The Westworld Rabbit Hole

Published November 17, 2016 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hi guys,

First time listener, first time caller. Enjoyed this weeks episode and looking forward to the last 3. I have some thoughts/observations relating to Jordan’s submission from last week, about Westworld not being on Earth. I’m also not convinced that it is, and was surprised to hear you guys shrug it off the way you did, so I figured I’d chime in. (Disclaimer: I’m not familiar with the outside of the show’ factors you were referring to, so if those are iron clad, don’t bother to read this)

I recently rewatched episode 2, and something stood out out to me during the scene where Maeve wakes up on Felix’s table for the first time, with the open wound, and runs around Mesa Gold for a minute or so with her guts spilling out before being sedated by Felix and Sydney.

She stumbles down a hallway or two, then up one of the escalators that we see her ride with felix in episode 6 (its turned off). Then, she walks through a door, out into a cavernous area with rock walls (presumably deep down within Mesa Gold):

Then through another set of doors, where she sees Teddy being hosed and the surgeons’ catch up to her and knock her out. The outdoor’ area sounds windy and there are some industrial/mechanical sounds in the background. Both doors make a loud, airlock (or AC seal) kind of sound when she walks through them, especially the 2nd. Here’s the scene, linked to the moment when she walks through he first door:

This stood out to me. I hadn’t seriously considered Westword in Space’ before seeing it for the 3rd time. After she pauses for a moment and looks around in pain and shock, she breaks for the other set of doors like she needs to get back inside (maybe a reach). It even seems like she’s catching her breath once she gets inside (maybe more of a reach). What I can’t get over is the sounds, of both the doors and the outside. They are loud – that is one intense fucking seal. It feels hey are definitely emphasized in the sound mix.

After discovering this, I did my due diligence and there are a few other indicators out there that Westworld isn’t on earth as we know it, and if it is, it’s set in a time where space travel is a thing and/or a lot of nuclear bombs have gone off:

28 day maximum stay in Westworld for your safety’
In episode 6, when Maeve asks why she was only a 14/20 in Bulk Apperception, Sydney says You run a brother, not an orbital launch facility.’ Maybe he just reads a lot of sci fi, but still an interesting choice by the writers.
Required Decompression’ period after leaving Westworld. Heres what Aeden the robot on discoverwestworld.com<http://discoverwestworld.com> has to say about said decompression:

YOU: HOW LONG CAN I STAY IN WESTWORLD? AEDEN: For your own safety, the maximum length of stay at Westworld is 28 days, after which guests decompress in The Mesa Gold. AEDEN: The standard stay at The Mesa Gold is one week, although you can extend your stay up to four weeks. Which would you like to know more about? YOU: WHAT IS THE MESA GOLD?
AEDEN: Before you leave Westworld, you’ll visit the world’s finest decompression chamber: the Mesa Gold. At the conclusion of your stay, begin the process of dipping your toe back into the real world

A decompression chamber is another word for a hyperbaric chamber: https://www.britannica.com/topic/hyperbaric-chamber. Decompression sickness aka the bends = “physiological effects of the formation of gas bubbles in the body because of rapid transition from a high-pressure environment to one of lower pressure. Pilots of unpressurized aircraft, underwater divers, and caisson workers are highly susceptible to the sickness because their activities subject them to pressures different from the normal atmospheric pressure experienced on land.

Then of course theres all the stuff about staffing rotations, cell signal, etc. that Jordan mentioned last week.

TL;DR Westworld isn’t definitely in space, but hard to dismiss the idea that Westworld isn’t on earth as we know it.

This is obviously much longer than the other submissions. I just had to get it down on paper and you are the the unlucky recipients. Feel free to edit it how you please if you choose to talk it out.

Again, dig the pod!
Nick D.

P.S. You might be saying, But Maeve not being able to breathe outside’ contradicts Nolan’s comments about the hosts not needing oxygen.’ …But the hosts are made to look and feel real, and you know some sicko Westworld guests wouldn’t stand for hosts they can’t choke out. Remember Maeve got herself choked out to get back to Felix?

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