I’m going right down to the wire, but I thought I should write something before the final episode of season 2.
I have a few thoughts about episode 9…
- Holy cow! William killed his own daughter! Of all the violence in the tv show that might be the most messed up thing I have seen yet.
- I am very confident that William is not a host. That would be lame from a storytelling perspective to have that shocking of a revelation right now. It would also downplay the importance of everything that has happened. I think he wishes he were a host, and that is why he is cutting his arm open at the end.
- I don’t understand what “the forge” is. At the beginning of the season I was so excited for everyone to meet up at “the valley beyond” aka “the door”. Now that it is the forge I have somehow lost some interest in it.
Overall season 2 has been extremely uneven. I was so excited at first to see Westworld come back. I might have been clouded by my excitement, but I thought the first 4 episodes of the season were great. The back half of the season has been all over the place. There were these two artistic side-episodes that loosely connected with the rest of what was going on this season. There was a very strange siege on “The Mesa” that highlighted a lot of the weaknesses of how this season was laid out.
With all of its ups and downs I think this has been a solid 2nd season that really hinges on the finale. If the finale is terrible, I will likely think of the entire season as terrible. If the finale is great I will forget the nit-picks and think of this as a great season of television.
I’m not sure how the finale would fall to one side or the other. I don’t even really know what I am hoping to see. I just hope it is good, and it makes sense. There have been so many things in the season that just don’t quite make sense. I’m ready for those things to be resolved. I don’t want to have to call on any further suspension of disbelief to make the season make sense.
It is hard for me to compare the 1st & 2nd seasons from an enjoyment perspective. To its credit, season 2 has made me want to go back and watch the 1st season over again, and I think it would be more meaningful to me this time around. It will be nice to see Delores as we once knew her, and try to forget about the murderous nonsensical Delores that we have seen much of this season. I think I enjoyed season 1 better because it was a new concept with all new characters. At the end of the first season I had no clue how they were going to keep it going strong for a second season. I have been pleasantly surprised.
I’d classify Westworld as one of my favorite shows. It is one of the few shows that I’ve gotten completely invested in the mystery. I listen to a podcast every week to keep up with what the heck is going on. I’ll be sad to see it go after tonights episode is over, but I will be cautiously optimistic for a 3rd season.
Filed Under: HBO, Television, Westworld