Westworld (HBO/Sky Atlantic) [** Spoilers **]

Falthyron

ManOfMystery wrote: »

Yeah I forgot that line - "I didn't pay all this money because I wanted it to be easy".

But then again .......... this is interesting

http://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Westworld-Theory-About-Man-Black-42498697

An interesting theory that could very well be the case. There is an interesting parallel between Ed Harris' The Man in Black and the Man in Black in LOST. Both are described as men in black and both are looking to escape. Given J.J. Abrams involvement, I wonder if Ed Harris' Man in Black was created to introduce the imperfections into the world - a necessary chaos to make it believable as a world too perfect doesn't feel right and the guests might be dissatisfied with the service. However, Harris has gone too far and with the memories of 'past lives' he has uncovered the truth.

Following on from that, I wonder if Harris was a guest and is now a permanent guest in the world. Perhaps as an early experiment or he chose to insert himself within the Matrix permanently but now he wants out after being there for so long. This would create an interesting debate on human pursuits and the problems with living in a perfect world; mankind inherently thrives on randomness and chaos?

Either way, this is an excellent start to the show and I can't wait to see where it takes us next.

ManOfMystery

claiva wrote: »

Why has no one mentioned the black family that Dolores bumped into whilst she was out painting ?
They seemed different from the usual "Guests".......
It was almost as if they were there illegally ?
Skulking around in the background off the beaten track.....
Who are they and what are they doing there ?

Wondered about that myself but couldn't come to any worthwhile conclusion. The Father was carrying a picnic hamper, so I think they were just there to engineer a scene where Dolores could be seen to be painting the horses at a tranquil location - again emphasising how she sees the beauty in her world. Even when the child tells her she's not real, she seems to gloss over it and not really understand what he's saying.

Falthyron wrote: »

An interesting theory that could very well be the case. There is an interesting parallel between Ed Harris' The Man in Black and the Man in Black in LOST. Both are described as men in black and both are looking to escape. Given J.J. Abrams involvement, I wonder if Ed Harris' Man in Black was created to introduce the imperfections into the world - a necessary chaos to make it believable as a world too perfect doesn't feel right and the guests might be dissatisfied with the service. However, Harris has gone too far and with the memories of 'past lives' he has uncovered the truth.

Following on from that, I wonder if Harris was a guest and is now a permanent guest in the world. Perhaps as an early experiment or he chose to insert himself within the Matrix permanently but now he wants out after being there for so long. This would create an interesting debate on human pursuits and the problems with living in a perfect world; mankind inherently thrives on randomness and chaos?

Either way, this is an excellent start to the show and I can't wait to see where it takes us next.

Interesting thoughts.

Not to mention the obvious nods to Stephen King's numerous references to a Man in Black in many of his works - someone usually evil, powerful and relentless.

Birneybau

claiva wrote: »

Why has no one mentioned the black family that Dolores bumped into whilst she was out painting ?
They seemed different from the usual "Guests".......
It was almost as if they were there illegally ?
Skulking around in the background off the beaten track.....
Who are they and what are they doing there ?

I picked up absolutely none of that.

claiva

Birneybau wrote: »

I picked up absolutely none of that.

My feeling is that Jeffrey Wright's character is somehow "related" to that family.....perhaps Jeffrey Wright is a robot too ?
They were definitely a bit sus anyway.....

jcsoulinger

claiva wrote: »

Why has no one mentioned the black family that Dolores bumped into whilst she was out painting ?
They seemed different from the usual "Guests".......
It was almost as if they were there illegally ?
Skulking around in the background off the beaten track.....
Who are they and what are they doing there ?

They mentioned that they had wandered away from the family friendly section of the park, don't think there was anything to them beyond letting us know that the park is bigger than what we see.

johnpatrick81

^ Yup, they just said something like "we shouldn't go across the river as it's not child friendly".

Birneybau

claiva wrote: »

My feeling is that Jeffrey Wright's character is somehow "related" to that family.....perhaps Jeffrey Wright is a robot too ?
They were definitely a bit sus anyway.....

Just because they were all black?

claiva

Birneybau wrote: »

Just because they were all black?

No.
I'm thinking that maybe all of the Replicants or whatever they are called are all deceased family or friends of the creators.
Maybe Dolores is a replication of Ford's daughter for instance ?

ManOfMystery

claiva wrote: »

No.
I'm thinking that maybe all of the Replicants or whatever they are called are all deceased family or friends of the creators.
Maybe Dolores is a replication of Ford's daughter for instance ?

What made you think this? He didn't seem to have any huge attachment to her or otherwise - I would have thought if they were robotic clones of his family/friends there would have been some indication of such.

AnneFrank

maybe it was Bill Cosby?

Riskymove

claiva wrote: »

No.
I'm thinking that maybe all of the Replicants or whatever they are called are all deceased family or friends of the creators.
Maybe Dolores is a replication of Ford's daughter for instance ?

why would they make copies of loved ones and allow them to be beaten, raped and killed on a daily basis?

