Telegraph WW – Some Fears As We Move Into Season 3

Published June 27, 2018 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hi Shat on Tv team,

This is my first time writing, and first of all I wanted to congratulate you on the WW podcast. Having sampled a few, I can say this one is the best I’ve heard, both in terms of quality of analysis as well as overall engagement. I also think the structure you’ve set up works very smoothly.

On to WW:
I for one have been positively surprised by season 2. While it’s subpar vs. season 1, I think it’s an 8 pt season (vs. s01 being a 10). And personally, I had lower expectations. However, towards the end of the season, my worries about s 3-5 continue to not only exist, but are even bigger now.

Deep down, I think that Nolan/Joy are stuck in a never ending escalation game vs Reddit/the Internet. As you guys have rightly pointed out, WW has become a show about the mysteries. And although I believe Joy/Nolan have been quite effective at this game in s2, they’ve had to use certain strategies which ultimately conspire against the show’s long term health in my view.

In my mind, they’ve applied what I call a “shift pace strategy”. What I mean by this is that they constantly change the shows pace. Not only in its most literal interpretation (Bernard’s jumbled memory), but also in the subtext: they create mysteries where we were not expecting them (ep4), they answer too many/too quick when we could have waited for more (ep7). There are plenty of examples of this narrative approach, which I think ultimamtely served the purpose of (successfully) preserving mysteries while setting this show apart from its peer group.

The problem is this strategy comes with two costs: i) clarity issues ii) damaging the emotional connection. Personally I can live with the first (though I agree that Joy coming out explaining the MIB post credit scene felt as being “half pregnant”). However, the gap in emotional links can become a long term issue. Emotional bonds of any nature require continuity to thrive. Yet this continuity was shattered throughout s2. It’s very hard to build emotional rapport with characters where their circumstances (their “when and where”) are unclear and their reliability as narrators is put under question.

Moving into s3, I believe Joy/Nolan are flirting with an even more dangerous approach that buys themselves “manouvering space” which is unclear rules. You have pointed this out in many occassions (“What does it take to kill a host?”). While this gives them a “fighting chance” against the Reddit AI (which gets smarter every season). This strategy can be fatal given that it not only further contributes to damaging emotional conmections (Should I care that Maeve died?), but it can also potentially destroy “suspension of disbelief”, which for those that suffer this, will mean game over.

I want to close this on a positive note. I believe WW as a show is in a league of its own. These have been, hands down, 2 amazing seasons of content, filmmaking and acting. It is something that I for one will not lose from sight. While the road ahead may be bumpy, this show provides (to me) a degree of excitement and entertainment that I find unparalleled.

Congrats again on the great podcast.
Santiago

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