The people behindWestworldseem to never be happier than when they are thoroughly confusing the audience. This seems to be made abundantly clear when very early on in this week’s episode of the show, a character asks Bernard, “do you understand where this is going?” He responds that he does, and then the two characters talk in puzzles and riddles like they are omnipotent gods who have already figured out what the audience has no hope of figuring out just yet. This is whereWestworldcan be its most frustrating because the show seems to want to throw puzzles on top of puzzles on top of mysteries.
Certainly, there are some mysteries that very desperately need to be solved duringSeason 4 ofWestworldand it should surprise no one that Episode 3 is doing nothing to really solve any of those puzzles. However, it might be a bit of a relief to some viewers of the show that at least it doesn’t really seem as if the program is adding on even more mysteries. In fact, one of the bigger mysteries, what’s going on with Delores, is completely ignored this week. That’s actually a good thing as it appears to be the one that’s the least interesting in the long run. Instead, this week focuses about half of its plot on Bernard and Ashley trying to save the world and Maeve and Caleb just trying to figure out what’s going on with the newly resurrectedWestworldtheme park.
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By now, much has been said about how long Westworld has been gone and one of the funnier aspects of its long absence is reflected in how familiar the Bernard and Ashley plotline feels when weighed against one of the most popular stories in recent pop culture. That is to say, that it appears the creators of the HBO Max series almost entirely ripped off the idea of Bernard needing to be quite precise in order to save the world from the plot ofAvengers: Endgame, withBernard playing the part ofDoctor Strange.
While Bernard doesn’t use a mystical stone to see into the future, he does apparently get to examine millions of possible future outcomes. After examining how everything unfolds he’s able to delicately shape what path he and the rest of the world go down in order to save everyone. Of course,End Gamewasn’t the first story to ever use this kind of plot device but it was the most recent one to do it on such a grand scale and there are just too many similarities to ignore. There’s even a kind ofSteven Strange/ Tony Stark vibe between Bernard and Ashley, even if Ashley isn’t a genius inventor who wears a suit of armor.
While the Westworld version of End Game is decidedly darker, it’s also not as interesting and the first half of thisepisode ofWestworldis, for the most part; dull. This particular installment is definitely done in two acts and the first act just doesn’t have much reason for people to pay close attention. The problem with that is there seems to be quite a few subtle moments, clues, and clips buried in the “first act” that the show would like people to pay close attention to. But they’re surrounded by story that seems to meander just a little too much.
This is especially the case when Bernard and Anthony go to join a group that is referred to only as “The Cause.” That group seems to have something in common with the very first season ofWestworldwhen the Man in Black was trying to get to the center of the maze. So far, there hasn’t been a whole lot of light shed on the group and it’s here where the mystery of what Bernard’s doing gets to be a bit too bendy and windy.WestworldSeason 4would do itself a favor if whatever is going on with that group doesn’t extend beyond the next episode.
Where the first act starts to pick up and where the second act really starts to run is when Maeve and Caleb find themselves in the new version of the theme park. It’s certainly interesting to watch Maeve realize that there are several new hosts that are playing out the same kind of stories that she and her generation of robots did, even if things aren’t exactly the same, considering this new world is set in the roaring ’20s. Maeve throwing shade at the host who is basically supposed to be her in thisnewWestworldadds a little giggle to an episode that is otherwise pretty heavy.
Things really get rolling as Maeve and Caleb go even deeper into this new version of the park and uncover that at least part of the new game is borrowing directly from the hosts' revolt against the humans. This is also where thebiggest twist of Season 4 ofWestworldtakes place and it certainly seems as though the landscape is going to shift when it comes to at least one group of the show’s main characters.
This particular twist is carried out about as well as the show could possibly have done and leading up to it, theHBO Max seriesmanages to generate a real sense of foreboding and could even get its audience to wonder if it’s going to cross a line that would certainly seem to be one other shows would be afraid to cross. Even when things seem to be ratcheting back down and the good guys are about to win the day once again, a trap is snapped shut in a way that was definitely hinted at, but is still a decent shock when it does actually happen.
As the dust settled on the third episode of the season, it became very obvious that the second act saved the day. The hard right the show took in the final 30 minutes sets the stage for what could be a very interesting installment next week as well.
