With the impending end of Game of Thrones looming ahead of us, we will soon be facing a potential void in our hour-long drama series that are crack-like addictive. I know what you are thinking: “But Chloë, Homeland, Black Sails, Black Mirror, etc, more than fill those needs. The problem is, I don’t walk into work and hear people talking about them nor do I log into Facebook and worry about people spoiling them. There are so many excellent drama series on premium channels but they lack the uniting power of widespread obsession. Oh sure, The Walking Dead has very arguably been a contender for the Game of Thrones…throne. (Hell, it has its own convention.) But the series has been on even longer than Game of Thrones. Theoretically, it shouldn’t last too much longer after it.
Then there are the Netflix series. With impressive offerings such as Daredevil, House of Cards, and now especially Stranger Things, Netflix has a very strong hand in the drama series game. There is a huge difference though. Netflix series are designed to be binged watched. Instead of waiting every week for a new episode to come out for a couple of months, we wait an entire year and see all of the episodes at once. It’s a very fun way to watch things, but at the same time, eliminates the anticipation between episodes that a more traditional television platform provides.
HBO, not wanting to lose steam to Netflix nor AMC, is well aware that they need to come up with a new crack-like series fast. And Westworld seems to be the solution they offer.
Westworld, based on the 1973 science fiction film written and direction by Michael Crichton, takes place in the near future in which the wealthy could pay to play in a realistic old-western themed amusement park. However, instead of actors, the patrons of the park are entertained by exceptionally realistic androids called “hosts” who are programed into certain roles and, for the most part, have no idea they are even not real humans living in the old west. Patrons are aloud to do whatever they want to the hosts, including sexual services, rape, and murder. Needless to say, some patrons of the park have very sick ways of amusing themselves.
The trouble begins in episode one, ‘The Original’ when a host does something that is outside of their programming, known as “glitching”. Unlike most stories about AI, such irregularities are highly anticipated and quickly dealt with by a human staff. I am very delighted to see Sir Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Ford, the creative director of the park who may be just a little bit too sympathetic to the hosts’ plight. The narrative of the first episode centers around an interrogation of Dolores (Evan Rachael Wood), a host who is programmed to eternally play the optimistic heroine archetype of Westworld. Throughout the episode, we see the repetition of her programmed “life” and how she and every other host is forever cycling through a repeated storyline. I enjoyed memorizing not just her patterns, but that all of the background characters. It reminds me of playing all of my favorite wide open sandbox style video games…and in turn makes me feel guilty for when I’m occasionally evil to the NPCs.
Episode two, ‘Chestnut’, gives us more of a viewpoint from a guests perspective as we follow veteran guest Logan (Ben Barnes) and newcomer William (Jimmy Simpson) as they enter the theme park. I enjoyed the stark contrast of the two characters approach to how to interact within the theme park. Also, we see from the perspective of Maeve (Thandie Newton), a host who is the madame of the brothel and more of a minor character in the first episode. Much like Dolores, Maeve has much more to her then her programmed role as she starts recovering memories from a previous character she played. This episode definitely establishes that this will be an amazing ensemble series and we will have plenty more developments from other seemingly minor characters. The current cast is already impressive and also includes James Marsden, Ed Harris, and Jeffery Wright.
I also want to give a brief but enthusiastic shout out to the soundtrack. Without too many spoilers, I’ll advise you to keep an open ear for some songs you may recognize coming from the pianola. I really hope this soundtrack will be available soon after the season ends.
Ultimately, Westworld isn’t crack. It is nicotine. It hooks subtly, but it will hook you, nonetheless. I predict this series will have a slow build up but reward us with a much more rewarding payoff than many of its kind. From just two episodes, I have every confidence that Westward will more than ease the pain of Game of Thrones‘ imminent departure. Check it out on HBO Sunday nights or on HBO Go.
