Writer’s Note: Every Westworld episode review this season will involve spoilers of some kind so you have been warned.
!! Spoilers Start Now !!
Quick Synopsis
- Maeve (Thandie Newton) wakes up back in Serac’s (Vincent Cassel) simulation, where he promises to bring her more assistance (e.g. reviving the real Hector and others). When Hector (Rodrigo Santoro) arrives (still running under the WarWorld routine), Maeve is able to restore his memories. Along with Lee Sizemore (Simon Quarterman), they discuss their next move: interrogating the Dolores clone residing in the simulation.
- Halores (Tessa Thompson) arrives at Westworld to complete the blockage of Serac’s corporate takeover, but his men arrive and execute a board member to prevent their vote. Serac demands all the park data deleted and all hosts destroyed. She ensures vital Delos data is saved but is routed out by Rehoboam/Serac because of her inconsistent behavior (her attention being split by her son stood in stark contrast to how the actual Hale acted).
- Maeve leads her crew to Dolores-Connells(recovered from last week’s explosion) back in the Bernard/Dolores lab and interrogates them to figure out her next moves. She is unable to give Maeve much as “their paths have strayed”, but gives insight to what her other halves would do, like disrupt Maeve’s team.
- William (Ed Harris) attends group therapy sessions at Serac’s rehab center as the Incite profiles start filtering out to the world. He’s given the same limbic drip system (same device that Caleb leaves deactivated) to put him through a hyper-realistic scenario with different parts of himself: pre-teen William (Zayd Kiszonak), young William (Jimmi Simpson), his older self (split into his park and public personas), and the re-emergence of James Delos (Peter Mullan) who acts as the moderator.
- William comes to realize when he choose the violent path he’s on, and by beating down his other personalities, claims he will be the “good guy”. Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) and Ashley (Luke Hemsworth) arrive as he’s coming out his lucid state as he was abandoned by the rehab doctors (after they received their Incite profiles).
- Halores uses a hidden gas canister to knockout Serac’s guards. She reaches the tanks where Maeve is being re-built, confirming the prediction made earlier by Dolores-Connells, and destroys the pearl containing Hector. Before she can take out another pearl, she’s fired upon and has to flee with the aid of the riot control robot (seen in Episode 1). Still concerned with Hale’s family, she attempts to save her husband and son, only to be blown up as they depart her husband’s house; Halores survives and crawls away from the car wreckage completely charred.
Splinter Personality
So how dispensable really are Dolores’ clones? Serac makes a jab that she doesn’t really care about them, but there’s still a modicum of compassion displayed by Halores (Thompson officially used it so I will start using this from here on out) for her counterpart and surrogate family. While they may be resolved to complete their missions, it doesn’t mean that they don’t want to survive or can’t comprehend how critical their mission is. This version of Dolores is extremely compassionate to the point she makes some tactical errors during the episode that she ends up paying for (and she experiences ramifications from her previous efforts, too). Next time we see her though, it’s going to be incredible seeing how she recovers from her injuries and/or goes after Serac personally for disrupting her hope for a life. I got the sense that Halores was serious about getting out of dodge and living a hidden life with her adopted husband and son. It’s out of character for the prime Dolores we know, but unsurprising for Halores given how they’ve changed and shown so much care since “Absence of Field”.
Who Is Maeve’s Partner? What Will She Do Now?
There were four host tanks, one of which contained new bodies for Maeve, Hector, and at least one more person was being reconstructed (the fourth tank was likely only holding the pearl for Dolores-Connells). Could this mark the return of Armistice (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) to the real world? She worked hand-in-hand with Maeve and Hector for the longest so it makes the most sense.
While Maeve has been pretty hamstrung this season, her moment to shine at the loss of Hector was pretty great. The only issue that despite getting another partner, she’s not the all-powerful god like inside Westworld/simulation. I expect her vengeance on Dolores to be swift and powerful, but I also expect it will come with more cost than usual. It’s disappointing that she’s been given so little to do this season, so I’m hoping these final two episodes will remedy that.
What’s In Mexico?
We know William is located there in Serac’s facility, having been rescued by Bernard and Ashley. You can’t help but wonder if the final showdown is going to happen here and who else may be hidden in Serac’s rehab facility. And how much is Caleb’s unrevealed backstory going to play out in this location?
William Redeemed?
This is a conversation I would have loved earlier in the series, but I still appreciated seeing William having this conversation with himself. Plus, the framing of the shot above is immaculate. William’s white strait jacket, while previously a sign of his mental deterioration, is used to contrast him with his previous selves (his darker moments in black, the gray moments in his younger business self and teenage self). The episode was smart that it didn’t give an excuse for William’s action, it really lets the viewer decide what they think of him. He also doesn’t engage in this either; he owns his actions several times through the therapy sessions that culminates in his realization at the very end. William has finally been able to make a singular choice that he’s so desired for so long. However, what that choice will actually be got more complicated…
Odd Trio
I wouldn’t have expected Bernard, Ashley, and William (Man in Black) to be partnered together, yet here they are. However, it creates some interesting questions for everyone involved: how many people know that Bernard is a host? We’re sure that original Hale and Strand’s team knew last season, but they were eliminated by Dolores. How will William react if he finds out Bernard is also a host? How closely do their goals actually align? It’s an interesting parallel to the dilemma Maeve has been facing all season long as she unwillingly worked with Serac in order to reunite with her daughter.
Overall Thoughts
Not the strongest moment of the season, especially after the fireworks and narrative push from last episode, but it does highlight just how big a deal Dolores’ data dump was on the world. If you expected a final episode that broke the world, it’s likely already happened last episode and we’re seeing the final touches play out now. However, knowing this set of writers, it wouldn’t be surprising for there to be a last moment twist to close out the second to last or final episode…speaking of,
Bonus Thought: The Final Pearl
The official count has been a little murky, but given the pearls we saw in “Absence of Field”, it’s safe to assume there were 6 total units that made it out of Westworld…
- Bernard
- Dolores prime
- Charlotte Hale (Dolores)
- Martin Connells (Dolores)
- Sato (Dolores)
- ??? (Dolores)
If there is indeed a final 6th pearl, it could be the reveal that shakes up the final two episodes…
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