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

A

afternoon delight

Member
And with that the show descends into "not buying on home video" territory for me. Interesting premise but lacking good content and too much plot convience and armor for me to really be satisfied as a story. I don't care enough to watch season two.

Loved the cast though! Full of greats and unsung talent.
 
F

firehawk12

Subete no aware
DrROBschiz said:
Well there are a couple ways around it


- Deaths are hidden. Replaced with robots. Seems least likely though.. The capabiities of the Hosts to use the tools to create them and thwart efforts to discover the horrible chaos that went down

- Blame is shifted and a coverup rebuild is installed by William/Charlotte. Losses blamed on Ford or some other accident. Think about it. Delos sees the big picture and wants control even if their board buddies died...... still a stretch but it hinges on knowledge that the bots are sentient and whether that is believed of covered up

the solution to that being the Hosts holding key members alive and hostage. Mainly William and charlotte and making them do the dance to keep the park going
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I mean, I guess they copped out by not showing William being killed, so he could decide to keep the park going because he likes the "new game". I guess seeing these robots pretend to live in the wild west again isn't all that appealing to me... but if you call your show Westworld, I guess you're kind of stuck.

RS4- said:
Yeah, I don't get the isolated alarms. When they got to the samurais training, I'm sure I saw one of the techs in black just watching them, but oblivious to Felix and the Terminators, and a group of Stormtroopers walking in.

I guess they just don't want a site wide panic lol.
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Yeah, even if you excuse the Samurai World/Lobby part, you'd think the entire complex and the train would be shut down once VIPs were being killed but guess not. lol
 
Grizzlyjin

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
HBO must be over the moon about the ratings growth. This was their shot at capturing that mass audience genre appeal that Game of Thrones created. They needed something to keep their numbers up when Thrones ends, looks like this will do it. Audience is just going to grow during the hiatus, more people will binge watch it on HBO GO/Now, one of their channel marathons, or via Blu-ray. Season 2 will have a huge debut. Good for them.
 
M

Mattenth

Member
My big theory now is that all of what we're seeing at the park management layer is also part of a narrative.

The fact that Maeve was on rails. The fact that Ford and Bernard had that same conversation multiple times. Those aren't coincidences. They're creating this elaborate narratives for specific AIs to try to help them self-realize. And maybe Delores succeeds in those final moments, realizing the "person she has to become."

The narratives are designed to try to help AIs "awaken" and try to help them achieve true sentience and consciousness.

But each time... the AIs either go insane and start mindlessly killing people, or they opt to go back to a state of ignorance.

Most important scene of the finale, imo: http://imgur.com/a/oIdnE
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Grizzlyjin said:
HBO must be over the moon about the ratings growth. This was their shot at capturing that mass audience genre appeal that Game of Thrones created. They needed something to keep their numbers up when Thrones ends, looks like this will do it. Audience is just going to grow during the hiatus, more people will binge watch it on HBO GO/Now, one of their channel marathons, or via Blu-ray. Season 2 will have a huge debut. Good for them.
Click to expand...
Do we have the ratings for the finale?
 
F

fallengorn

Bitches love smiley faces
firehawk12 said:
Yeah, even if you excuse the Samurai World/Lobby part, you'd think the entire complex and the train would be shut down once VIPs were being killed but guess not. lol
Click to expand...

Didn't the slaughtering start once the last train was out of the station? Even if it wasn't, the control room was compromised. So it's understandable if QA's response was less than ideal.

Still doesn't excuse their general lack of awareness or Stormtrooper-level aiming.
 
A

antonz

Member
More_Badass said:
Do we have the ratings for the finale?
Click to expand...

But the series premiered swimmingly this summer and last night capped its 10-episode first season with stellar ratings numbers, drawing over 2.2 million viewers for the 90-minute season finale. That’s a series high for the sci-fi Western show and a rise of 7% versus last week’s penultimate episode, ending things on a very high note.

