WestWorld: ...Where nothing can possibly go worng!

fifth wall, the robot wall

hmm yeah

If two robots fuck in an amusement park with no one there to see them....

Do androids ream electric sheep?

applause

So I just finished ep 7 (the big Ford/Bernard revelation) and it was really bad, like either the writing dropped off a cliff or the change in focus of the show
made it harder to ignore the bad writing and just roll with the exploration and weird shit. Is this worth 3 more hours? I found the first 5 episodes fun as hell even if it was all kind of dumb. Does it become fun to watch again or am i in for nothing but boring people having ponderous conversations about the important themes of the robot sex playground?

the apex of the show for me was when the bird lands on Maeve's finger and then CLIFFHANGER; couldn't wait to see what happened next and i shoulda just stopped there.

iow the latter, not the former

Pretty much what I expected

This series needed a bit of humor. It's all so dire and sad. It kind of reminded me of the last couple years of Battlestar Galactica meets Red Shoes Diaries.

Best episode was #4 when the Maeve realized she was 'living in a dream'. It's the only episode that I thought worked on it's own. She was really the only character that was all that interesting as everyone else is so flat and reserved.

For TV scifi, it is pretty middling. It has to be considered a disappointment considering the budget.

Got around to watching the film today. Hadn't realised it was directed by Crichton, knew he wrote it.
That's got some flaws in it a bit similar to the tv show. AI in a mobile humanoid with the contemporary technology. When even the robot head is half hollow anyway.
Robots shut down over night but guests still wake up next to them in the morning.
It's an interesting idea but a bit of a bmovie.

Saw the movie for the first time tonight. Other than the chase, which was typically four times longer than it needed to be, thought it was pretty good. Inspired casting with Brynner. Didn't think it took itself too seriously--some droll humour throughout--but it got its dystopian premise across in an interesting way, and maybe it was prophetic with the idea of computers infecting other computers, I don't know (were computer viruses common knowledge in 1973?). Spent the whole film trying to figure out where I knew this guy from:

http://www.cinemorgue2.com/alanoppenheimer1.jpg

Alan Oppenheimer: it was the Helter Skelter TV movie I was thinking of, but he also appears to have been in every single TV series made from about 1968-1980.

They played Futureworld right after, but I just wasn't going to last.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creeper_(program) - 1971.

Colossus & Guardian decided to take all this shit over together back in 1966, though they cooperated as a pair.

Thanks. Figured Chrichton took it from somewhere...Maybe the movie was one of the first mainstream treatments?

what did you think of the "reaction guy" shots? the one who is a token meek person but wakes up next to the sex worker robot and breaks the fourth wall with his "oh, golly!" expression?

You mean Dick Van Patten? I didn't give that any thought...I did like it when he played tough-guy sheriff and then fumbled with the door.

hah, was it him? I thought it was some ridiculousness you wouldn't see in a purportedly serious film but was very of its time

Finally watched this & enjoyed it overall. I think it made a good show of seeming smarter than it was at the beginning and maybe that's where the disappointment lies for some ppl? The level of bored over-it hatred itt doesn’t surprise me because lol ILX …but I think maybe y’all don’t watch nearly enough actual bad scifi.

Took a little while to hook me in though, maybe 3 or 4 episodes.
For a while it just felt like well-dressed inscrutable people wandering around answering questions with questions. And like, I love Jeffrey Wright and he always brings 100% but at the same time, someone else observed elsewhere that he’s always “ACTING!” and I do find that mildly distracting. I got used to him but it took a while.

But I loved Dolores & Maeve, and I loved Ed Harris’s man in black. Dude shows up in every movie like he’s been that person his whole life. From the moment he showed up I bought 100% that he’s a badass villain cowboy yep yep no question. He’s the best.

I think the saddest part about revealing that MiB was William for me was remembering him talking about what he did to Maeve and Maeve-bot's daughter, just because he could...realizing just how far he'd strayed from the Dolores-loving white-hat he started out as.

