Westworld Episode 10 Instant Take: “The Bicameral Mind”
Westworld Episode 10 Instant Take: “The Bicameral Mind”
Whether you loved seeing hosts buzzsaw through security or cringed at so many answers being crammed into a 90-minute gasp, Westworld episode 10: “The Bicameral Mind” thoroughly closed the loop on season 1.
This quick Instacast covers the season finale’s most pressing issues that just can’t wait for Tuesday’s Deep Dive podcast, including: Was Ford the hero all along? Do “Westworld” writers trust the audience enough? Do podcasts and blogs reduce enjoyment of the TV show? And is Logan still naked on a horse somewhere?
Send us your thoughts at hosts@shatontv.com. Bonus points if you talk about Samurai World.
Westworld Episode 10 Summary:
“The Bicameral Mind” The Man in Black presses Dolores about Wyatt’s whereabouts and the center of the maze, and reveals he is actually an aged William. Dolores then remembers Arnold’s order to kill him and destroy the park, and that she is actually Wyatt. She attempts fighting back, Teddy rescues her, and they flee to a distant beach. Dolores dies in Teddy’s arms, though that is revealed to be part of Ford’s narrative. During her escape from Westworld, Maeve-aided by Hector and Armistice-finds Bernard’s corpse, and Felix repairs him. Bernard warns Maeve that her desire to escape was programmed into her. Although Maeve-now alone-initially continues her escape, she has second thoughts and exits the imminently departing train to find her daughter. Back at Westworld, Ford tells Dolores and Bernard that he regretted his role in Arnold’s death, came to desire to free the hosts as well, and has spent the last 35 years preparing them to fight back. He then gives a speech in front of Charlotte, the Man in Black, and other guests, criticizing their handling of the park. Dolores then shoots and kills Ford while an army of reactivated hosts emerges from a nearby forest.
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Just listened to your podcast for the first time, wow way to much nerd rage going on except for the positive view guy (he speaks for us). Finale was great.
Who is “us?” Positive people? Non-nerds? Guys named Isaac?
P.S. My guilty mindless pleasure of the season one finale was Armistice’s bloodlust.
Why go through Bernard’s “suicide” in Episode 9, just to have Felix bring him back in this episode (not to mention the contrivance of the cortical shield deflecting a bullet from a gun that could supposedly have killed Dr. Ford, yet William/MiB was able to cut through Kissy’s skull with his knife, Maeve used an in-park gun to shoot one of Hector’s crew in the back of the head which blew off part of his face, the woodcutter bashed his head in with a rock, etc.)? Bernard’s temporary death didn’t really have a profound effect, either in terms of the “suffering” motif, or in terms of, in a way, reliving Arnold’s own death, and striking some sort of connection there between the android homage and the human archetype. IMO, there have been three weak episodes this season; unfortunately I think the season one finale was one of the three.
If anything, Episode 10 called into question for me if the androids can ever truly exhibit free will, or if they can only be mechanical reproductions of it, the perception and interpretation of it given to them by their creators or other masters (similar to pseudorandomness in a way). The locus of control this episode decidedly belonged to Dr. Ford, not Maeve, and not Delores, the latter two seemed to just be following new narratives rather than truly creating their own paths, although Maeve did get off the train; if we are to believe Bernard (and I don’t think we necessarily can), Maeve was supposed to take it to reach “the mainland”. Delores supposedly got in touch with her inner voice, yet it is an artificial inner voice, a programmed fabrication. At the end of the episode, Delores seemed as trapped as she ever did. Yes, she killed Dr. Ford, but it was dictated by her programming. As humans, we are products of our natures, environments, etc, but the androids seem even more limited/damned by their construction than humans.
I think there may be a division among the androids. Teddy and Bernard did not seem to be on-board with the shooting spree at the end. I see some of Animal Farm in Westworld, where (some of) the androids become just as bad, abusive, and power-hungry as (some of) the humans they are replacing. I also dislike that humans are so negatively portrayed (with the exception of Felix) as a blight, and also somewhat shallowly portrayed, which includes William/MiB, who should have been more complex. The only thing redeeming about humans in the Westworld story is apparently their deaths. In terms of substance, it’s the humans who are more like automatons in this story. I also had a very difficult time throughout the season believing that people would respond in real life as Felix and Sylvester did at different points in the story. No wonder they are named after cartoon characters.
Dr. Ford didn’t see the androids as deserving respectful treatment, chiding a tech when he had one of the androids clothed, just as the MiB treated them (obviously more violently so) like chattel devoid of self-determination. Yet by the end of the season, if anything, Dr. Ford and the MiB seemed to be on the same page, wanting the hosts to stop playing by others rules, yet the hosts can only exist by the rules that govern their existence. Stating that there are no rules is in fact a rule.
For the most part I enjoyed season one, and I will definitely continue on into season two, but I didn’t find the season one finale to be compelling.
Great thoughts, David! Would you mind if we considered this post for Thursday’s “Westworld Telegraph”?
I have no objection if you decide to use it. Keep up the great conversations.
I still don’t get how MIB knows all the stuff about arnold and the mace?
And how many narrativs did ford make? The Escape, the “morbid” one, the one for the hosts in the end?
How and when was teddys backstory altered?
???
MiB owns the park, so he would presumably have immense knowledge of it. As for narratives, they’re continually being created and updated. As we saw on Arnold’s tablet, they’re not terribly complex. The programmer seems to just set key benchmarks and allows the host to improvise on his/her path to reach them.
As for Teddy’s backstory, there are a few opportunities shown on screen. Primarily, he’s abducted by the beasties in the hills. Also, Ford meets Teddy and MiB in the bar and seems to verbally or musically tinker with Teddy.
I haven’t listened to the finale podcast yet. BUT, very good finale!!! I have the same questions just as Matt above. So with that said, I now believe the host Ford was making underneath the cottage was of himself. Why would he have the host kill all those board members (along with Delores killing “him”) and not have a backup plan when the whole park is going to shit? And the aftermath when the host leave the park? Ford wouldn’t let that happen. He had time to prepare after Charlotte told him what he is going to do (nobody tells Ford what to do). Or matter of fact, he saw this coming the whole time. Hence the host being made underneath the cottage. Btw, I believe Ford was human when talking to Charlotte in his office. I think he has a host clone. Also, what is up with the FLIES? A fly made an apperance! Saw one land on the snake girl in the body shop and then she awoken. And Will is the MIB!!!!!
Has someone thought about or mentioned whether the Delos execs getting murdered is a ploy to replace those people with host look a likes in the real world so the hosts can take over the real world by controlling such a huge corporation?
Could be. We played with the idea a few weeks ago, based on what we saw in the movie “Futureworld.”
This show has basically become Battlestar Galactica circa 2005. But that’s not a bad thing !!!
Are we rooting for the Cylons this time?
And they have a Plan !
Ep 10 closed the loop . . . somewhat. But left a lot of ways to go in Season 2 – e.g.: whatever happened to Logan? Did Abernathy make it out? Will all “awake” hosts get along or conflict? Maeve has control – is she more powerful than other sentient hosts? Is Sylvester still staying put in lab area? Who repairs the hosts now – Felix? Bernard? Yes – but what about what about Samurai World? And where the heck are these “worlds” located – did someone say an island? MIB got his wish – now what? Was Ford making a host of himself in the lab under his family cottage? Will MIB and Dolores rekindle their long lost love? Seemed that Angela might be awake in Ep. 9 – how does she fit into this? Will some hosts ally with guests/humans? Just a few thoughts
Matt – excellent questions!!!