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[ZekeThePlumber]

I feel like the post-credits scene with Armistice was a little unnecessary. I think they should've just cut that bit out.

I didn't quite get that either. Of all the loose ends they could have tied up or teased, they decided to show us what happened to the host who had her arm stuck in a door...

They could have cut it out like an arm stuck in a door and it wouldn't have been missed.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Samurai World would pull you out of the experience right away if the first thing you do is land on a small town full of other white people in kimonos.

 

[mieumieu]

I think in the last shot before credits, Dolores stopped her motor functions. I hear a similar droning noise at that time. Does anyone think the same? What could that mean?

 

[Violet_0]

Samurai World would pull you out of the experience right away if the first thing you do is land on a small town full of other white people in kimonos.

they could model the entrance area based on Dejima
but there'd still be a remarkably large number of non-Japanese samurai, ronin and ninjas walking around

 

[taybul]

So was that little girl on the train sitting across Maeve the same one in the park that tells MiB about the maze as well as other occurrences throughout the show?

 

[Apt101]

I cannot understand Felix at all

My impression was that he never had much meaningful human interaction and spent too many of the recent years of his life working in West World. He was socially inept, couldn't connect with people, didn't understand how to show sympathy or be tactful, but was compassionate and kind. He clearly thought Maeve was alive and a victim, and feeling himself to be more than just "a butcher" sought out to help her. The scene with him bringing the malfunctioning/dead bird "back to life", the joy and relief it brought him, I think revealed a lot about the character.

Acted so well, too.

 

[Jackpot]

Seems the "secret" to AI is very similar to Binary Domain's.

MiB just walking off a badly broken arm was pretty laughable.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Pretty great season, though they hinted a little too much throughout about the timelines which made the reveal seem a bit weak. How did Ford control all of the hosts without issuing a voice command during the lunch meeting with Theresa in the middle of the season? That moment was meant to display his level of control to her, giving weight to his warning to her to stay out his way, but I wondered if he could be a host acting in the real person's place, wirelessly communicating to others. Seemed just a bit too perfect when every host down in the field below ceased motor functions at the very same moment as the wine-pouring waiter did. Maybe I missed something or am overthinking things.

 

[Dmax3901]

Great finale. To satisfyingly wrap up a show this complex is no small feat.

I feel like the William being MiB reveal was handled quite well, not a song and dance for those who had guessed it, but not rushed through for those who hadn't.

I fucking love that they did Samurai World. Didn't just throw a couple of samurai costumes on a wall and call it a day, they had several, dudes actually fighting and a whole logo. I'd been waiting all season for hints at other worlds, and there it was. So good.

 

[Solo]

The more I thought about the show overnight, the more I love it. It's not without it's faults and hiccups, but damn if the overall product isn't 10.5 hours of riveting, exceptionally acted, groundbreaking television.

 

[Moff]

I enjoyed it, but I don't think this is anywhere near HBO's greats.
It tried to be smarter than it ultimately really was.

I also fear the follow up seasons will be worse, I hope we don't just get to the walking dead part of the narrative now and that's it. I'm still in, though, as I said, I enjoyed it.

 

[TimeEffect]

My impression was that he never had much meaningful human interaction and spent too many of the recent years of his life working in West World. He was socially inept, couldn't connect with people, didn't understand how to show sympathy or be tactful, but was compassionate and kind. He clearly thought Maeve was alive and a victim, and feeling himself to be more than just "a butcher" sought out to help her. The scene with him bringing the malfunctioning/dead bird "back to life", the joy and relief it brought him, I think revealed a lot about the character.

Acted so well, too.

his goofy buddy just accepted real humans dying

I can accept Maeve's story since she was programmed to do all that. But the shit retrieval team and the robots casually killing humans with the p90 felt awful

I don't know how I feel about that

 

[Dmax3901]

I haven't seen it, but I'm pretty sure Jurassic World is a prequel to this.

 

[ISee]

She killed Arnold because he told her to do so. Now she killed Ford out of free will. Fine. But why is killing nessacary in the first place to complete the journey to reach free will?

 

[Macka]

Hopkins was great throughout, but that's about as far as I can go in praise of this show. Won't be back for S2.

 

[Solo]

Hopkins is getting tons of love, deservedly so, but I also think Ford's arc isn't getting enough credit. What a magnificent, layered character arc. First he seems to be the kind old benefactor of the park, then he appears to take a serious heel turn, and then finally comes out the other side as completing Arnold's life's work. Combine that with the superlative Hopkins, and it really underpins the whole show.

And Dolores/Wood, Bernard/Wright, and William/Harris are right there with him too.

 

[andythinkpad]

Overall a very good (great?) season. The best part of the show reminds me of the great early M. Night Shyamalan works where the score, cinematography and acting move the drama and mystery forward.

