Summary: In flashbacks, Arnold takes Dolores out to see the real world. Sometime later, Logan is contacted for an investment in Westworld and is taken to a demo in the real world where hosts are performing. He is blown away and wants to invest. Even later, William convinces Logan's father to invest in Westworld as it provides guests with the ability to find themselves. In the present, Dolores recruits an army of hosts and gets an employee who is able to bring back hosts whenever it is needed. William recruits Lawrence again and tries to get El Lazo's army, but Ford doesn't allow it and the army executes itself.
The Good: After 12 episodes we are finally given a few glimpses of the outside world and it's really satisfying. One of the biggest questions which I never asked myself was "are the hosts only allowed to be in Westworld?" Here I got a clear answer as we get the reveal in this episode's opening scene that Dolores has been taken outside of the park before and has seen the outside world. This adds a lot of interesting implications to the show and opens the doors wide for directions that the show could go in. It feels like this episode ripped off all of the show's shackles and that is a really satisfying feeling especially for those who love the puzzlebox way that this show works. Without using the meaningless "surprise!" tactics from last season, Westworld has provided an exciting twist which has successfully excited me. The scenes in the real world were very good. Logan walking into the host party was really well done and did a tremendous job of selling why Westworld was such a big hit. Logan's shock and awe as he slowly realized that everybody was a host made me buy into the fact that Logan believed in this park to be the future. The scene itself was well executed and well acted and was very impressive. I also enjoyed how this tied into why William thought Westworld would be a great investment. Logan was in awe at the basic concept of hosts, but William wasn't. Instead William was appreciative of how the park let him discover who he really is and was allured by its charm because of that. It's a great way to highlight the differences between both characters. I also like how this ties in with Sizemore's narrative which he proposed last season, hinting that the idea that Westworld allows you to find your true self was actually created by William. The present storylines were pretty good too. I enjoyed Dolores' confrontation with Maeve quite a bit. It's interesting that they both have a protector and a human to help them out and it raises a few questions. The scene was tense and exciting since we haven't seen those 2 interact before in the show to my recollection. The rest of Dolores' storyline did a great job of illustrating her as a threat especially since she has seemingly discovered a way to make an invincible army now that she has a human who can revive everyone whenever she needs him to. The Man in Black's storyline was fine too. There was some fun action and an awesome cameo from Giancarlo Esposito which was easily one of the episode's highlights. He is such a charismatic actor and I was genuinely surprised to see him. El Lazo's hosts all killing themselves on Ford's orders was an interesting moment which I definitely have more to talk about (see: The Unknown). The Bad: The show is still very messy. Even though the show is much easier to follow now as it jumps through time, I have to question what the significance is. I enjoyed seeing some backstory on Westworld, but why do we need the backstory? I feel like it's no going to play as important of a role as it should, just like the young William story in season 1 which pretty much only existed for the Man in Black reveal at the end. With so few storylines flowing together cohesively, the show isn't as engaging as it should be. I feel like the story as a whole would be much better if told in chronological order to some extent without jumping all over the place. Maybe then the show would engage my emotions. Episodes like these are what make Westworld somewhat disappointing. There wasn't anything bad in particular about this but it was horribly average and it felt too much like pieces being moved around without any satisfaction. TV shows are wonderful because of the self-contained stories which are told in each episode. Westworld doesn't adhere to that and instead attempts to make each episode like a piece in a puzzle. It makes sense and the writing is good, but it lacks any kind of memorability and I'll forget about these episodes very quickly. The Unknown: How many hosts have been brought into the real world? Where do they exist int he real world? Are there still some out there which have been stationed by Delos? Has Dolores ever been outside any other time than the one we saw in this episode? What does she remember from those experiences? How will her memories impact the story? What are Delos' motives? Is there some sort of master plan in place created by Logan's father? I'm very interested to learn more about this. Also how did William factor into all of this? He clearly seems to have been much more involved than expected. How is Ford able to control hosts? Is he still alive in some form somewhere? How? Where? How can he follow William through the park? Why doesn't he want William to raise an army? What is the end goal? Best Moment: I'll pick young William talking to Dolores about his past experience in the park. It was a great moment of character reflection. Character of the Episode: William. Conclusion: This was another solid episode which had some very welcome developments but also ramped up the incoherent storylines by jumping through time. The show remains fine but is still missing a big spark. Score: 60
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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