US: Westworld

Richdog · 24 Mar 2020 at 12:42

Sp, Ep 2 was ok but felt like it took one step forwards and two steps backwards in terms of story progression...

Going back to Westworld was a mixed experience. While it was awesome that we got to see a few more hints of possible things to come (Medievalworld, DRAGONS YO!) I think it was a bit long and drawn out (especially the Nazi scenes repeating) and unnecessarily confusing with the whole "simulation and test", and this new guy who appears to be some kind of saviour of humanity looking to pit M against D. The Bernard and security guy bits were for me also a bit weird and awkwardly done, even considering how awkward his character is meant to be. It would also have been good to get at least some switches over to Deloris for the sake of continuity, but I can understand why they wanted to focus on setting up Mauve's story instead. Let's see how it develops...

Rickyw88 · 26 Mar 2020 at 17:26

Malevolence said:
Confusing? How the hell was it confusing?

Think it had just been so long since season 2 that I had forgot half the story lines and what they meant, the quality of the actual dialogue meant I kept missing what the hell was said

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 26 Mar 2020 at 18:34

Something which bugged me though in episode 2:

So they set the trap to replace the security chap with a host,but surely after a load of security just get killed,etc and the chap is the only survivor with no scratches, it would be obvious something was amiss with all the missing people,random dead bodies lying around and the noisy firefight. The whole scene was pointless and overblown - surely it would make more sense to replace the guy quietly when he goes home and is alone? Also how can they make a perfect clone of the guy - this is not Westworld so they don't have brain scans,and no memories,so how can the host pretend to be him?

ShortWarning · 27 Mar 2020 at 09:29

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
Something which bugged me though in episode 2:

So they set the trap to replace the security chap with a host,but surely after a load of security just get killed,etc and the chap is the only survivor with no scratches, it would be obvious something was amiss with all the missing people,random dead bodies lying around and the noisy firefight. The whole scene was pointless and overblown - surely it would make more sense to replace the guy quietly when he goes home and is alone? Also how can they make a perfect clone of the guy - this is not Westworld so they don't have brain scans,and no memories,so how can the host pretend to be him?

I thought he was always one of them. Like Bernard.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 27 Mar 2020 at 10:16

ShortWarning said:
I thought he was always one of them. Like Bernard.

the ai company owner who Delores was pretend dating - the Scottish head of security

ShortWarning · 27 Mar 2020 at 11:49

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
the ai company owner who Delores was pretend dating - the Scottish head of security

Sorry, my bad. I though you were talking about the guy helping Bernard.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 27 Mar 2020 at 18:37

ShortWarning said:
Sorry, my bad. I though you were talking about the guy helping Bernard.

I should have been more specific it wasn't Stubbs,but I thought the scene with head of security was a bit OTT

Glanza · 27 Mar 2020 at 22:53

Jono8 · 28 Mar 2020 at 20:36

ElliorR said:
Is it just me or is the music drowning out the dialogue for anyone else?

Omg yes! My partner and I both struggled to hear some of the dialogue. Overall the volume is very low and the sound mixing is pants.

How does something this high profile/high budget leave the studio with such terrible mixing?

PlacidCasual · 30 Mar 2020 at 22:17

Am I alone in liking none of the characters in this show? There is no protagonist only antagonists. If Caleb doesn’t become the hero of this piece it could be a joyless watching experience. Such a contrast to season 1. And not in a good way.

darkgen · 31 Mar 2020 at 05:02

I'm struggling to get in to it. It looks great but something feels off. The quality of the dialogue / writing has taken a turn a hokey turn. As others have said; there are various moments per episode where I can hardly make out what is being said. Unsure if that's purposeful or not

Malevolence · 31 Mar 2020 at 06:18

No problems with hearing any of the dialogue at all here.

Richdog · 31 Mar 2020 at 07:34

I haven't noticed music drowning out the dialogue but maybe it depends what volume you are watching at.

Episode 3 was better but still confusing:

The city feels like it is empty, almost depopulated with no other air traffic and hardly any cars to be seen (except when she was driving over the bridge).
I don't quite get why the corporate clone is now self-harming and having an identity crisis so need to go read up on that.
Is the super-clandestine ultra-rich guy genuine, or is he the machine AI that controls everything?

