To each their own; I personally thought it stretched credibility, even with Lee's explanation that he was lazy and just decided to re-use ideas.
HBO's "Westworld", starring Anthony Hopkins/produced by J.J. Abrams
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To each their own; I personally thought it stretched credibility, even with Lee's explanation that he was lazy and just decided to re-use ideas.
While I can see why someone may not like the scene, why is it stretching credibility? Even good writers reuse story ideas (e.g. Larry Niven adapting his own short story for his Star Trek TAS script), and sizemore is not in that category.
The thing that stretched credibility for me was the fact that it was a blatant copy, right down to the use of "Paint It Black".
If they'd orchestrated the whole sequence with a different song, I think I would've bought into it more.
If they'd orchestrated the whole sequence with a different song, I think I would've bought into it more.
I thought it was a really good episode, possibly the best one this season yet. As for the scene copies, in-universe, the explanation could be that they don't expect guests to visit each park, and so will take shortcuts when possible. I felt it was very understandable for the technicians to have done. They essentially created a storyline and applied it to a different theme. From a logistics point of view, it makes sense, and in a roundabout way, suggests that not everything we see in Hollywood is original.
THe parallel story was delightful as a reveal, but when they got down to having the characters pointing out and commenting on it in such an on-the-nose fashion - ie "They're us" - it was the first time I had the sense of the show writers talking down or spoon-feeding the audience. And there was quite a bit of that in this one...for Westworld, anyway.
The show's still the best thing on TV by more than a little bit, but after five weeks they seem to be mostly telling a much more conventional TV story this year than last year. Episode 4 was sort of an exception, so far, and remains the best of the season.
The show's still the best thing on TV by more than a little bit, but after five weeks they seem to be mostly telling a much more conventional TV story this year than last year. Episode 4 was sort of an exception, so far, and remains the best of the season.
I wasn't quite sure what Dolores was having that tech do to Teddy, but, according to Entertainment Weekly's James Hibbard, she increased his Aggression, Bulk Apperception and Hostility and eliminated his Compassion.
I loved this episode and not just for the Japanese trappings of Shōgunworld. A beautiful story about motherhood and at what lengths mothers will go for their daughters. Not just for Maeve, but Akane, too, and I knew the moment Akane began her dance, she would slice up the Shōgun for killing Sakura. While it doesn't look like we're done with Shōgunworld yet, I do wish we had seen more of Hiroyuki Sanada's Musashi and Tao Okamoto's Hanaryo. I love both of those actors and I want to see them have larger roles in the show, even if their characters are Shōgun versions of Hector and Armistice thanks to Lee's lazy writing.
Poor Teddy. He finally got the girl...and the girl took away his newfound sentience.
Poor Teddy. He finally got the girl...and the girl took away his newfound sentience.
I had a bigger concern: There are safety measures to protect guests from gunshots in Westworld but how do they manage that with swords and arrows of Shōgunworld (or tigers of Rajworld)?
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For those wondering about the accuracy of Shōgunworld, Hiroyuki Sanada served as a cultural expert on set, even on days he wasn't shooting any scenes.
Speaking with Joanna Robinson from Vanity Fair on their Still Watching: Westworld podcast, Simon Quarterman—who plays the park’s head story writer and the show’s main exposition dumper, Lee Sizemore—said that veteran Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada was a “secret weapon” when it came to accurately representing the centuries-old Japanese town. Not only did Sanada take on the task of portraying the tea-house-robbing, dual-sword-wielding Musashi, but he would also offer advice to set designers when the fold of a kimono or the angle of a sword wasn’t quite right. He took his responsibilities so seriously that Sanada even came to set on days he wasn’t shooting just to offer his input.
“Sometimes I switched the position of the props because it’s a very specific, important culture for my country,” Sanada told Vanity Fair before adding that other small inaccuracies, like the leather lining on his character’s kimono, were left on purpose. After all, Shogun World isn’t a real village from Japan’s Edo Period, but rather a western tech company’s interpretation of said village. Westworld producers were forced to walk the line between being culturally sensitive and not over-exoticizing Eastern culture, and also telling a story about a theme park that essentially specializes in cultural appropriation.
“I know this is a theme park, but some points have to be correct,” Sanada said in an interview with Esquire. Having worked previously on Lost, The Last Samurai, and The Wolverine, Sanada has always seen it as his duty to be both actor and cultural ambassador for his country. “When I came to L.A. a long time ago, I wanted to introduce our culture correctly. That was one of my missions.” That mission may become more difficult as the hosts of Shogun World continue to diverge from their plot lines, but we’re sure Sanada will keep the producers in check. Somebody has to.
“Sometimes I switched the position of the props because it’s a very specific, important culture for my country,” Sanada told Vanity Fair before adding that other small inaccuracies, like the leather lining on his character’s kimono, were left on purpose. After all, Shogun World isn’t a real village from Japan’s Edo Period, but rather a western tech company’s interpretation of said village. Westworld producers were forced to walk the line between being culturally sensitive and not over-exoticizing Eastern culture, and also telling a story about a theme park that essentially specializes in cultural appropriation.
“I know this is a theme park, but some points have to be correct,” Sanada said in an interview with Esquire. Having worked previously on Lost, The Last Samurai, and The Wolverine, Sanada has always seen it as his duty to be both actor and cultural ambassador for his country. “When I came to L.A. a long time ago, I wanted to introduce our culture correctly. That was one of my missions.” That mission may become more difficult as the hosts of Shogun World continue to diverge from their plot lines, but we’re sure Sanada will keep the producers in check. Somebody has to.
The more I think about this episode, the better I like it thematically. Delores knows she's not "human" but still thinks and acts as if she were; Maeve is finding that she's something different.
Or made him into something else. Maybe. For now.
Poor Teddy. He finally got the girl...and the girl took away his newfound sentience.
Or made him into something else. Maybe. For now.
I like the episode's nod to the fact that Samurai and Western are pretty much the same genre in different settings, and just how much each borrowed from the other.