Indeed, if you include replays and viewing on HBO Go and HBO Now, the finale numbers grow to 3.6 million, bringing the show’s Season 1 average to 12 million viewers across all platforms. How high is that in the realm of pay cable? Well at an average of 12 million viewers, Westworld now stands as the most-watched first season of an HBO series ever.
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Just posted
 
J

jett

D-Member
Isn't it a bit early to have ratings already? Huh. Anyway, awesome that they spiked with the finale. Hopefully interest endures until whenever S2 comes around.
 
M

Makai

Member
andythinkpad said:
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.
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Missed opportunity if they didnt take advantage of the loops for twists
 
S

Salsa

Member
I cant believe how I basically got every twist right plenty time back

that aint at all a testament to me being "clever" as much as it is to the show's writing

it has flaws, but figuring out twists by just paying attention and see them play out is much more valuable and commendable than those that come out of nowhere just for shock value
 
J

Joni

Member
holygeesus said:
It's weird how ratings travel across countries and station types. Here 2.2 million for a series finale starring Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris would be deemed a massive flop. How times change.
Click to expand...

It is a bit like Netflix. Nobody is going to think Luke Cage is a flop because only 2 million people were watching it on Netflix the minute it released.
 
Corpsepyre

Corpsepyre

Banned
Can someone answer a few things, please? Firstly, when William was talking to Dolores about how she has repeated all these things for so long, the shots we see of William, was he ever a part of all of that, or did he just go through that once? We do see Dolores talking to thin air at this point, but was HE ever part of all the repetitions? It's not too clear for me.

Secondly, William was shot by teddy, but got up and walked just fine. Blanks? How does getting shot in this world work?

I just ended the episode, and I think I'll have to watch it again to wrap my head around all of it. This was way too complicated and layered that I had imagined.
 
S

Salsa

Member
I like how Maeve left the bag

heh

but I also like how even tho she was distraction bait for Ford's bigger plan (hosts gettin loose), we're left not knowing if it was all programmed (breaks the tablet just as Bernard is about to reveal it) or if she also made a decision for herself (tho I think it's heavily implied, and Ford had this as a plan for her to reach conciousness as well)
 
G

gun_haver

Member
kris. said:
Anthony Hopkins can't even spell her name correctly.

I give up.
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There really isn't a right or wrong about it, they are just two phonetically identical variations on the same name. Steven, Stephen, Suzanna, Susanna.

I understand there must have been a point where her name was shown on screen, but it's not really worth getting riled up about whether people are spelling it with an e or an o. Nobody is confused who you mean. It sounds exactly the same either way - hence the confusion.

I mean personally I spell it D'Lorezph (ph is silent).
 
Z

zewone

Member
Salsa said:
I like how Maeve left the bag

heh

but I also like how even tho she was distraction bait for Ford's bigger plan (hosts gettin loose), we're left not knowing if it was all programmed (breaks the tablet just as Bernard is about to reveal it) or if she also made a decision for herself (tho I think it's heavily implied, and Ford had this as a plan for her to reach conciousness as well)
Click to expand...

Bernard states when she reaches the mainland and also the tablet states Mainland Infiltration.

I think her getting off the train is her going off script due to her connection with the "daughter".
 
S

Salsa

Member
zewone said:
Bernard states when she reaches the mainland and also the tablet states Mainland Infiltration.

I think her getting off the train is her going off script due to her connection with the "daughter".
Click to expand...

I do too, but I think it was made to be a bit ambigious. I think her leaving the bag on the train isnt her mistake, for example
 
S

SCULLIBUNDO

Banned
Welll Nolan just confirmed it's not coming back till sometime in 2018.

I enjoyed this season a lot. And I really enjoyed last night's episode.
 
D

DrSlek

Member
soul said:
It wasn't Ford at the end, it was bot-Ford. He wouldn't let himself be killed. I refuse to believe that, given what we've learned about the character.
Click to expand...

