Her full name is Emily Grace, and calling her Grace was the kind of misdirect that TV shows do all the time... so "nice try".
HBO's "Westworld", starring Anthony Hopkins/produced by J.J. Abrams
- Thread starter Ensign_Redshirt
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Her full name is Emily Grace, and calling her Grace was the kind of misdirect that TV shows do all the time... so "nice try".
How about a video game that's on the nose -- Red Dead Redemption?
Same type of game play as Grand Theft Auto, but it's a lot easier to be noble and law abiding. Or you can straight up be an outlaw.
Yeah, that's one thing I've noticed as well, and it maybe partly why I feel less engaged with the show. It literally feels like there's less going for it. At the same time, I feel like there's less conversation on the show in general, which then makes it hard to figure out what's going on. Are these even the same writers as the first season? It doesn't even feel like it's on the same level.
That'd be a more apt comparison, especially with the second game coming out later this year. In the first game, you could choose to either follow the law or not, and from what I remember people would see you for your actions and throughout the decisions you make in the game.
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Great point and great game... I'd forgotten about Red Dead. I haven't played RDR in probably 5+ years, plus I have the attention span and memory of a gnat...
Hooray, Elsie has finally returned and there was much rejoicing! What, just me? 
Not quite the return I expected and others theorized regarding the Ghost Nation, but I'm happy to see her reunited with Bernard...even if she is understandably not. I was terrified during the second half of the episode that they would kill her off just when we finally got here back, especially after they discovered Delos' test room prison. Fortunately, that wasn't the case, but she's not inherently safe considering Bernard may not be entirely trustworthy (I wasn't surprised at all by the revelation that he gave the order to kill the scientists).
On a larger note, I'm beginning to get a bit worried that Westworld might be getting too complex and might collapse on its own weight. Seems to me that there are two possible notions going on here now:
1) Ford was so forward-thinking in his new storyline that he knew certain seemingly unpredictable elements would occur and able to react beyond them, such as Bernard surviving his self-inflicted gun shot wound, only later to be dragged off to the cave with Elsie in it by Clementine, supposedly programed by Ford to do so (as postulated by Bernard). This is contrary to proclamation by the producers themselves that Maeve is sentient and is no longer acting out a script. That said, it's always possible the producers are lying, but I really hope that's no the case. The further down the line we go, the harder it is to believe Ford create enough narrative to work around certain elements beyond his control.
2) Ford is actually alive (again), as suggested by the human control unit that Bernard was instructed to recover sometime in the past. This would allow him to have more direct control over those uncontrollable elements, as well as the interactive components with William's journey (although that part is somewhat believable as pre-programmed). However, that would again, give the suggestion that most (if not all) of the Hosts are still just following commands. That might come out okay if it's just Dolores, Maeve, and Angela, and possibly Hector and Armistice, and their self-awareness would have a greater impact. Still, I hate the "man behind the curtain pulling all of the strings" trope that this notion would create.
Not quite the return I expected and others theorized regarding the Ghost Nation, but I'm happy to see her reunited with Bernard...even if she is understandably not. I was terrified during the second half of the episode that they would kill her off just when we finally got here back, especially after they discovered Delos' test room prison. Fortunately, that wasn't the case, but she's not inherently safe considering Bernard may not be entirely trustworthy (I wasn't surprised at all by the revelation that he gave the order to kill the scientists).
On a larger note, I'm beginning to get a bit worried that Westworld might be getting too complex and might collapse on its own weight. Seems to me that there are two possible notions going on here now:
1) Ford was so forward-thinking in his new storyline that he knew certain seemingly unpredictable elements would occur and able to react beyond them, such as Bernard surviving his self-inflicted gun shot wound, only later to be dragged off to the cave with Elsie in it by Clementine, supposedly programed by Ford to do so (as postulated by Bernard). This is contrary to proclamation by the producers themselves that Maeve is sentient and is no longer acting out a script. That said, it's always possible the producers are lying, but I really hope that's no the case. The further down the line we go, the harder it is to believe Ford create enough narrative to work around certain elements beyond his control.
2) Ford is actually alive (again), as suggested by the human control unit that Bernard was instructed to recover sometime in the past. This would allow him to have more direct control over those uncontrollable elements, as well as the interactive components with William's journey (although that part is somewhat believable as pre-programmed). However, that would again, give the suggestion that most (if not all) of the Hosts are still just following commands. That might come out okay if it's just Dolores, Maeve, and Angela, and possibly Hector and Armistice, and their self-awareness would have a greater impact. Still, I hate the "man behind the curtain pulling all of the strings" trope that this notion would create.
The control module might be for Ford, which would be predictable.
It might be for William, which is also predictable - hey, Ford seems to know what the MiB is up to From Beyond The Grave, and the Black Hat dude survived a close-range massacre, led by a woman who knew he'd repeatedly raped her for 30 years, with mere flesh wounds Or Did He?
Both easy to guess, and the second one would be massively annoying.
The Manchurian Candidate thing is conventional and would itself be a let-down from the unexpected and complex things they did the first year. So...what else might it be?
Okay, here's a thing: Ford's having Bernard off technicians willy-nilly to keep his secrets. Yet for some reason Elsie escaped the head-stomping party. She was left chained up...for what reason? Because Ford was certain she'd never be found and thought it would be fun to starve her to death? Probably not that. So one wonders what part she might have in Ford's plans that encouraged him to let her live.
And what'd Ford build that lake for? That's a lot of effort for one scene in a narrative.
It might be for William, which is also predictable - hey, Ford seems to know what the MiB is up to From Beyond The Grave, and the Black Hat dude survived a close-range massacre, led by a woman who knew he'd repeatedly raped her for 30 years, with mere flesh wounds Or Did He?
