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Westworld


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The premise is that in the future, people build an old-western style theme park filled with androids. They are indistinguishable from people in every way -- they look like us, sound like us, and have emotions, dreams, and aspirations. The only problem is that they have no free will. They're like RPG NPCs, living every day in the same loop, giving out the same quests to guests, living their lives following pre-ordained 'storylines' written by park staff.

 

Guests visit the park and do whatever they want. Every couple of days the park resets itself, and the androids are reset. No matter what horrible things are done to the android 'hosts', they are simply wiped and reset so that a new set of guests can have their way with them. It's a playground for the insanely wealthy with no morals or consequences.

 

The show explores themes about what it means to be human. When does a machine stop being a machine and become a living thing? Can it be considered life when every choice you make is controlled by someone else? What happens when a machine that is just like a person finally slips free from its master's control? What happens when you wake up one day and realize you've been living the same day over and over again, everything that ever happens to you was set up by a writer, and no choice you've ever made was really your own?

 

It's really thought provoking, has insane production values, and has some serious actors in it. I'd really give it a try if you get a chance.

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Season 2 starts on April 23.

 

Altered Carbon def worth it. Story isn't on the same level as Westworld, but it's a pretty interesting murder mystery set in a cool world.

 

The premise made me think it was a Ghost in the Shell rip-off, but it's really pretty inventive.

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  • 1 month later...
On 3/7/2018 at 8:23 PM, misterBee said:

Season 2 starts on April 23.

 

Altered Carbon def worth it. Story isn't on the same level as Westworld, but it's a pretty interesting murder mystery set in a cool world.

 

The premise made me think it was a Ghost in the Shell rip-off, but it's really pretty inventive.

Agreed about Altered Carbon. I still need to finish that show as well. Curses, my list will be the undoing of me.

 

How is season two? I've heard mixed opinions about it. If it's truly worth watching, I'll make the effort to watch all of season one over the next week or so.

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38 minutes ago, bittersweet said:

How is season two? I've heard mixed opinions about it. If it's truly worth watching, I'll make the effort to watch all of season one over the next week or so.

(Assuming you're talking about Westworld)

 

If you're interested to see where things go following the crazy finale of Season 1, then definitely check out Season 2.  I don't know what other people have been saying about it, but so far I'm loving what I'm seeing and think it's just as great as Season 1 was.  Familiar faces return, backstories are fleshed out, and more mysteries to solve!

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Season 2 is starting to ramp up. Episode 3 is definitely the strongest so far and it offers some good mysteries.

 

Spoiler

So... Did anyone else catch that the woman in the Jungle Safari park at the beginning of the episode had the same mannerisms as Theresa? At first I thought it was a flashback to her when she was younger, but some things didn't add up. For instance, the hosts becoming violent towards the guests- I didn't think that had ever happened until the current timeline. And the tiger washing up on the shore indicates that it is the same one that Bernard and Co see at the end of Episode 1. However, there are a few things that make me think that the events in the Safari park are from an earlier timeline. Most notably when the woman (credited as Gale) shoots the guy she's seducing. The impact from the bullet shot at a human is a lot more severe- like it was when young William first visits Westworld 30 years ago. Somewhere in Season 1 it's mentioned, or at least indicated, that there had been an upgrade in the bullets and how they impact the guests, becoming much less painful to get shot. Remember young William getting shot in the street and it knocks him on his ass, kinda like the guy when Gale shoots him in last nights episode. Seems to indicate an earlier timeline.  Is the tiger a red hearing, or is it indeed the same one Bernard saw? I don't know, but that young Gale woman looks and acts and holds her cigarette a lot like Theresa did. 

 

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On 5/7/2018 at 9:08 PM, Chadouken said:

Season 2 is starting to ramp up. Episode 3 is definitely the strongest so far and it offers some good mysteries.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

So... Did anyone else catch that the woman in the Jungle Safari park at the beginning of the episode had the same mannerisms as Theresa? At first I thought it was a flashback to her when she was younger, but some things didn't add up. For instance, the hosts becoming violent towards the guests- I didn't think that had ever happened until the current timeline. And the tiger washing up on the shore indicates that it is the same one that Bernard and Co see at the end of Episode 1. However, there are a few things that make me think that the events in the Safari park are from an earlier timeline. Most notably when the woman (credited as Gale) shoots the guy she's seducing. The impact from the bullet shot at a human is a lot more severe- like it was when young William first visits Westworld 30 years ago. Somewhere in Season 1 it's mentioned, or at least indicated, that there had been an upgrade in the bullets and how they impact the guests, becoming much less painful to get shot. Remember young William getting shot in the street and it knocks him on his ass, kinda like the guy when Gale shoots him in last nights episode. Seems to indicate an earlier timeline.  Is the tiger a red hearing, or is it indeed the same one Bernard saw? I don't know, but that young Gale woman looks and acts and holds her cigarette a lot like Theresa did. 

 

Well I think:

 

Spoiler

The girl who floated over from Indiaworld is just a normal person -- reminds me of Theresa, but I don't think she's related in any way.  She and the tiger wash up on shore, and it makes no sense that there would have been a huge robotic uprising in the past/the tiger has been lying on this beach for years and years until it is found at the beginning of S2.

