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[duckroll]

Yea I don't know what the Nolan jab was about, the direction was fine, especially the shootout sequence. Action was shore more intelligibly than his older bro

It's not a jab. I just don't think the direction maximized the production and the unique setting of the show. It's not bad by any means, it's just so ordinary. Every scene is very clearly designed in a clean and well presented way, but there's nothing exciting about the way it expresses the setting. For a writer who doesn't direct, it's a solid effort, sure, but is it unusual to hope that more experienced directors lined up for the rest of the series would express the material better?

Why then when they went to the subbasement did Bernie say to put the guns away unless they wanted to shoot the boss?

Because... he saw Ford in the room talking to a retired android and knew that there's clearly not actual danger so they don't need to walk in with their guns raised? He's part of the programming team, so he clearly also respects Ford a great deal and to him, Ford is the boss. But Ford doesn't have control of Westworld, it's owned by a management which has other agendas, and there are different factions playing office politics inside the facility. Doesn't it make sense to you?

 

[blainethemono]

So these are the Deadwood sets? Why hasn't HBO torn this down? Why keep this shit for years and trash Rome's immediately after the second season wrapped up? :|

W Earl Brown cleared this up a while back

https://twitter.com/WEarlBrown/status/633700697104609282
https://twitter.com/WEarlBrown/status/633701016249204736

W. Earl Brown
W. Earl Brown – Verified account ‏@WEarlBrown

There's a misconception about a supposed impediment to a #deadwood resurrection - the only set dismantled was The Gem interior...

W. Earl Brown
W. Earl Brown – Verified account ‏@WEarlBrown

...that doesn't mean our Return to Deadwood, in any form, is a given, just that all of our exterior sets remain intact. I know, I've seen em

also

http://nofilmschool.com/2016/09/westworld-hbo-cinematography-camera

During pre-production, Nolan and Cameron discussed how they wanted to start with a clean slate visually, but provide a cinematic scale and feel. The main town was built in Santa Clarita at Melody Ranch, formerly used for Deadwood. The location-driven show also set up shop in Utah, Big Sky Ranch, and the abandoned Hawthorne Mall to deliver scope.

Production designer Nathan Crowley (Interstellar, The Dark Knight) was tasked with bringing the older Deadwood sets to life. “When we got to Melody Ranch, it was a dingy, broken Western town and it needed to have a certain polish and shine as the guests paid a lot of money to be there,” Cameron said. “We were all extremely happy with what Nathan came up with. To have the opportunity to shoot his beautifully designed sets really added to the scale and the look of the show.”

 

[Night Hunter]

The premiere was pretty good. This being a Jonathan Nolan thing I eagerly await the twist that one noble billionaire white man is just shielding all this tech from the clutches of the evil government/utilitarians/...

 

[More_Badass]

Rewatching the episode. Harris' character has been coming for 30 years and the last critical failure happened 30 years ago? The two are probably related

 

[dave is ok]

Rewatching the episode. Harris' character has been coming for 30 years and the last critical failure happened 30 years ago? The two are probably related

Is the movie canon to the show? If so, the last critical failure was a murderous robot.

 

[Robot Pants]

It's not a jab. I just don't think the direction maximized the production and the unique setting of the show. It's not bad by any means, it's just so ordinary. Every scene is very clearly designed in a clean and well presented way, but there's nothing exciting about the way it expresses the setting. For a writer who doesn't direct, it's a solid effort, sure, but is it unusual to hope that more experienced directors lined up for the rest of the series would express the material better?

I agree with you 100% the direction actually took me out of the show many times because of how odd it was. And I also agree the show looked very "TV" in a lot of spots. Mostly inside of Westworld itself and everything outside of the labs.

The shootout also looked very fake to me. No gun smoke, obviously cgi muzzle flashes. I guess these are nitpicks... maybe but they are noticeable things that take you out of the show. I kinda expected more from an HBO show.

Anyhow aside from the quality of the first episode I'm still 100% on board and have faith it'll get much better. The story is great as well as the characters and that's really why I'm watching

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

They never said that a critical failure occurred 30 years ago IIRC. Just that the park had operated for 30 years without one. The other possible interpretation is that 30 years is the entire history of the park and there's never been a critical failure.

