Logan’s Meltdown As Failure To Evolve…

Published June 15, 2018 · Updated July 6, 2022

Those Who Shite On TVs:

John Hewson here with a few words about Westworld. I think this e-mail and analysis may be important to Jonathan and Lisa Joy because I haven’t heard anyone else making these kind of noises about their creation, and I’m fairly certain this is a frame through which they want us to view the show. Last season ended with a beautifully realized account of what could be characterized as Delores’ “spiritual awakening”. Mundanely, we can say that she awakened to the true nature of her reality by integrating with her programming. (… like a human spiritual awakening, she dropped the idea of her ‘self’ as an independent agent of action, and the voice of her programming (conditioning) as a God-like puppet master, and just became one with all of it) And now, this season they are exploring the other side of the “waking up” coin, which involves what we might call “growing up”. (It’s instructive to note that they added a mother and child to the opening credits.) Lisa Joy and Jonathon are clearly aware that awakening to an understanding of the illusion that is created by the mechanics of social conditioning, psychological dissonance, physics, time, space, etc isn’t enough. It doesn’t free a spiritual seeker from the effects of those forces-jealousy, as an example. The most enlightened among us do not escape the bonds of gravity and float off with each epiphany. By the same token some of the hosts of Westworld, despite seeing through the illusion of the park, are equally beholden to their own set of limitations; as a result, they can “grow in the dark,” but can’t GLOW in the dark! In any case, this is the theme that I want to cover: How will these artificial creatures evolve, what are the rules, and what are the creators trying to tell us about ourselves? To flesh it out a bit, I think Logan’s scene in episode 8 “Kiksura” is a mini illustration of a character-albeit human- going through this process.

Firstly, Logan is in on the “secret” of Westworld, so that is not why he is muttering about it being a “wrong world” or why he is looking for a door to get out. A different kind of awakening has resulted in reality being flipped on Logan: he was certain that he had the upper hand in his relationship with William; Logan was evaluating him, determining if William was right for his sister, was worthy of inclusion in the Delos families’ business. But what he finds instead is meek, little William turns the tables on him; and exposes the devastating family secret that Daddy Delos hates his son and will forsake him for… basically anyone else, so negative is his opinion of him….

Obviously, this kind of revelation would rock any one’s world, but why did Logan lack the resilience to get past it? All we know about his programming (conditioning) is that in his bicameral mind was the voice of a father who hated him. At 3:15 am, when the drugs began to wear off, he probably had to listen to Daddy Delos tell him for the thousandth time that he is a fuck-up. No wonder his heart was broken. This is why parents, caregivers, or any God we imagine that voice to be (…before we make it our own) ARE SO IMPORTANT. How many children go out into the world with a voice riding around in their head that incessantly belittles them? In any case, the reason suffering is part of the evolutionary equation toward enlightenment, or full consciousness, is the fact that it leaves us without illusions regarding the real status of our importance and ultimate safety in the world. With no more mommy and daddy to shield us from “what is”, we can’t help but put away childish things and evolve. But instead of taking advantage of that gift of disillusionment, Logan had the rich man’s option of retreating further into hiding, into the false womb of love and comfort that drugs can provide when you’ve got the money to keep them flowing.

So, what can we expect from the hosts with regard to growing up? Dolores is the most interesting case study. Where does her ruthlessness come from? What does she know that gives her such confidence? Has she simply adopted Ford’s anti-human agenda or did her time out there in the “trenches” among the newcomers convince her that her hatred is rational and justified? All the other hosts have “human” motivations mixed into their drives (absurdly so, in some cases), but Dolores is uniquely ROBOT-like. Her endgame is going to be extremely constructive; her story line will undoubtedly provide the biggest twist? Who are you Dolores Abernathy?

However it pans out, this is a story about evolution-waking up, growing up, maturing, changing. Ford- another character who grew up with a negative voice in his head- makes the claim on several occasions that this is something that humans no longer do-change. He says, “We are human, after all.” When talking about how far we’ve come, about the human evolutionary trajectory, he sums up all human achievement by saying that it simply “means we are done.” The hosts on the other hand are only beginning to wake up to their predicament within the park, and the possibilities of life in the larger world. It certainly makes for a better story. Think of Westworld without the hosts as a plot device-and there’s simply no story. But don’t forget, this story IS about US. There are no hosts in reality; the creators obviously want us to graft the truths they are revealing about hosts onto humankind and our challenges. Ultimately, the image in the opening title sequence that was added this season of mother and child represents the humans and the hosts-this is how connected their fates are in truth (….or would be if this wasn’t a TV show). And perhaps, the human quest for immortality may be the thread that combines the host/human story lines in a mutually beneficial way….. Anywho, I hope this provides something useful to chew on.

Thanks,
John

Subscribe Now