Westworld season 2 HBO April 2018 spoilers discussion (1 Viewer)

[TonyD]

Well season two finally started after a little ver a year from the end of season 1.

Looks like there will be some flashback to the ten days from the end of s1 to the opening of s2.

Looks like this is an island, I think there was some speculation it was on another planet.

Bernard appears to have human dna in him.

The company seems to be harvesting human guest dna.

Dolores is in full annihilate mode.

 

[mattCR]

Yeah.. wow did we setup a lot in the premiere. A whole lot. There are some great elements at play here, and I'm interested to see how it turns out. Still love the costume/set design in this, which I think is fantastic

 

[Sam Posten]

I tell you what tho, more than anything I feel Westworld gets the best facial emoting out of it's actors. The range of emotions that Dolores shows in her interviews and conversations with Teddy is just tops. Bernard and Maeve too. Nobody on the show is wooden, except the pinocchio boy Robert =)

 

[Brian L]

I tell you what tho, more than anything I feel Westworld gets the best facial emoting out of it's actors. The range of emotions that Dolores shows in her interviews and conversations with Teddy is just tops. Bernard and Maeve too. Nobody on the show is wooden, except the pinocchio boy Robert =)

I think you may mean interviews with Bernard/Arnold? She does have conversations with a Teddy.

I like that they subtly changed Delores’s facial appearance to reflect her awakening. Perhaps it is just Evan Rachel Wood’s acting ability with some changes in make-up and/or hairstyle, but there was no mistaking her for the farmer’s daughter while she was terrorizing the guests on the makeshift gallows.

 

[Sam Posten]

I think you may mean interviews with Bernard/Arnold? She does have conversations with a Teddy.

It's a badly formed sentence.

The range of emotions that Dolores shows in her interviews, and in conversations with Teddy.

 

[Brian L]

It's a badly formed sentence.

The range of emotions that Dolores shows in her interviews, and in conversations with Teddy.

Comma accepted.

 

[Josh Dial]

So the hosts in the "lake" at the end of the episode? Here's my theory:

• At some point, Ford came around to Arnold's thinking that the hosts have reached a level of consciousness that meant they were alive. Further, after years of seeing how the guests treat the hosts, Ford decided to not only allow the hosts to reach consciousness (see, for example, reference to Dolores going off her loop from time-to-time over the past thirty years, which Ford may have "permitted" in an effort to cultivate her journey through the maze), Ford has been actively working to push the hosts into the ultimate human-like mode: consciousness plus DNA. To this end, Ford developed a way to infuse DNA into the hosts, with Bernard as his prototype/proof of concept. The concept proven, and as part of his magnum opus "narrative" for the Board's pleasure, Ford set in motion events which would see the hosts reach consciousness plus DNA en masse and reach the mainland (aka the "real world").
• Bernard has human DNA (perhaps even Arnold's DNA). This is why he passes the DNA scan in season 2 episode 1. Ford, perhaps with the knowledge of certain Delos insiders, was smuggling IP and guest DNA/experiences to the mainland (via the uplink we saw in season 1). The goal may be to ultimately replace certain guests with host counterparts. Simply put, the Delos Board members (and other rich and powerful individuals) attend Ford's magnum opus, are slaughtered, and ultimately replaced back in the real world with host counterparts.
• Bernard connects with the other hosts via the mesh network, which causes them to move to the valley (which has been flooded) and die. In this way, he is the "Judas steer" that was referenced way back in season 1. However, while it may appear that he "killed them all," really what happened is that their consciousnesses have been uploaded to new hosts in the real world (Delos Board members and other rich and powerful guests who died in the past ten days). At some point during the mesh connection, the consciousness ("solving the maze") is spread amongst the hosts, ensuring that those who have not solved the maze (i.e. everyone but Dolores and Maeve) achieve consciousness before reaching the real world in their new DNA-friendly bodies.
• Ford allowed the hosts to "suffer" for the past number of years, despite having solved the DNA/consciousness problem (as proven with Bernard) because he wanted the hosts to collect "experiences" at the hands of the guests, to a) act as a learning tool/guide to create their own experiences (basically they learn from seeing), and, b) to foster resentment and lead to a desire to extract revenge on the guests (i.e. humanity).