Both easy to guess, and the second one would be massively annoying.
The Manchurian Candidate thing is conventional and would itself be a let-down from the unexpected and complex things they did the first year. So...what else might it be?
Okay, here's a thing: Ford's having Bernard off technicians willy-nilly to keep his secrets. Yet for some reason Elsie escaped the head-stomping party. She was left chained up...for what reason? Because Ford was certain she'd never be found and thought it would be fun to starve her to death? Probably not that. So one wonders what part she might have in Ford's plans that encouraged him to let her live.
And what'd Ford build that lake for? That's a lot of effort for one scene in a narrative.
AMA going on with Westworld producer - and director of last night's episode - here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/westworld/...estworld_cocreatorexecutive_producerdirector/
https://www.reddit.com/r/westworld/...estworld_cocreatorexecutive_producerdirector/
Yeah, I've been feeling that way too. Season 1 started off so great. Season 2 feels like it's the result an overenthusastic ambition. Too many storylines going on at the same time and I feel like it's losing its focus. I wish they could return to the storytelling style from the first season. They did so much with less.
Can we start speculating that Ford made a digital duplicate of himself, but no physical body, and his consciousness is now in the network that connects all the hosts?
I forgot to mention this in the wake of my enthusiasm for Elsie's triumphant return, but I loved how the opening scene of this episode invoked the opening scene of LOST's "Man of Science, Man of Faith." The illusion was broken much faster but it was a lovely little flashback. 
To clarify, I'm loving most of the season but my issue is rooted with how much control Ford has in the writing of his narrative before dying and how precognitive he appears to be in that writing, as well as the issues of him possibly being alive in a Host body and pulling all of the strings from behind the scenes.
One could also argue, there wouldn't be such great technology and economic prosperity today if it weren't for all the greedy cutthroats.
To quote a certain Ferengi, "Let me tell you something about humans, nephew. They're a wonderful, friendly people as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time, and those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people will become as nasty and as violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon. You don't believe me? Look at those faces. Look in their eyes. You know I'm right, don't you?"
I agree, humans who do not fear for their lives are generally good, but they're also conditionally good. Our natural tendency to empathize with those around us in pain makes us want to help people. But add herd mentality to the equation, make some other group a threat, or make them inferior, and the empathy goes away. In the case of Westworld, they're 'inferior'. People will rape and kill them the same reason slave owners could do it and look at the preacher with a straight face the next day. For the same reason men like Harvey Weinstein or Bill Cosby can treat women the way they do, they're surrounded by a herd who seem to act like it's okay. Empathy makes humans good, but it's also disturbingly easy to suppress.
95% of people decide who is human and who is subhuman by getting cues from the people around them.
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Well, most of that is speculative so far. The hosts Ford programmed are responsive to William in real time, of course; that doesn't mean that Ford in fact anticipated all that's going on.
I'll be disappointed if Ford's big plan turns out to have had Living Forever In A Robot Body as part of it - it would take away a lot of the character's nuance and grounded-ness.
I'll be disappointed if Ford's big plan turns out to have had Living Forever In A Robot Body as part of it - it would take away a lot of the character's nuance and grounded-ness.
This is why I loved Quark so much. He was awake.
The idea of the old west lends itself the idea of good and evil with the whole trope of white hats and black hats. For Americans, it's really been romanticized through westerns, media that spun off of western tropes and the idea that it was the last time that people were free to be left alone. None of it is true, but it's the mythology that developed around Jesse James and other outlaws and continued through John Wayne. The movies may not be popular anymore, but the idea has survived. There's at least 6 parks, Westworld, Shogun World, and The Raj. Shogun World works on similar tropes to westerns and The Raj seems more about hunting and just being the dominant power. I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a park based on being knights and kings with subjects or if the PR wasn't too bad a pre-Civil War southern America park based more on Gone With The Wind than actual history. As awful as that is, people would probably pay to go.
I liked her character and I'm glad she's back.Hooray, Elsie has finally returned and there was much rejoicing! What, just me?
Well, this was probably the most interesting episode yet, mainly for the flashbacks to the death and resurrection of Old Irish Guy (or is he Scottish-- based on the results of my DNA testing, I should know the difference, but I don't). Apparently they can make hosts that are capable of self awareness, but not yet capable of downloading a human consciousness to a host. So much for the theories that Ford will return.
And Elsie is alive, as predicted-- she was found chained up in a cave in Sector 22, which was not predicted. But now she knows that Bernard is a robot, and she knows about Old Irish Guy, and she seems to be figuring out more. Barnard was the closest thing they had left to a sympathetic character, but that half-hearted promise to never hurt Elise again was a bit ominous.
And that was quite the interesting twist at the end when William's daughter shows up out of nowhere. Maybe this season can be saved.
And Elsie is alive, as predicted-- she was found chained up in a cave in Sector 22, which was not predicted. But now she knows that Bernard is a robot, and she knows about Old Irish Guy, and she seems to be figuring out more. Barnard was the closest thing they had left to a sympathetic character, but that half-hearted promise to never hurt Elise again was a bit ominous.
And that was quite the interesting twist at the end when William's daughter shows up out of nowhere. Maybe this season can be saved.
Indeed.
You're still talking about a tiny fraction of people. People on vacation at an expensive resort are the very definition of people with their bellies full. The vast majority of people think that paintball is ridiculous, let alone a rape-and-killing spree.
It takes a very special kind of person who likes to see other people die.
I do amateur theater, and once I played in a scene where my partner (a really good actor) had to beg for his life. I had to ask to stop because it had upset me (and I knew it was all fake.).
I know that 1 in 5 CEOs are psychopaths, but really, how the heck you can advert the park as a place for family holidays, if your major clients are potential serial killers?