Effects

claiva wrote: »

Why has no one mentioned the black family that Dolores bumped into whilst she was out painting ?
They seemed different from the usual "Guests".......
It was almost as if they were there illegally ?
Skulking around in the background off the beaten track.....
Who are they and what are they doing there ?

They were their with their kid, they hardly wanted to bring him to the Saloon!

claiva

Riskymove wrote: »

why would they make copies of loved ones and allow them to be beaten, raped and killed on a daily basis?

this is true......
maybe i'm reading too much into it...........
there are bound to be some Lost esque type twists and turns though....

ManOfMystery

A twist and turn for me would be if Ford is the only human in the whole resort.

Enigma IE

claiva wrote: »

this is true......
maybe i'm reading too much into it...........
there are bound to be some Lost esque type twists and turns though....

Do you NOT remember being totally let down and aggrieved at the end of Lost?

claiva

Enigma IE wrote: »

Do you NOT remember being totally let down and aggrieved at the end of Lost?

Yes I remember it well.
It wasn't as bad as the end of Dexter though !!!

:eek::eek::eek:

Enigma IE

claiva wrote: »

Yes I remember it well.
It wasn't as bad as the end of Dexter though !!!

:eek::eek::eek:

Jumping the shark...

Westworld does look interesting, I've seen the trailers only.

Mc Love

Maybe Harris is one of the older robots that Ford has updated and maybe older robots cant be killed the way new ones can. But I'd still think Harris is a guest.

Agent Coulson

I wonder will the move into the other worlds as the season/s progress.

really liked the first episode with the different levels of things and the interactions between them going on.
-the hosts
-the park staff
-the guests

I wonder how each episode will play out - surely they won't be all like the first episode with the same story (mostly) playing out over and over

Snake Plisken

Enigma IE wrote: »

Do you NOT remember being totally let down and aggrieved at the end of Lost?

Lost had the perfect ending what is wrong with you?

cowboyBuilder

Very interesting ... only heard about this today and just watched the 1st episode - excellent has a lot of potential, I like the way Johnny Nolan is directing too

cowboyBuilder

glasso wrote: »

really liked the first episode with the different levels of things and the interactions between them going on.
-the hosts
-the park staff
-the guests

I wonder how each episode will play out - surely they won't be all like the first episode with the same story (mostly) playing out over and over

Doubt it, fact that she swatted the fly at the end shows she is even learning now ..

cowboyBuilder

Snake Plisken wrote: »

Lost had the perfect ending what is wrong with you?

Snake Plisken

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

Deadly Serious lol! Loved that show and thought the ending was great!

Unearthly

Thought this was a great pilot episode. Loved the scenery shots.

Ed Harris such a good villain actor

MeatTwoVeg

Good first episode. Intriguing but with the potential to go full retard.
A tightrope will need to be thread.
Good luck Westworld writers.
I await episode 2 with interest.

JP Liz V1

The other Hemsworth brother in this reminds me Mark Valley from Human Target

Arghus

Very impressive first episode. I was a bit concerned that it could be all spectacle, with just window dressing pretending to be brains - at times it threatened to be that: the massive shoot-outs and the copious shots of eye-popping visuals, that clearly cost an absolute fortune to produce. Some of the themes of the show seemed buried under all that razzle dazzle, but I thought the final ten minutes were fairly stunning . They seemed bursting with ideas and offered a tantalizing glimpse of where the show could potentially go - the juxtaposition of the genuine emotional distress and confusion of the hosts with the cold sterile rationality of the humans was very affecting and underlined how Westworld is as much a cerebral show as it is visceral.

Honestly, I think the sky is the limit with this show - please make all that talent, money and some of the most fascinating questions in all of fiction to work with count. I just hope it isn't too front-loaded and that we didn't just sit though a pilot full of seductive questions that serve to draw us in and then are eventually left hanging there down the line, unanswered. I'm reading here that HBO want to make five seasons of this. To me that seems like a lot. I think you'd be better off making two solid and satisfying seasons, without running the danger of stretching the material too thin.

There were a few bum-notes: Some of the exposition dumping was tiresome and I'm totally sure about the casting: I thought the actress playing the female suit with the European accent was terrible, it sounded like she had marbles in her mouth throughout. And that English tech character was like someone who should be in another show entirely - felt like he was there to dispense some the regulation HBO quota of F-bombs per show episode. The scene involving the two of them having a chat was bloody painful.

Those are fairly small gripes overall. I would say that, aside from the two glaring exceptions I've mentioned, everyone else did a fine job. Anthony Hopkins did a lot with a little. Evan Rachel Wood was painfully empathetic and the sudden shift to her natural state, sans accent, at the episodes end was fascinating - but also slightly terrifying. I thought the actor who played her "father" was brilliant in his intensity and stop-start motions and rhythms when having his big face to face with his maker.

Impressive. Most Impressive.

meepins

All the signs look good for this one. Lots of beautiful and haunting imagery. I don't expect another episode like it but there was a bit of an overload of gruesome violence, though once or twice the camera kindly cut away from some of the close up killings.