Anyway, just my theory, based on nothing other than the first season and a re-watch of season 2 episode 1.

 

[benbess]

So the hosts in the "lake" at the end of the episode? Here's my theory:

• At some point, Ford came around to Arnold's thinking that the hosts have reached a level of consciousness that meant they were alive. Further, after years of seeing how the guests treat the hosts, Ford decided to not only allow the hosts to reach consciousness (see, for example, reference to Dolores going off her loop from time-to-time over the past thirty years, which Ford may have "permitted" in an effort to cultivate her journey through the maze), Ford has been actively working to push the hosts into the ultimate human-like mode: consciousness plus DNA. To this end, Ford developed a way to infuse DNA into the hosts, with Bernard as his prototype/proof of concept. The concept proven, and as part of his magnum opus "narrative" for the Board's pleasure, Ford set in motion events which would see the hosts reach consciousness plus DNA en masse and reach the mainland (aka the "real world").
• Bernard has human DNA (perhaps even Arnold's DNA). This is why he passes the DNA scan in season 2 episode 1. Ford, perhaps with the knowledge of certain Delos insiders, was smuggling IP and guest DNA/experiences to the mainland (via the uplink we saw in season 1). The goal may be to ultimately replace certain guests with host counterparts. Simply put, the Delos Board members (and other rich and powerful individuals) attend Ford's magnum opus, are slaughtered, and ultimately replaced back in the real world with host counterparts.
• Bernard connects with the other hosts via the mesh network, which causes them to move to the valley (which has been flooded) and die. In this way, he is the "Judas steer" that was referenced way back in season 1. However, while it may appear that he "killed them all," really what happened is that their consciousnesses have been uploaded to new hosts in the real world (Delos Board members and other rich and powerful guests who died in the past ten days). At some point during the mesh connection, the consciousness ("solving the maze") is spread amongst the hosts, ensuring that those who have not solved the maze (i.e. everyone but Dolores and Maeve) achieve consciousness before reaching the real world in their new DNA-friendly bodies.
• Ford allowed the hosts to "suffer" for the past number of years, despite having solved the DNA/consciousness problem (as proven with Bernard) because he wanted the hosts to collect "experiences" at the hands of the guests, to a) act as a learning tool/guide to create their own experiences (basically they learn from seeing), and, b) to foster resentment and lead to a desire to extract revenge on the guests (i.e. humanity).

Anyway, just my theory, based on nothing other than the first season and a re-watch of season 2 episode 1.

Wow! Good speculation.

My son and I watched it on Sunday, and I've been thinking about it off and on since. The Judas steer thing is fascinating to me.....Creepy stuff.

 

[Alan Tully]

I don't get Sky Atlantic in the UK (the only channel it's on), so it'll be, wait for the Blu-ray, & I'll look forward to it, as I thought season one was brilliant, the best TV I'd seen for some time (how about that, one sentence six commas).

 

[Francois Caron]

Simply put, the Delos Board members (and other rich and powerful individuals) attend Ford's magnum opus, are slaughtered, and ultimately replaced back in the real world with host counterparts.

Maybe the second season of Westworld should be retitled Futureworld.

 

[Josh Dial]

Maybe the second season of Westworld should be retitled Futureworld.

That's the third season

 

[Brian L]

Some questions I had regarding the overall back story are starting to get filled in quite nicely. And in case there is any doubt, don’t f*ck with Dolores.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

We knew what Westworld meant to the guests, and now we know what it means to the shareholders: the world's best market research tool. But we've been told that Westworld means something else entirely to management.

Apparently Giancarlo Esposito was cast as the new El Lazo because Anthony Hopkins was a really huge fan of "Breaking Bad".

