S01.E01: The Original

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

In the premiere of this sci-fi drama set in an Old West theme park where guests interact with automaton "hosts," the park's head of programming is alarmed by subtle changes in some of their main attractions, and a rancher's daughter is reunited with a gunslinger even though her father might not approve. Based on the 1973 feature film directorial debut by Michael Crichton.

[Primetimer]

Can a semi-classic sci-fi movie become HBO's newest drama hit?

View the full article

[ChipBach]

2 hours ago, PreviouslyTV said:

Can a semi-classic sci-fi movie become HBO's newest drama hit?

View the full article

yes.  yes it can.

[AimingforYoko]

I was intrigued by the bait and switch with James Marsden's Teddy, and this version of the Man in Black being human, but I wasn't fully hooked until Ford's interview with Abernathy. That conversation made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I'm in.

Only humans I like are Bernard and that lady head of security. She's the only one who doesn't seem to have her head up her ass.

[SeanC]

When the notes of "Paint It Black" started manifesting in the score, for a bit there I was trying to figure out if I was hearing it properly, but then it became unmistakable.

This isn't exactly a novel premise (even if it weren't a remake), but so far it looks interesting.  Looks to be a real showcase part for Evan Rachel Wood going forward, as her character starts down the path of developing an independent personality.

And Anthony Hopkins actually looked invested in the proceedings.  I'm not sure I remember the last time that happened.

[AimingforYoko]

2 minutes ago, SeanC said:

When the notes of "Paint It Black" started manifesting in the score, for a bit there I was trying to figure out if I was hearing it properly, but then it became unmistakable

How about when the player-piano broke out with "Black Hole Sun"?

[magdalene]

I didn't care for it very much.  It's very cold and sterile, devoid of humor. There is not a single human character to care or root for.  Obviously, I am rooting for the Androids.  I will stick with it for a while - largely in the hope that somebody will kill Ed Harris' character.

But what turned me off the most is the inherent sadism of the whole thing.

[Enigma X]

4 minutes ago, SeanC said:

When the notes of "Paint It Black" started manifesting in the score, for a bit there I was trying to figure out if I was hearing it properly, but then it became unmistakable.

 

I came here to ask if that was a version of "Paint It Black" that I was hearing. I guess it was. LOL.

[VCRTracking]

So far rape, lesbian kiss, sadism and lots of nudity. This show is filling the GOT vaccuum on HBO alright.

Nice twist with James Marsden's Teddy being a "host".

Liked the version of the Rolling Stones' "Paint it Black".

The actress playing the corporate representantive was unfamiliar to me. Looked her up and she's an acclaimed Danish actress. Explains the weirdly off American accent.

Have no clue whats going on with Ed Harris' character. I thought he was a sadistic rich guy but the whole thing with the diagram on the scalp is creepy.

Good job from the actor playing Abernathy, when you share a scene with Anthony Hopkins and you're the creepy one!

Hector Escaton is cool.

When Evan Rachel Wood kills the fly at the end. Uh oh....

Edited October 3, 2016 by VCRTracking

[jcin617]

I'm in; I thought it was well done.   And the elusive 3rd Hemsworth!

I wonder why they store all the decommissioned hosts in the basement.  Because that can't possibility come back to bite them.

[benteen]

I really enjoyed it.  Think the setting and premise is fascinating and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

I knew the Ed Harris character was a human but surprised that Teddy was an android.

Who was the husband who shot the bandit at the end?  He really looked familiar but I couldn't place him.

Quote

And Anthony Hopkins actually looked invested in the proceedings.  I'm not sure I remember the last time that happened.

Yes!  He definitely seemed a lot more energized that he has recently.  He looked and sounded so old and tired in the last Thor movie.

Loved the music choice too.

Edited October 3, 2016 by benteen

[Susan79]

"Paint it Black" caught me off guard too. I really enjoyed this first episode. Although I can see why there may be questions about its longevity, I'm in for the first season at least.

I thought the whole cast was terrific. It must be maddening to try and move between "robotic" and more natural that Evan Rachel Wood and others had to do while still being the same character.

Even though it was over an hour and not fast paced the show kept my attention the whole time. I'm curious as to how things will progress.

[VCRTracking]

Quote

Who was the husband who shot the bandit at the end?  He really looked familiar but I couldn't place him.

