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

[Owain Taggart]

Well there was a rumour that it was the writers fault for season 2 because reddit kept predicting what would happen so the writers said "fuck it" and made the season confusing on purpose.

That's certainly what it felt like. It felt very confusing for the sake of being confusing rather than having anything to show for putting the viewers through it. Season 1 felt more about the storytelling, and whatever devices they were using made for an interesting show. In season two, everything felt tangential and diversionary. The Akacheta episode was a standout for me because they went back to actually tell a story and a pretty endearing one at that. I can only hope season 3 returns to more of a storytelling approach.

 

[DigificWriter]

Season 2 really wasn't as confusing as people seem to think it was, especially structurally.

It was much more exposition-heavy than Season 1 (which is a feat given how much Season 1 had to set up), but the "primary narrative" was a lot more straightforward and linear.

 

[RPOW0614]

I won't read thru the entire thread and I'm just going to toss my two cents in anyway....

I have been a Robert Heinlein fan for many years. So keeping a storyline straight while it bounces back and forth from one time frame to another is kind of required if you read any of the Howard family stories. That said....

Westworld is one of the most confusing, confounding and just plain annoying telling of a story I have encountered. I like the show, I like the actors, I like the setting, I like the reveals and all of the other goodness this show has and gives us. But it does seem they went WAY out of their way to make this show as confusing as they possibly could. It's like Lost got thrown into a blender with Catch 22 and this came out. Even with the revelation of William being the Man in Black it took me some time to piece the story together in my head. The robots not ageing was a great way to throw us off and they used it masterfully.

Bottom line, good story told badly.

 

[Mudd]

Westworld is one of the most confusing, confounding and just plain annoying telling of a story I have encountered.

I've never found it so. Not confused.

 

[JD]

I don't remember ever being confused at all, during either season.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Should writers be able to do that though on a show if the internet gets way ahead of them? It just smacks of childishness.

 

[Cyrus]

I love the show but I do agree that they make it unnecessarily confusing. I wish they would do more linear story telling. But doing this multiple time frame thing is the style they have chosen and will probably continue to the end. So I am done complaining about that and will try to enjoy it on its own merits.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I've gotten used to season 1 and its multiple repeats and timelines. Just watched the death of Teresa. Ouch!!!!!

I do wonder about the general competency of everyone working there in the places that run the park. Everyone seems really messed up.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I guess the multiple time frames thing is supposed to be cutting edge and edgy but it's actually very old hat and unoriginal -- anyone remember the movies Slaughterhouse Five and Nolan's own Memento? I expect there are other numerous examples besides Vonnegut and Heinlein in SF literature.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I guess the multiple time frames thing is supposed to be cutting edge and edgy but it's actually very old hat and unoriginal -- anyone remember the movies Slaughterhouse Five and Nolan's own Memento? I expect there are other numerous examples besides Vonnegut and Heinlein in SF literature.

Oh I love Memento. But yeah it's not original. Still that last episode of season 1 gets me. Robot uprising. I guess I'm on the droids side.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Oh I love Memento. But yeah it's not original. Still that last episode of season 1 gets me. Robot uprising. I guess I'm on the droids side.

Me also -- I'm a known robot sympathiser but, in any case, most of the humans in Westworld are unlikable douchebags.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Me also -- I'm a known robot sympathiser but, in any case, most of the humans in Westworld are unlikable douchebags.

Also incompetent...... Security forces were a joke

 

[Skipper]

Also incompetent...... Security forces were a joke

In their defense, I believe that everyone thought that a robot uprising was simply impossible. It's like saying that the Disneyland Security is ill-equipped to contain a Pirates Of The Caribbean's animatronics revolt.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

In their defense, I believe that everyone thought that a robot uprising was simply impossible. It's like saying that the Disneyland Security is ill-equipped to contain a Pirates Of The Caribbean's animatronics revolt.

But they shoot like stormtroopers

 

[Skipper]

But they shoot like stormtroopers

Well, hosts can sustain a lot of damage before being stopped.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Season 2 really wasn't as confusing as people seem to think it was, especially structurally.

Speak for yourself. I personally found it VERY confusing.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I enjoyed season 2. But I found it a little convoluted and not as metaphysically interesting as season one. Just constant killing and misanthopy.

Good enough to keep watching.

 

[Mudd]

Speak for yourself.

I don't know another way.

 

[theenglish]

Season 2 is definitely meant to be watched more than once, which I haven't done yet---but I did watch the first four episodes a second time before watching the rest of the season. Once you "crack the code" and know what clues to look for there are only a few surprises in the timeline shifts.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I think most everything in season two could have been told in the first episode of a "real" season two.