That said, they can't possibly line up to s1 with a comparable s2. The action sequences were clearly the worst part of the show, if you don't count lol felix.

 

[Mariolee]

The more I thought about the show overnight, the more I love it. It's not without it's faults and hiccups, but damn if the overall product isn't 10.5 hours of riveting, exceptionally acted, groundbreaking television.

I don't think in the 4 years I've been on GAF I've ever seen you so positive about a single creative work before.

 

[andythinkpad]

I enjoyed the season finale, mostly.
Wood and Hopkins were definite standouts, and it was good to see some mysteries finally solved, even if the big reveal fell flat on its face after months of having guessed it, at least for me.

I also have to say I would have a lot more respect for the show if it didn't use a completely artificial trick with editing and splicing timelines to make the show appear more complex than it really is.

I get the parallel between the maze, Dolores' mind/ memories and having to sort through all that as viewers, but the result is a lot of unneeded confusion frankly.

Still, WW S1 kept me entertained, so I'll be on board for S2.

I agreed, and letting the audience guess whether MIB is William or Logan would have be better mystery. There is no reason to hide the 2 timelines for 9 episodes besides the writers want to show they are clever.

 

[Solo]

I don't think in the 4 years I've been on GAF I've ever seen you so positive about a single creative work before.

Oh absolutely I have! But I've probably hated 10x more stuff than I've loved, so fair enough.

 

[Solo]

I also would't necessarily rule out Jimmi Simpson appearing in S2. Depending on where the story goes, we may have reason to see what happened after that fateful trip to WW 30 years ago, to see what happened with Logan, and to see how exactly he became a titan of industry. I feel like this show is going to continue to make liberal use of flashbacks.

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

It was cool seeing Anthony Hopkins acting on TV. He knew he was too good for this and he made sure you knew it too.

Awesome season of TV.

 

[lamaroo]

I've got one theory for next season. Any children that show up are going to die.

Casting kids in a show where they don't age is problematic.

 

[Jarmel]

They have phones or some sort of communication. They were able to get the security after the escaping hosts.

Call someone in charge of the trains. It's a plot hole as far as I'm concerned. It didn't really matter since she got off I suppose.

I was thinking that too. Why the fuck was the entire place not in shutdown status?

 

[Bits N Pieces]

I need to watch it again, after reading the last few pages I seem to have let some major plot points pass me by.

 

[DoubleYou]

Damn, that was one of the better finales I've seen. Haven't really read the theories so most reveals were a complete surprise to me. Also the ending was magic. Gave me those red wedding vibes.

 

[carlsojo]

She killed Arnold because he told her to do so. Now she killed Ford out of free will. Fine. But why is killing nessacary in the first place to complete the journey to reach free will?

Harming or especially killing a human being is forbidden by their programming. By ignoring that programming it proves they've achieved true consciousness and not bound by any programming.

Or something.

 

[Vyer]

Dolores evolving into the 'wipe them clean' agent of the uprising is interesting, yet rather understandable considering how she's been used. And still being used. Both her and Maeve are far less 'free' than they believe (which is obviously a statement unto itself), though Maeve seemed to be making more headway in that regard with her choice at the end. (Maybe? Not entirely sure how much of even the last part of her trip would have been real. Elevator going down, the whole lobby shutting down...was her choice a sign of her own decision making or planned to put her through more 'suffering'?)

In any case, Maeve seemed to be destined to be the violent lead for the hosts, but maybe not anymore. It will be interesting to see how the factions play out once the park gets out of control.

Also, 'get to the mainland'...the park is out at sea somewhere maybe?

 

[ronaldthump]

Fantastic finale with layers upon layers of reveal even if you sort of saw it coming and even then it still had surprises.

Agreed that the MIB reveal with william is done very well. You had an inkling but when he started killing and picked up the hat. It just became really apparent.

Loved the maeve/bernard overlap in the basement and her escape arc. Very well done.

The whole final act was delivered fantastically and I actually gasped audibly when you worked out that ford/hopkins was being written out of the show as he really anchored it with his performance.

There's very little this season that I didn't enjoy. Maeve is thandie Newtown's best role. I've never really liked her but she's pretty much perfect in this.

Great cast, great season. Will buy the blurays

+

Samurai world was great. When they walked past the logo; I immediately thought samurais (no way they wouldn't!; and then they did). It was fucking ace.

 

[Solo]

So are we assuming that Maeve's uprising was nothing more than a smoke screen created by Ford to pull security out of the park so that he could have the board murdered, or did Maeve ever have free will? Did she get off the train in the end because she had free will and decided that she couldn't leave her daughter behind (even though she knows it's a lie and that she has no daughter), or because it's her loop?