He looked familiar to me too. I looked it up:

Currie Graham. 

I last saw him on the second season of Agent Carter as Whitney Frost's husband. I also remember him from the first season of 24.

[maraleia]

6 minutes ago, VCRTracking said:

The actress playing the corporate representantive was unfamiliar to me. Looked her up and she's an acclaimed Danish actress. Explains the weirdly off American accent.

 

That's Sidse Babette Knudsen playing Theresa Cullen and she's wonderful in Borgen, 1864 and The Duke of Burgundy. I can't wait for America to really discover her brilliance due to this show.

[Black Knight]

I haven't read the book or seen the movie, so I didn't know much coming into this other than the general premise (which reminded me a bit of Larry Niven and Steven Barnes's Dream Park, which I have read). And as someone who likes to play video games, the core issue of the sadism that magdalene points out reminds me of much of the arguments about the Grand Theft Auto series, etc. I haven't played those games, but I do play games where there are choices to make, and I usually - like one of the early guests we hear from - play those at least twice, once from a good POV, once from a mean/evil POV. Unlike him it doesn't exactly make me feel good to play the latter, but I do it so I can see how things play out when you do it that way, and to see what I learn about myself. And I've had moments of being horrified enough that I refuse to play out such a scenario the same way again, even though I know it's all just a video game. So this kind of called back to that for me. I suspect if I were in such a park, I wouldn't only take the nice path, but Ed Harris's character is definitely a bridge too far for me. And it's interesting because these are - up until now - just robots. Shouldn't be that much different from a video game, but it still just feels too far. It reminds me of the excellent Humans TV series in which the robot Niska tells a human female that everything that gets done to her, Niska, they want to do to her too.

In any case, I'm in. The visuals are certainly stunning, and the acting is top-notch. I dearly want to see Dolores be the one to take Ed Harris's creepy fucker down. There's some larger purpose, as the head of security noted, which I'm guessing is what Ed Harris is involved in somehow, and I imagine that will be what gives the story something that can sustain it beyond one season. Because if it's just about the robots in this one park, it wouldn't really be more than a one-season story at most.

Ford gave us an idea of what the outside world is like, and it sounds like part of the issue is that humanity has achieved maybe too much and now it's largely bored. And the sadism we're seeing in this park is a result of that boredom.

[formerlyfreedom]

8 minutes ago, jcin617 said:

And the elusive 3rd Hemsworth!

So many thoughts, but yeah - LUKE! His voice is amazing, as he was questioning Dolores, it just reached deep into me...

And all the little musical touches, Paint It Black, Black Hole Sun - even the theme. The composer is the same guy who does Game of Thrones, isn't he? I would have guessed that, just from the theme.

[benteen]

8 minutes ago, VCRTracking said:

He looked familiar to me too. I looked it up:

Currie Graham. 

I last saw him on the second season of Agent Carter as Whitney Frost's husband. I also remember him from the first season of 24.

Thank you!  I do remember him from Agent Carter now.  I kept thinking he was on Seinfeld but his IMDB profile indicates he wasn't.

[dramachick]

Well, that was creepy. 

I almost had to turn away from this tourism for sadists.  Nothing good ever comes of leaving human beings to their own devices in a world with no limits.

At first I thought it was weird that the management had no comment on the sadist in black and what he was doing to the card dealer, but I remembered that he said he had been coming for 30 years.  I imagine they've seen quite a range of human depravity.

This show feels like a mashup of  Battlestar Gallactica and Humans, and so far I'm rooting for the robots.

Edited October 3, 2016 by dramachick

[AimingforYoko]

1 minute ago, dramachick said:

I almost had to turn away from this tourism for sadists.  Nothing good ever comes of leaving human begins to their own devices in a world with no limits.

Best description I read was as a "Live, interactive version of Grand Theft Auto."

[VCRTracking]

Speaking of, Lisa Joy one of the showrunners mentions it in this interview from The Hollywood Reporter:
 

Quote

 

The most iconic character in the original Michael Crichton movie is the gunslinger, played by Yul Brynner. He's very much a goal-oriented figure, even if his goal is straightforward: he wants to kill one man. Ed Harris is the gunslinger here, and he differs in many ways: he's human, he boasts a much greater vocabulary than Brynner's Gunslinger, and he also boasts a more complicated goal: he wants to access a "deeper level of the game." At this stage, can you elaborate at all on the Gunslinger's goals and the lengths he's willing to go to achieve them?

