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

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, that's a good analysis and it's what I've been feeling. Season 2 so far feels very random and scattered, less focused. At least with season one, even with the different timelines, following the characters made it a bit easier to deal with. Being that season 2 is more random, and they've split it further into more timelines, makes it much harder to follow. It feels like they've jumped the gun a bit on the multiple timelines, which gives the characters less time to grow and be interesting. The end effect is making me feel less invested in everything. The tone is completely different and it's like I'm watching a completely different show.

 

[Awesome Possum]

So someboby puts out 2052 (or whatever the date is), then retracts it for some reason by replacing in with XXXX. So that means it is either a relevant story point for something in the future, or it is something that they have reconsidered.

The latter is not somehow a rare occurrence in entertainment. Chuck from Happy Days says hi.

It wouldn't surprise me if the show is set in 2052, it wouldn't surprise me if it takes place in 2102.

The 2052 date could work. Logan in the flashbacks set about 30 years in the past is stunned at how advanced the hosts are, barely able to believe its even possible. Given his references to AR and VR startups being boringly common, it’s possible that the timeframe isn’t too far from our present. Given his surprise at how lifelike the hosts were they could just be a breakthrough that far exceeds what we think is possible.

 

[Mudd]

Yeah, that's a good analysis and it's what I've been feeling. Season 2 so far feels very random and scattered, less focused. At least with season one, even with the different timelines, following the characters made it a bit easier to deal with. Being that season 2 is more random, and they've split it further into more timelines, makes it much harder to follow. It feels like they've jumped the gun a bit on the multiple timelines, which gives the characters less time to grow and be interesting. The end effect is making me feel less invested in everything. The tone is completely different and it's like I'm watching a completely different show.

I'll say that the poster does overstate it some, IMO. The tendencies he/she describes are certainly present...but as one reply in that thread pointed out, the real brilliance of season one's story line is easier to appreciate in retrospect too. I'm on episode four of rewatching the first season, and at this point in the narrative you could still mistake it for an extraordinarily well-told but essentially prosaic Revolt of The Robots storyline.

 

[crookeddy]

I'll say that the poster does overstate it some, IMO. The tendencies he/she describes are certainly present...but as one reply in that thread pointed out, the real brilliance of season one's story line is easier to appreciate in retrospect too. I'm on episode four of rewatching the first season, and at this point in the narrative you could still mistake it for an extraordinarily well-told but essentially prosaic Revolt of The Robots storyline.

And what is it in reality?

 

[Skipper]

WestWorld - and presumably Shogun World, The Raj, and the other parks - does cater to families, so the idea that the parks exist only to capitalize on people's basest instincts is inaccurate.

Still I don't understand the allure of WestWorld for a family vacation. A week in same dusty village without any modern confort, with a concrete risk that a child will see other guests happily dabble in rape and murder. Wow! Disneyland should be very afraid.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I'll say that the poster does overstate it some, IMO. The tendencies he/she describes are certainly present...but as one reply in that thread pointed out, the real brilliance of season one's story line is easier to appreciate in retrospect too. I'm on episode four of rewatching the first season, and at this point in the narrative you could still mistake it for an extraordinarily well-told but essentially prosaic Revolt of The Robots storyline.

Perhaps. I guess we'll just have to see how well this season works in retrospect. Certainly the feeling I have about it right now though, is that it's far less interesting and engaging.

 

[RJDiogenes]

They've said many times that the park is incredible expensive to manage. Just the QA personnel on the island consists of 600-800 people. They have to pay these people.

Then there definitely must be more than we're seeing-- or there would have to be in the real world.

Still I don't understand the allure of WestWorld for a family vacation. A week in same dusty village without any modern confort, with a concrete risk that a child will see other guests happily dabble in rape and murder. Wow! Disneyland should be very afraid.

Presumably the vacation sections and the hard-core gamer sections are kept quite distinct.

