Summary: Flashbacks show that the host pretending to be Charlotte is an unknown friend of Dolores. In the present, Charlotte arrives at Delos and learns that somebody named Serac has bought key shares, buying out the company. Charlotte goes to meet with Dolores. Meanwhile, Caleb helps Dolores escape. She tells him to get a new identity and leaves. She meets with Charlotte who is having identity issues. Dolores comforts her and Charlotte talks about Serac. Caleb prepares to go into hiding but he is caught by some criminals who interrogate him about Dolores. Dolores arrives and kills the men, and she informs Caleb about how Incite has been gathering data about everyone and using it to predict the future and control the people that aren't worth investing in, like Caleb. Caleb is angered and allies with Dolores. Charlotte grows closer to her son after reliving some of the real Charlotte's memories. She manages to get into contact with Serac who is revealed to have been the person who Charlotte was serving. Serac wants Charlotte to bring him the profiles of every guest.
The Good: There are two decent stories being told here, one focusing on Caleb and the other focusing on Charlotte. Charlotte's story is the most intriguing to follow because it introduces a big mystery that will presumably be one of the core questions of the season: who is the host pretending to be Charlotte? I'm sure there are plenty of theories already, and it's a very interesting topic to think about. I like most of Charlotte's story. She's tied directly to Serac which is important for the plot, and she also has a very curious character arc regarding her family life, which is important for telling a good story. I like the idea of a host that doesn't know itself getting thrust into Charlotte's life, forcing itself to care about Charlotte's problems, and grow closer to her family. It's a unique conflict and I think it was explored in some decent ways in this episode. The bond between Charlotte and Nathan was particularly interesting to follow, and seeing the host attempt to be a more caring mother was very interesting. Caleb and Dolores' story is the second half of the episode and it is pretty solid. Their relationship develops organically throughout the episode. Caleb's desire for something real is a sensible motivation for him to stick up for Dolores, and Dolores' surprise and curiosity at his actions is a good motivation for her to come save him later in the episode. The actions of the characters are logical and the episode presents very good reasons for them to develop a bond, laying the groundwork for what could potentially be a very good storyline. I appreciated the climax of their story where Dolores explained the concept of Rehoboam to Caleb. Seeing Caleb's rage paralleled with Dolores' rage in seasons 1 and 2 was pretty powerful, and I think it's a smart idea for the show to expand its themes of free will to human characters as well as hosts. The Bad: Something about this season isn't clicking. It's presented well, acted well and written well (for the most part), but I'm just not that into it. The characters and the story aren't grabbing me like they did in some of the best parts of season 1 and 2, and the show feels like it hasn't offered us enough to get invested in now that we have left Westworld and entered the real world. For lack of a better word, much of these season feels pretty dull so far. There are still some more specific issues as well. The Charlotte mystery, while intriguing, does take away from her scenes. We don't know who she is, and we're given no good reason to care about her relationship with Dolores. Sure, it's fun to watch and I imagine everything will make sense once Charlotte's identity is revealed, but it's very unfulfilling to have emotion and character exploration sacrificed for needless confusion and a surprise later in the season. Dolores' gunshot wound remains a really weird moment. She's a host so she shouldn't be affected badly by these injuries, hence how she was able to recover and drive off so quickly. But then how was she badly injured in the first place? It doesn't make sense and it feels like a major logic gap that was created in the show's attempt to make Caleb's meeting with Dolores more dramatic. Charlotte murdering the pedophile is a moment that made me roll my eyes. The worst aspects of this show is how it has painted hosts and humans in such a black and white way so that it can have these "cool" moments where a female host can be a badass and kill an evil rich man. It feels like needless SJW nonsense that the show is using as fanservice for no apparent reason. There should be more thought put into telling a compelling story instead of trying to cheaply entertain the audience. The Unknown: Who is the Charlotte host? Is it somebody we have seen before or a completely new character? Who is Serac exactly? What are his exact motives? It seems that he was working on things well before Dolores' revolution since he was the one ordering Charlotte in the last season. Who is the mole in Delos? Best Moment: Dolores telling Caleb that he is being blocked from a better life because of Incite was pretty powerful stuff that aligned well with the themes of the show. Character of the Episode: Caleb. Conclusion: This was more solid story advancement. The episode doesn't do anything special but it's perfectly fine. The larger issue remains with the fact that this show isn't very gripping anymore. Maybe that will change, but it seems like this show is settling in to be average at best. Score: 56
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
February 2024
Categories
All
|