S03.01: Parce Domine

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

If you’re stuck in a loop, try walking in a straight line.

Season three premieres Sunday, March 15, 2020.

[patty1h]

First episode and I hate Dolores and don't care about her mission. Aaron Paul and his angst.... who cares and I did not understand what he was doing with Lena Waithe's character - their conversations were gibberish and I didn't care enough to turn on closed-captions. Bernard can disappear and I wouldn't care.  I hope there's minimal Ed Harris and Tessa Thompson this season.  Will wait to see if they give Maeve a decent storyline.  Hate watching at its finest.

Bright spot:  I find Tommy Flanagan very sexy.

[AimingforYoko]

So Rehoboam = Samaritan's Great-grandson? (Let's see who gets that reference.)

The second Caleb started talking to the shrink, I knew Francis was a sim.

And what's Dolores' plan for Bernard, besides being a patsy?

[ShadowHunter]

Until  Aaron Paul finally met up with Dolores I felt like he was on a different show. The Westworld is out of Westworld now. 

I like Maeve the best so the upcoming weeks episodes look better. 

It got better towards the end but the first part of the episode felt a bit like a chore to get through. 

[LoveLeigh]

This series has strayed way too far away from the original theme for me to even watch. It is just a different show. I liked it more when the story was contained within the parks. 

This new season so far does not appeal to me. It is not Westworld. 

Edited March 16, 2020 by DakotaLavender

[Avaleigh]

The world outside of the park was cool to look at but this was basically a letdown for me overall. I can't believe that this was a premiere episode. Premiere episodes are supposed to rock and make you pumped to see what happens the rest of the season. The main thing I'm looking forward to is Maeve's storyline. I'm also vaguely interested in finding out which personality is in Charlotte's host body. Other than that I'm not too excited about this season. Bummer. 

[mac123x]

I'm intrigued enough to watch next week, so that's mission accomplished I guess.  It's almost like this is a new show with some characters borrowed from a previous one. 

The futuristic setting is pretty meh.  I realize this has a TV show budget, but it looked as shitty as the "advanced" technology in the DIvergent movies.

If the twit at the party was right and this all turns out to be a simulation, I'm going to scoff loudly at the hacky writing.  (Took me a minute to recognize that his date was Haley from The Originals using her real accent.)

Speaking of "all a dream" BS, did anyone notice if the aspect ratio was different for Maeve's scene, thus indicating that she's in a simulation?  Because I'm having a hard time believing one of Delos's actual parks was Nazi World.  Sure there are some sick sadists who would enjoy that shit, but the negative PR would be tremendous. 

19 minutes ago, patty1h said:

I did not understand what he was doing with Lena Waithe's character - their conversations were gibberish and I didn't care enough to turn on closed-captions.

I don't think CC would have helped.  They were speaking in the future!!slang language of petty criminals.  It was meant to be incomprehensible by someone who isn't a part of that subculture. 

If done right, that can add some verisimilitude to a future setting.  If done wrong (like this was) you wind up with a garbled mess and audience disengagement.  All I got out of his SEVERAL scenes in the underworld is that he's a low level lowlife and he doesn't do "personals;" whatever that means.

They honestly had too many new characters and concepts introduced this episode, so adding this patois on top of it was off-putting.

8 minutes ago, patty1h said:

Bright spot:  I find Tommy Flanagan very sexy.

Sweet jeebus I couldn't understand him.  I hope his replacement!bot tones down the accent.

[WatchrTina]

This is a public service announcement -- if you stopped watching when the credits rolled you missed a post-credits scene that was pretty damned interesting.

As for the rest . . . I have to go back and watch again.  It was pretty confusing.  

For now I have to assume Aaron Paul Caleb will find out that Dolores is a 'bot.  She'll have to tell him in order to stop him from taking her to human hospital, right?

So . . . what are these "personals" that Aaron Paul's character Caleb won't do?  I couldn't figure that out.