 

[Gyrian]

I was actually thinking how like Edge of Tomorrow, this is a "video game" show without trying to be one. So many parallels you can draw between the park and its guests, and a player in an open world game

Next time you play Red Dead Redemption, consider your actions

This thought first jumped out at me when one of the guests suggested something like "this time I'm going full evil".

 

[Jack Scofield]

I wonder what the timeline is like in this show. So far, we've seen that the park is like a giant groundhog day for the androids, which means that everything is cleaned up and reset every night, I guess? Or at least periodically? But then we see the Man in Black torture the gambler overnight and we also see the same guests on multiple days. Do they stay in the park overnight? Do they stay in a hotel off premises? Am I taking this too seriously?

 

[duckroll]

They never said that a critical failure occurred 30 years ago IIRC. Just that the park had operated for 30 years without one. The other possible interpretation is that 30 years is the entire history of the park and there's never been a critical failure.

He says "the park hasn't had a critical failure in over 30 years" though. Not "the park has never had a critical failure in over 30 years". Yes, it's possible it could mean the same thing, but I would think his rebuttal would be much more forceful if they have never had a failure ever. Also, considering how old Ford is, if Westworld was built on technology he pioneered in his prime, it would probably be way older than 30 years at this point.

I wonder what the timeline is like in this show. So far, we've seen that the park is like a giant groundhog day for the androids, which means that everything is cleaned up and reset every night, I guess? Or at least periodically? But then we see the Man in Black torture the gambler overnight and we also see the same guests on multiple days. Do they stay in the park overnight? Do they stay in a hotel off premises? Am I taking this too seriously?

Memories are purged only at the end of story cycles. Story cycles per android end when they either die or the scenario plays out in such a way where it needs to be reset. The only characters who we follow in the episode to "reset" are Dolores and Teddy, and they only reset after they get killed or shut down after a scenario. It's not daily and it's not standardized across all androids.

 

[Khoryos]

I wonder what the timeline is like in this show. So far, we've seen that the park is like a giant groundhog day for the androids, which means that everything is cleaned up and reset every night, I guess? Or at least periodically? But then we see the Man in Black torture the gambler overnight and we also see the same guests on multiple days. Do they stay in the park overnight? Do they stay in a hotel off premises? Am I taking this too seriously?

Keep in mind, we only see resets on some of the plots - the Hector story is implied to run multiple weeks, since they bring the saloon shootout forwards.

Interestingly, the writer implies he has to massage events such that Hector *chooses* to attack early, which implies that the hosts *already* have some degree of inner life.

 

[Maintenance]

I hope they don't go full dream withing a dream thing, that would be kinda cliche.

Loved the series btw, watched the movie a long time ago and then recently, I don't mind if this replaces GoT, especially after watching the later seasons.

 

[Sky Chief]

I wonder what the timeline is like in this show. So far, we've seen that the park is like a giant groundhog day for the androids, which means that everything is cleaned up and reset every night, I guess? Or at least periodically? But then we see the Man in Black torture the gambler overnight and we also see the same guests on multiple days. Do they stay in the park overnight? Do they stay in a hotel off premises? Am I taking this too seriously?

Based on the teaser for the next few episodes after the credits it looks like we'll learn a lot more about this soon

 

[duckroll]

Keep in mind, we only see resets on some of the plots - the Hector story is implied to run multiple weeks, since they bring the saloon shootout forwards.

Interestingly, the writer implies he has to massage events such that Hector *chooses* to attack early, which implies that the hosts *already* have some degree of inner life.

I think Hector was probably involved in a bunch of other ongoing stories which guests were involved in. For example one of the available "quests" at the salon was the sheriff leading a party to search for Hector in the mountains. There were probably other events happening which was keeping Hector busy before it all was meant to run together into his big town raid.

 

[More_Badass]

"1,400 guests in the park"
This isn't some exclusive, few-at-a-time operation

 

[TheOddOne]

This is a nod to Yul Brynner, right?

 

[Sanjuro]

He isn't grabbing his crotch enough.

 

[Khoryos]

I think Hector was probably involved in a bunch of other ongoing stories which guests were involved in. For example one of the available "quests" at the salon was the sheriff leading a party to search for Hector in the mountains. There were probably other events happening which was keeping Hector busy before it all was meant to run together into his big town raid.

