HBO's "Westworld", starring Anthony Hopkins/produced by J.J. Abrams

[Locutus of Bored]

Obviously yes. But WestWorld isn't a faithful recreation of the Wild West, but something out of Hollywood cliché and stereotypes. I mean, real cowboys didn't even wear cowboy hats. What is the last western movie where you saw a median income black family?

I enjoy Cracked's articles as much as the next person, but they're hardly scholarly research. While bowler hats were more popular for average settlers around town in the Old West, working cowboys did primarily wear various styles of wide-brimmed (mostly for shade but also for rain and snow protection), high-crowned (for insulation) hats, including the classic Stetson "Boss of the Plains" and other varieties of Stetson brand waterproof hats.

http://www.truewestmagazine.com/the-100-best-historical-photos-of-the-american-cowboy/
http://mentalfloss.com/article/30841/26-vintage-photos-cowboys-cowgirls
http://www.old-picture.com/cowboys-index-001.htm

Spoiler: Second Episode: Ford's Companion

I got the impression that the little boy was a host Ford created to represent himself as a little boy. There's a little British kid loitering around the one spot in the middle of nowhere where Anthony Hopkins' surface elevator pops up, and near where his secret mystery project is located? And he just hangs around there in the middle of the barren desert with no food or water or horse or parental supervision waiting to have philosophical discussions with Ford? I don't think it was ever meant to imply that he was actually a guest and that Ford can control them because they're secretly all robots, I just think it means Ford created that kid and he sits there waiting until Ford comes to visit anytime he wants to channel his childhood self to contemplate the meaning of existence and the next evolution of the hosts. I bet Ford's parents lived in the American West for a while when he was that age and were neglectful and allowed him to run free in the desert, which was when he first conjured up the idea for the park, and that serves as a touchstone for when he gets new ideas. He came there when Douchy Writer Guy was about to make his presentation which Ford knew he would not be impressed by.

As far as the knives go, since it's established that many if not most guests can't tell a host from a human by physical appearance alone, and the more sadistic guests like to test the difference by getting all stabby, unless the knives are some kind of futuristic metamaterial or nanomaterial that dissolves on contact with a guest like the bullets do, or turns flexible and bends, I don't see how numerous accidental and intentional stabbings wouldn't have happened already by this point. Yet the park runners proudly hold up their foreshadowy thirty years without an incident sign, so something must prevent those kinds of accidents.

 

[Forbin]

For domestic adventures of household androids with aspirations of equality, see the AMC series "Humans".

 

[Kahless the Unforgettable]

Spoiler: Second Episode: Ford's Companion

I got the impression that the little boy was a host Ford created to represent himself as a little boy. There's a little British kid loitering around the one spot in the middle of nowhere where Anthony Hopkins' surface elevator pops up, and near where his secret mystery project is located? And he just hangs around there in the middle of the barren desert with no food or water or horse or parental supervision waiting to have philosophical discussions with Ford? I don't think it was ever meant to imply that he was actually a guest and that Ford can control them because they're secretly all robots, I just think it means Ford created that kid and he sits there waiting until Ford comes to visit anytime he wants to channel his childhood self to contemplate the meaning of existence and the next evolution of the hosts. I bet Ford's parents lived in the American West for a while when he was that age and were neglectful and allowed him to run free in the desert, which was when he first conjured up the idea for the park, and that serves as a touchstone for when he gets new ideas. He came there when Douchy Writer Guy was about to make his presentation which Ford knew he would not be impressed by.

Spoiler

Just a little confused by that. So a young Ford himself could have been out wandering in the desert alone without parental supervision, but a guest couldn't?

I'm not debating your overall take, that just seemed kind of odd to me.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Spoiler

Just a little confused by that. So a young Ford himself could have been out wandering in the desert alone without parental supervision, but a guest couldn't?

I'm not debating your overall take, that just seemed kind of odd to me.

Spoiler

There's a difference between a kid wandering near his home in the real world and one wandering unsupervised through Murderland and Rapeworld.

And it wasn't just the lack of parents. It was the lack of food, water, and transportation, being located in the middle of the desert right at Ford's elevator point and near his mystery obelisk, being British like Ford, and being interested in talking to this old man who just suddenly rose out of the ground. It seemed to imply to me that he had been waiting there in standby mode for Ford to show up.

 

[Kahless the Unforgettable]

Spoiler

There's a difference between a kid wandering near his home in the real world and one wandering unsupervised through Murderland and Rapeworld.

