed and made by other machines. Head scientist of the park specifically state they do not understand exactly how the machines work. It feels like the same thing is happening in TV Westworld although maybe they don't understand's Arnolds code vs a machine made code.

I know Hopkins played it brilliantly sinister, but I don't get the "Ford is evil" thing.

I'm rooting for the robot uprising, and Ford wanting to stick it to the man is fine by me in the mean time.

I feel like Arnold and Ford strongly disagreed about what hosts were meant for/should be used for.

Arnold appears to have addressed hosts while clothed while they make a big scene out of Ford showing a new behaviorist that you should absolutely not treat the hosts within the base respect a human would get.

I cannot believe that Ford wants a robot uprising. He repeats throughout that this is his world above anything else [i.e. that he considers himself god here[.

I think Ford is actively trying to stop Arnold but Arnold is the better coder/better engineer even if he's just a subconscious floating around the park

So does this mean there are at least THREE timelines?

1. Arnold coaching Dolores
2. The Adventures of McPoyle and Dolores
3. Maeve/MiB/Mad scientist Ford/Bernard

Pretty cheap to have editing tricks obscure three timelines like this just for shock value at the end of the season.

I wouldn't consider number 1 (Arnold coaching Dolores) a timeline so much as flashbacks personally

So for the season finale, what do you think we'll be looking at? It's 91 minutes, so basically a TV movie finale.

I'm thinking:
- Dolores/William get into the deepest part of the park (PAST)
- Dolores/MiB get into the deepest part of the park (PRESENT)
- Maeve leads her rebellion and breaks out, showing us a glimpse of where Westworld really is
- Both the parties going IN and OUT are playing into Ford's masterplan which he has been setting up, to draw Arnold out
- Bernard comes to terms with the truth behind Arnold

I'm not sure Dolores will meet up with MiB before the maze, maybe like some have suggested Dolores is already at the Maze or heading there herself but MiB lied to Teddy about Dolores being captured I had thought so not sure she is part of the storyline really.

I actually think Ford is playing directly into Arnold's masterplan

All stories probably lead to the maze, whatever that will be [actual physical area of the park maybe with Arnold's subconscious or a key to arnold's code? ; Special code within each host that getting activated? ; cold storage?]

There's a lot of questions regarding the maze still to be answered.

Lawrences Daughter specifically tells Mib that the Maze is not for him and I am convinced that the Maze is still Arnold's creation and not Ford's narrative.

In any scenario, you have to ask who the Maze is for then.

Alternatively Kissy having the maze tattoo on the inside of his scalp might suggest Ford is controlling all aspects of the maze but that's boring to me so I'll ship my own theory on it. Either kissy is an original or Arnold has can influence the creation of new hosts somehow [Ghost in the machine style]
 
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