Sure, but I think (I'll have to rewatch once I get home from work to confirm) he pretty specifically says the word "choose".

 

[Maintenance]

Since Dolores is

Spoiler

the oldest in the park, boy when she malfunctions we're going to see some Dollhouse shit going on.

 

[duckroll]

Sure, but I think (I'll have to rewatch once I get home from work to confirm) he pretty specifically says the word "choose".

No the word he uses is "inspire" Hector.

 

[Khoryos]

No the word he uses is "inspire" Hector.

Fair enough - I guess the self-determination was just implied.

 

[PolishQ]

This is a nod to Yul Brynner, right?

Ed Harris' character is a nod to Yul Brynner.

 

[Epix]

How was Teddy able to shoot Ed Harris?

 

[dave is ok]

There is a

Spoiler

Radiohead

song in the second episode. I wonder which one they'll use.

 

[More_Badass]

The look after Hopkins' "You must indulge me the occasional mistake" should pretty much imply that it isn't a mistake and he has another motives for giving the hosts past "memories"

 

[Corpekata]

How was Teddy able to shoot Ed Harris?

They presumably all can "shoot" guests, they just don't have real bullets. Or maybe it's boundary related. We see a few references to going past the river, out in the hills, etc. Which are probably the "hard mode" where the guests can "lose".

 

[Moff]

How do they not know that a guest is still out in the park and one of the machines is missing? The park seems too well managed for them not to realize

hmm, did I miss that?
did they really empty the park?
I thought they just removed the 10% robots with the new code

not sold that Ed Harris is a human, yet. But damn do I love Ed Harris, and that outfit is just spot on.

but I guess it's obvious that they need to kill off ed harris and anthony hopkins in season 1?

really liked that first episode, didn't look at all like that mess some early reports made it out to be.

 

[Epix]

They presumably all can "shoot" guests, they just don't have real bullets.

So if one gets a hold of a guests gun?

 

[Ambient80]

So what was the general opinion on Episode 1? Next big hit?

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

So what was the general opinion on Episode 1? Next big hit?

Best pilot on TV since Eastbound

 

[Maintenance]

I wonder if we we'll end up this season knowing what the other layers want (the management layer and the shareholders layer) or if they stretch it to S2.

 

[dave is ok]

So if one gets a hold of a guests gun?

Here's a Nolan quote I found

“It’s not the guns,” Nolan said. “It’s the bullets. We thought a lot about this. In the original film, the guns won’t operate guest on guest, but we felt like the guests would want to have a more visceral experience here. So when they’re shot it has sort of the impact. They’re called simunitions. The U.S. military trains with rounds like the ones we’re talking about. But there’s a bit of an impact, a bit of a sting. So it’s not entirely consequence-free for the guests.”

 

[Qvoth]

just finished, holy fuck this is amazing
made me very interested in the original film

 

[Corpekata]

So if one gets a hold of a guests gun?

I imagine there's probably some safety measure involved. Like a pre-programmed aversion to picking one up, sort of like how Teddy gives up his routine to be guide to those three guys later in the episode, or how Delores reacted to the picture of the city.

 

[duckroll]

So if one gets a hold of a guests gun?

Guns are all real. It's the bullets that matter. They only hurt hosts. Nolan said that in an interview.

 

[JeTmAn81]

There is a

Spoiler

Radiohead

song in the second episode. I wonder which one they'll use.

I'll guess Everything In Its Right Place. Nothing from before that album anyway....except perhaps Paranoid Android of course.

 

[More_Badass]

Here's a Nolan quote I found

Here's the interview that quote is from
https://editorial.rottentomatoes.co...estworld-hbos-killer-robot-theme-park-series/

A lot of other good (if spoilery) details about the park, its history, the role of the hosts, and Ed Harris

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

I'll guess

Spoiler

Everything In Its Right Place. Nothing from before that album anyway....except perhaps Paranoid Android

of course.

lmao at this spoiler hijack

 

[Window]

There is a

Spoiler

Radiohead

song in the second episode. I wonder which one they'll use.

Spoiler

Fitter Happier or How to Disappear Completely are my guesses. From the perspective of androids rather than alienated humans.