Spoiler

Bad parents are bad parents. If it's viable in the real world where the dangers are real, I don't see why it wouldn't be just as viable in what is undoubtedly advertised as a safe, family-oriented attraction (and remember, the first episode made it clear that they do have family areas and adult areas). We don't really know how isolated that area was, how far it was from 'civilization,' or anything else. Hell, his family could have been picnicking or engaging in some storyline not too far away, and he just wandered off due to boredom.

Heck, we don't even know if it's a "real" desert. It might be surprisingly comfortable with fresh, running water and whatnot all over the place. Is it even really the outdoors or just a Hunger Game's style arena (which their interface back at HQ highly suggests, as does the fact that the guests arrive there by subway rather than, say, by air).

 

[Vendikarr]

A thought. The Brit content director (I guess that's his job) indicated to the park manager he felt more was going on, but not sure what. In the Westworld sequal Futureworld, Delos, the parent corporation, was replacing humans with duplicates, in an effort to control the world, under the assumption that control is what is good for the company. ]

Could this be the long term plan of the company in the series, and if so, will the apparent awakening of sentience of the hosts mess that up?

 

[Locutus of Bored]

A thought. The Brit content director (I guess that's his job) indicated to the park manager he felt more was going on, but not sure what. In the Westworld sequal Futureworld, Delos, the parent corporation, was replacing humans with duplicates, in an effort to control the world, under the assumption that control is what is good for the company. ]

Could this be the long term plan of the company in the series, and if so, will the apparent awakening of sentience of the hosts mess that up?

I wasn't aware of the Futureworld plot, but that was one of my preferred theories for what the greater purpose the company had for the hosts as well, to develop them to the point of being able to pass for or replace world leaders.

 

[JWPlatt]

I speed-watched FutureWorld about two weeks ago in about 15 minutes to prep for the series. I only watched short clips at normal speed on my way through because I just wanted to remind myself of just how awful it was - in the writing, the production, and the acting. Spending anything more than 10 or 15 minutes on it is a senseless waste of human life. I think it crept into my previous posts about the worst possible nightmare "bigger picture" there could be to completely ruin the series. I hope that's not what we get because it's abysmally predictable; the kind of story a completely talentless and unimaginative hack would write. Ugh.

 

[RJDiogenes]

The replacement of world leaders or other important people with doppelgangers has become a cliche, but they could easily come up with a new twist. For example, it's always been considered a bad thing that must be stopped. In this one, considering the state of the world, it could be considered a good thing and the Hosts could be portrayed as heroes and saviors.

 

[Vendikarr]

In modern day America, you wouldn't want to replace the politicians. You want to replace those who influence the process with their money. Those people are also the most likely to visit a place like Westworld because of its cost.

 

[Kane2026]

I thoroughly enjoyed both episodes. Westworld is pretty much the show I have been looking for after Lost had ended. Reading the comments above I am not certain what I want from the plot. The theory that Dr. Ford is one of few original humans left is intriguing but I think I would find it difficult to relate to the hosts. Also the suggestion that Westworld could be partly a proofing ground for the military feels very Crichton-esque but I think we have already been there with Jurassic Park/World.

At this moment I am sitting back and allowing myself to be amazed.

 

[Skipper]

In modern day America, you wouldn't want to replace the politicians. You want to replace those who influence the process with their money. Those people are also the most likely to visit a place like Westworld because of its cost.

Yep.

And how long would it take before anyone noticed that all the politicians that visited the park began to have a strange convergence of views..?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Loving the show so far.

It's a good question whether these robots only exist in this theme park or if there are servants and sex robots at every retail outlet.

I'm not sure if I could get into Westworld in real life. I guess it depends how hard the adventures are, whether some of those side stories have some nice puzzle solving and challenge. When I'm playing video games I need them to be challenging, and the fact that the game is unloseable would lose my interest, like playing with cheat codes. If it worked more like holodecks and you could 'die' but not really get hurt, I could get into that. But I wouldn't want to win the gun battle unless I really won it. I would want 'dying' to remove me from the battlefield and reset the scenario for me.

I wonder if they have something like that. I suppose you could tell the hosts that "If I get shot with a blank, end the scenario and stop interacting with me until I go back to town".

 

[Skipper]

I'm not sure if I could get into Westworld in real life. I guess it depends how hard the adventures are, whether some of those side stories have some nice puzzle solving and challenge. When I'm playing video games I need them to be challenging, and the fact that the game is unloseable would lose my interest, like playing with cheat codes.

