Westworld is defined by its plot twists. Some of them are brilliant—Sunday’s ‘The Mother of Exiles’ felt both surprising and inevitable, which is always a hallmark of great twists. Others, like the goddamn hats of Season 2, are not so well executed. Nevertheless, Westworld commits. It commits hard to its world building and pretentiousness and […] More
Last week, we were pondering the identity crisis of Charlotte Hale, and who exactly her body was hosting. On the first point, Westworld S3E4 kind of undoes all the good work they laid down. However, they more than delivered on the second point. That’s right; after previous criticisms of the show’s mysteries being obliquely rendered, […] More
You have to feel sorry for the hosts of Westworld. No matter where they are—the park, the so-called “real” world—they cannot outrun the boundaries of their own identity crises, particularly in Westworld S3E3. First, it was the realisation that what they took for reality were just programmed narratives keeping them trapped in pre-ordained roles for […] More
If we were to ask ourselves which character is the real heart of Westworld, who would we say? The focus has certainly been on Dolores, but she has become as much of an extreme (the destruction of humanity) as the park guests (the degradation of the hosts). Not a lot of heart and warmth there. […] More
Previously on Westworld: The hosts’ rebellion ended either in death or redemption through “The Door,” a virtual promised land. Dolores Abernathy meanwhile managed to sneak herself off the island in a copy of Charlotte Hale’s body, taking a selection of host consciousnesses with her. We know Dolores is back in her own body, and that […] More
It has been a fantastic year of television so we are going to have to make some tough decisions this award season! On the panel we have: Laura Stewart, Matt Armitage, JC Hotchkiss, Martin Hearn, Brien Sponaugle, Paul Billington and Caemeron Crain. So let’s see what their choices are… Favorite New Show of 2018 JC: […] More
Countless times in Season 2 of HBO’s Westworld, we hear characters say they’re looking for “fidelity.” Dolores wants a perfect version of Bernard before he can be released into the park. William is looking for the perfect version of James Delos, over and over. Taking a look as a whole at the Westworld Season 2 […] More
“Questioning the nature of our (televisual) reality: Westworld and consciousness” is a guest article by Hannah Searson who previously wrote “Hysteria in Twin Peaks” and “Ghosts, Sympathy and bearing witness in Twin Peaks The Return.” We hope you enjoy! “Consciousness isn’t a journey upward, but a journey inward. Not a pyramid, but a maze”, or […] More
While recently rereading Mark Frost’s The Secret History of Twin Peaks, I came across this passage[1]: “…it is important that we learn to distinguish between mysteries and secrets. Mysteries precede humankind, envelop us and draw us forward into exploration and wonder. Secrets are the work of humankind, a covert and often insidious way to gather, withhold or […] More
With HBO’s sci-fi thriller-mystery Westworld returning for a second season on April 22, I had an urge to give it another spin. Going in knowing what happens in Westworld Season 1, for the most part anyway, (I first watched the show as it aired back in 2016, so it’s been a while), I wondered if […] More
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