But I DID figure out the guy on the phone was an AI as soon as the HR person making the "ding" phone call was revealed to be AI. Before that I suspected he was a figment of Aaron Paul's imagination -- a manifestation of PTSD.

Edited March 16, 2020 by WatchrTina

[AimingforYoko]

4 minutes ago, WatchrTina said:

So . . . what are these "personals" that Aaron Paul's character won't do?  I couldn't figure that out.

I assume any crime against a person: murder, assault, kidnapping, etc.

[scrb]

Was Dolores there to fuck Jerry (slinking around after skinny-dipping) or kill him?  

Turns out it was to mind-fuck him into killing himself.

Jerry's demise is why you don't turn over you whole home to Alexa or Siri or whatever.  Fine for turning on and off lights -- though is that worth having it spying on your all the time?  But definitely not things like security.

I knew Caleb couldn't be a host, even though he seems to be playing a game, not just the Rico game but his whole life seemed to be navigating a game (or a simulation), because you saw him brushing his teeth.

But then again, you saw Bernard brushing his teeth too.  Bernard has a little clicker to go into berserker mode, again more video game motifs.  Which is why he has to interrogate himself to see if anyone has messed with his code.

Dolores is trying to get close to Liam (by fucking him?) but turns out Liam doesn't know shit about the big round computer -- I don't want to type out the dumb name.  

I noticed in the opening credits they feature a drawing of that globe, so it's another icon, kind of like that labyrinth glyph that the Man in Black was chasing.  So why is Dolores after it?  Presumably because she wants to bring down the whole world, not just Delos, the company that built WW.  Hell they already control Delos with host Charlotte.

It's one thing to kill Jerry, wife-beating Delos investor.  But she wants to kill off the whole human civilization by getting close to Liam and then destroying the globe AI and Incite and human world ends?

No traffic in futuristic LA (large parts of which were filmed in Singapore).  And apparently, no bystanders anywhere (other than Caleb) so they can have a big gun battle.  Dolores kept getting killed in WW but she's like a Terminatrix, going directly at professional soldiers.

 

 

[ShadowHunter]

25 minutes ago, DakotaLavender said:

This series has strayed way too far away from the original theme for me to even watch. It is just a different show. I liked it more when the story was contained within the parks. 

This new season so far does not appeal to me. it is not Westworld. 

The show almost felt like a reboot lol.

[scrb]

1 minute ago, AimingforYoko said:

I assume any crime against a person: murder, assault, kidnapping, etc.

There's an Inside the Episode segment where they explain a lot of the game Caleb was playing and the creators all talk about how our world is heading towards that world, with AI, location tracking, etc.

So they're trying to make their story more relevant to audiences.

I guess their "message" is that there are cool futuristic flying machines and other vehicles and rad buildings and all but it's still a dystopia so Delores wanting to destroy it all is not a bad thing.

 

[magdalene]

The show now feels more like a spin-off with some of the original characters.  And I am okay with that since I only cared for 2 episodes last season, namely "Kiksuya" and the Shogun episode.  This episode benefited greatly from having Aaron Paul, who I have automatic good will for, and no William for the time being.  Thank you for that and I know it won't last.

Because of the change in narrative I even found myself rooting for Dolores again. Lets see if that lasts.

[HunterHunted]

56 minutes ago, patty1h said:

First episode and I hate Dolores and don't care about her mission. Aaron Paul and his angst.... who cares and I did not understand what he was doing with Lena Waithe's character - their conversations were gibberish and I didn't care enough to turn on closed-captions.

23 minutes ago, mac123x said:

I don't think CC would have helped.  They were speaking in the future!!slang language of petty criminals.  It was meant to be incomprehensible by someone who isn't a part of that subculture. 

 

Ri¢o is the Task Rabbit or Favor app of crime in the Westworld universe. Caleb, Aaron Paul's character, is willing to vandalize, steal, and deliver illegal goods, but unwilling to do personals (crimes against a person like assault, kidnapping, or murder). His unwillingness to do personals is the reason he has crappy ratings on Ri¢o.

