Adam Lenhardt
Senior HTF Member
Loved the cold open, with the retro future aesthetic. Delos's observation cell could have come straight out of Logan's Run or, well, Futureworld. Once William handed him the folded up transcript, I had a good idea what was afoot. It seems like there's new dark secrets hidden away in every nook and cranny.
Elsie lives! And she was left right where Ford wanted her. A reminder that it's not just the hosts that are following Ford's script.
Having watched old William in the first season, it's fascinating to contrast his behavior this season. Now that the bumpers have been taken off the lanes, he's playing a very different game.
It was interesting intercutting between Bernard switching back and forth between his actual personality and Ford's automaton, and Lawrence's daughter with William in the village, switching from Ford's messenger back to Lawrence's daughter. Jeffrey Wright is one of the finest actors working today, and this talented young actress holds her own: the posture, the accent, the tone change completely between the two roles, from forceful calm directness with a modern American accent to a scared Mexican child who has just witnessed some horrific events. There's a shot on her face when she transitions from messenger mode to back into character and is eerily good, how the emotion and life seep back into her expression. On the other hand, it raises interesting production realities for this concept: the hosts aren't supposed to age, but here's Lawrence's daughter looking roughly a year old than when we encountered her in the first season. I figured they'd get around this issue by not making child characters important to the plot. But here with Lawrence's daughter and then elsewhere with Maeve's daughter, that's not the case. Will the show build in an explanation as time goes on, or does it just want us to suspend our disbelief?
My speculation last week was correct. The fact that the character was introduced one week and her true identity was revealed the next week points to that being one puzzle where Nolan and Co. are more interested in the "why" than the "what". When William was flashing back prior to intervening on behalf of Lawrence and his family, it looked like someone had attempted suicide by slitting their wrists. As the "previously on" helpfully reminded us, William's wife killed herself by overdosing on pills. So I'm guessing it was Emily that tried to kill herself that way.
Elsie lives! And she was left right where Ford wanted her. A reminder that it's not just the hosts that are following Ford's script.
Having watched old William in the first season, it's fascinating to contrast his behavior this season. Now that the bumpers have been taken off the lanes, he's playing a very different game.
It was interesting intercutting between Bernard switching back and forth between his actual personality and Ford's automaton, and Lawrence's daughter with William in the village, switching from Ford's messenger back to Lawrence's daughter. Jeffrey Wright is one of the finest actors working today, and this talented young actress holds her own: the posture, the accent, the tone change completely between the two roles, from forceful calm directness with a modern American accent to a scared Mexican child who has just witnessed some horrific events. There's a shot on her face when she transitions from messenger mode to back into character and is eerily good, how the emotion and life seep back into her expression. On the other hand, it raises interesting production realities for this concept: the hosts aren't supposed to age, but here's Lawrence's daughter looking roughly a year old than when we encountered her in the first season. I figured they'd get around this issue by not making child characters important to the plot. But here with Lawrence's daughter and then elsewhere with Maeve's daughter, that's not the case. Will the show build in an explanation as time goes on, or does it just want us to suspend our disbelief?
My speculation last week was correct. The fact that the character was introduced one week and her true identity was revealed the next week points to that being one puzzle where Nolan and Co. are more interested in the "why" than the "what". When William was flashing back prior to intervening on behalf of Lawrence and his family, it looked like someone had attempted suicide by slitting their wrists. As the "previously on" helpfully reminded us, William's wife killed herself by overdosing on pills. So I'm guessing it was Emily that tried to kill herself that way.