Given Sir Anthony Hopkin's advanced age, perhaps writing him out of the story is for the best. It would make things quite difficult if he were to die in the middle of shooting another season.
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
Corpsepyre said:
Secondly, William was shot by teddy, but got up and walked just fine. Blanks? How does getting shot in this world work?
Click to expand...

It seems like the velocity of the bullets can change. 30 years ago, he got a welt from getting hit in Sweetwater. Technology seems to have improved such that the bullets didn't make a noticeable impact at the Abernathy farm.

Teddy's bullets in episode 10 seem to have the same affect as the first time he was hit, but that is likely due to the increased difficulty/intensity the further out you go.

The hosts don't seem to be allowed to make shots at point blank. Even blanks can be lethal at that range, IIRC, so it would make sense to have that restriction.
 
S

Salsa

Member
that after credits scene was bad tho, kinda pointless

it also just served as a top off reminder me that the park has laughably shit security
 
D

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
fallengorn said:
Didn't the slaughtering start once the last train was out of the station? Even if it wasn't, the control room was compromised. So it's understandable if QA's response was less than ideal.

Still doesn't excuse their general lack of awareness or Stormtrooper-level aiming.
Click to expand...
Eh, bunch of ex-cops/soldiers who took cushy security jobs and have never had to do anything since arriving at Westworld.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
jett said:
Isn't it a bit early to have ratings already? Huh. Anyway, awesome that they spiked with the finale. Hopefully interest endures until whenever S2 comes around.
Click to expand...
HBO has information on them almost as soon as it starts airing - it's just a matter if they want to put out early PR like they did here or if they wait for one of the usual services to report them.
 
J

Jarmel

Banned
Salsa said:
that after credits scene was bad tho, kinda pointless

it also just served as a top off reminder me that the park has laughably shit security
Click to expand...

Yea it was the perfect way of reminding the audience how shit the show can be at times.

"Freeze all motor functions"

Dude what the fuck are you doing?
 
C

Cornballer

Member
- Matt Zoller Seitz: In Its First Season, Westworld Was an Elaborate Series of Perception Games
The show is so ambitious, so audacious, conceptually so much richer than almost everything else on TV, that its inability to satisfy at the level of drama is often infuriating.
Click to expand...
- THR: Jimmi Simpson interview
- USA Today: 'Westworld' stars on the HBO finale's surprises
The producers were mum about details of Season 2, which HBO expects to air in 2018, but Nolan is plotting big changes, including a visit to the "real" world beyond the theme park.

"We've blown up the sets. We're going to blow up the show every season and see where the story wants to go," he says. "We wanted the the scope of the show to shift season (to) season and expand, not just in terms of time, which had been hiding in plain sight this season, but also in terms of space and scope and sense of that outer world: What's beyond the park? … At some point, somebody's getting out of there."
Click to expand...
 
S

Salsa

Member
thats my main problem with the whole thing and I assume most people think alike

like I know all pieces havent fallen into place yet but I really do wanted for the finale to reveal that either Felix and Sylvester were hosts (guess he can still be. I like the Felix stuff with the bird and realizing hosts are basically alive by it and deserve better, but I dont think its enough character development for what he ends up doing) or that Ford was fucking up with security measures all over the places for the security to be so god damn crap

like I said, can still get an explanation I guess? but I was waiting for it here
 
J

Jarmel

Banned
I hope they hire a new action director. They could have really gone balls to the wall crazy with that sequence and instead it's a bunch of rent-a-cops getting wrecked.
 
F

Flo_Evans

Member
That was freaking awesome.

I think the William > MiB turn was a bit abrupt. We never really got to see him go full MiB, he kind of just snaps and is slaughtering people left and right (off screen).

Sad Ford is dead. Unless deals get made and they make that a host copy. Or maybe the host copy leads the other hosts to freedom.

I do wonder where they go with it, do they stay there and form their own society? Keep dressing in western clothes? Try to be accepted by humans, try and wipe us out?
 
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