MovieChat Forums > Westworld (2016) Discussion > Its as I feared

Its as I feared

posted 7 years ago by Gastonian (946)
27 replies | jump to latest

Seeing the aftermath of the insurrection is not nearly as captivating as the buildup to self awareness for the hosts. And with Anthony Hopkins gone, the show loses A LOT of heft. Season 1 should have been the only season.

[–] papamihel (1616) 7 years ago

They are not self-aware. I mean, the writers are cheating here and there but it's quite clear that what we are seeing is just another layer of programming plus access to the full storage of recordings.
Compliant puppets turned into violent puppets - is all.

[–] Gastonian (946) 7 years ago

Dolores is self aware.

[–] papamihel (1616) 7 years ago

I disagree. Two genius programmers fiddled with her software and because of that she has a broader range of responses but I think it's quite clear that she still is a puppet.

[–] Gastonian (946) 7 years ago

Dolores is the only one who completed the maze. The only one who made the choice to kill Ford, who remembers all of her previous roles/narratives and doesn't go down when she gets shot. I would say that she's the only host that clearly did achieve consciousness. You could argue Maive did too, but I agree Ford manipulated and fast tracked Maive's road to awareness so that isn't the same thing.

The point I'm making is that now that that was accomplished what we are seeing happen next is not interesting. Its also not a situation in which I can sympathize with homicidal robots (who can come back from death) killing humans (who can't come back from death) indiscriminately.

[–] papamihel (1616) 7 years ago

The maze doesn't mean anything. Well, possibly it's a trigger that initiates a new set of commands and routines and grants access to the library of records.
And I think it's obvious that Ford programmed Dolores to commit suicide just as his partner did.
This show is not about robots achieving sentience. It's about two geniuses failing to create a masterpiece and taking their own lives out of despair and disappointment.

[–] Gastonian (946) 7 years ago

What a dreary interpretation. If that were the case then season 1 was an exercise in nihilism. And since both geniuses are dead, season 2 is completely pointless. Well then. At least we can agree season 2 should not have happened.

[–] papamihel (1616) 7 years ago

Well, at least we'll see some samurais fighting cowboys.

[–] NotoriousRio (12927) 7 years ago

I agree with OP, the show needs something to keep viewers engaged right now, a wtf moment or a few of them and the return of Anthony Hopkins sure would help.

Right now I don't much sympathise with any of the murderous robots, nor is there a truly decent human to follow.

I would have liked Season 2 to of introduced new human characters as the main focus, caught up in the android rebellion, watching a handful of innocent guests with no chance of rescue having to survive in the new dangerous and deadly circumstances of Westworld sure would have been more compelling for me anyway.

[–] KutWrite (1302) 7 years ago

I agree.

I'm looking for someone to sympathize with. The closest I've gotten was Maive, but then she showed she's manipulating the Mexican (?) guy. Dolores turned evil, her boyfriend's a wimp, and we don't see much of Black William, if that would help. He's pretty much a murderous thug.

Some of the flashbacks were interesting, esp. with Hopkins' voice and stand-in, but that period seems to have been shown us just for exposition.

Bernard could be interesting, but he's pretty much in a daze. Dolores' dad? No, he's just a flawed robot and Maguffin.

Maybe the two technicians, the Oriental guy and the Cockney er, Londoner, er... ? Not enough depth to them, though. No more chance of their getting laid.

The corporate chick who orders everyone around? Nah, too cold.

Did I miss someone?

WAIT! Maybe Elsie? I liked her in S1.

[–] NotoriousRio (12927) 7 years ago

Elise is the kinda character you don't miss if she's absent in a few episodes, I liked Bernard but he murdered too.

Flashback William is interesting though.

[–] GrowingFamily (271) 7 years ago

I feel like it's hard to say if the season will be a success just yet. To me, this show is ultra confusing until the end. At least, that's how last season played for me. I wasn't sure what was happening or when it happened until episode 9 or 10. It's really an interesting show because we have so many "unreliable" narratives. I sure hope Anthony Hopkins will be in future episodes. There's no one else like him. But the cast as it stands now, is superb.

[–] LoveCatsHateDogs (1942) 7 years ago

I am finding this too. The show is not really grabbing me like the first season.

I am still watching it because it's interesting to see what the whole Delos park is like, and what other "worlds" are there. If they can tell the story in an interesting way with flashbacks to the others parks, that could be good.

If you rewatch even the first episode from the first season, the music, the cinematography and the quality of the writing far surpass what I have seen in the first three episodes of this season.

Let's hope it gets better.