I think this character has been coming to the park for a long time. He's an expert gamer, in the gaming sense of this world. He's a great shot. He's like somebody who plays Grand Theft Auto all the time and can solve a thing in 30 minutes. He's fantastic at this. He's a pro. He keeps coming back, year after year, but the thing he's looking for now … he's looking for something deeper. What it is he's looking for, and why it holds personal meaning to him, is something we're going to explore over the course of the series.

 

Edited October 3, 2016 by VCRTracking

[benteen]

It does show you the darker side of this kind of "entertainment."  This is something I've always wondered about the holodeck on Star Trek but of course they never showed the crew acting like that on it.  But this kind of stuff would bring out the dark side in a lot of people.

Lee Sizemore's Simon character reminded me a lot of Fitz from Agents of Shield.

[ybrik]

Enjoyable episode. Didn't drag on and there is enough mystery that makes me want to keep watching.

Agree that most of the characters that I am feeling anything for are the hosts. Hopefully we do get to see humans that are trying to be good.

I do wonder where they are going to go with this premise. I can see how this works as a movie but a tv show does worry me some. Hopefully they have enough story and it doesn't drag or stall during the season.

[TVHappy9463]

Great start, I hope they can sustain it.  One little nit-pick, if they have everything and all the hosts under surveillance, tracking, cameras etc. Why didn't they see what Ed Harris was up to?  

The acting was really fantastic, not a weak link in the cast. I thought the violence etc was appropriate for the statement the show is making about society and our level of detachment. 

[gatopretoNYC]

I've loved the original film since I was a kid. This take is really interesting because of the sympathy for the robots. The acting was really great, as is the deeper examination of the whole idea. I'm sold. Watching the encore again right now.

[Tim Thomason]

I don't think Ed Harris's "Man in Black" is playing Yul Brynner's Gunslinger. That role seems to be Dolores, the oldest host in the park (perhaps older than Bill?), who's final shot fly-killing proves that she's ascended her programming. While the Man in Black will be uncovering some sort of conspiracy or something, she will lead the revolution against the newcomers.

I'm wondering how these robots work. Are the physical degradations (rape, gunshots) cleaned up every night during "sleep"? What about the Man in Black and his victim? I suppose that cliff may have been out of range or something. He was up there overnight, and they were notably missing the dealer during the saloon robbery.

They mentioned not having a major incident in over 30 years (around the time of the park's opening). I wonder if that's a veiled reference to the movie, or if there's more to that, that will be explored. I imagine so, with all the talks of reverie and memories bringing out the self-awareness.

I'm not sure why the robots have to be naked while at HQ. That seems like a lot of unnecessary work to have them strip down and presumably re-clothe them for diagnostic work and interviews. Especially since the diagnostics seem to be done via wireless networking with tablets. But it does help nail the point that these are sub-human robots.

[SeanC]

Was the woman who shut down Dolores as she was crying about Teddy the same person who kissed the prostitute robot earlier after observing the "reverie"?  If so, it seemed like she's becoming more intrigued by the robots' minds.

[Broderbits]

Yes, that was Shannon Woodward who shut down Dolores and kissed the prostitute. 

I think the robots being naked at HQ helps their human overlords feel superior; it highlights the difference in status and since they are so lifelike, you know exactly who is human and who is not.

I was not disappointed, eagerly looking forward to the season.

[dgpolo]

This is one of the few new shows I've watched this season that kept my interest after the first ten minutes. My only problem was I kept having to raise the volume to try to hear what everyone was saying. That may just have been my TV but I usually don't have that problem. I wondered what Bernard whispered to Dolores' father, was it just to tell him to go find a place amongst the decommissioned hosts. It echoed the whisper to Dolores. Killing the fly was very evocative of the last scene of Psycho where Norman is trying to show how 'normal' he is by not killing a fly.

[bmoore4026]

Well, I'm loving this, so far.

I can't help but notice the similarities between the circumstances between the Hosts and the Synths from Fallout 4.  Does anyone know what I mean?

Anyway, Evan Rachel Wood was wonderful as Dolores and I was especially impressed at the end when they woke her up and she was hyperventilating and then told to stop and she snaps to emotionless instantly.

