Stem Cells, Organs, Skin, Nerve Cells, and Tissues

Published October 22, 2016 · Updated July 6, 2022

Love the thought provoking nature of this show and the ideas you guys bring up. One thing I’ve noticed of all the reviews and analysis I watch is that many considered the “Hosts” to be robots or androids…I initially thought of them the same way…that they are just more realistic life size versions of NPC’s in a video game. It’s not quite as disturbing to see the guests maim, kill or abuse the hosts if they are unfeeling mechanical devices. One of the themes of Westworld is making correlations to violent video games and it’s possible affect on people who play them.

I think however the creators of Westworld have a more disturbing idea in mind…. that the hosts are not constructed mechanical devices but are really living beings that are grown from stem cells…The milk reference with the host Walter when he says “…the milk is not for you…” when talking to the frightened guests and “….You’re a growing boy…” when he pours in the mouth of dead host implies that the “milk” bath we see in the opening credits is a solution of stem cells that grow organs, skin, nerve cells and other tissues.

For all intents and purposes they are alive except for the limits placed on the brain connection. It’s possible that when we see the prospector stabbed in the hand his screams of pain are real and not programmed. The hosts are not fully capable of thinking as we do yet, but it’s horrifying to think they can really feel pain if all the autonomic senses are real…you could say they’re like lab animals used for testing….they aren’t human but they still get hurt…then patch them up and do it again over and over.

ps: The flashback to young Anthony Hopkins in ep 3 show the early days of the project when the hosts were more mechanical as does the scene when Hopkins talks to the “animatronic” Bill….they advanced way beyond that…the 3D printer would also be using a stem cell type growth medium as would the scene showing the eyeball being injected with the milky solution then converted to the type of cell needed for that particular organ. – I. C. Spotz

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