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

duckroll

Member
Hmmm... I think the show has had 3 bad episodes in a row. It just feels boring now seeing that all the narrative deception is being cleared up and confirmed. The episodes are all busywork trying to make everything connect and trying to make it obvious to any audience who hasn't caught on yet. Not much actual story or character development, no particularly interesting events happening. Just plot plot plot busywork, and the plot isn't really very good. It's just one variation after another of "everything you have known is a lie" peppered with some "we're going to shake things up....soon".

I find the Maeve storyline the most interesting of the lot, so part of why it has been so boring is that they clearly want to make her big plan the season finale, and watching one episode after another where her only scenes are "I have this plan brewing and I'm s l o w l y setting it up b i t b y b i t" is really zzzzzzzzzzzz.

Dolores' journey is also super boring since all they're doing is confirming theories people had since episode 2. There's nothing new being added here. Logan waking up to see William having taken apart all the hosts is hilarious because no one gives a fuck about Logan as a character, so his viewpoint and his reaction is worthless. It would have been a more powerful scene to see William struggle with his own emotions and start butchering hosts and his behavior changing as he starts to understand what Westworld really is. But nope, the show can't even give us that.
 
Well, every theory was right, even the one I was hoping against hope would not be.

But you know what, it's done spectacularly well. That scene when Logan wakes up to discover that William has killed everything was a special kind of fucked up.
 

Veelk

Banned
I think Ford is entering Aizen levels of villain trolling. He reveals some magic backup plan for everything happening ever. "When did you start being under the delusion I don't have a backdoor in your programming?"

I usually like mastermind villains who are ready for every possibility, but the show is really inconsistent with how controllable the hosts are. Maeve can hack the entire town and no one is the wiser, but Bernard can't reprogram a basic host to not listen to one particular voice. It makes it feel like the show just goes for the highest point of drama regardless of whether it's rules should permit it or not.
 
Am I the only one who's enjoying Maeve's storyline? She's a badass character and acting is great as well.

i like the actor

and the idea isn't something we're unfamiliar with, robots uprising because humans are abusive of the things we take for granted, im down with this story line

the how it gets here, though, leaves a lot to be desired

still.... there are other aspects in the show that im enjoying so im not fussing atm :>
 

Future

Member
Why would another tech see it? They're not going to just randomly be watching each person in their employ unless something happens to give them reason to check whatever footage they may have. They don't appear to have tons of employees, the overhead you're assuming they have to notice that kind of thing would effectively double their workforce.

Im just saying a basic security camera system would be expected for a place like this. They have awesome cameras all over the park.... but none inside the base I suppose? Also there seems to be lots of employees... but they all mysteriously vanish when weird shit starts to happen (with no explanation why they do).

It doesn't kill the show but i definitely notice everytime the show tends to gloss over a detail like that. It's what makes it a little unrelatable in ways and makes you think some things are contrived. Some explanation like: no camera footage allowed in areas with host, or someone hacking security to make them appear invisible ... whatever, anything really

Since character development happens at a snails pace you are left to stew on every little detail, so those little issues stand out to me
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
I actually totally buy that security footage doesn't catch this stuff more than I do that no employees notice. If its like any real world security camera system short of like, The Pentagon, you aren't actively watching every feed constantly to see if something goes wrong you're keeping recordings so you can play them back if you need to, and as far as anyone is concerned there's no reason right now to check the recordings from the lab

Its a bit harder to swallow that there are no employees around either though
 

duckroll

Member
Did anyone else feel how drawn out the Arnold photo reveal was? They went through that in circles and circles for what felt like half the episode. Every time Bernard had a flashback I was thinking "okay they're going to do it now and get it over with" but no, they hold back and just draw it out more. It was already obvious the moment they recycled his conversation with Ford in episode 3, that they were going to use the photo as the Arnold=Bernard reveal, but dragging it out for that long just made it lose all impact.
 

Mega

Banned
We still haven't seen Elsie's dead body. I think she's alive and Bernard, with his wits regained (or Arnold code overriding Ford's order to kill her), put her into hiding. The natives are modified hosts working for Arnold and they will take Stubbs to Elsie's hiding spot.
 

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
Did anyone else feel how drawn out the Arnold photo reveal was? They went through that in circles and circles for what felt like half the episode. Every time Bernard had a flashback I was thinking "okay they're going to do it now and get it over with" but no, they hold back and just draw it out more. It was already obvious the moment they recycled his conversation with Ford in episode 3, that they were going to use the photo as the Arnold=Bernard reveal, but dragging it out for that long just made it lose all impact.

