Dame sans merci

Jamie's accent? That's a Manchester accent. He's a 'Mancunian'.

I appreciate that Herron's been put on the spot there...but that branch can't have been pruned, or we wouldn't have had old Steve visiting Sam in the present day time frame.

Perhaps - if that is the case - our Loki will see the version of himself who's achieved all the power he could ever want, and then ultimately reject that path for himself. So much of what we've seen in the show thus far is about whether we have choice and free will . For Loki, learning that there's a timeline where he DOES win, but being able to turn away from the version of him that acquires all that power and control, would be a huge character moment.

Especially since whilst he was in the Sublime - unaware and defenceless - he could have used Stubbs to keep him safe back in the real world.

There was an absolute mountain of stupidity this week, but for some reason the thing that sticks out as the pinnacle of all the idiocy is Serac leaving that message for his brother...in English. Why?!

I just assumed that the simulation (which seems to have...just kept running based on the fact that Lee has been merrily programming away in there - why though?) was on a mobile server or similar. Maeve recognises at one point when the world 'shimmers' that they've been plugged into the Delos servers. That wasn't Hector's original pearl - they found him in cold storage and transferred the data from his pearl over to the Delos labs, before they torched the bodies in cold storage, A new question: we learn in episode 2 that time moves faster in the simulation, so the real world looks sl

Oddly enough, i've just taken a look at the Westworld Reddit page - which is just post after post about who is inside Charlotte - and decided I might be checking out for now. If your show has nothing BUT mystery, then it - as you say - just one big, expensive gimmick. How did Nolan manage to turn out the fascinating, thoughtful 'Person of interest' on CBS (!!!) and yet use his HBO riches to make...this? A glossy perfume commercial of a show, shallower than a puddle.

In answer to your questions: 1) I think the body on the floor is one of the discarded Bernards - he took the non-explosive C6 from its neck and put it in Stubbs. 2) I believe the bullet Stubbs coughs up is the one he shot himself with. He was supposed to shoot himself, triggering the explosive charge and taking out all the evidence that Bernard is a host with him (and yes, considering hosts take bullets all the time and all have the explosive charge, it would seem to be a very, very bad idea to have them be able to be triggered by a bullet. Westworld's gonna Westworld, I suppose).

Episode 1 had a lot of streaming viewers, which bolstered the live total considerably, but I haven't seen any figures for that for episode 2 yet. However, it IS concerning for the show: it seems to be the only one not showing gains at the moment. They can't even get new viewers when they have a literal captive audience...!

That Lee simulation was very good apart from understanding his relationship with Maeve, which made me wonder if they'd pulled his information from what Rehoboam gathered on him in the real world. For some reason, it couldn't collect data from his time within the park, so they extrapolated based on what they had - wrongly - because they couldn't account for/anticipate that period of intense change in him.

We know who Liam's Dad is though: Liam Dempsey Sr from this video:

Well, that was more like it. Amazing the difference it makes when I actually give a shit about the characters involved. Not too impressed by Bernard re-programming Ashley's core drive without asking given his own history of being controlled, but they seem like they could bounce off each other as a duo really well. Also delighted to see my favourite duo Maeve and Lee reunited (...sort of) given they continue to have some tremendous screwball chemistry. That secret lab of Serac's is a ticking time-bomb with all those host pearls - Dolores could create a mini army if she finds out

Did you see the post-credit scene? Maeve wasn't completely AWOL...

That take on Bernard was how I read it post-season 2 as well BUT i've seen several season 2 reviews (the ones of half the season) include Bernard as being among the 5 marbles. I'm not sure whether that's made specifically clear for them to state it, or whether they're just assuming...? Perhaps 1 or more of the pearls were empty when Dolores took them from the park? She presumably still needs a way to 'save' her re-remembering of Bernard.

I'm interested as to why you want it to be Teddy? Letting Teddy go and saving him from the horrors to come was the most humane thing Dolores did last season and reversing that bit of emotional growth for her would be deeply unsatisfying for me.