Social media is dark and full of terrors spoilers. To avoid spoiling the fun for fans on the west coast and those who have to wait to beg, borrow, or steal an HBO Go password, I”m going to (mostly) confine my stream-of-consciousness thoughts of Westworld here. Follow along or flee in fear. Here there be spoilers! Episode Two is entitled ‘Chestnut” which could be a hair color, could be an idiom, could something else. If you want to catch up, the liveblog of Episode One is over here!
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[8:58PM EDT] – Welcome back, folks! Does the Westworld fandom have a name yet? We need a name. As we wait for the episode to start, check out my 'crackpot' theory that this theme park isn't even on Earth.
[8:59PM EDT] – Good thing nothing else important is going on tonight and we can all focus on this completely fictional portrayal of exploring how some humans turn into human trash fires when given leave to behave however they want.
[9:02PM EDT] – I have a pretty interesting interview with the make-up and VFX guys coming tomorrow. Be sure to keep an eye out as they went into some detail about what the 'milk bath' stuff the robots are dipped in is and kind of how it works.
[9:06PM EDT] – This is our first look at the world outside of Westworld. Everything is underground entirely until they get to the theme park, based on the rock formations on the walls. The little blonde dude sees the CGI version at the top of the escalator like he's never seen open spaces like that before.
[9:07PM EDT] – “If you can't tell, does it matter?” Well it does if the guest wants to behave in a depraved fashion without getting sued by an employee or another guest. Just sayin'.
[9:08PM EDT] – See? this is why I think all the employees are hosts, but some of them don't know it. I wonder what it's like for the platform hosts to KNOW they aren't real. That has to be a different experience than the ones in the park who think they're real.
[9:10PM EDT] – So, it is contagious. I hope Dolores speaks the code word to every single female robot in that town.
[9:12PM EDT] – Did you see it?! When the White Hat entered the car, the light behind the door disappeared going from top to bottom…like an elevator. It did it again when his Blak Hat jerkface buddy joined. Extrapolating, each guest enters on a different level as it rises from the entry, before coupling up on the surface with the rest of the train.
[9:14PM EDT] – As much as the Man in Black freaks me out, Ed Harris sure does know how to deliver a one-liner.
[9:17PM EDT] – Imagine the hell it is to go through those motions every day. Those hosts go through the same story whether a host appears or not. It's Groundhog's Day but a billion times worse.
[9:19PM EDT] – Sabotage? What if the Man in Black has been messing with the code in Dolores and Mr. Abernathy? Also, I find it interesting the Mrs. Abernathy has been off-camera thus far.
[9:21PM EDT] – I really like William aka White Hat. He's the first decent human being we've seen in this theme park.
[9:23PM EDT] – I'm fascinated with how much different Dolores' outfit looks in the lighting in here than in Westworld.
[9:25PM EDT] – The thing about this show is wondering how much of the dialogue the hosts say is scripted and how much of it is improvised. Very meta, how much of what actors say is in the script and how much is improvised? Did Story write that Clementine was tired and having nightmares or is she remembering things she shouldn't?
[9:28PM EDT] – Do you think the hosts have to eat? Do they have bodily functions? If they don't and/or can't digest food and drink, where does it go when they eat or get drunk?
[9:29PM EDT] – I know we're supposed to hate the Black Hat, but the actor is really selling it. Every woman knows that guy. The guy that is just looking for an excuse to turn into a predator.
[9:34PM EDT] – How much of his time does the Man in Black spend in this park in order to remember everything about 2000 individual hosts?
[9:37PM EDT] – Oh, so it's been long enough for him to become extremely proficient at being cavalierly violent and evil. Harris is making me not…like…this guy. But be intrigued by him? There's more going on here than meets the eye, right?
[9:39PM EDT] – How do they get that weird animatronic blink? The little girl went full-on uncanny valley robot to tell the Man in Black where to go next.
[9:41PM EDT] – “Everything in this world is magic except for the magician,” has to be one of the most depressing lines of dialogue. So what do you guys think? Is that child robot supposed to be a young Dr. Ford? Or was it a normal host? And if so, why would some of the hosts be dressed and behaving like guests? Layers and layers.
[9:42PM EDT] – HOW FAR DOWN DOES THIS FACILITY GO!?
[9:43PM EDT] – Unexpected coupling is unexpected. But it will not distract me from the fact that Bernard's apartment was obviously underground yet he has a window to the “outside” world. Is it a hologram? I literally can't trust anything and I love it.
[9:45PM EDT] – Notice that they say the hosts go through a maintenance 'rotation.' Why use that word for hosts and employees unless the employees are hosts!? I'm getting my tin foil hat!
[9:47PM EDT] – Thandie Newton I believe said in an interview that half the fun of this show is getting to repeat dialogue with different inflections or tone or emotion. It's really quite enthralling.
[9:49PM EDT] – So the guests can't get shot, but I wonder how bow and arrows work. It's a slightly different concept than a bullet.
[9:52PM EDT] – Oh my God, she's awake. Can you imagine the horror that would be waking up with your abdomen wide open in an alien world. This is some Fire in the Sky abduction stuff. Flickering lights. Technology you can't understand. Bodies just laying around like discarded trash. But why are the surgeons so concerned? The hosts can't hurt the guests, so why would they be able to hurt the employees?
[9:55PM EDT] – Dolores got a gun. I can only imagine that's going to end poorly for some poor schmuck.
[9:57PM EDT] – Dr. Ford's speech is so meta I can see through time and space to the fabric of reality.
[9:59PM EDT] – Final thoughts: Mr. Sizemore's storyline is the 'Chestnut.' Horror, mutilation, other assorted depraved sundries are the story we've all heard too often. They're 'old chestnuts.' Time for a new narrative!
Just a head's up, there will be no liveblog next week as I will be on vacation! But we will continue with Episode 4 in two weeks!