Ah, good catch. I always forget to check there. I like that they used Lakota because McClarnon is part Lakota and possibly knows the language already. He certainly spoke it eloquently enough to be a native speaker.
HBO's "Westworld", starring Anthony Hopkins/produced by J.J. Abrams
- Thread starter Ensign_Redshirt
- Start date
The newest episode was beautiful.
I liked the episode. It showed how Arnold was right about the park being a nightmare for sentient hosts.
While watching I wondered how I would feel if I found out that I was a robot (along with my family and most of humans on Earth) created by aliens for their amusement.
There was kind of a confirmation to my speculation that "the door" is a gateway to the real world. But maybe that is a little too obvious.
No Bernard this week, but we saw the dead Arnold, freshly killed by Dolores.
While watching I wondered how I would feel if I found out that I was a robot (along with my family and most of humans on Earth) created by aliens for their amusement.
There was kind of a confirmation to my speculation that "the door" is a gateway to the real world. But maybe that is a little too obvious.
No Bernard this week, but we saw the dead Arnold, freshly killed by Dolores.
Pretty much how I feel about it, too.
There is no way that the Delos parks make sense within any economic or technological framework resembling our world. This is pretty obvious.
Haven't we basically gotten the answer to that though?
The parks are operating at a loss, because lots of incredibly rich people are very invested in the true goal of the parks to become immortal.
The cost of operating the robots is miniscule compared to the cost of constant massive construction projects, that's the part that's more over the top.
But we have to remember that billionaires (Trillionaires by now?) who are aging and feeling their old mortality are probably willing to invest and invest and invest if they think the park will allow them to transfer their minds into immortal robots.
The parks are operating at a loss, because lots of incredibly rich people are very invested in the true goal of the parks to become immortal.
The cost of operating the robots is miniscule compared to the cost of constant massive construction projects, that's the part that's more over the top.
But we have to remember that billionaires (Trillionaires by now?) who are aging and feeling their old mortality are probably willing to invest and invest and invest if they think the park will allow them to transfer their minds into immortal robots.
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You know, I've been watching Ken Burn's documentary on The West recently. In one section, they describe the fact when horses were introduced to Native Americans, it dramatically changed the way they lived at the time, enabling them to cross vast distance.
One interesting detail I've noticed in this latest episode of Westworld is when Ake is talking about the "something that had changed them forever". The next scene we see is a shot of a white horse surging ahead. It was powerful imagery combined with those words, and I can't help but think it was very deliberate juxtaposition, because the next scene after that revealed he was talking about the door. When I realized what they had done, I thought it was a really neat piece of work. Hopefully I'm not the only one who's noticed this.
One interesting detail I've noticed in this latest episode of Westworld is when Ake is talking about the "something that had changed them forever". The next scene we see is a shot of a white horse surging ahead. It was powerful imagery combined with those words, and I can't help but think it was very deliberate juxtaposition, because the next scene after that revealed he was talking about the door. When I realized what they had done, I thought it was a really neat piece of work. Hopefully I'm not the only one who's noticed this.
Oh, that's cool, nice catch! I hadn't picked up on that even though I knew about the effects of Europeans introducing horses to North America.
That's interesting. Didn't know that. But also given the imagery and words, I think it was very deliberate positioning. Gives us a sort of double-meaning to it then.
That is probably the saddest and most heartbreaking episode Westworld has done.. all the metaphysical dialogue. the slow reveal of secrets and what the Hosts had to "endure" was encapsulated in this episode. Brilliantly shot with gorgeous scenery, extremely well acted and written... this is perhaps my favorite Westworld episode so far.
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Okay, so I think the most important takeaway from this episode is that Lakota is the most soothing language I've ever heard. Even when the conversation is about violent slaughter and broken hearts, it just mellows me out. I may have to replace my "Soothing Sounds of Nature" CD with a "Soothing Sounds of Lakota Storytelling" CD.
Aside from that, this was an interesting love story among the shifting realities of Westworld, from the perspective of a character being victimized by shuffling plots. Thanks to his leaky memory, he was able to see that something supernatural was going on, and he was even able to find the doorway to a greater reality-- before it disappeared. And he was not the only one among his people to get glimpses of the inconsistencies in their narrative. It was cool to see that he had actually been watching over the little girl, trying to keep her safe. This was easily the most entertaining episode of the second season (which, unfortunately, isn't saying much).
