Best Plot Device

Published June 24, 2018 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey guys,

First, thanks for reading my email on the air and all the nice things you said I was happy to hear you agreed!

I had a quick thought after watching the finale. A bunch of long ass thoughts too, but I’ll stick to this short one for now.

Westworld has just created one of the most brilliant in-world justifications for any wild plot turn or twist they might take and any incredibly unlikely events that occur from here on out in the series. And that’s obviously perfect for a show like westworld that is picked apart for plot holes and verisimilitude, however you pronounce it.

Dolores has read enough “books” to be able to predict behavior to a weapons grade degree. And she explains that most simulated paths she could play out with that knowledge end in the hosts’ failure. She doesn’t come right out and say it, but she implies obviously that there are a few statistically improbable courses of events that lead to their success. Which means that in season 3, and onward, no matter what happens, it is completely believable in-world because an improbable story of hosts defeating astronomical odds through incredible foresight is exactly the world they’ve written. It’s perfect. Any any close dissection of further plot points just finds itself in, well, a loop.

– Shane Doyle

P.S. Of course, love the podcast!

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