Westworld Episode 5 Review: “Akane No Mai”
Westworld Episode 5 Review: “Akane No Mai”
Throwaway episode? Shut your geisha mouth!
Shogun World wasn’t the only interesting thing about Episode 5. “Akane no Mai” also put to rest several viewer theories and established a pecking order among characters.
Walk with us as we outline Dolores’ secret game plan, explore the boundaries of Maeve’s “new voice,” and plunge the terrifying depths of The Teddy Experiment.
Also, find out what Gene and Big D would do if they could modify their own personalities with a Westworld iPad.
Take the plunge with us, then write in your thoughts at hosts@shatontv.com for Thursday’s listener mail Telegraph.
Westworld Episode 5 Summary:
“Akane No Mai” In Westworld, Dolores questions what to do with Teddy. She concludes that he is a decent person but his decency makes him a liability and has him reprogrammed against his will. At the edge of the park, Maeve’s party is captured and escorted into a shogunate-themed park designed to be more extreme than Westworld called Shogunworld. They are taken to a nearby town where they meet Akane, a geisha who plays a similar role to Maeve. Akane is negotiating with a local shogun, but when she kills the shogun’s emissary, he retaliates by sending ninjas to kidnap her daughter Sakura and samurai to subjugate the town. During the attack, Maeve forces a ninja to kill himself without voicing a command. Maeve, Akane and Lee infiltrate the shogun’s camp to rescue Sakura and find the shogun is damaged and unstable. Akane kills the shogun after he kills Sakura and Maeve wordlessly forces his samurai to turn on one another. She, Akane and Lee regroup as the shogun’s army attack the camp.
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- Theme Song – “The Ecstasy Of Gold” (Hip Hop Instrumental Version) by Dj 2 Bad
- Outro Music – By Simon Eric Haywood
Agree with your point that it’s contrived that WW would just lazily rehash the Mariposa raid for Shogun world. That and having Sizemore be the ONLY writer for a whole new world almost ruined the episode for me. You have a whole crew of writers just to make a crap movie in Hollywood, why wouldn’t you have a team of writers and consultants educated in Japanese history coming up with distinct and historically accurate narratives?
With the changes to Teddy in this episode I believe the writers are essentially bringing back the murderous gunslinger antagonist of the original 1970’s movie. The gunslinger who tracked you down in the horror vein of Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers.
The samurai covering maeve’s mouth was because he thought she was annoying and talking too much, not because he thought she was a threat. It was a joke the writers put in. He didn’t understand what she was saying at all.