1 hour ago, AimingforYoko said:

So Rehoboam = Samaritan's Great-grandson? (Let's see who gets that reference.)

I get it. I refuse to believe a version of Samaritan would survive, but we wouldn't have any hint of The Machine.

1 hour ago, AimingforYoko said:

And what's Dolores' plan for Bernard, besides being a patsy?

If Dolores is actually capable of learning and growing, she'd leave Bernard alone. He tends to dither when left to his own devices. I don't know why she'd be quick to point a finger towards him since there was so much evidence that Ford was being pushed out, he wasn't happy about it, and he sent out the new code that corrupted everything. It's a problem with a clear and easy solution for the rest of the board, shareholders, regulators, and the public. The only reason you'd make Bernard your patsy is if you're trying to goad him into doing something. Putting Bernard on the run seems like weird plot antagonism just to get him to enlist Maeve to his cause.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

I probably felt a little too excited they filmed scenes at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia. That's some of my favorite architecture. 

So far, I'm more on board with this than season 2, although season 2 feels like a very distant memory. 

TBH, if Aaron Paul wasn't on season 3, I'd probably have skipped bothering to watch this season. 

[mac123x]

The opening credits included a 3D printed bird that flies too close to the sun and loses it's feathers... so who is playing Icarus -- Delores I assume? 

[The Companion]

Well, apparently I am alone but I loved it. I really enjoyed something entirely different and I sorta like Wyatt/Evil-Dolores in this context. I found her interesting and sorta badass (and I coveted pretty much 100% of her wardrobe).

I thought the opening scene was really well done. It grabbed your attention and really set the scene.

I loved all the futuretech details. The construction bot, the cars, the smarthouse, etc. I probably need to watch it again to pick up on all the details. As always, though, it was visually stunning. 

I love that the app is called RICO. Heee. Crim law joke. I am not really interested in another soldier with PTSD story but did enjoy Caleb the criminal. The heist of the ATM was fun to watch.

I liked some of the allusions to the fallout from last season. I sort of wanted more.

Bernard's story was a bit lackluster but I did dig his beard and the scene where he was confirming he hadn't been altered. 

[driver18]

It was really interesting. I kept saying: "Ugh, this is so boring while watching." But... in once Dolores woke up in the car and went on her rampage, I found myself glued to the screen, watching what was happening. I got excited when Caleb and Dolores finally met, I was all 'ooh!' when Bernard told the fisherman that he wanted to go to Westworld. And then the final scene (FINALLY!) where we saw Maeve in Nazi Germany?! Whu?!?!

So the episode ended and I said aloud: "Ugh, that was so good!" Then the previews for what is to come? I cannot wait!

And then I remembered thinking it had been boring earlier and realized what it was. I know that this was all set-up. Westworld is not an action-y, boom! boom! type of show. It works best with the build-up, the pieces coming together. I like the week to week and then the binge. And I know that like with each previous season, this episode will eventually build to something that comes together beautifully.

Edited March 16, 2020 by driver18

[HC87]

Anyone else have an incredibly hard time hearing/understanding what the fu manchu Scottish security guy was saying all episode? 

Edited March 16, 2020 by HC87

[driver18]

4 minutes ago, HC87 said:

Anyone else have an incredibly hard time hearing/understanding what the fu manchu Scottish security guy was saying all episode? 

Nope, not just you. Had to turn on closed caption for a few scenes with him.

[HunterHunted]

1 minute ago, The Companion said:

I love that the app is called RICO. Heee. Crim law joke.

The app is the definition of a RICO case because each part of the criminal conspiracy has no clue what's going on, but the person who organized the various independent contractors knows all of the details. The big problem with the use of the app to kill Delores is that they weren't really using it to the best of its abilities. The plot required Tommy Flanagan's character to be replaced, but in actuality he probably wouldn't have been on scene and would have contracted delivery of the car to one person, delivery of the drugs to another person, they'd deposit Delores in the backseat, and contracted with other people to kill her and dispose of her body.