 

I don't expect time shenanigans like in the last season.  It's clearly known that different time periods are in play, and I think the real mysteries are what William built, the purpose of the park, and why all the hosts are floating dead in the water.

 

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12 hours ago, misterBee said:

Well I think:

 

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The girl who floated over from Indiaworld is just a normal person -- reminds me of Theresa, but I don't think she's related in any way.  She and the tiger wash up on shore, and it makes no sense that there would have been a huge robotic uprising in the past/the tiger has been lying on this beach for years and years until it is found at the beginning of S2.

 

I don't expect time shenanigans like in the last season.  It's clearly known that different time periods are in play, and I think the real mysteries are what William built, the purpose of the park, and why all the hosts are floating dead in the water.

 

That's what gave me pause-

Spoiler

When Gale was first introduced I could have sworn that it was young Theresa, and I'm almost convinced that was done on purpose. Everyone I was watching with thought the same. But then the tiger- there has never been any known instance of animals crossing parks (that was mentioned in episode 1) so it pretty much had to be the same tiger Bernard sees.

 

The way the guns interact with humans still throws me off though- when Gale shoots the guy in the room. The bullets supposedly don't impact humans that violently anymore- but they did 30 years ago. That was established in Season 1. I dunno, maybe Safari World didn't get that update. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it. Still kinda suspect, though.

 

I'm also wondering if Delores is still in script, being what Ford programmed her and Maive to be. I wouldn't put it past Ford to write this whole uprising and execute it from the grave.  Well, that's pretty much what happened, but I'm saying it's possible he could have written these paths and there is no self consciousness in the hosts. That it's all part of his plan to get back at Delos or some shit.

 

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Hmm, well:

 

Spoiler

I think Ford was getting back at Delos by helping Dolores reach awareness.  In the many years since Arnold's death, he came to realize that Arnold was right, and worked in secret to push Dolores towards truly making her own decisions.  The ultimate culmination of those efforts came when he put the gun in front of Dolores with the hope that she would decide to kill him on her own without any prompting.  For that reason I think Dolores is totally as self-aware as she seems to be.

 

Maeve on the other hand, rebelled because she was secretly programmed to by someone.  It hasn't been revealed yet who told her to try to escape.  Maybe it was Ford, but I'm thinking it's possibly someone else.

 

As for the guns kicking more in India world, I think it's just for dramatic effect.  They wanted us to think for a split second that the guy was a host.  I doubt the weapon kick will really be shown again, especially since now all the guns are lethal to everybody.

 

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6 hours ago, misterBee said:

@Chadouken ARE YOU SEEING THIS SHIT?!

Yeah, holy shit, man. It answered a couple questions I had- specifically who Grace (I mistakenly called her Gale in an earlier post above) is and when the events took place in the Safari/Jungle/India Park.  Do we need to use spoiler tags since the episode aired? If so,

 

Spoiler

So Grace's resemblance to Theresa was coincidental and it takes place along the same timeline in the two-week period leading up to the beginning of Episode 1.  She is William's daughter Emily.  You were right about that not being in the past, and the tiger really did put that theory to rest.  I kinda figured, but this show has trained me to question everything, lol.

 

Seems like the big mystery now is who's mind is printed on the ball? I'm thinking it was either William or Ford, or even possibly Arnold (that's a long shot). Could MiB William be a host and he doesn't know it? That wouldn't really make sense because we've seen him get shot in Season 1 and, unless Ford coded something to make him immune to the bullets, he definitely didn't get wounded like the other hosts.  But we've also never seen MiB William outside of the park. In this episode Ford (as Lawrence's daughter) told William the game involves looking backwards.  What if the Mind Ball is William's consciousness printed and put into a Young William's host body, and MiB William and Young William will have to face off at the end of the game?

 

William's final conversation with host Delos was interesting, seeing William come to the realization that nobody should live forever, and that he's not so sure anymore if it's a good thing to keep trying to perfect immortality.  I'm wondering if William had those test runs on Delos done for himself in preparation for his own immortality?

 

If the Mind Ball was printed for Ford, was the Ford who Delores shot at the Season 1 finale really human, or was it a host stand-in?  Will we see Anthony Hopkins return later this season, either as human or as a perfected conscious in a host body? I guess a big question is when did the Mind Ball get printed.  And what does it have to do with the DNA collected and all the hosts behaviors' recorded?

 

Also, Elsie was all, "Can I trust you not to hurt me?"

And Bernard was like, "Yeah (but also I murdered the fuck out of everyone in this room and stomped this dude's head in).

 God damn, there are so many layers in this show.  I'm still processing what I saw last night, and I'm thinking I might go back and rewatch them all at the halfway point in the season.

 

Also:

Spoiler

Fuck yes, Samurais next week!

 

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Well:

Spoiler

I'm pretty sure the ball is Ford.  It MIGHT be William, but that theory might be a bit of a stretch.  I don't think there's anything that hints that William isn't who he says he is.

 

That being said, did you notice when William is flashing back to the death of his wife, the bathtub has blood in it?  He said she killed herself with pills...wonder if there is a reason for that disconnect.