Think I need go watch the episode explanation videos to iron out some kinks in my understanding or to identify things that I have missed.

VincentHanna · 31 Mar 2020 at 07:59

Richdog said:
Episode 3 was better but still confusing:

The city feels like it is empty, almost depopulated with no other air traffic and hardly any cars to be seen (except when she was driving over the bridge).

I don't quite get why the corporate clone is now self-harming and having an identity crisis so need to go read up on that.

Is the super-clandestine ultra-rich guy genuine, or is he the machine AI that controls everything?

We don't know which robot/host is pretending to be Charlotte Hale.

At first I assumed Clementine but imagine if it's supposed to be Teddy, how messed up that would be? it must be pretty jarring for them inhabiting the body of not only a real person with real relationships, but also a completely different Gender.

Whomever it was actually cried when they watched the real Charlotte's pre-death message to her son, and realised she did love him and wasn't just a heartless bitch

Richdog · 31 Mar 2020 at 08:09

VincentHanna said:
We don't know which robot/host is pretending to be Charlotte Hale.

At first I assumed Clementine but imagine if it's supposed to be Teddy, how messed up that would be? it must be pretty jarring for them inhabiting the body of not only a real person with real relationships, but also a completely different Gender.

Whomever it was actually cried when they watched the real Charlotte's pre-death message to her son, and realised she did love him and wasn't just a heartless bitch

Hmm, interesting. Well...

If it was Teddy then it would explain his and Doloris's connection. However, teddy was as dumb as a rock and had almost no emotional subtlety. It really doesn't fit with what we know of his character that he would be in Hale. Clementine however does fit much better... she was really messed up in the head and to me at least it's clearly portrayed that the host character in Hale is female.

Thinking about it, it would have been suitable if Deloris had made Teddy her bodyguard. He lived for her, was devoted to her, so having him there as a Terminator, neutralizing all threats to her safety and obeying her every order without question, would have been fitting. However, I guess that wouldn't have left much room for a more sympathetic character like Aaron.

PlacidCasual · 31 Mar 2020 at 12:00

Most of the characters in this show lack agency it was the real failing of season 2 that is coming home to roost. Bernard had agency a force of compassion but Ford was revealed as his creator. Well being subordinate to God isn’t terrible and Bernard was seemingly free as Ford was hands off but in Season 2 it flips to Dolores created or directed him. Nice twist but robs Bernard of all agency he exists to move plot elements forward. Apart from Maeve all the other hosts are subservient to Dolores not one really has their own character a Teddy is lobotomised rather than allow his development away from her goals. Billy/Man in Black are interesting but even he is castrated as a returning halfman synthetic at the end of season 2. Maeve genuinely has her own arc but all the humans either die or were synthetic all along. So we have 3 characters Dolores unlikable murdering machine all of the season 1 charm dead. Maeve who verged on the over powerful in season 2 but they might have dialled that back but whilst you can empathise with her she lacks any joy. And finally Seroc who is no doubt the super computer. Everyone else is a cog at one of the other 3s almost direct control lacking any direction or motivation of there own. This series has been pared down to far by season 2. If they don’t get Caleb right this is going to fall so flat. I fear he will become another Dolores automaton just without the robot-y bits.

I’m desperate to like this show but they’re making it hard.

StriderX · 31 Mar 2020 at 13:35

Well they aren't in the park anymore, so focusing on each of the synths isn't vitally important, regardless it's only 3 episodes in and it's obvious enough that some complexity is being hinted at.

It wouldn't really make much sense if all the synths went off and did their own thing immediately, leaving a very vulnerable character alone. She'd have to be a Mary Sue if that were the case, and no one could possibly want that.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 31 Mar 2020 at 23:04

I think FakeHale is:

Peter Abernathy

Minusorange · 2 Apr 2020 at 12:21

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
I think FakeHale is:

Peter Abernathy

What if it's the host version of William ? Like James Delos was a host, they made a host version of William and now Delores has control of him Episode 3 has Hale questioning "Who am I?" and then at the end where she goes psycho predator saying she remembers who she is, follow with Teaser for Ep 4 William "I know who I am"

Glanza · 5 Apr 2020 at 10:13