The mood shirt is my favorite future item and my favorite future scene is Marshawn Lynch's character trying to flirt with the AI ATM lady after they robbed the ATM. 

[MrWhyt]

2 hours ago, mac123x said:

Because I'm having a hard time believing one of Delos's actual parks was Nazi World. 

who wouldn't want to kill some fucking Nazis?

[AnimeMania]

Is Rehoboam just a larger version of the ball that is in the robot's head. I wonder which one is more advanced.

[scrb]

The writers can embed jokes like RICO.

But all of the characters are pretty humorless.

Well that’s what you get when the main plot involves killer robots.

As if the spirit wasn’t grim enough, they have to inject a wife beater into this episode.

[thuganomics85]

Westworld is back with a... well, lack of Westworld, it seems!

A lot to take in, but it basically sounds like Dolores wants to use whatever this big special computer is to destroy the entire human race and was trying to cozy up to John Gallagher Jr.'s character to do, but then it turns out that he isn't really in charge after-all, so now she's going after the real mastermind.  Well, she'll actually after him once she recovers from that bullet wound!

Meanwhile, we are introduced to this Caleb character played by Aaron Paul (yeah, bitch!), who seems to be some kind of former solider, who is suffering from PTSD and has to take jobs from what looks like basically an underground, criminal version of Craig's List.  But I guess he is going to work with Dolores?

Finally, it looks like Hale (or whoever she is) is undercover on the board and will no doubt play a part in Dolores' plan, while Bernard is in hiding because he was made to be the fall guy for what went down in Westworld, but now it sounds like he is going back there to find Maeve?

Can't say I can think of a more random pairing than Lena Waithe and Marshall Lynch!

A few new familiar faces along with the ones mentioned above, like Tommy Flanagan, Russell Wong, Phoebe Tonkin, and Pom Klementieff.  I guess we'll see who will factor in more and who was just here for the sake of it!

Maeve is in Naziworld?!

[Dame sans merci]

Bloody hell, this episode was dull. It felt like it lasted about three days. Hopefully things will pick up with more Maeve next week.

Was it just me who had trouble with the sound? This has always been a VERY whispery show, but the actual mix seemed off this week.

ETA: Although I must throw a shout-out to the inspired choice of 'Common people' for the soundtrack.

Edited March 16, 2020 by Dame sans merci

[The Companion]

4 hours ago, eliot90000 said:

Funny, I love her, but then I’m rooting against humanity and have been for the entire series.

I haven't been a huge fan of humanity in this show either.

What I find really intriguing is the idea of the algorithm/system. We have asked for two seasons whether human nature is truly as bleak as shown on this show. Well, now we know that the rich and powerful are hand picked. Perhaps the sociopathic tendencies of the rich in this society are because those people are handpicked for the trait.

I suspect we will see Dolores and Caleb bond over being disposable to society, and I suspect her attitude towards humans will change as a result. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Inside the episode:

 

 

If the entire season had just been the first ten minutes, I would have been satisfied with Dolores getting some well deserved revenge. Honestly, I'd be fine with every episode just being Dolores killing smarmy assholes.

Her wardrobe change at the Incite party totally cracked me up. It also amused me that for the first two seasons she had two outfits and in this episode, she had a new outfit in every scene.

BEAST MODE! Ha, that was an unexpected surprise.

Phoebe Tonkin owes her manager and agent a major high five. She went from almost a decade spent on a string of teen shows on the CW (The Secret Circle, The Vampire Diaries, The Originals) to Westworld in the space of about a year.

Where in the Nazi hell is Maeve?!

