Westworld Hasn’t Had Nearly as Much Sex as We’d Been Led to believe
By Nick Tylwalk
Considering sex is a big part of its draw to guests, Westworld hasn’t actually shown very much of it through three episodes.
Sex might sell, but Westworld isn’t leaning on it very heavily to attract people so far.
At least the HBO series isn’t. Titillation and the chance to indulge whatever sexual appetites one might have are very much on the menu for the guests at the fictional park, where the artificial hosts are programmed to offer human visitors whatever they want in that regard.
But as far as on-camera sex goes on the series? Not so much, as most of the intimate activities have been implied rather than shown. What the show does have is a lot of nudity, though most of that has been when the hosts are being examined by the Westworld employees.
Yes, we looked in on William’s friend Logan as he engaged in a four-way during episode 2, “Chestnut,” and there was another brief sex scene in the premiere. But considering the reports circulating while the show was still in production that it would be raunchier than Game of Thrones, it’s actually been somewhat restrained.
That makes sense considering the series is largely interested in exploring themes even larger than sexuality, though it hasn’t ignored that either. Two of the main characters, Maeve Millay and Clementine Pennyfeather, are prostitutes in the park’s starting town of Sweetwater, and they’ve been shown coming on to guests regardless of gender or age.
It’s just that what they do with those guests has been left behind closed doors. There have also been multiple instances of implied sexual assault — including a very close call for Dolores in episode 3 — but those have been mercifully left off-camera as well.
Eventually, one would expect that the show will grapple with the idea that the hosts who are gaining consciousness have been forced to do the humans’ sexual bidding for years. But even then, what we’ve seen so far suggests that Westworld won’t sensationalize it.
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Sex is definitely a part of Westworld, and it could still pop up at any time in future episodes. It’s just not one of the series’ main calling cards, and it hasn’t suffered at all from that decision.