Westworld on HBO

[TheButcher]

HBO's Star-Studded 'Westworld' Adaptation Ordered to Series
Due in 2015 and starring Anthony Hopkins in his first series-regular role

[so sorry]

Westworld teaser

[so sorry]

Looks pretty damned good.

[Ribbons]

wo0o00o0!

[Ribbons]

Any thoughts/reviews/critiques on this?

Per usual I didn't watch last night's episode because I prefer to binge-watch stuff, but the temptation was strong. Very curious about this show.

[Fievel]

I loved it.
I've never seen the original movie, and don't feel the need to....yet. I'm sure that I will eventually.
But I really like the world that is being presented here, the actors were all great, and the twisting of the familiar
theme park-gone-bad plot is going to be entertaining as hell.

Edit - just wanted to add that the music was amazing. Some really cool instrumental cover songs scattered throughout the episode.

[Ribbons]

I'm digging on the opening credits sequence. It's like a music video by Chris Cunningham:

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Loved it. Hated it when it ended.

Papa and Madam Geneva love it too.

Hope it is a series that is about rather original themes. So far they seem to be there in the first episode.

[Ribbons]

A couple of intriguing theories about Westworld have already emerged:

[Fievel]

Every episode, for me, has been exponentially better and better - and it started off amazing!

Maeve's story.....holy shit, she's amazing with every added bit of awareness!! The Man in Black/Teddy/Maze story is really picking up. The Gatling Gun......

[darkjedijaina]

I'm definitely hooked. Every episode pulls me deeper in.

[Ribbons]

It's good enough to bring you back from the dead!

[Ribbons]

So Westworld: does it rock, or suck? I've read (but not too closely, of course) wildly diverse reaction to the finale and the show overall.

[Fievel]

This show is amazing.
I can't think of a show that has become so much consistently better/entertaining/intriguing with each episode. I really want to binge the whole season during Christmas break and look for things I missed the first time around. But on the other hand, a part of me says to just let the season (and my enjoyment of it) stand as it is in my mind.

[Tyrone_Shoelaces]

Was I the only one who thought Rutger Hauer was going to show up in the finale and deliver a monologue about mortality? Also, I was frequently reminded of the slutbot story from the way way back.

[Maui]

I figured out that William was the Man in Black early on....perhaps that was an easy one.
Why did they have to kill Sir Anthony at the end????? I still want him to be part of this show.

I binge-watched the entire season in about 3 days.

[Fievel]

I figured out that William was the Man in Black early on....perhaps that was an easy one.
Why did they have to kill Sir Anthony at the end????? I still want him to be part of this show.

I binge-watched the entire season in about 3 days.

I'm thankful that I didn't binge. This is a great series for letting the thoughts stew for a week. As to your second point, I'm N not fully convinced he's out of the show. We have no idea who he was constructing in his secret lab. I think he was readying his replacement.

[so sorry]

I figured out that William was the Man in Black early on....perhaps that was an easy one.
Why did they have to kill Sir Anthony at the end????? I still want him to be part of this show.

I binge-watched the entire season in about 3 days.

I've been slowly catching up...I think I'm 4 episodes in at this point. I like it, don't love it though...(yet).

[Ribbons]

I just started watching Westworld too! I'm on the third episode right now, awaiting the violent robot uprising. There's going to be one of those, right?

[Maui]

I figured out that William was the Man in Black early on....perhaps that was an easy one.
Why did they have to kill Sir Anthony at the end????? I still want him to be part of this show.

I binge-watched the entire season in about 3 days.

I'm thankful that I didn't binge. This is a great series for letting the thoughts stew for a week. As to your second point, I'm N not fully convinced he's out of the show. We have no idea who he was constructing in his secret lab. I think he was readying his replacement.

I hope you are right.

I am still trying to figure out what the deal is with that old wrinkly cowboy that talks to Dr. Ford.
Have you also noticed the Westworld logo in the building seems to be different in many episodes (which indicates the time jumps).

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

I'm studying Anthony Hopkins in Westworld, as Hannibal Lector, and in Magic which I saw him in last night, and making note of his expressions, eye useage, and up close and invasively personal body language, so I can scaaaaaaaaaarrrrre people when I talk to them.

... SCARE THEM I SAY!!!!!!!!!!

[Ribbons]

I'd say you already do a pretty good job of scaring us when you talk

[Maui]

There's something cryptic about his post...as if he knows the answers to all of Westworld's secrets through studying Anthony Hopkin's psyche.

