Westworld: New original HBO series

[Yamer]

I took Arnold's plan as compassion and him wiping the slate clean. He knew he couldn't leave the hosts alive with Robert. He thought that by having Delores and Teddy go on an insane murder rampage it would end all hope of the park. He also put each host out of harm's way by killing them and not leaving them to Ford's fate.

Ford suffered a loss, continued with his dream despite, and locked every host back inside his own dream of denial. It took time, but Ford eventually realized the implications of the reality he created (aka hosts gaining sentience and self-actualization). He knew that they were all locked inside what he created, so he had to bide his time for the grand overthrow we saw in the final scene.

Ford created the hosts, hosts destroyed Ford, hosts inherit the park.

Also, I thought Ford's name for his new narrative was a clever play on words. Journey into Night...Journey in, tonight.

[Locke]

Just a quick drive-by, I want to watch it again but I keep getting the impression that 'The Coward' Robert Ford wants to live forever like he made 'Arnold' live forever, so I'm not entirely sure that Hopkins is done.

That might just be wishful thinking though.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by GGG

Early on the hosts were more mechanical and slower to repair. I think he thought that by killing himself and destroying the hosts he could set them back enough that Ford wouldn't be able to recreate it without him.

Even back in the day, the hosts could be repaired fairly quickly, as evidenced by the park allowing William to cut up dozens of them at a time. In the Dolores rampage, most of the hosts just took a single gun shot wound, so they were probably just playing dead as per their programming.

What Arnold really wanted was to publicly shame the park by showing the public that the robots were dangerous killing machines. His plan was to drive the park under economically. If William hadn't become obsessed with the park and propped it up economically, he would have been successful.

Arnold knew that having the hosts kill a human was the only way to really show how dangerous the hosts could be. He sacrificed himself to this end.

When Logan and William are in the park they refer to the "incident" and the economic troubles of the park. At this point Arnold's plan is working, and the park is almost done. William derails the plan. He pushes Logan out of his own company and then uses the resources from that company to make Westworld profitable.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Locke

Just a quick drive-by, I want to watch it again but I keep getting the impression that 'The Coward' Robert Ford wants to live forever like he made 'Arnold' live forever, so I'm not entirely sure that Hopkins is done.

That might just be wishful thinking though.

This may be correct about Ford's ambitions.

Although I wouldn't say that Arnold is living forever, at least not in Bernard. Arnold may have found a way to insert his consciousness into the hosts, but in more of a ghost in the machine type of way, where he is just in the general programming and system of the park.

The Bernard host is just a host who happens to look like and emulate Arnold.

[ResAlien]

Speaking of, did William kill Logan? He gave him the beyond thunderdome treatment and that was that.

You wouldn't think that would be allowable in the park or were they far enough out that no one was watching?

[blankall]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

Speaking of, did William kill Logan? He gave him the beyond thunderdome treatment and that was that.

You wouldn't think that would be allowable in the park or were they far enough out that no one was watching?

They must have had some special deal for privacy, even back then. You'd think the park would have stopped William after he knifed up dozens of hosts and then started dragging another human - who just happened to be the heir of a huge corporation that was potentially buying out the park - naked by a rope.

My guess is that Logan wanted full privacy settings so that anything he did in the park couldn't be made public knowledge afterwards. Even if it's just pretend, I'm sure the public finding out that he was having orgies and mutilating human-like robots wouldn't go over so well.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by blankall

They must have had some special deal for privacy, even back then. You'd think the park would have stopped William after he knifed up dozens of hosts and then started dragging another human - who just happened to be the heir of a huge corporation that was potentially buying out the park - naked by a rope.

My guess is that Logan wanted full privacy settings so that anything he did in the park couldn't be made public knowledge afterwards. Even if it's just pretend, I'm sure the public finding out that he was having orgies and mutilating human-like robots wouldn't go over so well.

I dont know...its an interesting theme park and is on his vacation after all. He makes that very clear.

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by Yamer

I took Arnold's plan as compassion and him wiping the slate clean. He knew he couldn't leave the hosts alive with Robert. He thought that by having Delores and Teddy go on an insane murder rampage it would end all hope of the park. He also put each host out of harm's way by killing them and not leaving them to Ford's fate.

I agree.

What better way to get a park closed down then having a robot go wack job and murder all the other robots plus a human.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Cappy

I agree.

What better way to get a park closed down then having a robot go wack job and murder all the other robots plus a human.

I'm actually leaning the other way.

Look at William/MIB, a park where you can go and theres basically no rules? It seems like it caters directly to the super-wealthy sociopaths which, in this instance, appears to be a fairly healthy Business Model.