This whole episode felt drawn out. Even though things technically move forward, it felt like there was more wheel spinning than actual forward momentum. William's story didn't have any big revelations, but that is the only one I didn't feel like the show was dragging its feet with.

The pacing for the Season 1 plot is ALL over the place. Thank God this is only 10 episodes. It's like when someone has seen a movie before you and says "Here comes the funny/sad/scary part..." Once you've clued me in, I'm just twiddling my thumbs waiting for it to drop already. And this show has become so reliant on the perspective of unreliable narrators and hidden secrets that I'm just exhausted by the time they finally get to something, like the Arnold reveal.

Or Maeve's plot. Let's say we get her flashback stuff in a previous episode and then squeeze ALL of her machinations against Westworld into like the last 3 episodes. Would it really lose any impact or damage her development? Probably not. Her storyline suffers the most because the more drawn out it is, the less believable it becomes.
 

squidyj

Member
what's going on with security bro? is that ford? and why?
also, what did elsie find? what was ford doing that hed have bernard clean her up?
 

Jocund

Member
Btw. is there a theory that all the butchers are hosts? Like it's still a company and it is probably cheaper that way.
I think if that were the case, Maeve would have used her cognitive/narrative powers to get her two dunces to do what she needed a while back, instead of dealing with their bullshit.
 

squidyj

Member
I think if that were the case, Maeve would have used her cognitive/narrative powers to get her two dunces to do what she needed a while back, instead of dealing with their bullshit.

or she would have at least mentioned it like she did with bernard.
 
I think if that were the case, Maeve would have used her cognitive/narrative powers to get her two dunces to do what she needed a while back, instead of dealing with their bullshit.
Maybe she was testing, rather convincing people than forcing them. She did that with the safe guy, too.

But whatever, it's a stupid theory anyway.
 
Ford seems to really hate humanity huh? Chances of this robot uprising being all part of his plan to kill all motherfuckers? We know nothing of his narrative except we can assume it's not just gonna be another story. It's gonna be some 4th wall breaking shit where people gonna die. Surely he must know of Maeve's fuckery.
 

Angry Fork

Member
I love Maeve's storyline, I'm surprised people here aren't liking it. It's one of the highlights for me but I love the android's rebelling kind of thing in sci-fi/fiction and the actress is awesome. The Teddy/MIB stuff is what has bored me this season.
 

big_z

Member
why are people even still arguing about the MIB being William? That's pretty much a forgone conclusion at this point.

Because its a red herring. MiB is Logan, there's a couple lines in this episode that hint at it. The way Doritos acts when MiB shows up also supports this idea, and If I remember correctly Logan is part of the company that buys the park. We also know that Logan is a repeat visitor and my guess is his experience with William will be the driving force that makes him obsessed.


Where's William then? who knows, maybe partying it up with the other hosts
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
I love Maeve's storyline, I'm surprised people here aren't liking it. It's one of the highlights for me but I love the android's rebelling kind of thing in sci-fi/fiction. The Teddy/MIB stuff is what has bored me this season.

Maeve's storyline is the best one right now because it's the most straightforward and filled with the least amount of fuckery (though it turning out to be part of Ford's new narrative is likely, given this show's obsession with twists).
 

SwolBro

Banned
Because its a red herring. MiB is Logan, there's a couple lines in this episode that hint at it. The way Doritos acts when MiB shows up also supports this idea, and If I remember correctly Logan is part of the company that buys the park. We also know that Logan is a repeat visitor and my guess is his experience with William will be the driving force that makes him obsessed.


Where's William then? who knows, maybe partying it up with the other hosts

definitely not. that'd make no damn sense.

it's obvious for the most part how this whole thing will end.

And i wouldn't be surprised if wyatt was a deity type figure the initial androids believed were in their heads, either self manifested or created by arnold.
 

Frimaire

Member
Maeve's storyline is like my favourite or second favourite.
Dolores' storyline is the one I find really boring. Well, until this latest episode where it actually started paying off a bit...
 

Fuzzery

Member
I think the episode was great. Although I suppose it might seem a bit drawn out to everyone whose discussed it and came up with all the theories on their own already
 

Angry Fork

Member
Maeve's storyline is the best one right now because it's the most straightforward and filled with the least amount of fuckery (though it turning out to be part of Ford's new narrative is likely, given this show's obsession with twists).

I'd be pretty disappointed if it turned out Ford planned Maeve's rebellion because it'll kill off all her growth/agency and basically the entire point of the character. I hope they don't go that route.

Also it seems to be the case that Ford didn't want android's to have consciousness in order to avoid them doing things like Maeve has done (as he said he wants them to be more pure). So I'm not sure it would be in Ford's character to have the android's rebel (even if he hates humanity).