[Ribbons]

I figured out that William was the Man in Black early on....perhaps that was an easy one.

Have you also noticed the Westworld logo in the building seems to be different in many episodes (which indicates the time jumps).

Yeah, I saw that before I even started watching the show, unfortunately. The Redditers jumped on those clues almost immediately. It's kind of difficult to keep twists a secret these days, because we as an audience are conditioned to look for them.

[so sorry]

Last episode was great, but I honestly thought overall it was mediocre. I'm going full spoilers below:


Anthony Hopkins was the best part of the season. Superb.

Ed Harris was the worst part of the season. Hammy.

I also read about the time hop/William/Man in Black thing before I ever watched, but my guess is that towards the end of the series it would have become obvious. What wasn't obvious was what the hell else was going on with Dolores (Mulva?) and Teddy and the rest of the Hosts. No way any viewer was going to figure that shit out on their own. Not that that's a bad thing...not every show is a murder mystery where "the clues where right there all along". For me I probably could have watched the first 2 episodes, maybe a middle one, then the last two and been much more satisfied. And I did doze off at one point so I may have missed it, but what the fuck happened to William that turned him from compassionate nerdy in love with Dolores to murderous villainous rapes Dolores?????

Overall I give it a 7/10. Was this a one and done series?

[Fievel]

Thandie Newton was my favorite part of the show.

Mulva.......

[so sorry]

Thandie Newton was my favorite part of the show.

I had a problem with the way she so easily manipulated the douchebag tech guy. I can understand the first guy she swindled...he was clearly a manipulation waiting to happen. But the dickhead guy...he was such a stereotypical asshole, I couldn't buy into her being able to convince him to keep following along. Being a typical bully that prays on the weak techs, I thought he would have pulled the plug (figuratively and literally) on her the first chance he had. And that chance came when she demanded that they up all her Ability Scores (intelligence, allegiance etc). He had the perfect opportunity to literally go to zero on all and power her down right then and there. But he went along and made her super everything... I guess I'm just overthinking it.

PS I applaud ALL those actors and actresses willing to just stand there with their junk on display and not move a muscle.

PPS Ford totally had a Host version of himself get offed like that at the end. Never trust a human...

[Ribbons]

And I did doze off at one point so I may have missed it, but what the fuck happened to William that turned him from compassionate nerdy in love with Dolores to murderous villainous rapes Dolores?????

I guess it had something to do with his speech at the end of the episode I just watched, where he mentioned that his wife killed herself and his daughter abandoned him because they thought deep down he was a bad man. This is what he attributed murdering Maeve and her little girl too, and I got the impression he went on a nihilistic rampage for a while before becoming obsessed with The Maze. It was a little unclear, though, so who knows.

[TheButcher]

I'm studying Anthony Hopkins in Westworld, as Hannibal Lector, and in Magic which I saw him in last night, and making note of his expressions, eye useage, and up close and invasively personal body language, so I can scaaaaaaaaaarrrrre people when I talk to them.

... SCARE THEM I SAY!!!!!!!!!!

The Silence of the Lambs - Who Wins the Scene?

[Ribbons]

That is a great point, Butcher

[Ribbons]

Thandie Newton was my favorite part of the show.

I had a problem with the way she so easily manipulated the douchebag tech guy. I can understand the first guy she swindled...he was clearly a manipulation waiting to happen. But the dickhead guy...he was such a stereotypical asshole, I couldn't buy into her being able to convince him to keep following along. Being a typical bully that prays on the weak techs, I thought he would have pulled the plug (figuratively and literally) on her the first chance he had. And that chance came when she demanded that they up all her Ability Scores (intelligence, allegiance etc). He had the perfect opportunity to literally go to zero on all and power her down right then and there. But he went along and made her super everything... I guess I'm just overthinking it.

This was one of the big problems I've had with the show, and there are several. But large amounts of the plot were driven forward by people behaving really, really stupidly. The second Maeve started demanding the techs give her the ability to recruit an army of murderbots to break out of the park and escape into the real world they both should have told everyone immediately. But oh no, then they might get in trouble. Every scene with those techs was just so stupid I wanted to cringe.

