HBO Max Westworld Season 4 (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

Highlight of tonight's episode for me was the Prohibition-era cover of "Enter Sandman".

Is the Sublime somehow connected to the Internet? If not, even accepting the idea that all humans are ultimately completely predictable, I can't see how it could predict events years after it was cut off from the real world down to specific interactions and specific conversations. Even if human behavior is predictable, natural forces aren't.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Highlight of tonight's episode for me was the Prohibition-era cover of "Enter Sandman".

Immediately it sounded familiar but it took me a few moments to identify the song. I put the lyrics to the movement and then it popped into my head. The series and composer Dajwadi consistently deliver very engaging covers and this episode's song lived up to that standard.

I really enjoyed seeing Bernard and Stubbs again. A little uncertain how I feel about his 'Doctor Strange - "To see all possible outcomes of the coming conflict" plot line, but I'll go with it. At the moment, Bernard's storyline and his newfound allies are probably (for me) the most intriguing story element. Also worth noting is the variety of desert vehicles employed in this segment of the episode. Particularly liked the vehicle that conveyed Bernard and Stubbs to the rendezvous. "Were you going to tell me about the killer laser?"

The whole sequence with Frankie and Caleb felt a bit contrived. Was there a host version of Frankie present in the lab just 'on ice' awaiting the appearance of Caleb and Maeve? Just felt like an attempt to manipulate the viewer when there were more logical and credible ways to trap Caleb.

I enjoyed this episode more than episode two, so that is a step in the right direction.

- Walter.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I've now watched ep 2 & 3 and unfortunately am bored with it now, the basic storyline is Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Every scene seems to be in slow motion and the narrative is very disjointed. The acting and effects are good but who cares about any of the characters, which must be a requirement for any successful show. I note that Westworld hasn't been renewed or cancelled but we must surely be nearer the end than the beginning.

 

[Josh Dial]

I really liked episode 3. I would put it up there with the best of the series so far. This continues to be the best "black box" show on TV.

Given the sequencing of the scenes (a Caleb scene always preceded a scene with Bernard, Stubbs, and the new character), is the show hinting that the new female paramilitary character is Caleb's daughter aged up, or perhaps even his granddaughter?

The tree growth at the now abandoned motel room could imply more than 7-10 years have passed in the Bernard/Stubbs time frame. Perhaps it's been decades?

What's beneath the sand? Is it Solomon? That was out in White Sands, right? Perhaps it's Rehoboam, and the desert is actually San Francisco (there's a warning sign about a contaminated area by the laser fence)!

 

[Walter Kittel]

Given the sequencing of the scenes (a Caleb scene always preceded a scene with Bernard, Stubbs, and the new character), is the show hinting that the new female paramilitary character is Caleb's daughter aged up, or perhaps even his granddaughter?

Now that is an interesting thought. The series certainly like to keep viewers off balance via temporal manipulation of the storyline; so yeah, that sounds just about right.

The weapon referenced by Bernard might be Solomon. I believe it was locked away in a facility in Mexico. That would fit the terrain in which we see Bernard and Stubbs.

- Walter.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I’m not 100% sure that I’m following everything that the show intends us to be able to follow at this moment. I know part of that is on me for not rewatching the earlier seasons prior to beginning this one, but I also kinda think that’s an absurd requirement. (If you want to rewatch it, that shouldn’t be discouraged either.) The problem with the absurdly long breaks this show takes is that they’re expecting me to have perfect recall of things I saw 6 years ago and that’s a stretch. I wish the recaps before each episode were a little more expansive; I don’t really need to see everything again, a few more seconds of catch up here and there would work wonders.

That being said, I’m having more fun watching this season than any of them since the first one, so that’s something.

I almost wish there was a button on the HBO Max app like the X-ray function on Amazon Prime, but instead of naming the actors, it would say “yes, you’re supposed to remember this character from 2016” or “no, you’ve never seen this person before.”

 

[Josh Dial]

I know part of that is on me for not rewatching the earlier seasons prior to beginning this one, but I also kinda think that’s an absurd requirement. (If you want to rewatch it, that shouldn’t be discouraged either.)

Total agreement. A full re-watch shouldn't be required.

That said, I've granted Westworld my rare "re-watch required" privilege. I do a full re-watch before each season. This allowance has been suspended since LOST and BSG (and I probably should have invoked it for The Leftovers).

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Total agreement. A full re-watch shouldn't be required.

In my pre-parenthood days, I’d make a point of rewatching a past season of a cherished show before embarking on the next set of new episodes. But if I tried to do that now, I’d never get to anything new. I don’t mind having less TV time but that’s just how it goes. I don’t get to review disc for HTF nearly as often as I’d like - it turns out it’s far easier to find five minutes here and there to keep up with the conversation than it is to put consecutive hours into critical viewing.

I don’t think I’m actually that lost on Westworld, it’s just the structure of the show as a mystery makes me think more often than not, “I’m not supposed to know this, right?”

I’m loving the direction, the visual design, and the atmospherics of this season. It’s been a lot of fun to tune in these past three weeks. I noticed this episode was directed by Hanelle Culpepper, who I think has both a wonderful eye and a great ability to pull nuanced performances from actors.

 

[TravisR]

In my pre-parenthood days, I’d make a point of rewatching a past season of a cherished show before embarking on the next set of new episodes.