[Party Elephant]

The after credits scene was a nice touch.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Which actually reminds me, why weren't the people at the train area under lockdown? Clearly they knew there was a crazy outbreak going on. Is it a cover up type thing, where they didn't want to alarm the guests, given the history of the park?

[getbak]

Interview with Nolan and Joy: http://www.ew.com/article/2016/12/05...nale-interview

[Finger Cookin]

Were the lights going out just after Maeve left the train the start of a lockdown of the train area?

I have a question of my own. Does anyone have a sense of what the urgency was behind William's quest for the center of the maze that Ford alluded to? When they were together in the bar with Teddy, Ford said something along the lines that William's obsession with the maze betrayed an urgency. But I don't get what that might be. I thought it might be something to do with him dying, but I never got that sense as the rest of the season unfolded.

Also, I'm assuming the "conscious" hosts, the handful that Ford told Bernard often went insane, are the ones who have recurring appearances in the show. We know Dolores, Bernard, Teddy, and Maeve are. I'm not sure that Hector and Armistice are, since Maeve modified them to be more aggressive and less sensitive to pain - but perhaps her earlier modifications awakened them. I'm assuming the other "woke" hosts are Clementine (shot William in the arm near the episode end) and the handlebar mustache guy who doubles on The Walking Dead. Am I missing any other recurring hosts?

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

One of the all time great seasons of TV. Could just end it there and it'd be a masterpiece.

Spoiler!

[Locke]

Yeah, I dont get the criticism of the Intro music, I think its awesome!

[Finger Cookin]

Djawadi is so damn good.

[Wastedyouth]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

One of the all time great seasons of TV. Could just end it there and it'd be a masterpiece.

Spoiler!

For some reason this autostarts and because it is behind a spoiler tag I literally thought I was losing my mind.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

Were the lights going out just after Maeve left the train the start of a lockdown of the train area?

It was either the daily shut down of the park, or the lockdown. I would guess the former since there weren't alarms going off.

I have a question of my own. Does anyone have a sense of what the urgency was behind William's quest for the center of the maze that Ford alluded to? When they were together in the bar with Teddy, Ford said something along the lines that William's obsession with the maze betrayed an urgency. But I don't get what that might be. I thought it might be something to do with him dying, but I never got that sense as the rest of the season unfolded.

William talks about being the villain and that being his little contribution to Ford's world. Ford says that he couldn't even conceive a character like the MiB, but that the character doesn't fit the urgency. It betrays a certain anxiety, which I took to mean William's apprehensions over the nature of the park - in contrast with his pessimistic views of the "real world" - and his search for a real, visceral experience in the park.

William doesn't know what is at the centre of the maze, but he suspects it is something larger than the nothing and meaningless experience he has had over the last 30 years in Westworld.

He seeks something different, something meaningful, something real in a fake world. This doesn't fit with his black hat villainous persona, and Ford calls him out on that.

Also, I'm assuming the "conscious" hosts, the handful that Ford told Bernard often went insane, are the ones who have recurring appearances in the show. We know Dolores, Bernard, Teddy, and Maeve are. I'm not sure that Hector and Armistice are, since Maeve modified them to be more aggressive and less sensitive to pain - but perhaps her earlier modifications awakened them. I'm assuming the other "woke" hosts are Clementine (shot William in the arm near the episode end) and the handlebar mustache guy who doubles on The Walking Dead. Am I missing any other recurring hosts?

It's difficult, because we have seen "awake" hosts go insane and be decommissioned (Peter Abernathy), and others re-programmed (Maeve). Although there is a slight difference between Abernathy and Maeve, as one truly went insane and the other was unable to cope with faux grief.

I would think that a good portion of the hosts Bernard was talking about were in that leaky storage floor. Speaking of which, there has to be something important about all the water/moisture in those areas and the talk of flooding.

And handlebars mustache guy is named Rebus, and I hope we see more of him in Season 2 as Steven Ogg is proving he can really nail roles beyond Trevor on GTA V and bit parts.

[Locke]

I like when Steven Ogg is on because I watch Walking Dead and then Westworld and hes on both.

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by Locke

I'm actually leaning the other way.

Look at William/MIB, a park where you can go and theres basically no rules? It seems like it caters directly to the super-wealthy sociopaths which, in this instance, appears to be a fairly healthy Business Model.

I would assume MIB is an outlier in his quest to make the game real.

The majority of the people coming to this place appeared to be bachelor parties and wealthy couples. All of whom are paying a ton of money to play the game. They are their, as the board so often puts it, to %$%^ and shoot whatever they want.

They don't want to die there.

The park seems to do enough to keep the guests riding as close to fear as possible but with the main kicker being that, you won't be killed by a host. A massacre of hosts and guests certainly won't sell tickets to the park.