[Ribbons]

Now that I've finished the season, I can say that I enjoyed it but wasn't exactly in love with it. I don't mind the mystery/puzzle box formula, but I think they hamstrung themselves a little bit by saving every big twist for the last episode or two. Bernard could have learned that he was modeled after Arnold much earlier, and we could have learned more about both The Man in Black's true identity and Ford's plan. I would have liked to follow the implications of those reveals rather than having them all crammed into the final hour with no time to truly process any of them. And in this day and age where Reddit solves everything immediately, making the story all about mystery in an attempt to blow people's minds with a big twist (or several, in this case) is almost pointless.

That said, for all my criticisms of the show, it got under my skin and stuck in my head in a way that most shows don't. I found myself dreaming about it at times. Watching the characters struggle with the nature of consciousness and their limited understanding of reality was fascinating from a philosophical standpoint, and I hope it's something that continues as the series goes on.

[so sorry]

Now that I've finished the season, I can say that I enjoyed it but wasn't exactly in love with it. I don't mind the mystery/puzzle box formula, but I think they hamstrung themselves a little bit by saving every big twist for the last episode or two. Bernard could have learned that he was modeled after Arnold much earlier, and we could have learned more about both The Man in Black's true identity and Ford's plan. I would have liked to follow the implications of those reveals rather than having them all crammed into the final hour with no time to truly process any of them. And in this day and age where Reddit solves everything immediately, making the story all about mystery in an attempt to blow people's minds with a big twist (or several, in this case) is almost pointless.

Agreed, I feel like most of the middle of the season was useless.

That said, for all my criticisms of the show, it got under my skin and stuck in my head in a way that most shows don't. I found myself dreaming about it at times. Watching the characters struggle with the nature of consciousness and their limited understanding of reality was fascinating from a philosophical standpoint, and I hope it's something that continues as the series goes on.

Meh, I came away from the series not impressed enough to really care where they take it for the next season.

[Ribbons]

That said, for all my criticisms of the show, it got under my skin and stuck in my head in a way that most shows don't. I found myself dreaming about it at times. Watching the characters struggle with the nature of consciousness and their limited understanding of reality was fascinating from a philosophical standpoint, and I hope it's something that continues as the series goes on.

Meh, I came away from the series not impressed enough to really care where they take it for the next season.

My take is, that stuff was more interesting to me than the "Who is Arnold? Who is Wyatt? What's the Maze? What timeline is this?" kind of narrative trickery that dominated the season. I think that a war between humans and robots and the kinds of ethical and philosophical questions that it raises could sustain the show, but it's hard to tell unless they actually go that route. What I definitely don't want is another season full of pointless mysteries.

[so sorry]

...I think that a war between humans and robots and the kinds of ethical and philosophical questions that it raises could sustain the show, but it's hard to tell unless they actually go that route....

As if we haven't seen that before

Looking back, I guess the original Westworld movie/novel was probably more revolutionary studly the time of their release. But the amount of artificial intelligence/robot movies dealing with ethical questions about humanity are so abundant since then. Trying to use the same subject matter, but come at it from a different angle must be really difficult.

[Fievel]

The best thing I've seen today.

[so sorry]

The best thing I've seen today.

Cute...a bit too long for my taste though. But made me smile nonetheless.

[Fievel]

I was mostly impressed with the CGI they used to make Billy Crystal look 55 again.

[Ribbons]

After what feels like forever (to me, anyway), Westworld is coming back for a second season:

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Too many slow motion charging Bulls.

Trailer is full of Bull.

Too much bullfull.

Full of bullshit too - you are, Ribbons.

[Ribbons]

Did you just write me a poem?

[Peven]

sitting upon high
gazing down from your safe perch
you regurgitate your view

[Ribbons]

I'll take it

[so sorry]

Meh. I liked season 1, didn't love it. I thought it dragged quite a bit, but the premise was certainly interesting enough. But when it ended, for me, I didn't feel like it needed a continuation. This trailer (admittedly only watched it once, didn't dissect it) looks like the robots are out to invade/merge with "our world", and that doesn't sound interesting at all. Not an original concept IMO, although I suppose they could handle the story in an original way even if the premise isn't.

[Fievel]

Just wanted to say that I am loving this season.
Can't seem to comment on episodes as this season will obviously be judged as a whole. Binge watchers will have a much easier time watching this season.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Westworld 2 looks boring.

Just wanted to say that I am loving this season..

THEN I HOPE YOU CHOKE ON YOUR SEASONING!!!

[Fievel]

So much anger.....