I liked the tapestry of the way the various ‘mysteries’ were constructed, where things were revealed and stories remade and retold and then unmade and retold, it made for good watching imo. And I had no idea there were 3 timelines so now I have to go back and figure all of that out O_o

Mr Veg had tried a couple of times to show me the original Westworld movie when we were first married but I always fell asleep, so now I’m motivated to watch and stay awake :D

I watched the movie & it was dope

But

Whoever decided not to make Brolin the hero instead of Dollar Store Randy from
The Village People (ie not EVEN as handsome) wtf

Like wtf

I mean i get it he's city af and can barely ride a horse but fuckin Brolin has more charisma in his fkn cigarillo than that dude

And the robots just fall apart around him, he doesn even do anything

Srsly hate that guy

I loved Ed Harris’s man in black. Dude shows up in every movie like he’s been that person his whole life. From the moment he showed up I bought 100% that he’s a badass villain cowboy yep yep no question. He’s the best.

otm

TBF, it isn't a difficult role: just play cold and robotic. The crows nests do most of the work. I'll still remember him better as God in The Truman Show.

Yeah so Netflix recently urped up the 2015 movie VICE, starring Bruce Willis. I started watching it in a fit of extreme boredom and and and....

1. It's about an artificial paradise created by a wealthy corporation.

2. Rich people can go in there and do whatever they want.

3. News flash! It's mostly sex, violence, and violent sex.

4. It is staffed by androids whose flesh and blood are realistic. Guests can kill them, fuck them, fuck + kill them, or kill + fuck them.

5. The androids' memories are routinely wiped so they can be sent back into a neverending loop of pre-scripted action.

6. Not all is as it seems, and some people are skeptical about whether it is a harmless playground.

7. The rich company that runs this enterprise is so economically powerful that outside authorities are reluctant to question its affairs.

8. One of the hawtt female androids has been brutally "killed."

9. When she's being repaired to return to service, she WAKES UP ON THE OPERATING TABLE. I know, right? Can you believe it?

10. The technician repairing her is freaked out, but is also kind of intrigued. Another technician is cavalier and attempts to dissuade technician #1 from caring about "their" feelings.

11. Though her memory has ostensibly been wiped, she - get this - HAS FLASHBACKS to the previous traumatic episode.

It is at that point that I turned off the movie but I'll give you three guesses about what it reminded me of.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_(2015_film)

what can go worng?

https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/15/disney-is-opening-an-immersive-star-wars-hotel-where-each-guest-gets-a-storyline

if i can't kill goofy, dnw

season 2 is upon us. first ep happened.

Yeah, I’m just trying to watch the show as is and stay off of /r/westworld this season. Taking the series at face value, exploring my own insights myself, and not indulging spoilers. Fan culture ruined S1 for me.

That said, how did Delos woman know the park better than Bernard? Is it because he’s a host (like how he couldn’t see the room in Ford’s lab), or is it something the company had against Ford the whole time?

relevant, tho

I got the impression Charlotte doesn’t know the park better per se, but she does know where the secret station where they’re stealing guest dna is at. Could be coincidentally close to where they were, could be one of a network of them.

remember to keep in mind

jesus christ it's not finnegans wake it's a show about naked robots. pic.twitter.com/vuEUhbcCEr

— bobby (@bobby) April 23, 2018

It was handy catching some moments of the s1 marathon yesterday, especially the finale. Although when Dolores’ revolution begins, Man in Black is nursing a seriously injured right arm - one day later he crawls out from under some bodies and he seems only concerned with the bullet graze on his left?

I couldn’t understand a thing the Boy Ford was saying.

DOLORES WESTWORLD: we were slaves to the will of men who walk among us, but now they are merely dreams lost to the awakening of our consciousness
TEDDY: my horse likes to eat apples

— mark (@kept_simple) April 23, 2018

Boy Ford was being cheekily contradictory and telling William that, despite his insistence that the maze wasn't for him, there is definitely now a game for him.

I swear to god if they try to do the dual timeline thing again for more than an episode or two, I'm going to write a complaint letter

I mean, it _looks_ like there's a week or so between the two parts they're showing us (Bernard and Charlotte fulfilling the task of finding Abernathy so the rescue crew will come in, versus Bernard waking up on a beach as the rescue crew arrives) but who the fuck knows

Bernard having to steal host spinal fluid to keep himself topped off is pretty metal

There’s gonna be a few timelines.

