Westworld S4e8 Thoughts
Just a couple of thoughts:
1. It was my impression that host-MIB was based on Dolores, not on William. This is the reason host-MIB did not have ‘fidelity test’ issues like Caleb. I don’t know the exact moment in the show, but I could swear there was an acknowledgement that not only was Hale and possibly Christina a Dolores-clone, but host-MIB was too.
I think this drives the point that code alone does not determine who a person is. They are all Dolores-code, but they each became different people, not just because of having different experiences (which conjures the idea of nature vs nurture) but also, I think, because of the body they inhabited. It isn’t just about how you experience the world, but how the world experiences and reacts to you that helps shape who you are.
Host-MIB started out as Dolores, but since he was viewed as MIB and was treated as such, he eventually became MIB. Remember how at the beginning of Season 4, Ed Harris had a few voice overs where he would comment something along the lines of ‘I see the beauty in this world…’, just like Dolores. He was Dolores at first, but ended up as William/Real MIB.
2. I think the ending of Season 4 could be a clever way to leave it open in case there is a Season 5 but also serve as a series finale in case there isn’t. Hear me out. If Season 4 turns out to be the final season, an argument could be made that Seasons 1, 2, and 3 are Christina’s final test. In other words, Season 4 is a prequel to Seasons 1, 2, and 3.
I can’t think of a great reason why Seasons 1, 2, and 3 couldn’t have occurred inside the Sublime as a simulation or test. With this concept, we even get a ‘Sublime-ception’, as a new Sublime (from Season 1) is created inside of the original Sublime (from Season 4), which sounds about right with Christopher Nolan being involved in the show.
I personally like this MC Esher-type circular story-telling, but my experience is that most people don’t.
The show has repeated the mantra that ‘you live as long as the last person who remembers you.’ Thought of in this way, with Season 4 happening first, then Seasons 1, 2, and 3 in the Sublime, when Dolores has her memory wiped at the end of Season 3, that is the end of everything and everyone (in other words, the test failed). When we see Caleb delete Rehobiam and leave the building with Maeve, that is NOT in the Sublime. That is the beginning of the story, chronologically speaking. It’s tin foil crazy train stuff, but it works for me.
I wouldn’t be sad for Westworld to end at Season 4. They gave us some good stories and lots to think about. Season 1 was, in my opinion, one of the best seasons of a television series ever. I will always have an appreciation for it.
But I am going to be sad if this is the last round of the Westworld ShatOnTV podcast. I hope we get another season of westworld only so that we get another season of the pod.
Thanks again for the thoughtful and entertaining content.
~Dylan
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- Theme Song – “The Ecstasy Of Gold” (Hip Hop Instrumental Version) by Dj 2 Bad
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Let’s pretend that when Dolores — yes, DOLORES, not Christina, not anymore — claims we’re going for “one last loop around the bend” in the episode’s final moments, she means it. This is it. This’ll be the one that matters. Maybe.