 

[KingV]

There is a

Spoiler

Radiohead

song in the second episode. I wonder which one they'll use.

I thought it was cool that the piano at one point played a popular song from the 90s.

 

[Caja 117]

So, the show is like a continuation of the movie? will HBO put Westworld movie on their broadcast schedule (sorry if this been asked)?, I think it would me nice for those who havent watched the movie.

 

[Dinda]

Great first Episode.

I'm absolutely sure that Dolores is lying and is in fact remembering a lot. I also think that she is in some capacity "working" together with the Man in Black. Maybe he started going into the park every day because he did fall in love with her 30 years ago. (If he is even a newcomer and not a host programmed to think he is one.)

Like probably most of you guys i also think that Dolores is built after some important person (wife, daughter etc) of Dr. Ford.

Overall a great episode. I also normally really like Ramin Djawadi's score, however i'm not quite sure yet what to think of the modern Rock Melodies used throughout the episode.
I heard "Black Hole Sun" and "Paint it Black" during this episode, where there more?
It does make sense in this "park" and i liked it, but they really shouldn't overuse it. One modern song/melody per episode should be the most, the rest should be original score.

 

[labx]

But why is teddy on the train? I thought that train was for guests. So teddy is a.i interacting with the a.i girl? And ed is real?

So his fantasy is to play the bad guy and rape the girl?

Why is Ed trying to open up robots and find out about them? What's he looking for?

I set my mind, and I'm going to approach this series like a video game. Think that the Hosts are NPCs with their own storylines that only enhance your experience of the game. But they aren't static they are like in Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley, they are programmed to do routines that change a little with the input of guests. The man in black don't know if us a robot like in the movie or a human or both . Remember that there is 3 factions: the guests, the shareholders and the creators/operatives. Maybe the man on black works for one of this factions or another yet to be discover. He is old like Dolores, maybe as old. He said to her to the first scenario (rape one)

 

[LegendofDragoonLives]

I agree with you 100% the direction actually took me out of the show many times because of how odd it was. And I also agree the show looked very "TV" in a lot of spots. Mostly inside of Westworld itself and everything outside of the labs.

The shootout also looked very fake to me. No gun smoke, obviously cgi muzzle flashes. I guess these are nitpicks... maybe but they are noticeable things that take you out of the show. I kinda expected more from an HBO show.

Anyhow aside from the quality of the first episode I'm still 100% on board and have faith it'll get much better. The story is great as well as the characters and that's really why I'm watching

They need to find their feet. The difference in quality from season 1 of GoT to season 5/6 is monumental for example.

 

[duckroll]

They need to find their Miguel Sapochnik. The difference in quality from season 1 of GoT to season 5/6 is monumental for example.

Fixed.

 

[Moff]

Thinking a bit about it, I love how much of this is so unceonventional

Starting with the twist right at the beginning that the dude visiting dolores is a host and the man in black is the guest

Who didn't expect this to be some dumb zombie slashfest just with cowboy robots, going down the dull walking dead routine?

but we didn't even have a single human hero in this episode. who would be the human heroes to fight together when shit is going down in the park? there are none?

we have the dumb over excited guest who shot hector, we have ed harris who is obviously up to no good (or is he) all the engineers and corporate drones behind the curtain.
Jeffrey White maybe? (who I absolutely love since boardwalk, had no idea he was in this) or Anthony Hopkins? I love how grey everything is and how the audience is left in the dark.

I am really excited to see where this is going.

 

[Cornballer]

Vids from HBO:

- Official Opening Credits: Westworld
- Teddy Versus the Man in Black

The cast and creators delve into Episode 1’s stand-off scene.

 

[Lonestar]

Yea I don't know what the Nolan jab was about, the direction was fine, especially the shootout sequence. Action was shore more intelligibly than his older bro

About the only other episode I think he's directed, was Relevance on Person of Interest Season 2. It was a good episode.

 

[Cornballer]

There is a

Spoiler

Radiohead

song in the second episode. I wonder which one they'll use.

They mention it here. (This lists the specific song, in case you're concerned about there being no surprises in future episodes.)

 

[Window]

They mention it here. (This lists the specific song.)

Spoiler

Not coy enough. Anyone familiar with Radiohead will pickup that reference!