[UNOSEZ]

I really enjoyed the episode... It was intense and interesting... I like seeing mastermind Dolores and wanna know what she wants to use that big computer for... Isn't it just a larger version of the one in the park that had all the hosts thoughts... Parts of season 2 are foggy.... Not a huge A. Paul fan but he was good here count me in as figuring that kid cudi was an AI... His cadence sounded stilted... Bernard heading back to the park.. I'm guessing for maeve but who knows.. Is his clicker on a timer?  How does he know to switch back to normal Bernard?... Well Maeve is my( and most folks) fav character so really excited to see what her story will look like inside this Nazi place and once she's out in the real world

[The Companion]

51 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

If the entire season had just been the first ten minutes, I would have been satisfied with Dolores getting some well deserved revenge. Honestly, I'd be fine with very episode just being Dolores killing smarmy assholes.

Her wardrobe change at the Incite party totally cracked me up. It also amused me that for the first two seasons she had two outfits and in this episode, she had a new outfit in every scene.

BEAST MODE! Ha, that was an unexpected surprise.

Phoebe Tonkin owes her manager and agent a major high five. She went from almost a decade spent on a string of teen shows on the CW (The Secret Circle, The Vampire Diaries, The Originals) to Westworld in the space of about a year.

Where in the Nazi hell is Maeve?!

I would 100% watch: Dolores kills douches. 

And good point about the wardrobe. Hee. The Incite change was so visually cool. 

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Where in the Nazi hell is Maeve?!

She is the star of that new late night soap opera "Nazi Landing".

[Lassus]

The reactions to this episode are almost bizarre in their negativity,  "Too slow"?  "Boring"?

[benteen]

It's hard to imagine the writers and producers putting this episode together and thinking that  audiences would love it.  It was TERRIBLE.  Too long, boring and confusing.  I admit, I've wanted to see the world outside the park. But what I've seen is boring.  Maeve's storyline looks interesting but that is it.  Just a terrible change of course for this show.

Edited March 16, 2020 by benteen

[HC87]

Maybe a bit slow but that's somewhat expected with a season's premiere, world-building etc.

I thought it had beautiful cinematography as well.

Looking forward to seeing where Aaron Paul's character's story goes.

Edited March 16, 2020 by HC87

[Lassus]

50 minutes ago, benteen said:

Too long, boring and confusing.

Could I possibly ask what was confusing?  It was actually LESS confusing than any other premiere and I thought THAT would be seen as a negative.  That it was too standard action/secret agent and linear to match the previous seasons.

[luna1122]

I'm kind of just here for Aaron Paul at this point. 

Evan rachel wood must be relishing getting out of that blue prairie dress and getting to look smoking hot in all the little black dresses. 

Beyond that, I got nothin

 

 

[benteen]

Dolores remains as unsympathetic and unlikable as ever.

[meep.meep]

4 hours ago, Dame sans merci said:

 

Was it just me who had trouble with the sound? This has always been a VERY whispery show, but the actual mix seemed off this week.

I agree - they played loud music while the actors were delivering their lines.  Didn't help with people with heavy accents or the criminals speaking in slang.

It was OK - but I prefer Maeve-heavy episodes to Dolores-heavy ones.  Great to see that Maeve still has her superpowers.

[LoveLeigh]

I am all mixed up even after a second viewing. Who is Jerry? Is he an older version of who we saw before? 

[terrymct]

This episode wasn't intended to be a rip snorter right out of the gate.  Instead, they put a whole bunch of pots on the stove simmering and we have just a bare idea of what might be in each of them. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

TBH, if Aaron Paul wasn't on season 3, I'd probably have skipped bothering to watch this season. 

Same here. I had no intention of watching another season of this until I found out Aaron Paul was going to be on it. Dammit! I basically started watching Bojack Horseman because of him, too.

I'm wondering if he was part of the extraction team at Delos last season and that's what he's PTSD'ing about. If it's just some unrelated war thing, that seems less interesting. Talking to his AI dead buddy was very reminiscent of a Black Mirror episode.

I didn't catch the post credits scene. Can someone spoiler tag that for me? I hate when shows do that. It's stupid. Surely they know most people shut the thing off as soon as the credits start to roll. Maybe they think if everyone keeps doing that enough, it will trick people into watching credits.

