Westworld Episode 10 Instant Take: “The Bicameral Mind”

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.

This show has basically become Battlestar Galactica circa 2005. But that’s not a bad thing !!!