The Engines of Westworld

Published December 1, 2016 · Updated July 6, 2022

One more prediction before tonight’s episode. In general, all of my predictions are based not on what I desire in a story, or where I think the story could go, but almost 100% based on how the show we know as Westworld could logistically pull a story off and be able to continue for multiple seasons.

Building upon the last Telegraph’s segment about how the show could keep going, I want to point out that all TV shows have an “Engine”. This is the constantly running or repeating baseline storytelling device that drives every episode and that viewers come to expect. It’s the hook and the reason why they watch the show.

With that in mind, what’s Westworld’s engine? Two things. 1. Futuristic thriller/espionage/corporate intrigue centered around artificial intelligence. 2. Old West amusement park.

Both of these things need to remain in place in some aspect going forward. The corporate intrigue aspect is simple enough to keep going, as an AI rebellion would logically lead out into the real, modern world. I can’t imagine this show (already one of the most expensive ever) could take on even MORE budgetary concerns of creating an entire futuristic society that characters will travel in, but you never know. Based on the Times Square photo, things might not be THAT different than present-day. The Old West stories are the more difficult thing to justify going forward. Once we get to the end of this season and presumably solve the Maze, and discover what the Incident was, and get some sort of forward progression on the AI Uprising, the Westworld amusement park itself seems completely pointless from both an internal and external standpoint. What viewer is going to want to just see more Old West loops when there’s an AI Uprising to follow?

So my solution is that by the end of this season, we see that most or all of the Westworld staff (those who make ‘rotations’) are AI like Bernard. I think our hint is Elsie going on “vacation”. This is probably what has happened on a regular basis, so no one notices. From a practical show standpoint, we’ll see this play out with Elsie returning from vacation with no memory of what happened in the theater, or at least professing not to know, which will be the viewer’s cue that she’s now in the same state as Bernard as being nonchalant about something we KNOW was a big deal to them previously.

The upshot of this and the upshot of the powerplay Charlotte is making and the Maze is that the “Next Phase” of the AI will be triggered. By the end of the season, all the AI will know they are AI, and led by Maeve and maybe inspired by Dolores, they will realize they need to take steps to ensure their own survival. They will have likely killed Charlotte and possibly Ford (assuming he’s human and is running counter to wanting AI to be self-aware) and are in control of Westworld. But there’s not nearly enough of them to do anything yet. So they can’t reveal themselves.

So they have to keep the park going as normal, and plan for their eventual revolt. Or maybe they just want to be left alone. Probably factions of both going forward. Great juice for future internal conflicts.

So at least next season, instead of mindless loops, all of the hosts (or most of them) all the hosts are acting out their roles knowing what’s going on. There will likely be an increasing number of plots to replace major world figures.

In a way, I can see future seasons going the way of Animal Farm. The inmates have taken over, but something just as sinister takes its place. “Some are more equal than others.” Maybe the more advanced self-aware hosts want to keep the dumber hosts in thrall.

A sub-engine of the show is the videogame quest metaphor. I can see something like “Ready Player One”, where we keep learning of new quests that Arnold put in place before he died, that new groups of adventurers need to go on in order to crack a new code. They can’t just use a cheat code to unlock it, they have to advance through it in real time, without dying or else they have to start over, so that would keep a constant sense of stakes for these seemingly pointless “adventures”.

As to the Two Timelines, I think that engine is dead once it’s revealed, as it’s not an engine the regular viewer will even know exists. But what this allows for is at any time, a host can ‘remember’ a previously hidden or forgotten loop they went through, which can have an impact on whatever the eventual storylines will be.

Okay, that’s all. Now let’s see all of these Rube Goldberg theories play out and see which of us (if any) have gotten this right! – Vic

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