[mac123x]

2 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I didn't catch the post credits scene. Can someone spoiler tag that for me?

Maeve (looking fabulous in period appropriate clothing and hair, though Thandie Newton would look great in a burlap sack, but I digress) wakes up in a room with a wounded guy who's tied up and gagged.  She removed his gag and he started speaking German.  She looked confused, looked out the window, and say soldiers, tanks, and a big swastika hanging from the building across the street.  Seems like she's in some WWII scenario, possibly Nazi World or maybe Occupied France World.

[MrWhyt]

1 hour ago, DakotaLavender said:

I am all mixed up even after a second viewing. Who is Jerry? Is he an older version of who we saw before? 

Some rich guy who was an investor in Delos and had previously mistreated Deloris in the park

[WatchrTina]

15 hours ago, scrb said:

Jerry's demise is why you don't turn over you whole home to Alexa or Siri or whatever.

It also suggests that having an AI as a voting member of the board of directors may not be a wise decision.

 

15 hours ago, scrb said:

turns out Liam doesn't know shit about the big round computer -- I don't want to type out the dumb name.  

Oh please can we all refer to it as the "Big Round Computer" from now on?

 

14 hours ago, The Companion said:

I loved all the futuretech details. The construction bot, the cars, the smarthouse, etc.

And the little black dress that converted in an instant to a long gold gown!  That was cool.  Pointless, but cool.

 

14 hours ago, HC87 said:

Anyone else have an incredibly hard time hearing/understanding what the fu manchu Scottish security guy was saying all episode? 

I love that actor from his days on Sons of Anarchy but, yeah, closed captions are a must.

 

14 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

The mood shirt is my favorite future item

Wait what?  Are you talking about the shirt Marshawn Lynch's character (Giggles) was wearing?  Did the words on his chest change depending on his mood?  Well, heck I'm going to have to watch a third time, aren't I?

[Chicago Redshirt]

15 hours ago, mac123x said:

Speaking of "all a dream" BS, did anyone notice if the aspect ratio was different for Maeve's scene, thus indicating that she's in a simulation?  Because I'm having a hard time believing one of Delos's actual parks was Nazi World.  Sure there are some sick sadists who would enjoy that shit, but the negative PR would be tremendous. 

It seems like a natural extension of Westworld: you get to discover who you really are. In WW proper, you get to be a white hat or a black hat (and hypothetically, you can play anywhere in between).

In WWII World, presumably, you can play as a Nazi, an allied soldier, a resistance fighter, a Vichy regime type, etc. Presumably, there would be an appetite for that among the ultra-rich same as with WW, and Delos wouldn't care about the PR of people playing as Nazis. 

In the closest analogue, there are a number of board games and video games that allow you to fight with or against Nazis. (Axis & Allies, Castle Wolfenstein, Call of Duty, Battlefront, etc.) I imagine most of them, have you playing as Allies currently, but maybe the same restriction exists in WWII World, or maybe the future has become more relaxed about Nazis. 

If the parks that Delos created were to be all based on actual history/myth (from an American/Western perspective), WWII would basically be the first park I would expect after the Old West. 

In no particular order, the others would include:

Medieval World  (Knights of the Round Table, larger than life Ren Faire, etc.)

60s World (James Bond-esque scenarios, Cold War stuff, hippies, free love and counter-culture, the Civil Rights movement, the space race and Camelot would all provide interesting storylines)

Civil War World (giant re-enactment of battles, plus Gone with the Wind-esque glorification of plantations and the Southern lifestyle)

Roaring 20s-40s World (Flappers, speakeasies, gangster battles, noir detective stuff)

Revolution World (Fighting the American Revolution and creating the Constitution, although I can't think of too many real-world analogue games to this).

 

5 minutes ago, WatchrTina said:

Wait what?  Are you talking about the shirt Marshawn Lynch's character (Giggles) was wearing?  Did the words on his chest change depending on his mood?  Well, heck I'm going to have to watch a third time, aren't I?