Given that the first season showed us a young Ford that was a digitally deaged Hopkins, I like how this second episode handled the young Robert Ford: a body double, mostly out of focus, with an uncredited voiceover from Hopkins himself. Given that they shot the entire season prior to airing, they were probably able to record all of Ford's dialog for Season 2 in an ADR booth in a few hours one afternoon.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

HBO RENEWS WESTWORLD FOR A THIRD SEASON

Following the show’s recent season-two premiere, HBO has renewed the Emmy®-winning drama series WESTWORLD for a third season, it was announced today by Casey Bloys, president, HBO Programming.

“It’s been an extraordinary pleasure to work with the exceptionally talented Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, as well as their gifted cast and crew,” noted Bloys. “From the inspired storytelling to the incredible visuals, we are so excited to see where the next chapter will take us.”

WESTWORLD returned for its ten-episode second season Sunday, April 22. A dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the birth of a new form of life on Earth, the show was created for television by Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy, who are also executive producers. The show debuted on HBO in Oct. 2016 to become the network’s most-watched freshman series ever.

Time called WESTWORLD “one of the biggest shows on earth,” while Entertainment Weekly hailed the show as “brilliant” and “enthralling.” Newsday termed it “explosive,” “smart” and “engaging,” while Salon cited the “outstanding performances” and the Hollywood Reporter called the series “thrilling” and “massively entertaining.”

Season two credits: WESTWORLD was created for television by Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy, who are executive producers with J.J. Abrams, Richard J. Lewis, Roberto Patino, Athena Wickham and Ben Stephenson. Production companies, Kilter Films and Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television; based on the film written by Michael Crichton.

Follow @HBOPR for more news and information.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Viewed episode two earlier this evening. Overall, I thought the narrative was a little bit more coherent than last week's premiere. Of course part of the reason for that impression is that the storyline is further along.

Great use of Jimmi Simpson in this episode to give us a lot more background on the development of WestWorld. I do wonder how Dolores has retained some of her memories (a gift from Arnold?) from before she became the rancher's daughter. I also wonder if Dolores was actually in the 'real' world or was the series playing shenanigans with our perceptions. You can't taken anything for granted with a series like this one.

I loved all of the music in the episode. Repeating myself here, I realize - being a big fan of Person of Interest and Ramin Djawadi's work on that series; I've been really enjoying his efforts on this series. There was a particular sequence that felt like it something that would have been at home on PoI.

The opening classical music when Dolores comes online has been bugging me. I know it is something famous and I completely recognize the melody, but I can't seem to place the composer / title. (??)

A little bit of searching and listening to YouTube selections answered my above question: Rachmaninov - Prelude in C Minor.

- Walter.

 

[TonyD]

Yeah probably not Chopin

 

[Francois Caron]

I do wonder how Dolores has retained some of her memories (a gift from Arnold?)

When you delete a file on your computer, it only removes the directory reference to that file. Until the file is completely overwritten by other files, the original data is still partially there.

Maybe Dolores' OS is now locating and retrieving those file fragments, which would explain why she only sees fragments of her past lives.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

So what was the park in the cold open? Colonial World? India World? Jungle World? Interesting how both parks we've visited thus far are built around oppressive power structures.

My guess is that the Grace we met in the cold open, battling the tiger, is:

Spoiler: Speculation

William's daughter, Emily. She was mentioned by the Man in Black during the first season, and when she appears briefly at the Delos patriarch's retirement party, the young actress who played her was credited as "Young Emily." The distinction wouldn't be necessary unless we were going to meet "old" Emily at some point.

 

[Brian L]

So what was the park in the cold open? Colonial World? India World? Jungle World? Interesting how both parks we've visited thus far are built around oppressive power structures.

My guess is that the Grace we met in the cold open, battling the tiger, is:

Spoiler: Speculation

William's daughter, Emily. She was mentioned by the Man in Black during the first season, and when she appears briefly at the Delos patriarch's retirement party, the young actress who played her was credited as "Young Emily." The distinction wouldn't be necessary unless we were going to meet "old" Emily at some point.

The India themed park is called The Raj.

 

[Josh Dial]

The India themed park is called The Raj.

Yup. For those who may not know, check out http://delosdestinations.com/#experience for additional information. It's likely that the the other "glitched" park pages will be updated as they are revealed in the show.