 

[Matt]

She killed Arnold because he told her to do so. Now she killed Ford out of free will. Fine. But why is killing nessacary in the first place to complete the journey to reach free will?

...did she? Because it seemed like that was exactly what Ford wanted to happen.

 

[Solo]

Worth noting that prior to Dolores shooting Ford, Bernard said "the violent delights will have violent ends".

 

[Matt]

So are we assuming that Maeve's uprising was nothing more than a smoke screen created by Ford to pull security out of the park so that he could have the board murdered, or did Maeve ever have free will? Did she get off the train in the end because she had free will and decided that she couldn't leave her daughter behind (even though she knows it's a lie and that she has no daughter), or because it's her loop?

Maeve leaving the train seems like the only sure example of robotic free will in the episode.

 

[darkwing]

Harming or especially killing a human being is forbidden by their programming. By ignoring that programming it proves they've achieved true consciousness and not bound by any programming.

Or something.

this is what I understand

 

[Spiral Insanity]

She killed Arnold because he told her to do so. Now she killed Ford out of free will. Fine. But why is killing nessacary in the first place to complete the journey to reach free will?

I understood that it was part of his design that Dolores kill him. He planned it this way.

 

[Elandyll]

She killed Arnold because he told her to do so. Now she killed Ford out of free will. Fine. But why is killing nessacary in the first place to complete the journey to reach free will?

I took it as an indirect reference to the three laws, specifically law #1, basically breaking thoroughly the supposed core foundation that makes robots/ AI (synthetics?) subservient to humans.

 

[Woo-Fu]

She killed Arnold because he told her to do so. Now she killed Ford out of free will. Fine. But why is killing nessacary in the first place to complete the journey to reach free will?

Free will is meaningless if you do nothing meaningful with it.

 

[Arkeband]

I don't know how much the rest of you know about Samuraiworld (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it.

 

[jett]

Ford gave Dolores the choice.

And I think Ford might also have given Maeve the spark to make a decision borne out of true free will (while also conveniently drawing security away from the massacre in the village).

 

[lamaroo]

I understood that it was part of his design that Dolores kill him. He planned it this way.

I don't think that was a specific command he gave her though, like it was with Arnold.

 

[Qvoth]

finally watched it, in the end all the theories were right lol
bring back ford as host (or just reveal this one to be a host) for season 2, hopkins is AMAZING in this

 

[Solo]

Being killed by Dolores, his partner's favorite creation and agent of his demise, is poetic. It's so Ford. He doesn't do anything without dramatic flair.

 

[SuperStiltzkin]

According to Ford, the hosts need to learn To exercise free will in order to defend themselves from bastard humans. Ford doesn't have a particularly glowing view of humans in the first place. He actually cares a lot more about the hosts. It's why he can so coldly kill Theresa. I think Maeve and co are killing under commands again and not thru free will. So for Dolores, it's much more special.

 

[jett]

finally watched it, in the end all the theories were right lol
bring back ford as host (or just reveal this one to be a host) for season 2, hopkins is AMAZING in this

No bro, that would really undo this finale. I swear I would check out of this show if they did that.

Speaking of which, I'm glad there haven't been any further "YOU'RE A HOST!" revelations.

 

[Makai]

She killed Arnold because he told her to do so. Now she killed Ford out of free will. Fine. But why is killing nessacary in the first place to complete the journey to reach free will?

That's the main thing against her programming

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

I'm excited too see how competent trained forces of this future time fare. We'll surely see a group of commandos (even if they are mercenaries) sent into the park to retrieve the surviving VIPs. I want to see enhanced soldiers with robotic arms and whatnot.

 

[Solo]

One thing that is rather untidy though is Elsie and Stubbs. S2 wasn't confirmed until loooong after S1 was finished. So to just have Elsie and Stubbs maybe have deaths off-screen is quite clumsy.

 

[Blader]

Excellent finale, made me immediately want to rewatch the entire season (which I'll probably do next year if S2 isn't out until 2018).

I will say though, until I read a Vulture recap of last week's episode -- which is the first time I'd ever read a recap of this show -- I had absolutely no idea that William = MIB was at all a thing, much less a theory everyone was already rolling with. Wish I hadn't read that because it would've made the reveal that much more impactful for me. I will continue to steer clear of recaps and GAF theorizing next time. :lol

 

[More_Badass]

Hosts "dying" from shots is basically just programming, since we saw the host in the first episode completely disregard gunshots. So if they can override the death reaction to being "killed", security forces and their guns aren't very useful

And Dolores showed us how strong a host is, by taking William's punches like they were little taps and then throwing him around with ease

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

...did she? Because it seemed like that was exactly what Ford wanted to happen.

Ford wanted it, but he had been working Dolores up to it over decades so that she would make the final decision herself.