What you guys DO like about Westworld

July 27, 2022

Hey guys,

sorry, you didn’t like the episode. I listen to a dozen Westworld podcasts and though I liked the episode a lot, I’ve been surprised by the level of effusive praise from every single podcast but yours. I liked it, but people have been using many superlatives like this is maybe the greatest episode of Westworld ever, which seems a bit bizarre to me. I didn’t find it boring, but for all of us who have been scrutinizing these episodes the way we do, none of the new information we got this episode was shocking or surprising. I suppose that’s appropriate since the title of the episode, zhuangzi, references one of the fathers of Daoism who had quite a lot to say about how different perspectives of the world change what the world is.

I’d really like to know what you guys DO like about Westworld. What are the particular elements that draw you in, for example, in the first season, which I think you all enjoyed a lot. Like, do you wish it was still at the park? Is there a particular theme you prefer over others? My surface-level understanding is that Big D likes big reveals and mind-blowing sci-fi stuff. I think Gene likes a straightforward story where everything makes perfect sense, where action and story don’t stretch the bounds of reason to, say, meet some thematic element, but those elements are intelligently added on top of theme. Ash I can’t figure out at all. Last week she wondered why Hale didn’t put Dolores in a better job and make her rich. This week she said Hope was hot, so why would she want to leave her body. These don’t seem like they’re aligned with anything any season of Westworld has been about. Yet, at some point, not this season or season 3, or much of season 2, she did like the show, right? So, what was it she liked enough to want to do a show where she talks about it? This is an honest question, not me being a jerk. I honestly want to know, and I don’t care if any of you don’t like the show. People not liking something I don’t like doesn’t bother me at all. I’m really curious about everyone who didn’t like one season or another, what those are missing that must have been not missing in season 1.

-John G.

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