But it also emphasized the flaws in the whole concept. Why would this simulated Indian tribe exist for so many years having no contact with guests? What justifies the work and expense? Even the guest areas of the park make little sense in terms of value and sustainability, but this completely superfluous simulation blew away the last shreds of suspension of disbelief.
And the poor MIB has been reduced to a comic prop, being dragged around like a floppy rag doll and flung onto horses while he grunts and rolls his eyes weakly.
And Maeve, teetering at death's door, is still controlling robots via the wireless network. Unfortunately, none of them are close enough to protect her (and the weasely writer guy is unable to), so she is left vulnerable to the tender mercies of Charlotte, who has no tenderness or mercy. How will she survive? Perhaps the ghost of Robert Ford will intervene.
Aside from that, this was an interesting love story among the shifting realities of Westworld, from the perspective of a character being victimized by shuffling plots. Thanks to his leaky memory, he was able to see that something supernatural was going on, and he was even able to find the doorway to a greater reality-- before it disappeared. And he was not the only one among his people to get glimpses of the inconsistencies in their narrative. It was cool to see that he had actually been watching over the little girl, trying to keep her safe. This was easily the most entertaining episode of the second season (which, unfortunately, isn't saying much).
But it also emphasized the flaws in the whole concept. Why would this simulated Indian tribe exist for so many years having no contact with guests? What justifies the work and expense? Even the guest areas of the park make little sense in terms of value and sustainability, but this completely superfluous simulation blew away the last shreds of suspension of disbelief.
And the poor MIB has been reduced to a comic prop, being dragged around like a floppy rag doll and flung onto horses while he grunts and rolls his eyes weakly.
And Maeve, teetering at death's door, is still controlling robots via the wireless network. Unfortunately, none of them are close enough to protect her (and the weasely writer guy is unable to), so she is left vulnerable to the tender mercies of Charlotte, who has no tenderness or mercy. How will she survive? Perhaps the ghost of Robert Ford will intervene.
I think they let the hosts run continually so they develop and become more complex, even Ford tell's Ake 'I built you with a sense of curiosity' etc. But or course, there is the side effect of them developing a conscious, which is seems is what Ford (not the rest of the staff though) wanted all along. I think as the years went on, Ford developed more a god complex and wanted to see his creations grow and develop past their programming into sentient beings.
In the last scene with Maeve, they said she was currently reprogramming a host. My impression was that she gave Ghost nation guy the lost love backstory as part of his reprogramming to protect her daughter. I’m guessing the lost tribe with no interaction with guests never existed.
You know, people overthink this show more than any I've ever seen. Folks seem to be so anxious to guess the upcoming twists that they invent mysteries and puzzles where there are none.
It's a twisty show all right, but it does follow the same narrative rules as most other TV drama. They just feed it to us in a sequence designed to create the mystery.
Yeah, this week certainly seems to have opened up a whole new series of questions. I'm not entirely sure what they're trying to tell us with the MiB. Quite a lot happened in this episode.
Yeah, that was my takeaway. We always knew William was super obsessed about the park and the need for some deeper meaning behind it, but we didn't see how far gone he was until he murdered his own daughter, thinking she was just another of Robert's machinations. And now he can't even trust his own reality, forcing him to check and see if he himself is a Host.
Yet again the show left me worried Bernard was going to kill Elsie, but thankfully he rebelled against Robert. Or at least he thinks he has, but I suspect Robert still somewhere in Bernard's head, waiting to pop up when he deems necessary. Not that any of that mattered to Elsie because she's even more mad at him than ever before.
Teddy having the guts to shoot himself when William did not does not surprise me in the slightest. I figured he would respond in great horror once he realized what Dolores did to him and he took the most rebellious way out. Dolores sure didn't see that coming.
Poor Clementine. She's still being used as a tool for other people's bidding. I wouldn't want to be anywhere around her when she fully wakens up. She's going to be so fucking livid.
Yet again the show left me worried Bernard was going to kill Elsie, but thankfully he rebelled against Robert. Or at least he thinks he has, but I suspect Robert still somewhere in Bernard's head, waiting to pop up when he deems necessary. Not that any of that mattered to Elsie because she's even more mad at him than ever before.
Teddy having the guts to shoot himself when William did not does not surprise me in the slightest. I figured he would respond in great horror once he realized what Dolores did to him and he took the most rebellious way out. Dolores sure didn't see that coming.
Poor Clementine. She's still being used as a tool for other people's bidding. I wouldn't want to be anywhere around her when she fully wakens up. She's going to be so fucking livid.
