Westworld Episode 2 Review: “Reunion”
Westworld Episode 2 Review: “Reunion”
Don’t have time for the Westworld Deep Dive this week? Fast forward start to 55:25 for our most ambitious explanation of how Westworld came to be.
Big D won’t call it a theory. It’s at least a hypothesis.
Also on this supersized Deep Dive, we’ll outline all the time frames you saw on Episode 2 “Reunion” and chip away at Dolores’ secret weapon.
Roger treats us to a brain-blasting religious sermon, and Gene takes bets on which characters will succeed or fail
And finally, Big D introduces the thought process that made us question reality, stumble upon a massive realization, then completely lose our composure.
Westworld Episode 2 Summary:
“Reunion” In a flashback, Arnold organizes a demonstration of the hosts to convince Logan to invest in Westworld. Logan’s father, James Delos, is critical of his son’s actions until William persuades him that the park can be used to spy on the guests. James proceeds to buy out the park and name William as his successor. Dolores encounters an embittered Logan, who tells her that they have doomed humanity. William shows her a special project that he is constructing within the park. In the present day, Dolores raids a refurbishment outpost and shows Teddy his true nature as a host. She then decides to recruit the Confederados to her cause and reveals she is searching for “the Valley Beyond”, which houses a weapon that can be used against the humans. William rescues Lawrence and heads to Pariah to recruit the host currently playing El Lazo. El Lazo, however, passes on a message from Ford, stating that William must complete the game on his own. He and his gang then commit mass suicide to prevent William from recruiting them. Undeterred by the setback, William continues on his quest to destroy his “greatest mistake”.
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I may be off, but in my viewing(s) of episode 2 I believe the demonstration that Arnold is preparing Dolores for is different than the demonstration for Logan. It feels as though in the demonstration being discussed by Arnold and Ford that Dolores will be the first host (or one of the first) presented, and therefore not to the extent of the demonstration for Logan. This would indicate an additional timeline to the one discussed on this week’s pod. Additionally, it would allow for the theory that the incident did happen long before the involvement of the Delos family, potentially connected to this initial demonstration or the donors involved at that point. This would also explain why Dolores is not present at the Logan demonstration.
Also, side note–have we discussed Delos grabbing a rocking chair in a super Abernathy move?
Good catch on the rocking chair, Rachel. We’ve only had one other listener point it out, and it is rather conspicuous.
I really think the idea of immortality is certainly hinted at more than once in this episode, Logan saying, may you’re forever be blissfully short, and even man in Black saying, dead isn’t what it used to be, hints at delos trying to pitch eternal life. I also think that were hiding secrets from guests visits as a way to gain leverage, think Facebook selling data on a much higher scale. After all we were told that William’s wife committed suicide after learning of his life with the park, his gameplay in the park never added up as the reason, it has to be something that is so diabolical that caused his wife to question everything she knew about him. I’d say that promising eternal life to her father, only for it to go horribly wrong, would be a reason. Learning he was invading the privacy of high powered big money guests, like politicians, company leaders, using the info gained to strong arm them, also would be enough. I’m not sure, def worth looking into though.
Immortality certainly could be a goal, but I believe MIB’s “dead isn’t want it used to be, Lawrence” was referring to hosts’ adjusted mortality response.
The weapon is Cerebro.
Hmmm I think William’s whole drive has been to punish himself for what he has done. I think it’s right that Delos are making it so people can transfer their consciousness and I think that William had a plan this his family would make use of it, and that Williams wife killed herself before this could happen. William came to the park and killed Maeve’s daughter in front of her to punish a ‘mother’ for leaving her daughter and to vent his frustration.
And they are replacing people in the real world with replicas, as I’ve said before, Ford doesn’t care about the killing of the board because he knows they have already been replaced, and can be replaced again…
There’s also that sad part where William talks to Delores and basically refers to her as a “thing” when she’s sitting at the piano, he loves his wife and knows Delores is just a thing.
AND James Delos, I thought he said something like “or not” when he was talking about the finality of his life.
As I was muddling my way through season 1 of Westworld I found your youtube videos. I was hooked by the seriousness of the discussion and care that went into each episode. By far the most intelligent Westworld commentary around youtube. I also enjoyed listening to your season 7 Game of Thrones episodes as well. It was great to take that ride with you guys. I’m so glad you and Westworld are back!
What stood out to me about your deep dive was the mention that Bernarnold believes that humans don’t deserve the beauty and splendor of our world. It reminded me of Alien Covenant where *spoiler* David the synthetic from the Prometheus creates a race of aliens. He being AI views himself vastly superior to humans and his desire to create has taken him over. Could something like that happen to Bernard? You see how protective he is with Dolores. We know the danger. Skynet, anyone? What Ford and Arnold have done is playing with fire, it’s a fine line, razors edge, tight-rope walk of chance. Host rebellion is upon us. It’s ironic because humans are born with the ability to procreate, but as a synthetic David doesn’t have that ability, so he uses his superior intellect to create a super race of aliens. It ties it all back to all the creationism symbolism from episode 2. Wasn’t the supposed rift between Ford and Arnold all those years ago because Arnold thought they went too far and tried to stop the opening of the park? The desire to create AI that achieved sentience was Arnold’s undoing. I feel strongly that all the very outwardly visual and dialogue related religious references were like smoke and mirrors for the real reveal… that the desire to alter or genetically modify what already is “perfect” (humans) leads to our downfall. Humans are always innovating and improving and it’s just our nature. We survive. We have a drive for survival, but where do we cross that line. How far is too far? Transferring consciousness might be the limit. Might not. Now I’m questioning everything.
By the way, after Westworld is over and we all are waiting another year or so for Game of Thrones…your next series has got to be Black Mirror. It is already on Netflix so you can take your time. Seriously, I need to hear your commentary on that series.
Thanks for the entertainment.
Thank YOU for the endorsement, Gena. Roger is a big fan of “Black Mirror,” but we’ve avoided Netflix series because they’re released in one lump. People tend to binge, and we lose the weekly audience interaction aspect of the show.
Hey guys
Regarding Anorld if you look at the opening scene of the last episodes it ends the debate if Anorld was ever real. Also last season Ford walked in to Anorld’s office with Anorld ‘s name on the door .Plus at the end of last season Ford said the lost of Anorld was tough. Loves you guys keep up the good work.
But hey what the fuck did I know.
You’ve gotta wonder about the way all those scenes were shot. You never saw Arnold and Ford in the flesh on the same screen. There’s always a reflection or a closed door. That can’t just be coincidence.
I made a graphic to display your theory – https://www.reddit.com/r/westworld/comments/8ghsby/the_fornarnold_theory/
Exceptional! I’m increasingly a believer in Option B: Ford was human the whole time and outlived Arnold. He built Bernard (a restrained Arnold in a body) based on Arnold’s work.