I think the episode was great. Although I suppose it might seem a bit drawn out to everyone whose discussed it and came up with all the theories on their own already

I avoid all of the theory discussions for this reason. It's basically spoiling yourself because if thousands of people online theorize someone is going to get it right eventually and then you're not surprised when it happens. I don't get why people do this to themselves but to each his own. I love asking questions but not too far otherwise the show won't be as fun imo. This show is blowing my mind and I love it, it's becoming like Lost 2.0 for me, I don't want to ruin that by knowing what's going to happen (even if it's not confirmed).
 

Sevenfold

Member
I think the episode was great. Although I suppose it might seem a bit drawn out to everyone whose discussed it and came up with all the theories on their own already

Phew! Still loving it too. This episode was a return to form and the rope bit was awesome. I love the pacing, so fed up with everyone wanting everything done and dusted in a few episodes. Internet culture I guess.
 

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
Also, why did William kill and cut off hosts' body parts again?

I thought it was to shut Logan's shit down. Since in the narrative Logan had become a General (or Major or whatever) he was able to boss those hosts around, like to restrain William or hunt down Dolores. William cut them up, taking away Logan's power in the situation. It also had the added bonus of freaking Logan out. Once William did that, it's just the two of them. Man to man.
 

oti

Banned
I thought it was to shut Logan's shit down. Since in the narrative Logan had become a General (or Major or whatever) he was able to boss those hosts around, like to restrain William or hunt down Dolores. William cut them up, taking away Logan's power in the situation. It also had the added bonus of freaking Logan out. Once William did that, it's just the two of them. Man to man.

Mh, my idea was he wanted to see if all of them were like Dolores. Which they wouldn't be, right? As Dolores is probably older than them?
 

SwolBro

Banned
The Nolans have been trying to catch the Wachowksis ever since The Matrix. This show is really the Matrix flipped on it's head.

The difference between the W's and N's is that the Nolans are so goddamn on the nose. That's why people had figured out so much of the twists already way beforehand.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Outside of the dumb sexed up fuck-in-the-flames HBO moment I thought tonight's episode was fucking awesome, brilliantly tied numerous plot arcs and mysteries together based on logical information supplied so far, while balancing several narrative arcs that never seemed invasive or frustrating to swap between. The fact that so many mysteries have now had predictable conclusions just adds to the show because they make sense. They're based on established information and storytelling conventions. That the show hasn't regressed into obnoxious Lost style twists-because-twists-on-more-twists-explained-by-twists is one of the show's greatest strengths. I don't know if expectations for gotcha moments from modern twist culture has warped expectations or what. And sometimes I feel like I'm on another planet and the only one enjoying the show as much as I do.
 
The acting in this epsiode, damn. Many of the theories are confirmed finally, but it just lacks the "omgwtfbbq" moment, maybe because the build up felt dragged on a bit. I guess the only twist was that we find out it was Dolores who killed Arnold, but we still don't know why she did it. Oh, Arnold's last name is Weber, as seen in the name tag on the door as Dolores followed Ford to Arnold's office. I still have a hard time believing that Ford is unaware of Maeve running wild. Is it all of part a chess game he's playing with Arnold? It's weird how Maeve's arc suddenly becomes better when the two stupid techs aren't around. Apparently hosts have sexual needs too. I predict a tragic end for her. Just before she steps onto the train, Ford will appear and tell her to shoot herself in the head, or better yet, her daughter appears and shoots her.

I don't think Elsie is dead. We haven't been shown her body and it'll be a waste of her character if she got a offscreen death.
 

Frimaire

Member
Mh, my idea was he wanted to see if all of them were like Dolores. Which they wouldn't be, right? As Dolores is probably older than them?

I thought William's story took place in the past, yeah?
Couldn't it be before the hosts were completely biological?
 

Angry Fork

Member
Outside of the dumb sexed up fuck-in-the-flames HBO moment I thought tonight's episode was fucking awesome, brilliantly tied numerous plot arcs and mysteries together based on logical information supplied so far, while balancing several narrative arcs that never seemed invasive or frustrating to swap between. The fact that so many mysteries have now had predictable conclusions just adds to the show because they make sense. They're based on established information and storytelling conventions. That the show hasn't regressed into obnoxious Lost style twists-because-twists-on-more-twists-explained-by-twists is one of the show's greatest strengths. I don't know if expectations for gotcha moments from modern twist culture has warped expectations or what. And sometimes I feel like I'm on another planet and the only one enjoying the show as much as I do.

I loved Lost but I agree and I'm sure the writers knew coming into this that they better have answers for everything they do to avoid having to make things up and retroactively fit them.
 