It's been a long time since I've really been able to rewatch a show before new episodes but I did it with Better Call Saul this year. I don't want to say that BCS requires a rewatch but the writers definitely trust that their audience is smart and pays attention to & knows the details sometimes from a decade ago if something harkens back to Breaking Bad.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I fell off the Better Call Saul wagon midway through season 2 and I’d like to finally finish it up, but if I have to rewatch seasons 1 and 2 before moving forward, that’s a huge obstacle for me at the moment. One day…

 

[Walter Kittel]

Couple of followup thoughts on my last post...

Since no one really "dies" in Westworld could the young woman with Bernard and Stubbs be a reconstituted version of Maeve's daughter? (I know that she was "killed" by the MiB, but is she really, really gone?)

Considering the plot at the heart of Person of Interest, two highly advanced A.I.s fighting a proxy war; this reinforces, in my mind, that the weapon to which Bernard refers is Solomon.

- Walter.

 

[Josh Dial]

Since no one really "dies" in Westworld could the young woman with Bernard and Stubbs be a reconstituted version of Maeve's daughter? (I know that she was "killed" by the MiB, but is she really, really gone?)

It's certainly possible (indeed, pretty much everything is possible in this show!), but it would require someone to print and "age up" the daughter's host body, which would be unprecedented.

Also, the daughter didn't die. She and "new Maeve" made it into the Sublime at the end of season 2. As far as we know, with the exception of Delores, Maeve, Clementine, Hanaryo, Bernard, and Stubbs, all the previous hosts' consciousnesses are still only in the Sublime, right (there may be a few other hosts' pearls that, like those of Clementine, Hanaryo, and Hector, were retrieved in the real world and moved off-site)? Though that inference comes from Bernard, who we know isn't the most reliable of narrators. So that would require another unprecedented notion of copying/moving a host's consciousness out of the Sublime and into a host body in the real world.

That all said, where is the data coming from for the new hosts in the 1920s (prohibition) Westworld? Did they re-make the hosts' personalities from scratch?

 

[Jeff Cooper]

Ok, someone please catch me up on what the hell Solomon is? I don't recall that from memory.

Also, in addition to Enter Sandman, when they first go into the bar in the new Westworld, there is a cover of Billie Eilsh's 'Bad Guy' playing on the piano.

 

[Walter Kittel]

There were at least four iterations of A.I. systems created by Serac and Dempsey. Their names were Saul, David, Solomon, and Rehoboam. (Four of the first kings of Israel.) Solomon was the precursor to Rehoboam (the quantum computer A.I. featured prominently in season three.) While Solomon's prediction capabilities showed great promise, it was ultimately deemed too unreliable and the system's code was the starting point for the design / creation of Rehoboam.

Solomon was not shut down, it was tasked with locating outliers for Serac. In season three, Dolores enlisted Solomon's assistance in taking down Serac.

- Walter.

 

[Citizen87645]

I'm enjoying the season so far. In one of the featurettes, Evan Rachel Wood specifically says

Spoiler

Christina is a human. But I'm not sure how much to trust that.

 

[Brian L]

I have no idea if WestworldGifs is approved by the Westworld creators, but, well, there you have it. Just posted on Twitter.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

Holy shit!

 

[Josh Dial]

Holy shit!

Yes! Episode 4 had more "answers" at one time than any episode I can remember.

Lots of new questions, though. For example, is Christina's time frame happening at the same as the Bernard/Stubbs/C story? It's possible that it's happening after the Bernard story, because someone had to have printed Teddy's body.

Perhaps Bernard and crew, after finding the "weapon" (Maeve), then start printing new bodies for the old allies, including Teddy, and somehow have accessed their consciousnesses in the Sublime, downloaded them, and placed them into the new bodies. Are they using Teddy to "wake" Christina? If this is the case, then one would think there is at least a bit of time between Bernard and crew's time frame, and Christina's time frame.

 

[Citizen87645]

Probably the most straightforward episode in a long time, or ever.

Spoiler

My main wondering is how the freedom fighters like C/Frankie avoided infection or were cured of it.

 

[Brian L]

Yes! Episode 4 had more "answers" at one time than any episode I can remember.

Lots of new questions, though. For example, is Christina's time frame happening at the same as the Bernard/Stubbs/C story? It's possible that it's happening after the Bernard story, because someone had to have printed Teddy's body.

Perhaps Bernard and crew, after finding the "weapon" (Maeve), then start printing new bodies for the old allies, including Teddy, and somehow have accessed their consciousnesses in the Sublime, downloaded them, and placed them into the new bodies. Are they using Teddy to "wake" Christina? If this is the case, then one would think there is at least a bit of time between Bernard and crew's time frame, and Christina's time frame.

Spoiler: My WAG at to where we are...most assuredly wrong

I'll go with Christina's time line being before the now merged Bernard/Stubbs/Halores/Calebtime time line.

She would have no reason to create paintings of a mysterious tower if it already existed. Then again, perhaps the population which is now under total Halores control is programmed for a "that doesn't look like anything to me" response when they actually see the tower? For now I am sticking with her time line being perhaps in a time period where Haloes is beginning to assert control, and is testing things out, but it is not yet total.

Spoiler: Spoiler2

I just read one episode recap posit that Christina is in the same time line as everyone else due to her clear phone.