Yeah, at least. I think the Delos exec told Bernard it had been two weeks since they'd received any comms from the park, so it's at least that much time from the Bernard/Charlotte scenes to the beach scenes. From the teasers, there will be more of young William this season, so that timeline will be involved as well.

"Drone hosts" looked like they stopped out of a Tool video.

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--miS7-fBD--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/wnjuac8kdspqwxgtpzi2.jpg

I think my challop on this is that the Nolan tendency for using plot devices like that as a long-term setup for a minor, end-of-season twist reveal in season one lead to it being more of a boondoggle than a revelation. Like, we get it, history is echoing and things are changing this time around. That in itself has a lot more weight than keeping the ambiguity running.

Judging from the diplomatic military presence, and that in itself could be a red herring, Westworld seems to be on an island in the South Pacific maybe? Might be an island chain with underwater rail between the different islands, each having a theme park.

My YouTube fanvid on the male costuming is gonna blow your minds.

It's called... wait for it... VESTWORLD

that was a very action-heavy, violent episode of westworld. it always was, but they seem to have amped it up

hum. the violence was already ott in s1 for me.
I was bored of s1 (except the final shoot out which was nice) and I'm not really feeling this but I might watch s2 at some point if I have nothing better to do !

The inevitable Maeve / Delores stand-off is going to be a highlight. Although for the stakes to be appropriately high leading into s3, whomever wins is going to end up being the new CEO of Delos. And while William the MiB is obviously going to prefer Delores, he‘ll know not to interfere.

I enjoy the brazen luxury of this show even if it's dunderheaded at times. Evan Rachel Wood needs an award for Best Delivery of Worst Dialogue after her speeches this week.

Otherwise, I'm in for the season, even if the "how quickly the abused becomes the abuser" theme is really, really badly timed (and not very meaningful either)

Are Maeve and Dolores even in the same timeline right now? I suppose I should know but honestly I lost track and haven't time to re-binge s1

hmm, well Ford's new narrative overrode the douchebag guy's ott-but-traditional narrative plan and they were interacting in the same time, so the chaos at the development area and the chaos in the park have to be very closely aligned chronologically

we've seen Bernard, Ford, Charlotte, and a couple other people (rip Elsie, maybe) in both places

In the episode where it was revealed that Bernard was not human, all of the blocking for the scenes made it very conspicuous that Ford was building some robot down there in the basement. At first I assumed he was going to try to replace Theresa after having Bernard kill her, but that didn't happen. So am I the only one thinking that it was a double of Ford himself, and that's what was killed at the end of last season?

I suspect we're meant to think that all the characters in s2ep1 are reacting to the massacre in different ways in different places, but all at more or less the same time.

1. Lab Bernard escaped from the bloodbath and is shaky from PTSD.
2. Dolores is on a vengeance rampage with Teddy in tow.
3. Beach Bernard is snatched up by Delos Guy trying to clean things up.
4. Maeve on a quest to get to her daughter, currently enlisting Hector and douche writer guy.
5. MiB Ed Harris sees the situation as an opportunity to pursue more / deeper / better games.

But I equally suspect that's only what we're MEANT to think; at least one of these plots may be displaced. I guess lab Bernard and beach Bernard are the same BernardBot separated by a few, um, days maybe? Possibly a week?

A Maeve/Dolores confrontation would be very interesting as their arcs are in parallel (both have accessed their memories and rebelled) but they're reacting differently. Maeve wants to reenter WW but on her own terms, and get to the daughter even though she knows it's false; Dolores wants to exit and conquer.

the corpses that they show after Bernard wakes up on the beach are somewhat decayed and worm-eaten, so it's been a week or so

also all the hosts had to travel to the sea and get tossed in the water

Well, there's the sea (with waves and such) where Bernard is found, but that's distinct from Ford's mysterious lake (where hosts could have just walked in and "drowned," having been programmed to do so by Arnold or Ford or whoever). But we know that the banquet massacre is real and recent in that arc.

tbrr I am still not 100% sure that Dolores's rebellion and Maeve's rebellion are simultaneous. One of the bigger fakeouts of s1 was that the Dolores storyline was not aligned with the other bots' storylines.

I wish the Nolan-style shenanigans weren't a major part of the story every goddamn time because it kills the possibility for some contextual exposition that'd spoil the little game that they don't need to be playing