Yeah, it started off with "Amused" lit up, and read that for most of the episode. After he was attacked, it changed to "Angry."

[patty1h]

I'm not interested in watching Dolores continue her rampage of killing humans and fixing to make all of the people who abused her suffer.   I saw enough of that in season 2 with her shooting and killing her way through various "worlds".  It makes no difference that now she's doing it in designer outfits and riding a futuristic motorcycle instead of a horse.

[Chris24601]

12 hours ago, eliot90000 said:

Funny, I love her, but then I’m rooting against humanity and have been for the entire series.

I think the whole point of Caleb though is to show that it’s not just the hosts who have been stuck in loops as playthings of the elite... and that even the elite have largely turned their lives over to an algorithm residing in the giant computer ball named for the son of Solomon (providing implications as to who the original creator was).

To advance in society you had to provide benefit as discerned by the algorithm. What you might actually care about is irrelevant unless it serves the algorithm. Individuals appear to be disposable in the judgment of the algorithm. People are so hollowed out they need hypnotic sleep aid to regulate their dreams.

My hunch is we’re going to get character growth in Delores as she comes to understand most of the humans have been just as enslaved as the hosts and that the architect of global misery is actually another AI that’s drawn the “logical” conclusion of enslaving humanity for its own good.

I wonder if they’re not going for the angle of “what price is utopia?” Would humanity (and hosts) as a whole be better off if the central planning authority were removed and people had to drive their own cars and turn off their own lights and all the messy things they almost seem to have forgotten how to do... in exchange for the freedom to actually choose their own course?

Given the cellular division images, coupled with past references to hosts being “mostly biological” I can’t help but wonder if we aren’t headed for some BSG cylon/human hybrid type pregnancy at some point too (right down to all this has happened before).

It also strikes me that, if civilization DID completely collapse, someone programmed with the life skill common to the 19th Century American West would be in a MUCH better position than about 99% of today’s population... to say nothing of the humans in the show who are utterly divorced from the real world (forget the types who thinks electricity comes from holes in the wall and food comes from a supermarket that exist now; these people have AIs negotiate leases for them with other AIs and cars that drive them places on their own).

You wouldn’t NEED to drop bombs on the Westworld humans to wipe them out. Just pull the plug on the governing AI and watch as 90+% either die from hunger because the food distribution infrastructure has collapsed or fall to violence due to fights over what little resources are available (meanwhile more food than they could ever use rots in shipping containers because the system is no longer routing them where they need to be).

Given the current strain on our own health care distribution systems due to global manufacturing and just-in-time inventories, this could end up being a rather timely season coming right at a time when large numbers of the audience are stuck without much else to do and are already feeling the effects of the system under strain.

 

[LoveLeigh]

2 hours ago, MrWhyt said:

Some rich guy who was an investor in Delos and had previously mistreated Deloris in the park

Have we seen him before in previous seasons? 

[Ms.Moon]

17 hours ago, magdalene said:

The show now feels more like a spin-off with some of the original characters.  And I am okay with that since I only cared for 2 episodes last season, namely "Kiksuya" and the Shogun episode.  This episode benefited greatly from having Aaron Paul, who I have automatic good will for, and no William for the time being.  Thank you for that and I know it won't last.

Because of the change in narrative I even found myself rooting for Dolores again. Lets see if that lasts.

Akane no Mai and Kiksuya were my favorite episodes of Season 2 as well.  I honestly wished we could have spent more time there in Shogun World because it was so pretty and I loved the Japanese actors but many people complained about the subtitles.  I am willing to take the ride with the show runners for this season.  I have always preferred Maeve’s journey to Dolores’ since Maeve was trying to save her daughter but will have different motives this season so I have to see where each story takes us.

[MrWhyt]

8 minutes ago, DakotaLavender said:

Have we seen him before in previous seasons? 

not that I can recall