The actor playing her "father" was very good, too, and has a pretty good naked body, to boot.  We didn't see any naked James Marsden, though :(

Ed Harris is Ed Harris and can be nothing more than Ed Harris.

Also, has Anthony Hopkins always have weird nostrils?

And did anyone else find the exec lady and the British dude saying fuck obnoxious and unneeded?  I know it's HBO but, in comparison to how everyone else talks, it was jarring.  I mean, this show already has it's fill with boobies and nakedness and the good old ultra-violence to warrant the M rating, so having those two saying fuck in every sentence they say was more than excessive.

[Zanne]

42 minutes ago, Broderbits said:

I think the robots being naked at HQ helps their human overlords feel superior; it highlights the difference in status and since they are so lifelike, you know exactly who is human and who is not.

That was one question I had. How do park guests tell the other guests from the hosts? I didn't see anything that set the hosts apart. I actually wondered if dandy-hat-guest-with-wife had shot another wanna-be-bank-robber-guest accidentally before realizing bad guy was a host. That seems like it would happen from time to time if the guests can shoot and rape anyone on whim, and the hosts bleed red just as guests would.

[numbnut]

2 hours ago, Black Knight said:

Ford gave us an idea of what the outside world is like, and it sounds like part of the issue is that humanity has achieved maybe too much and now it's largely bored. And the sadism we're seeing in this park is a result of that boredom.

But it's just rich people that can afford to visit the park, right? So all of humanity isn't bored. Maybe this is commentary on the upper classes?

I saw the film as a kid and loved it (Brolin's reaction when Yul Brenner goes off-script is classic). I would bingewatch this show in a heartbeat. Love the idea of the robots organizing a rebellion after being persecuted. I like the actors except for the loud British guy (he was over the top). Always love Jeffrey Wright. I don't get Ed Harris's character's motivation -- if he's a guest and knows the park is fake, what "game" does he want to play? His need could have been conveyed better.

Edited October 3, 2016 by numbnut

[SeanC]

2 hours ago, Black Knight said:

And the sadism we're seeing in this park is a result of that boredom.

I don't think that's really the case.  I have no doubt that, were Westworld to be created right now, tons of people would act like that.  Just look at what people do with The Sims.

[meep.meep]

1 hour ago, Tim Thomason said:

 

I'm wondering how these robots work. Are the physical degradations (rape, gunshots) cleaned up every night during "sleep"? What about the Man in Black and his victim? I suppose that cliff may have been out of range or something. He was up there overnight, and they were notably missing the dealer during the saloon robbery.

 

The last shot we saw of the Man in Black, he had the dealer's scalp hanging on his saddle.  But what he's after is still a mystery.

[WaltersHair]

Hmm. I thought Teddy was a host all along. I think that might be from watching a number of trailers and reading advanced critical articles.

I agree that it's a bit sterile and I'm really hoping that they're not going to show that all humans are morally bankrupt individuals. If I had the money, I'd enjoy the less prurient aspects of West World, but is that another message here? All rich people/corporations are assholes?

I think the long term plan the management woman was alluding to was breaking out of the funhouse aspect of the hosts and putting them into the real world.

Anthony Hopkins just wants to be God.

I'm definitely in, but as soon as they start the tired humans are finished and only androids are good, I'm out. Will Smith tried to sell that in a very bad movie and it did not work.

Ed Harris is the wildcard.

[WaltersHair]

Almost forgot. The maze/grid thing they show is very similar to the Southwest Indian's Man in the Maze/Middle. Used to work on AZ reservations and picked up a bit of information, so I'll be watching the authenticity in the series.

[Minneapple]

Really well done. The acting was superb -- Evan Rachel Wood was amazing as was, of course, Anthony Hopkins. And the cinematography was gorgeous. 

29 minutes ago, WaltersHair said:

I agree that it's a bit sterile and I'm really hoping that they're not going to show that all humans are morally bankrupt individuals. If I had the money, I'd enjoy the less prurient aspects of West World, but is that another message here? All rich people/corporations are assholes?

They had the family with the kid. So not everyone who can afford the trip is a jackass.