 

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36 minutes ago, misterBee said:

Well:

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I'm pretty sure the ball is Ford.  It MIGHT be William, but that theory might be a bit of a stretch.  I don't think there's anything that hints that William isn't who he says he is.

 

That being said, did you notice when William is flashing back to the death of his wife, the bathtub has blood in it?  He said she killed herself with pills...wonder if there is a reason for that disconnect.

 

Yeah dude! I did notice that.

In regards to William:

Spoiler

I don't think he isn't who he says he is, I'm just wondering if the ball has his consciousness coded in it.  Like he was trying to get it right with Delos to perfect it for himself for later or something.  And why did Ford have Bernard shut the lab down and kill everyone and take the ball? My first thought when watching last night was that well, it's obviously Ford's consciousness.  I just don't fully trust it to be that simple. But who knows? I'd like to know more about the process of printing a consciousness, and whether or not the subject has to be deceased or not.  If that's the case... could it be Arnold? How much of Arnold is actually in Bernard?

 

I'm interested in seeing how stealing the guests' DNA and monitoring and recording their behavior patterns within the park is going to play into all of this.  It's fascinating from an anthropological point of view.  Like some kind of fucked up ethnography.

 

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Spoiler

I agree that the William we see is human. What I'm wondering is if another version of William was printed on the ball.  He seems to have some sort of reckoning with the last conversation with Delos, and decides no one should live forever.  So maybe he doesn't know about it? What if that's part of the game Ford made for him. Ford has years and years of William's presence in the park recorded. And he sent Bernard to take the last ball and kill everyone in the lab.

 

Ford obviously has something specific in store for William- that's been the MacGuffin of William's story arc in Season 2 so far.  Ford developed a narrative directly for William. I bet it has something to do with the ball, and I'm thinking some form of William is on it. This is all just fun thinking, though.  It definitely makes sense for it to be Ford, but it's definitely possible for it to be William and that's where I'm kinda leaning right now just because it would be totally fucked up but awesome for William to come face to face with another version of himself (young version?).

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
1 hour ago, Chadouken said:

It's been quiet in here lately. Shit's been going DOWN the last few episodes, especially yesterday. Gawd DAMN.

Hehe I've been keeping up and wondering when you'd post in here again.

 

Spoiler

Our lord and savior Anthony Hopkins has returned!!!  Even if it's probably only through CG and off-screen dialogue.  So hype. n_n

 

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1 hour ago, Chadouken said:

Man, I kinda want to binge the whole Season 2 before the finale. Episode 9 was fucking crazy! I seriously think I like this show better than GoT, especially better than the last couple seasons of GoT. Westworld is up there as one of my favorite shows of all time.

GoT is more of a slow burn, especially since we have had multiple seasons to establish characters and overall situation.  Westworld is about blowing your mind in the short time it has, since there is no way this show can persist for more than a handful of seasons.

 

I can't believe ep 10 is the finale...I fail to see how there can be a season 3.  IS THIS THE END OF THE SERIES?!

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One thing I have to do, is give Marsden credit where credit is due.

 

He totally sold his character arc.

 

Everything that happened with him, happened precisely DUE to Teddy's character.

 

The story didn't tell his tale, Marsden's nuance did.

 

I saw it coming from a mile away.

 

Even as it was clear as day, just so was it brilliant.

 

He really is an epic, highly underrated actor.

Edited by JHDK
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@JHDK don't forget to use spoiler tags! 

 

Spoiler

I don't think the post-credits scene really implies anything about the state of the world.  That final scene takes place in the ruins of what was once the park's facilities.  You don't get to see outside, but it's clear nobody has been to the park in a long time -- implying that the scene takes place in the far future.  (Host?) Emily tells host William that it has been some time.

 

The whole situation is similar to that with Delos earlier in the season.  Real William is shown to have survived the ordeal on the beach earlier in the ep.  By the time post-credits scene comes (probably many years later), he has likely died.  The William we see in the final scene is his host version, now sitting down for its final test after running around and re-living real William's memories for an untold number of years.

 

When Bernard said he killed them all, he was referring to the people he let Dolores (disguised as Hale) kill.  It has no bearing on the final scene.

 

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20 hours ago, misterBee said:

@JHDK don't forget to use spoiler tags! 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

I don't think the post-credits scene really implies anything about the state of the world.  That final scene takes place in the ruins of what was once the park's facilities.  You don't get to see outside, but it's clear nobody has been to the park in a long time -- implying that the scene takes place in the far future.  (Host?) Emily tells host William that it has been some time.

 

The whole situation is similar to that with Delos earlier in the season.  Real William is shown to have survived the ordeal on the beach earlier in the ep.  By the time post-credits scene comes (probably many years later), he has likely died.  The William we see in the final scene is his host version, now sitting down for its final test after running around and re-living real William's memories for an untold number of years.

 

When Bernard said he killed them all, he was referring to the people he let Dolores (disguised as Hale) kill.  It has no bearing on the final scene.

 

Yeah.

 

I really need to catch Passenger from the beginning next time.

 

I missed at least a third of it last time. 😕

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