Thoughts On Westworld

Published May 7, 2018 · Updated July 6, 2022

Howdy, gents,

Before I get to some thoughts on Westworld, I have to acknowledge that the return of ShatOnTV Westworld Edition has been at least as wonderful as the show’s new season. I am always excited to hear your discussions, and am glad to offer my own contribution, however minor or off it may be.

One scene which struck me especially in episode 2.3 (one which you didn’t discuss in your initial response) was the conversation between Sizemore and Hector. It strikes me as significant that Hector tells Sizemore that it is precisely because he can love Maeve and not Isabella, whom Sizemore programmed him to love, that he is truly real. This seems to contrast quite directly with Maeve and Delores, both of whom are showing love for hosts they were programmed to love. Maeve’s daughter and Delores’ father are both roles in the park, not actual relationships in the traditional sense. Yet, for Hector, it is because he has been able to choose not to love the character in his story, but instead Maeve, suggests some deep ramifications.

Consider Delores and Peter Abernathy. What happens if she comes to realize that this host was not the only one to be play that part, and that her emotions are linked to a fictional character who is only embodied in a certain host? Indeed, the identity as Peter Abernathy, is a narrative that shows him as a slave. If Delores comes to understand that her relationship, her love, is a lie, what will happen to her? It seems like she may have some sense of this, considering her conversations with Bernard, but I am not certain that she understands, yet, the real ramifications of her still feeling love towards Peter as her Father.

Similarly, I suspect that Maeve may be in for a shock of her own. I have been considering, since the first episode of the season, Sizemore’s comment that Maeve’s daughter isn’t “real”, and the focus on the pregnancy questions made me consider things. If you look back on episode 1.8 (Trace Decay), the Man in Black stabs Maeve in her chest. Suppose that Maeve;s memories are faulty, as she was damaged and should not even be able to recall her past life at all. Imagine that Meave’s story at the time, as a homesteader’s wife, was that she was pregnant. The stabbing could be directed at her womb, making her feel the child dying inside her. Of course, she had no real child, it was merely a prosthetic and some false memories/dreams, but her experience of it made her feel that she lost something real. Considering the difference between her love, and Hector’s choice to love, it suggests that, while this might not be the real solution, something is coming to make Maeve reconsider what it means to love anyone, when the love she has been choosing to hunt down is one she was programmed to feel by those she now sees as he enemies.

Also, a quick thought on Seven Nation Army: six parks + one human faction, equals seven. Might be a bit early, but perhaps the parks will unite into one force, along with human sympathizers?

Other thoughts will have to wait, need to run. Really love the podcast. Wish all of you well, and have to say I appreciate the inclusion of a new perspective, especially one that is female,

TTFN,

Will

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