Westworld Recap: The Original
Westworld’s premiere episode moves quickly, for better or worse.
Westworld doesn’t take any time getting down to business. Instead of easing into he future-western setting, it immediately questions the nature of the manufactured reality. The star is Dolores, and she is being questioned about “the newcomers,” that is, the insanely rich people who use Westworld as the vacations spot that it actually is. They’re all just looking for new possibilities.
Westworld’s draw-dropping scenery is on display within the first five minutes, showing us breathtaking vistas and meticulously created western towns. Teddy wanders the town, gets a drink, talks to the mayor. You know how it is. It’s easy to forget that Westworld is populated by robots, called Hosts. The peace that pervades the opening sequences is unsettling, partially because we already know that it will be short-lived. Violence can happen at any time, for any reason, because why not? They’re all on vacation.
Westworld tends to lay it on a little thick, at least in this first episode. This isn’t a show that is going to hold all of its secrets close to the chest; it wants you to know them.
Delores’ father is killed as we’re told, through voiceover, that nothing is about chance. This also cues the entrance of The Man in Black, a man who knows the score and freely flaunts that knowledge. Newcomers cannot be killed, but Hosts can be dispatched at their pleasure. He’s a man on a return trip and gains pleasure in killing Teddy, and then rapes Delores. And then it all just resets.
Westworld tends to lay it on a little thick, at least in this first episode. This isn’t a show that is going to hold all of its secrets close to the chest; it wants you to know them. A look at the testing lab where the world is created and monitored shows us everything. It’s this lack of subtlety that could be leveled as a knock against the series, but it would largely stand alone beside some stilted lines. Westworld is a beautiful, artistic creation that offers something new. For the most part.
Image Credit: HBO
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It is impossible to not see shades of Jurassic Park. The Early warning about danger that is brushed aside, the very fact that it’s an outrageously expensive attraction, and then the risk of so much that could go wrong. We meet Robert Ford, the boss, in an eerie cold-storage like area in which he is sharing a drink with an old Host. Watching Bill “put himself away” is one of the highlights of the episode.
And then it starts again, because that’s how it’s supposed to work.
Watching Bill “put himself away” is one of the highlights of the episode.
When something does go wrong it breaks the illusion, and the team behind the scenes tries to figure out what is happening. Nobody likes, for example, watching a Host have something like a stroke. What’s more unsettling is watching the Hosts shrug off the claims that they’re not real, or standing within potential earshot of being called target practice. An old photograph shakes things up a bit, but Delores is unconcerned. Her father, on the other hand, is haunted by it — a product of broken code. In a great scene, an auto piano plays Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” and then “Paint it Black.” A treat for the Guests, since it means nothing at all for The Hosts.
Westworld works best when it sticks to the Hosts. The people behind it all get swallowed in petty squabbles that could actually, yes, use more subtlety. The fake world that they have created feels more alive and real. Even the conversation between Ford and Bernard, meant to enlighten us on the mad scientist’s state of mind, doesn’t feel natural.
Image Credit: HBO
Throughout the episode Hosts are dispatched by The Man in Black, playing the game when he feels like, and breaking scenarios when he doesn’t. He is brutal because it is fun, and also sometimes because he is bored. He’s tired of just the same old getaway; he wants to learn how it works and cultivate chaos from it. Maybe he’s behind the bad update that worms its way through Westworld, but right now it’s not important. He lives for the possibilities.
We meet Hector earlier than original visioned as a way to “massage” away the problems that Westworld is facing. Also, he’s a badass that the Guests love. He is a stereotypical outlaw, but it works well. And then everything breaks down, because it has to. When we learn that Delores is technically the oldest Host out there, it doesn’t come as a surprise. It just makes sense.
Next: Here's what the original Westworld was about
What “The Original” does is fully showcase Westworld’s promise. It does not exactly hit it out of the park in terms of premiere episodes, but it does enough right to warrant the attention that it has gotten. This is going to be a show to watch, even with some minor slip ups. It’s an exciting world out there, and we can’t wait to explore more of it.