 

[DigificWriter]

Despite the presence of the Mariposa and the regular occurrence of Hector and his gang robbing it - which is supposed to be built up to over like a 3-week period - Sweetwater serves as the core family-friendly "hub" of the WestWorld park, and the further you venture out away from there the more "extreme" things become.

 

[Awesome Possum]

Still I don't understand the allure of WestWorld for a family vacation. A week in same dusty village without any modern confort, with a concrete risk that a child will see other guests happily dabble in rape and murder. Wow! Disneyland should be very afraid.

There was that family the Delores met in an early episode of season one. The dad even mentioned that they were close to being out of the family section. I figured there were a few family friendly narratives and sightseeing tours.

 

[crookeddy]

Still I don't understand the allure of WestWorld for a family vacation. A week in same dusty village without any modern confort, with a concrete risk that a child will see other guests happily dabble in rape and murder. Wow! Disneyland should be very afraid.

There are some explanations you can come up with to these types of problems, but generally speaking this isn't the best show to try to take 100% literally.

 

[Tuskin38]

I assumed we were only seeing a small fraction of Westworld, because it would really be impossible to keep something that huge and expensive in business by catering only to sociopaths-- unless their nanotechnology made the park as cheap to build as a Burger King.

I think one of characters this season mentioned something about a family part

 

[RJDiogenes]

There are some explanations you can come up with to these types of problems, but generally speaking this isn't the best show to try to take 100% literally.

Yeah, that's certainly true.

I think one of characters this season mentioned something about a family part

I wonder if all those people were slaughtered, too.

 

[Skipper]

Yeah, that's certainly true.


I wonder if all those people were slaughtered, too.

They may not have actively participated in hurting the hosts, but they allowed this to happen. So, they are guilty.

The woman in the India park just wanted to hunt some robotic tiger, still they tried to kill her.

 

[DigificWriter]

Both "sides" in the conflict going on in WestWorld have a lot of "innocent blood" on their hands because they're both indiscriminately killing.

 

[Mudd]

They may not have actively participated in hurting the hosts, but they allowed this to happen. So, they are guilty.

The woman in the India park just wanted to hunt some robotic tiger, still they tried to kill her.

Some folks just wanted their mint juleps.

Grace was willing to shoot a Host in cold blood, just to make sure she had a "real person" to screw.

All the Guests are complicit.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I'm going to guess that by the end of the season, there will be chaos among all the parks, with the line between them being blurred and lots of crossover between them. I wouldn't be surprised to see if Dolores manages to get a mixed posse of androids; Samurai and tigers, oh my!

 

[RJDiogenes]

They may not have actively participated in hurting the hosts, but they allowed this to happen. So, they are guilty.

Except that the guests would have no idea that the robots are self-aware.

The woman in the India park just wanted to hunt some robotic tiger, still they tried to kill her.

That's true.

Both "sides" in the conflict going on in WestWorld have a lot of "innocent blood" on their hands because they're both indiscriminately killing.

I wonder if the security soldiers, or whatever they are, have even been told that the robots are now self-aware.

 

[Skipper]

Except that the guests would have no idea that the robots are self-aware.

I was half-joking . It's clear that the guests believed the hosts were just a more advanced version of Disney's animatronics. And, unless the park gathered all the rich psychopaths in the world, I don't believe that everyone was there just for the Rape, Pillage, and Burn... But it's evident that Dolores isn't doing any distinction.

 

[Mudd]

I was half-joking . It's clear that the guests believed the hosts were just a more advanced version of Disney's animatronics. And, unless the park gathered all the rich psychopaths in the world, I don't believe that everyone was there just for the Rape, Pillage, and Burn... But it's evident that Dolores isn't doing any distinction.

Well, Ford has made it pretty clear that most Guests come for the rape, pillage and burn.

 

[Skipper]

Well, Ford has made it pretty clear that most Guests come for the rape, pillage and burn.

I don't know why they even bothered with the Old West facade and "narratives"...