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Westworld twists leave fans in a-maze-ment

Warning: Make sure you have seen the finale of Westworld S1 before reading!

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Warning: Make sure you have seen the finale of Westworld S1 before reading!

If you saw the finale of Westworld this week chances are you are a crazy mix of emotions: wonderment, shock, very probably still a bit confused, and hungry for much more.

The finale dropped bombshell twists few saw coming.

It also attracted plenty of reactions from fans and media.

Here’s a few samples:

Mashable:
Westworld’s finale was a near-perfect end point to a fantastic season of sci-fi television, not to mention a tantalizing platform from which Season 2 will launch. The Man in Black was William all along; Dolores was “Wyatt,” incited to kill her fellow hosts by Arnold as a way of derailing the park’s original opening; Ford actually wasn’t the villain (that was a double-twist!); and the hosts initiated the bloodbath viewers have been anticipating (courtesy of Ford’s final act and Chekhov’s frozen host army). Perhaps more importantly: Samurai World. Yes, there’s plenty of material for Westworld Season 2.

New York Times:
And what a glorious shock it was! In “The Bicameral Mind,” we finally get 100 percent confirmation on the theory that William and the Man in Black are the same person operating in multiple timelines. William the White Hat has slalomed down Westworld’s slippery slope over the years, gradually shedding his aversion to violence and his capacity for love and empathy in kind. He is the grotesque embodiment of how Westworld debases a man over time, and “The Bicameral Mind” laughs heartily at his demise.

Vanity Fair:
No more guessing—now we all know for certain. Westworld has, for nine episodes or so, been showing us Evan Rachel Wood’s character, Dolores, traveling through the park in two different time periods. In one loop—set about 30 years in the past—she’s accompanied by Jimmi Simpson’s character: William. And in another loop, her adventure through the park is bookended by two traumatic encounters with Ed Harris’s character: the Man in Black. The twist within that twist? William’s experience in the park hunting for Dolores only to find she had been wiped of all memory of him twisted and damaged him to such an extent that he transformed from a gentle white-hat-wearing hero into the emotionally closed off Man in Black.

Variety:
In an episode that gave us more real surprises than the rest of the season combined, Dolores’ emergence as a cold-blooded killer was one of the least surprising major moves. It was also the least coherently executed. The version of herself that Dolores confronts toward the episode’s end — is that Dolores or the Dolores-Wyatt hybrid of host massacre and Arnold assassination? And is there really any differentiation between the two? Regardless, the show has hinted often to a violent Dolores underneath her farm-girl facade. (We even already knew that she killed Arnold, just not what the circumstances were.) Seeing that persona emerge was not a twist, but rather a culmination.

Forbes:
Dolores finds that center, finally. In a sense, she’s found it over and over again, but it isn’t until the end of the episode that she realizes who the voice in her head is: Herself. The inner monologue. True thought, true awareness. Artificial intelligence becoming the real thing. Like the Man in Black, we’re at once a little disappointed that this is all we get—a little ball maze toy in the show, symbolizing Arnold’s philosophy of consciousness—and excited to see the robots revolt in earnest. But what does it all mean?

Independent:
The only characters I’m really invested in in the show are Ford and Bernard, one of whom is now dead, going the way of Ned Stark, while the other can seemingly be fixed infinite times, undermining any sense of peril to his storyline. There’s no Walter White or Tony Soprano in Westworld, there’s not even a Tyrion Lannister, and that would be okay if the plot made up for it. But while impressively complex, it also feels a bit random – I don’t doubt that it was carefully thought about, but it plays out as though the writers have written themselves into a corner. William being the Man in Black was kind of disappointing, reducing the character to a ruthless board member and the dialogue too often descends into pseudo-philosophy.

…and if you switched off early, you missed a final scene post-credits. Go back and check it. It will do your head in even more.

17 Responses

  1. The Man in Black’s smile after he got shot in the arm by one of the frozen host army was priceless. Luckily I stumbled onto the first season on the Foxtel Boxsets channel so I was able to binge watch it in four days. I remember seeing this post and thinking I would have to check it out and I’m bloody glad I did.

  2. This was easily the best show I’ve watched this year. I anticipated most of the twists early on, which made it fun to watch how it played out. The only thing that threw me was Maeve – I guessed Ford was controlling her, but for what purpose? I expected she would wipe out the Board, but that didn’t happen. And did the security guy get killed by the Indians? I think Ford returning as a host would be a great way to go.

  3. I finally figured out early in this episode that we were watching in two time periods – Later on – When MIB said dammit Dolores – you do remember – I quickly put it together he was William. All in all for a first season I felt it plodded a little in parts – I know things have to be set up – I still enjoyed and will be looking forward to season 2

  4. Maeve Millay (Thandie newton) appears to be forgotten for some reason, her sentient awakening had the most potential for an AI to be released into the real world, but the primary directive that made her who she is stopped her journey as Westworld started its evolutionary change and presumably hints at a continuing leadership role for her in season 2.

    1. There’s a few ways her storyline can be taken (I’m not quite sure how much of her escape was part of Ford’s diversion plan, if at all), but either way there is definitely room to move on her consciousness, and I agree that she will/should play a major role in season 2.

  5. So good.
    So, what if the Ford who got shot at the end, was a ‘host’ Ford. The real one can then continue to play out his narrative.
    Can’t wait …

    1. Anthony Hopkins was good value, I cant imagine he will be left out in Season 2 if the producers know what’s good for them, however the long production time could pose some contract issues if that is to be the reality for this show.

  6. I’m normally terrible at seeing/thinking through that sort of thing, so I’m a little surprised that so many didn’t see the bigger “twists” coming. Admittedly since about mid-way I have looked at a few fan sites & discussions – but I’d already had very strong suspicions about the MiB / Teddy / Dolores & time periods. Bernard came as a surprise though, as did Ford not completely pulling all the strings.

    And yes, what (who?) was being made on the old machine? My guess is not _quite_ a new Sir Anthony…

    I also figured there were 3 time periods – “now”, ~1yr ago, & ~30yrs ago (plus the odd flashback to various others) – not just 2. Though I’m not entirely convinced I’m totally wrong about that; I suspect some stuff we’ve already seen (e.g. disjointed parts of the MiB/Teddy travels) is from the “future” (i.e. S2).

  7. Yeah, that’s a “wow” from me too and I don’t often give those out.

    Seeing the church spire sometimes buried and sometimes not, made it clear that different times were being depicted altho’ I thought that they were closer together. I’m still trying to sort out what was occurring when and will prob just rewatch the whole season over the summer.

    I avoid fan sites so wasn’t aware that William being the Man in Black was something that was being speculated on. Glad I did because it was a nice surprise.

    Ford may have a facsimile of his consciousness ready to be uploaded to a host (or other AI). Whether the body looks like Anthony Hopkins remains to be seen.

    And I checked – looks like we’re going to have to wait until 2018 for S2. Fair enough, if it’s going to be as good as S1.

  8. “Wow” indeed. Absolutely awesome television. Anyone who was concentrating while watching ep. 9 would have guessed some timelines shenanigans, but the Wyatt revelation came out of nowhere for me.

    And for those unaware, most of the pianola tunes throughout the series were of critically-acclaimed songs. Quite a few were by Radiohead, with the finale song semi-aptly being ‘Exit Music (For A Film)’.

    As for The Independent’s review, if Anthony Hopkins wants back, Ford is easily returned… Remember that older machine that was slowly making a host in the background about 4 episodes back!?

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