After a year of TV with a noticeable lack of gratuitous Western-themed android violence, Westworld is finally back on our screens with the first episode of season two. In true Westworld fashion, however, the episode raised way more questions than it answered. Where does the line between host and guest end? What exactly is Delos up to? Where did William get his iconic black hat?
WIRED's Andy Vandervell and Matt Reynolds sat down to grapple with the big mysteries that the season opener threw our way.
Andy Vandervell: So, after watching the first episode, I realised I'd forgotten how complicated this show is... there's a lot going on here.
Matt Reynolds: Yep. There's a lot to process in this episode. We've got switching time lines, a bunch of different subplots and I still can't quite figure out who is a host and who's human. But, brief moments of confusion aside, this got me really excited for the rest of season two.
AV: Me too. There's a brilliant tension in trying to figure out what different characters are actually up to, especially when it's clear Ford (while dead) probably has more tricks to reveal. How many more hosts are wandering around with his secret code in their... can we call them brains?
The only thing I didn't like was the last moment, mainly because it's really hard to make out what Bernard/Arnold (Jeffrey Wright) says. I had to plug in headphones to realise he says "I think, I killed them", which is a pretty big line to make almost inaudible.
MR: Yeah, I feel that the impact of that line is a little lost when you have to rewind it the third time to really work out what's going on. It's going to be interesting seeing how the series will bridge the gap between Bernard just after the host takeover – who is so close to malfunctioning that he has to pep himself up with a little brain juice borrowed from another host – to a Bernard that's capable of pretty much destroying the entire park.
While Bernard is having a tough time, Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) seems to be absolutely loving life as a free android, taunting and killing guests all over the place. Westworld has always been violent, but it felt like this episode kicked things up a notch and that was... weirdly... actually quite a positive thing?
AV: Yes, leaving those people standing on crosses with nooses round their necks was a positive message we can all get behind...
MR: That bit was a tad uncomfortable, I'll give you that. But after a whole season of guests being horribly violent against the (often female) hosts, this season that power balance has totally flipped, which is refreshing, to say the least.
AV: Ice water is refreshing, Matt, mass murder less so. That said, you can't really begrudge Dolores her revenge. She's doing what she's been taught. I hope she evolves from her "kill all humans" mode, though, or she'll quickly become a rather boring part of the narrative.
Maeve and Bernard/Arnold are the most interesting characters for me so far. Bernard is so conflicted and, out of the all the hosts, he's the only one with the know-how to manufacture a positive outcome for the newly-aware androids.
As for Maeve, Thandie Newton is clearly having tons of fun in that role. Her taunting of Lee Sizemore, the obnoxious head of the Narrative Department, was especially fun. She's also the only character with a really clear objective, though I suspect that's part of her programming rather than her own free will.
MR: That bit when Maeve used one of her scripted lines to insult the guy that wrote it in the first place was brilliant. So much fun.
I find it really hard to care about William/The Man in Black (Jimmi Simpson/Ed Harris) though. In this episode, we learn – from the young android version of Robert Ford – that there's a riddle somewhere out there in Westworld for William to solve. Sound kinda familiar from season one?
I guess at some point we'll find out what he's been looking for all these years. Maybe it has something to do with Peter Abernathy?
Read more: The biggest issue in Westworld 2: what's with the crazy AI horses?
AV: I hope it's just another long con from Ford. That would be delightful.
Peter Abernathy brings us nicely onto Delos and Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson). What is their game, aside from making lots of money?
MR: There is something deeply creepy going on with Hale in this episode. It’s clear that she’s set on getting that host out of the park at any cost, but whether Bernard is totally on board with that plan is another matter entirely.
I’m hoping that this season we final get some answers about the shadowy organisation that’s behind Westworld. Did they ever resolve that thing about the host leaking information to the outside world?
AV: That's where Peter Abernathy comes in, I assume. I really want to know more about what they actually want from Westworld and the host technology. It's got to be important enough to be worth stopping. Right now, we have lots of characters with fragmented motivations. They need something to unite them.
What are you hoping and looking forward to?
MR: I'm hoping that we see some of the hosts venture into the outside world. At one point this episode, Dolores tells the lovable-but-dim Teddy (James Marsden) that she isn't content with taking back Westworld from humans, but she intends to take the real world – our world – from us too. We know from the trailer that some of this season is spent in a 'Shogun' world so perhaps when they leave Westworld they just find themselves in another park altogether? Who knows.
I also need to know what the deal is with those freaky no-face drone hosts. They are seriously creepy, and seem to hint that Delos has some kind of super-sinister underground operation going on that Bernard (and Ford) might never have been aware about.
How about you?
AV: I'd love a surprise reappearance from Anthony Hopkins, but I'm not holding my breath on that one. Above all, I can't wait to see 'Shogun Land' because I'm sad and really like all that ancient Japan stuff. Bring on episode two.
Westworld season 2 airs on Sky Atlantic, Mondays at 9pm and is available to stream in Now TV. Visit our guide to the best box sets on Sky and Now TV for our top picks.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
