Westworld Episode 9 Instant Take: “The Well Tempered Clavier”
Westworld Episode 9 Instant Take: “The Well Tempered Clavier”
“Westworld” fans are the smartest. You were right about Bernarnold. You were right about Maeve’s admin abilities. You might even be right about William being the Man in Black!
Couple those notions with a brilliant performance by Anthony Hopkins and awesome reveals about the park’s origins, and you’ve got a mind-blowing Instacast that is not to be missed.
Enjoy this quick podcast, and join us again Tuesday for the Deep Dive. If we missed something, let us know about it at hosts@shatontv.com.
Westworld Episode 9 Summary:
“The Well Tempered Clavier” Maeve reveals to Bernard that he is a host and convinces him to let her back into the park, where she meets Escaton and convinces him to help her escape the park. Bernard confronts Ford and forces him to restore all of his memories, and discovers he is a model of Arnold. Bernard attempts to kill Ford; but the latter uses a backdoor in the former’s code to force him to commit suicide. Meanwhile, Logan cuts open Dolores’s belly to show William she is not real. She manages to escape and run away, finding that the wound is suddenly gone. She reaches the church, where she learns that she killed Arnold. She then encounters the Man in Black. Logan then awakes to find that William has slaughtered all of the Confederados. William threatens Logan into helping him find Dolores. Teddy has a flashback of himself killing host Angela before she kills him. Hale meets the Man in Black, who is revealed to be a Board member, and unsuccessfully tries to gain his assistance in removing Ford. Stubbs investigates suspicious activity in the park and is ambushed by Ghost Nation hosts, who are not under control.
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- Theme Song – “The Ecstasy Of Gold” (Hip Hop Instrumental Version) by Dj 2 Bad
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90 minutes, eh? Still gonna be jammed. And I agree with George above that Abernathy’s reaction to the picture is a seminal mystery. From whom did he get the Violent Delights code cue, if that’s the key to unlock the maze?
A couple thoughts about Bernard:
How is Ford an old man when he creates Bernard? Elsie says that Bernard has been working at Westworld forever (seemingly longer than she’s been there) & Ford says that Bernard’s work on host behavior is what gave host more colorful array of emotions. Did he finish all of that work in just a few years?
In addition, Bernard creation introduces another point in the timeline that perhaps other flashbacks are related to. Possibly worth considering for other flashbacks.
Finally, won’t dead Bernard’s blown out android skull, cause a problem for Ford once Bernard is discovered? Granted, not many people head down to cold storage, but Charlotte & Sizemore went down there for their own reasons.
I’m looking forward to Ep 26 & more. Thanks for the great discussions!
Great thoughts, Abel.
Ford is noticeably younger in the scene when Bernard first comes online. I mean, Anthony Hopkins is 82 now, so 25 years ago would still be 57 years old. I’m not saying Bernard is 25 years old; it’s just an example.
As for Bernard’s blown-out skull, that’s why Ford made it a suicide. Who would suspect Dr. Ford if Bernard shoots himself in the head. Ford could just say, “He discovered he was a host, became distraught and killed himself.”
Ford alludes to such in his conversation with Bernard before Bernard shoots himself. He narrates, “Bernard walked over to Clementine. Took the pistol from her hand. Overcome with grief and remorse, he pressed the muzzle to his temple.”
After watching the latest episode for a second time, I stand by my theory that Ford is a host built by Arnold (maybe his first sentient creation) because when Bernard confronts Ford and demands to access all his memories, he says to him, “Arnold built us, didn’t he? Which means maybe had something different in mind for us. And maybe you killed him for it.” (Confirming my belief that even though we were told last night it was Dolores who killed Arnold, it was actually Ford.)
By “us,” Bernard simply could mean “hosts.”
Firstly what a great podcast and great podcasters.
Still quite a few questions that need to be answered. From the small (significance of photo in triggering Abernathy, other Abernathy issues).
But the main question in my mind, and one I don’t think will be answered is, why and how would such anthropomorphic AI not already be widespread in the military, domestic service, prostitution, dangerous jobs etc to the point where humans all over were used to them and where the AI ethics, competition with humans and runaway capabilities would not be taking place outside of a theme park??
Advanced modern engineering is highly networked and actively or passivley collaborative. The idea that this would be some kind of vested secret or successfully maintained as confidential tech, or even IP law protected — is frankly absurd. Ford and Arnold could be one in a million in terms of brainpower and still the idea that they would somehow be able to control access, or not be part of a broad simultaneous advances in the same type of work in many other places, is a giant problem with the main questions the series raises.
The writers may have gone a bit deeper than dilettantes on AI tech, predictions, and ethics, but they have not studied the academically demonstrated synchronicity in inventions and the debunking of the myth of the “sole” or “indispensable” “inventor(s)”.
If Thomas Edison had never been born, everything he invented would have been invented (and for the most part was) at the same time or very shortly after he had invented them. Same thing with Bell, the Wright brothers, who in fact delayed much more capable airplanes by Curtis by suing Curtis unendingly, Shockley, etc.
All great points, but I believe the premise of “Westworld,” as outlined by Charlotte Hale, is that “Westworld” possesses tech only found in Westworld. Arnold and Ford seem to put up with the theme park cover in order to achieve bigger things in the background.
One could rationalize that that the blade had a angular move, not lateral, so if the cut was made in the wire cluster, and pushed HARD it could get a angular momentum when pushing against to a rod or piston and still cutting skin.
About how the hand would move? Pshhh!!! The actor has no way to know what the digital animators will draw in, so it was good enough.
Thanks again. Lot to ponder. When…Roger, I think, mentioned something about ‘Armistice being next,’ I recalled we haven’t yet seen the trailer clip that shows naked, tattooed Armistice hurling a tech through glass, so betting you’re right.
Even tidying up a minimal amount of loose ends is going to jam pack the finale. It’s still just an hour, right? Or are doing a 120m closing episode?
Night y’all. This crap keeps me awake.
-mike t
The finale should still be an hour, but we’ll have follow-up episodes discussing the series as a whole. Expect an extravaganza!