Something that many people forget when they are doing the comparison with video games. You'll have to physically move when you're inside WestWorld. Trying to solve a puzzle after riding for a day under the sun and climbed a mountain is different from when you do it from the comfort of an armchair with the possibility of pressing the "pause" button...

 

[DigificWriter]

Am I the only one who doesn't see all that much mystery when it comes to this show and the behavior of some of the characters (specifically Ford, Bernard, and the Man in Black)?

Everybody seems to want to question what those characters are doing, but in my mind that's unnecessary because what they're doing is pretty straightforward. Why they're doing what they're doing is where the mystery lies.

I was watching the Afterbuzz TV discussion on the episode last night and one of the hosts brought up Bernard and Teresa's interactions from the first episode and pointed out that the knowledge that they're sleeping together casts those interactions in a brand-new light.

Having seen the scene where Ford goes up into the park and interacts with the British kid who acts like a guest but turns out to be a host, I got the distinct feeling that this was something that Ford had done before, as it reminded me of the scene in the first episode where we're introduced to Ford as he's interacting with the "Old Bill" host (an encounter that I think Ford himself initiated by going down there, pulling Old Bill out of his bag, and starting him up).

I've seen some speculating online that the gun Dolores found can kill guests and is precipitation to her leading an armed rebellion at some point, but I dont think that's the direction they're going to go in. I think giving Dolores that gun is the first step towards helping her "choose her own adventure", as it were, and I think it has something to do with the "In the weeks ahead" video preview of her wearing gunslinger's clothes.

I'm definitely hooked on the show, and can't wait til next week.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Something that many people forget when they are doing the comparison with video games. You'll have to physically move when you're inside WestWorld. Trying to solve a puzzle after riding for a day under the sun and climbed a mountain is different from when you do it from the comfort of an armchair with the possibility of pressing the "pause" button...

I'm in the minority that would love that though. Like an all day physically challenging puzzle solving adventure, Indiana Jones themed.

I thought it was pretty clear upfront the kid was a host. We know Hopkins loves interacting with his creations and has affection for them.

 

[Forbin]

I'm officially disturbed that getting shot by a host's gun just makes a little peef on your clothes. What the hell are they shooting that does that, yet still blows holes in androids? Needs explaining.

Also, Ed Harris got shot a few times! They should go by paintball rules and make you sit out for an hour when you get shot. No fair playing in god mode!

BTW, the gun Ed Harris has is a Civil War era LeMatt revolver. It fired 9 shots from the cylinder, and had a 20 gauge shotgun barrel under the main barrel, with the chamber in the center of the cylinder. That's what Ed was doing when he flipped a switch n the hammer - switching to the shotgun. The only inaccuracy was that it was a cap-and-ball revolver, not a cartridge gun.

 

[Skipper]

I'm in the minority that would love that though. Like an all day physically challenging puzzle solving adventure, Indiana Jones themed.

Me too. My problem was with the murdering and raping. People, even in other boards, keep saying "Well, it's like GTA V". But I'm not sure shooting a pile of pixels and shooting with a gun at something that is incredibly similar to a human being, while he/she is begging for mercy and then dies in agony and then raping his/her body are the same thing.

 

[DigificWriter]

I'm officially disturbed that getting shot by a host's gun just makes a little peef on your clothes. What the hell are they shooting that does that, yet still blows holes in androids? Needs explaining.

It already has been.

How Do the Guns Work?
In Westworld, the park guests can kill the hosts with their guns, but the gunfire from the hosts seem to have very little impact on the guests. This makes sense as you wouldn’t want to have your theme park attractions killing the visitors like in Michael Crichton’s other creation Jurassic Park. But how do the guns work in the reality of the world within the series?

Jonathan Nolan has explained that “It’s not the guns, it’s the bullets.”

We thought a lot about this. In the original film, the guns won’t operate guest on guest, but we felt like the guests would want to have a more visceral experience here. So when they’re shot it has sort of the impact. They’re called simunitions. The U.S. military trains with rounds like the ones we’re talking about. But there’s a bit of an impact, a bit of a sting. So it’s not entirely consequence-free for the guests.

So this explains why we do see a BB-gun type impact on the guests.

http://www.slashfilm.com/westworld-logistical-questions-answered/

 

[Vendikarr]

Those weapons can still cause serious injury. If a shot hits the eye i am certain you've got big problems. The hosts targeting systems probably automatically avoid those shots, but guest-on-guest may be lethal.

You probably don't wantto put one in close proximity to your temple and fire. Hell guns loaded with blanks have caused injury or death in that situation. See Jon-Erik Hexum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon-Erik_Hexum