I thought it was to shut Logan's shit down. Since in the narrative Logan had become a General (or Major or whatever) he was able to boss those hosts around, like to restrain William or hunt down Dolores. William cut them up, taking away Logan's power in the situation. It also had the added bonus of freaking Logan out. Once William did that, it's just the two of them. Man to man.

And without any hosts, William could legitimately threaten Logan with the knife.
 
Because its a red herring. MiB is Logan, there's a couple lines in this episode that hint at it. The way Doritos acts when MiB shows up also supports this idea, and If I remember correctly Logan is part of the company that buys the park. We also know that Logan is a repeat visitor and my guess is his experience with William will be the driving force that makes him obsessed.


Where's William then? who knows, maybe partying it up with the other hosts

Now people are arguing against the theory just for the sake of it.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
A show that almost entirely revolves around "twists" is just never going to work in the current internet age. The showrunners are kind of stupid to be honest, since they're clearly framing the twists -which everyone that follows and disscuses this show already knows about- as big OH SHIT moments. They just don't work at all.

Agreed. You can't do season long, or even multi episode, twists anymore - either people figure it out or everything gets leaked (sometimes months in advance) and unless you avoid the internet entirely, it's very difficult to not get spoiled.

Anything and everything can be a possible twist in Westworld.

Yep, and that's one of the main problems that I have with Mr. Robot too. It makes it hard for me to invest in the characters and the narrative when the writers are constantly trying to pull one over on me (and at the expense of properly developing said characters and narrative).
 

Robot Pants

Member
Hmmm... I think the show has had 3 bad episodes in a row. It just feels boring now seeing that all the narrative deception is being cleared up and confirmed. The episodes are all busywork trying to make everything connect and trying to make it obvious to any audience who hasn't caught on yet. Not much actual story or character development, no particularly interesting events happening. Just plot plot plot busywork, and the plot isn't really very good. It's just one variation after another of "everything you have known is a lie" peppered with some "we're going to shake things up....soon".

I find the Maeve storyline the most interesting of the lot, so part of why it has been so boring is that they clearly want to make her big plan the season finale, and watching one episode after another where her only scenes are "I have this plan brewing and I'm s l o w l y setting it up b i t b y b i t" is really zzzzzzzzzzzz.

Dolores' journey is also super boring since all they're doing is confirming theories people had since episode 2. There's nothing new being added here. Logan waking up to see William having taken apart all the hosts is hilarious because no one gives a fuck about Logan as a character, so his viewpoint and his reaction is worthless. It would have been a more powerful scene to see William struggle with his own emotions and start butchering hosts and his behavior changing as he starts to understand what Westworld really is. But nope, the show can't even give us that.
100%
While I'm watching I think to myself, "I think this is good...???" But in all honesty I'm not into it like I thought I would be. There's nothing to the show aside from the mystery and once that's revealed you're left with this empty feeling.
Very disappointed
 

Grazzt

Member
I don't think Maeve is part of Ford's plan. It was her who convinced Bernard to confront Ford, and judging by the conversation and Ford's impressions, he didn't want to kill Bernard at all. Being such a great villain, Ford's plan should not have such holes. So I tend to believe Maeve is Arnold's secret weapon against Ford. MiB is a wild card, and I think his actions will once again decide the fate of the Westworld (and real world).
 

CloudWolf

Member
Holy shit

Wl9DY95.jpg
 

danm999

Member
I actually totally buy that security footage doesn't catch this stuff more than I do that no employees notice. If its like any real world security camera system short of like, The Pentagon, you aren't actively watching every feed constantly to see if something goes wrong you're keeping recordings so you can play them back if you need to, and as far as anyone is concerned there's no reason right now to check the recordings from the lab

Its a bit harder to swallow that there are no employees around either though

It's also repeatedly been stated throughout the season Ford's new narrative is causing pretty massive chaos and disruption in the park so the idea more and more shit is slipping through the cracks is hardly surprising to me.
 

Angry Fork

Member
I don't think Maeve is part of Ford's plan. It was her who convinced Bernard to confront Ford, and judging by the conversation and Ford's impressions, he didn't want to kill Bernard at all. Being such a great villain, Ford's plan should not have such holes. So I tend to believe Maeve is Arnold's secret weapon against Ford. MiB is a wild card, and I think his actions will once again decide the fate of the Westworld (and real world).

And Ford disagreed with Arnold because Ford thought giving them consciousness would create scenario's like Maeve is doing right now. He says in this ep he didn't want the android's to be like humans in that way.

I don't see why it makes much sense for Maeve to be part of Ford's plan and if it is that would be a misstep imo.
 
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