In my review of the first few episodes of Westworld, I talked a lot about how great it was, waiting for the shit to hit the fan. I’ve just finished episode seven, and the shit still has quite a way to go yet. In fact it feels like the person holding it is very slowly walking towards the fan, and the tv show keeps cutting away to other people who are nowhere near the fan, and so the metaphor is getting very strained.
As a show, Westworld is still captivating as ever. There are a number of plot threads going on between the cowboy world, the park staff, and those in-between, and some are really exciting. Some, less so. The main ones include Ford, park founder and cheery megalomaniac, who is gradually building a big surprise for everyone. Maeve the madam is rapidly figuring out there is a whole world hidden behind the walls of her cosy saloon. Delores the damsel is doing her best to avoid being a disposable love interest, but is accidentally doing it all the same by hanging out with the ineffably boring character, William the white hat. There is also a man in black won’t clearly tell anyone what he is after, but he’s going to kill a lot of people to get to it.
This show is playing coy. Episodes have a habit of following a particular character closely up until they make some kind of big revelation, only for the show to then avoid showing them again for a few more episodes, making us wait to see the weight and consequence of their discovery. By the end of episode seven, we have run out of plot threads to avoid showing, and something finally gives. The next part of this review will be ****SPOILER FILLED****.
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The big reveal of episode 7 is that Bernard is one of Ford’s robots. It’s a big revelation for a lot of viewers, who may or may not have been suspecting this all along. For me though, it is actually a concern. In any story about lifelikerobots, there is inevitably going to be the who’s really a human? question. In the case of Westworld though, it feels like a painfully obvious a plot point to raise. Also, by introducing the prospect of robot staff members, a lot of tension is lost. Before, the actual robots have stakes because though they don’t die, they can lose all the precious memories they have accumulated. The humans have stakes because they are always precariously close to being murdered. But now, potentially any human character could end up being murdered, only for the story to reveal they are a robot who can be fixed or a human who can be replaced. This show really doesn't need any more mysteries about its characters.
Midway Murmuring
In my review of the first few episodes of Westworld, I talked a lot about how great it was, waiting for the shit to hit the fan. I’ve just finished episode seven, and the shit still has quite a way to go yet. In fact it feels like the person holding it is very slowly walking towards the fan, and the tv show keeps cutting away to other people who are nowhere near the fan, and so the metaphor is getting very strained.
As a show, Westworld is still captivating as ever. There are a number of plot threads going on between the cowboy world, the park staff, and those in-between, and some are really exciting. Some, less so. The main ones include Ford, park founder and cheery megalomaniac, who is gradually building a big surprise for everyone. Maeve the madam is rapidly figuring out there is a whole world hidden behind the walls of her cosy saloon. Delores the damsel is doing her best to avoid being a disposable love interest, but is accidentally doing it all the same by hanging out with the ineffably boring character, William the white hat. There is also a man in black won’t clearly tell anyone what he is after, but he’s going to kill a lot of people to get to it.
This show is playing coy. Episodes have a habit of following a particular character closely up until they make some kind of big revelation, only for the show to then avoid showing them again for a few more episodes, making us wait to see the weight and consequence of their discovery. By the end of episode seven, we have run out of plot threads to avoid showing, and something finally gives. The next part of this review will be ****SPOILER FILLED****.
2.
3.
4.
The big reveal of episode 7 is that Bernard is one of Ford’s robots. It’s a big revelation for a lot of viewers, who may or may not have been suspecting this all along. For me though, it is actually a concern. In any story about lifelike robots, there is inevitably going to be the who’s really a human? question. In the case of Westworld though, it feels like a painfully obvious a plot point to raise. Also, by introducing the prospect of robot staff members, a lot of tension is lost. Before, the actual robots have stakes because though they don’t die, they can lose all the precious memories they have accumulated. The humans have stakes because they are always precariously close to being murdered. But now, potentially any human character could end up being murdered, only for the story to reveal they are a robot who can be fixed or a human who can be replaced. This show really doesn't need any more mysteries about its characters.