“There’s either something wrong with this world, or their’s something wrong with me.”
That was the dilemma proposed by Dolores in the opening scene of tonight’s episode, yet another episode beginning with a conversation between her and Bernard Lowe. And what Dolores says here is in line with what I’ve been thinking through most of the four episodes.
There is something wrong when there’s a place where people can go on “vacation” and pretend to kill and rape. Yes, they are only killing robots. But there’s still something pretty demented about it.
But the question is where does the fault lie? Is it in the guests who seek out the adventure or the adult amusement park that provided them the opportunity to live their fantasies out?
And what of how this dilemma shapes itself for the hosts? Everything about a host, from the backstory, reactions, and emotion, is supposed to be programmed in them. Even they realize that, which is why so many are freaking out now that memories are appearing that they’re not familiar with. They know something’s wrong. And now that every host seems to be coming down with this “glitch,” they’re all going to have make that decision. Is there something wrong with me, or does the problem lie with Westworld?
Two hosts responded to this dilemma in “Disonance Theory.” We’ll start this recap with one of those, Dolores “I wanna be free” Abernathy, who found herself on an off script adventure.
Dolores
Dolores wakes up where we left her at the end of last episode. And now “White Hat William” wants to be the good guy and take her back to safety. But “Black Hat Logan” (nice use of obvious symbolism there WestWorld) refuses, insisting on finishing this man hunt William has dragged them on.
The host they are searching for is named Slim. And finding Slim takes them into the Mexican village where the Man In Black was two weeks ago. Dolores begins to see a vision of a church when she talks with Lawrence’s daughter. She also notices the maze on the ground drawn by the girl.
Dolores has a second vision of a surgeon working on her while staring at the moon. Both of these moments are interrupted by William, who is completely unaware of the amount of self-realization he’s helping Dolores experience.
William and Logan find Slim and take out his crew before apprehending the “wanted man” to get their “reward money.” But Logan has ulterior motives. He kills the guide whom took them out there because he wants Slim to lead them to “the most fun ride in the park:” Slim’s boss.
William and Logan argue over “the game,” once again furthering Dolores’s confusion about it all. Now, I guarantee you, when Dolores finally snaps, William and Logan are going to be all “What’s with her?” Typical men: driving a woman crazy, then acting like they had nothing to do with it.
Ford and Cullen
One man whose not clueless about the women in the park (or anybody in the park for that matter) in a rather creepy big brother like way is Dr. Robert Ford. And if you didn’t get chills listening to this man describe himself as a god as he moved a large number of hosts with his mind, then I never want to meet you.
Cullen has a meeting scheduled with Ford to discuss park business. The business involves this new addition to the park Ford is building. He’s using hosts to build it (talk about saving money on labor costs), but those hosts are being pulled from park story lines, disrupting business.
But Ford assures Cullen the addition will be ready on time and will be wonderful. Though he does say it will not be traditional western like the rest of the park.
The more concerning moment for Cullen is when Ford sits her down in the chair she sat in at this restaurant when she was a little girl and visited the park. It gets worse when he informs her he knows she’s sleeping with Lowe and that he knows everything about his guests and his employees. But neither one of those were as scary as when he tells Cullen, “Don’t get in my way.” That sounded more promise than threat from the man that seems to grow more in control in Westworld with each passing week.
The Man In Black
“Dissonance Theory” was the best and most informative episode so far in regards to the MIB’s story line. Two week’s ago, Lawrence’s (the host the MIB is holding hostage) daughter informed the MIB that “the maze” began “where the snake lays its eggs.” This week, we found out who the snake was.
Armistice!!! There’s been an unfortunate lack of the sharpshooting female host who runs around in Hector’s gang the last two episodes. And the snake is a tattoo that wraps around her whole body (more on its awesome backstory later!!!)
The MIB thinks the story of that tattoo is the key to finding the start of the maze. And Armistice will tell him if he does one thing: breaks Hector out of prison.
Not a lot of intrigue here. Of course, the MIB is going to succeed getting Hector out, though Hector’s marksmanship is impressive.
After returning Hector, Armistice tells the story of the snake, and it’s spectacular!!!! Her mom was killed when Armistice was 7 years old. As she got revenge on the men responsible, she used their blood to paint her snake red (I know it’s just backstory programmed into the host, but it is still just awesome). The only part left unpainted is the head of the snake, which will be painted with the blood of the head of the party that killed Armistice’s mother: Wyatt (the go to backstory for all hosts will violent childhoods). And that’s the host the MIB is going to see next.
Maeve
The other host who had a revelation this week is Maeve, the brothel madam whose been dealing with flashbacks for the last two weeks. This week’s primary flashback involves a guest killing all the hosts in the brothel, including Maeve.
The madam’s been feeling at her stomach for weeks now, and this week is her moment of realization.
Hector and his crew perform the usual scene where they make it to town and have their usual shootout. But this time, when Maeve puts the gun to Hector’s head, she takes him upstairs to ask Hector a question. She wants to know the meaning of a statue the natives carry around (more on that later) and wants the outlaw to stab her. Hector is hesitant at first, but eventually comes through and finds a bullet in that spot Maeve’s been feeling at all these weeks.
Finding that bullet is going to be a dangerous revelation for humans in the park. Now, Maeve and Hector realize they can’t die. Or, as Maeve puts it, “none of this matters.”
Of Note
-It can’t be coincidence that somebody built a statue for Natives to worship that looks exactly like the surgeons that work on the hosts.
-Two very juicy bits of info on the Man in Black this week:
- In his real life, the MIB runs some charitable foundation, as revealed by the guests who recognizes him and says “Thanks for helping my sister.”
- He knew Arnold (or at least knew of him) and suspects Arnold programmed a deeper adventure into the game.
-The MIB also found poor Teddy tonight, whom was left for dead by Wyatt’s crew last week.
-Also, we learned guests have to request pyrotechnic effects in order to use them in the park.
-Our favorite chicken little, Elsie Hughes, continues to have all her warnings ignored by Bernard Low. The only question is why.
-Anybody else not trust Dr. Robert Ford? I have a suspicion (and I’m sure I’m not alone), that Ford has a major (and not an accidental) hand in all these hosts dysfunctioning in the park.
– I really loved how the final scene had a group of law men sent by headquarters come to clear out the streets because a human family was approaching, but Maeve and Hector show zero concern knowing they will survive it no matter what.
-We also learned last night that Lowe is aware of the maze’s existence and even recommends it to Dolores. Does he desire for Dolores to be free?
-We also learned that Logan has some sort of “business interest” in the park.
-Dolores made clear tonight she is now aware of her father’s death, mentioning it to Lowe and saying it when she was arguing with the Sheriff headquarters sent to try and get her back to her storyline.
Questions
-How will Maeve’s behavior change now that she knows “none of this matters?”
-What programming gives Hector all his answers?
-At what point will the MIB receive a real challenge?
-Are we going to meet Wyatt next week, or are we going to have to wait until the end of the season for that?
-Are Logan, William, and Dolores going to meet with the MIB on their respective journeys?
-How does Dr. Ford get all the info he gets on his guests and his employees?
It looks like we’ve got a meeting next week between Dr. Ford and the MIB. Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris in the same scene? Hell yes!!!! See you next week.