So yeah, Jurassic Park (I know, Crichton wrote this before he wrote Jurassic Park), in that there are manmade creatures that suddenly start running amok, but also a bit of Dollhouse (the Whedon show) mixed in. I didn't read the original Westworld screenplay or watch the first movie so I don't know if the robots in that are like the dolls in Dollhouse.

James Marsden is a cutie.

[thuganomics85]

I'm in.  Started out a bit slow, but it really picked up as the hour (and 15 minutes) progressed, and I can't wait to see where this goes next.  I'm already on Team Robot though.  Dolorous and Teddy are likable, and all the humans are naturally controlling dicks, who like to wield their power and live out their sadistic fantasies.  The thing is that if we ever do get to this point in real life, I totally think a lot of people would pretty much do the same thing that the human characters did on this episode.  

They certainly stacked the deck with the cast.  Anthony Hopkins (actually seeming to give a damn again.)  Jeffery Wright.  Ed Harris being a creepy, scary bastard.  James Mardsen (always rooted for him after the raw deal he got in the X-Men franchise).  Thandie Newton.  Rodrigo Santoro.  And even the smaller roles played by the likes of Steven Ogg (Trevor from Grand Theft Auto V!), Brian Howe, and Currie Graham.  Favorites though were likely Evan Rachel Wood and Louis Herthum.  Evan seems perfect at playing a character that is robotic, but has something more underneath it.  Also really enjoyed the way she naturally flipped between the accents.  As for Louis, I had to look his name up, but he's one of those guys I've seen in numerous things, but I really loved Abernathy's final speech, and I hope they find some way to work that character back in.  I have to think something will come out of whatever Bernard was whispering to him.

I also saw a Luke Hemsworth in the credits, and once I saw his character, I totally could see the family resemblance.  How many of those Hemsworth brothers are out there?  It's an invasion!

Only character I did care for was the British guy who kept yelling and complaining about everything.  Really wanted Bernard to just tell him to shut it.

I have no idea what The Man in Black is up to, and why no one in real life seems to care about whatever he is doing.  Whatever it is, it won't likely make him anything less then a psycho asshole.  Then again, I guess Ed Harris doesn't do cuddly.

If this pilot was anything, this show is going for the record with having the most nudity of any HBO show.  Maybe any show, although it will be hard to catch up to Spartacus.

Loved the opening credits and the mixture of the old-timey western stuff and sci-fi future bits (and it was kind of disturbing seeing Anthony Hopkins name to a of two robots fucking.)  And I could totally tell the music was done by Ramin Djawadi.

Jonathan Nolan sure did take advantage of wherever they are shooting all the Western scenes.

[VCRTracking]

I couldn't help but laugh though when crying Dolores was saying to dying Teddy, "We've only just begun!" because of the Carpenters song! That had to be intentional.

[TheOtherOne]

2 hours ago, bmoore4026 said:

The actor playing her "father" was very good, too, and has a pretty good naked body, to boot.

I always like seeing veteran actors still working after many years, and I remember Louis Herthum when he was Deputy Andy in the later seasons of "Murder, She Wrote." Glad to see he got a meaty role and he was excellent at it. Would love it if he came back.

And yes, he's looking damn good, especially for 60.

[scrb]

The attraction for people to pay a lot of money to go to this park is that one could do whatever they wanted with robots which so far look indistinguishable from real people.

The old Wild Bill model that the doctor was talking to gave itself away as a robot when it moved because you could hear the motors.

So it seems the primary motivations of the visitors are sex and killing the "bad guys?"  I don't think westerns are as popular as they may have been when the movie was made.  If people want to enact gunplay fantasies, it isn't some shootout in a mythical West of movie lore.  Today, it would be to re-live something out of some big action or war movie or video game.  Maybe a WWII re-enactment or shooting terrorists.

I guess some guests would care enough about a story so that you have a different "plot" every day and that would make visiting several days or revisiting appealing.

But my suspicion is that most of the clientele would be male and it would be mostly some over the top sex or action scenarios and a lot of them wouldn't care about any storytelling aspects.  Just a higher-end or upscale version of going to some place like Thailand for the sex aspect or much more "real" than going to a shooting range.

Though are they using real bullets?  Someone said how would guests be able to tell which were robots and which were other human beings.  There would have to be instances of "friendly fire" if it was a free-for-all with robots and humans shooting up the town.  When Teddy tried to shoot the Man in Black, the bullets looked like they magically bounced off so maybe they're special effects?  Maybe all the guns in WW are special effects that made a noise and give a kick but they either bounce off humans or causes effects on robots to simulate wounds and blood.

[Dobian]

Okay, I saw Westworld as a kid and it was one of my favorites, so of course I wasn't going to miss this reboot.  Intriguing take on it, too early yet to see what they do with it.  Has potential.  I guess they are just keeping it to "Westworld", and not the three theme worlds in the movie (wild west, Rome, Medieval England).  Makes sense, doing the other theme lands would have made the show super expensive.  The actors playing androids did a great job, especially where some of them started glitching.  Some really good cinematography and makeup effects.  Nice twist in the beginning where I thought that Teddy was a guest but he was an android and Ed Harris was the guest.  Different from the movie in that the movie was done from the guests' view, while this one is being done from the behind-the-scenes view.  Anthony Hopkins is interesting in this one.

[BooBear]

Overall I liked it.  I was taken aback and concerned at the sadistic aspects. I don't think this episode was too bad but I get the feeling it will be in the future. Louis Herthum needs an award for the last 10 minutes of this show. He knocked it out of the park.  Great acting there. Though Ford blew it off, I think he knows they are awakening and I think he perhaps wants that. 

I was surprised by Teddy. Spoilers I think lead me to believe he would not be a host. 

At the moment I am not being too hard on the humans. Obviously we know that the robots are becoming aware but the humans enjoying the park do not. So for them they aren't doing anything wrong. 

I think the man in black is going after whatever the corporate executive is getting out of the park. She suggested that the park was about something greater that the corporation was interested in but the writer wasn't sure what it was.  I am not either but I would guess the corporation may suspect the robots will awaken. 

[AnnaMayWong]

LUVed the original movie. 

The onset of the series was interesting, however, the sadism was...stressful, tiresome, and dismaying. My feelings in part were due to the certainty that humans, indeed, would display and enact extreme grotesque behaviors if left virtually completely unfettered by any just moral compass or code.

[absnow54]

It started off a bit slow for me, but definitely picked up towards the middle. The confrontation between Ford and Abernathy had me on the edge of my seat. Damn, that was creepy. I am wondering if some of "human" workers are androids too. There was something about Theresa's mannerisms and her adherence to procedures that made me think that she could be an android programmed to maintain the park. Hell, maybe they're all robots and Anthony Hopkins is just really bored. I know it's based on a film that predates them, but the show felt very much like a cross between Jurassic Park (not terribly surprising since it comes from Crichton too) and Ex Machina.

[benteen]

A definitely Battlestar Galactica influence as well with this show.

[kay1864]

8 hours ago, Zanne said:

That was one question I had. How do park guests tell the other guests from the hosts? I didn't see anything that set the hosts apart.

I wondered the same thing about the 1973 movie.  The guns in the movie wouldn't shoot at anything warm-blooded--which could lead to two guests trying to shoot each other, and then sheepishly realizing they're both human when the guns don't fire.  Which kinda breaks the mood they've paid big bucks for.

[kay1864]

7 hours ago, meep.meep said:

The last shot we saw of the Man in Black, he had the dealer's scalp hanging on his saddle.  But what he's after is still a mystery.

What was the point of draining all but three liters of blood from an android?  He could have scalped him at any time--it's not like he had to make the android weaker to be able to scalp him.

[kay1864]

10 hours ago, jcin617 said:

I wonder why they store all the decommissioned hosts in the basement.  

And storing them standing makes zero sense.  It takes energy for a robot to balance on two feet.  

Also, why the heck do they need 83 basement levels?  And why the remark of the security guy about the smell (which no one reacted to, btw)?  Androids (presumably) don't decompose or sweat.

[Enigma X]

I liked it and am in. One minor thing that bothered me is when the guy (don't remember names) told Dolores to lose the accent. Well, we all have accents if we are in a place we are not from. 

Edited October 4, 2016 by Enigma X

[BeatrixK]

So each week, I'm going to end up shouting 'Oh my God!  You killed Teddy!  You Bastards!', aren't I. 

I remember seeing the movie when I was a kid...and thought it was super cool (Wasn't the sequel Futureworld?  I could swear there was a sequel.)

I am intrigued...but they are gonna have to step up their game and put a little more context in place in the next few episodes...or they might lose me.