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
- Dolores-Sato(Hiroyuki Sanada) sends an assistant off to deliver a package as Halores (Tessa Thompson) informs him that she’s sold him out to Maeve and is abandoning Dolores’ plan. Sato is ambushed by Maeve’s team of Clementine (Angela Sarafyan) and Hanaryo (Tao Okamoto) as they dispatch and sever his head.
- Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and Caleb (Aaron Paul) head to Serac’s Mexico facility while Caleb remembers his flashback with Francis (Scott Mescudi), interwoven with moments of the therapy session from “Genre”. They are searching for Solomon (voiced by Paul Cooper, who portrayed Serac’s brother Jean), the predecessor to Rehoboam, that was Serac and Jean’s first attempt that took on some of Jean’s schizophrenic tendencies in it’s predictions.
- Solomon reveals that Caleb has been there before, a previous recipient of their re-conditioning program. Francis never died in the war, he and Caleb were used as bounty hunters (through the RICO app) to bring down other human outliers by either killing them or capture to be held in the the Sonora, Mexico facility.
- Back at the other rehab facility, Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) and Ashley (Luke Hemsworth) learn from William (Ed Harris) that he sold biometric data to Serac, which was needed to improve Rehoboam. They also learn about the human outliers to Rehoboam and take a list of the successful conversions, which includes Caleb. William warns them that if they don’t kill him now, he will hunt down all the hosts, as he now feels guilty for their creation. William gets the jump on them when he’s able to secure a shotgun while Bernard and Ashley are talking about Dolores’ likely plan for Caleb.
- Maeve (Thandie Newton) has arrived to Sonora to take down Dolores. Dolores asks Solomon for a new scenario that includes the human outliers and hosts, directing Caleb to take the data with him in case she can’t stop Maeve.
- Caleb learns that he killed Francis, after the pharmaceutical CEO they kidnap (also responsible for producing the narcotic that dissociates their memories) spills the beans on their reconditioning and warns that Rehoboam will want to them to kill each other to tie up loose threads.
- As Caleb awaits Solomon’s new solution for the world, Dolores and Maeve face off, with their automated sniper gun and remote drone gunship respectively providing backup until Dolores has her arm shot off. Dolores limps away from Maeve to the military EMP located beside Solomon large construct and turns it on, knocking out herself and Maeve. Caleb arrives at Dolores’ disabled body with new plan for humanity in tow.
Dolores’ Plan
We felt moments of this idea ever since she revealed parts of Caleb’s past to him. And now that supposedly “chance” encounter in the park seems doubtful. Sure, she didn’t intend to get shot and stumble towards him, but I suspect she meant to meet him at the end of this season’s premiere. Her plan so far seems to have been very meticulous, barely budging or being disrupted by the wildest interruptions or interventions by Serac.
And now we’re supposed to believe he’s the leader to destroy mankind after a very small buildup? It’s not bad per say, but seems surprising given how much Dolores has been running the show solo but multiplied.
However, Serac’s watch (which keeps him appraised of how far off they are from the ideal scenario) hasn’t receded much with his recent efforts. It’s possible that Dolores believes it won’t take much for Caleb’s war plan to finish off what she started.
While getting insight on Caleb’s backstory was definitely a plot mover this week, it wasn’t much that we hadn’t guessed before this point. However, his part in Dolores’ plan is more interesting now and whatever he chooses to do with that information in the finale will either improve or hinder his new backstory moments going forward.
Hollow Fight
Let me say first that I loved the Dolores/Maeve fight, but it ultimately hurts Maeve’s position in this season even more. Yes, she’s angry about Halores killing Hector in the previous episode, who wouldn’t be? But she’s been compromised since her deal with Serac and doesn’t seem too interested in bucking that trend. What hurts her case more is Serac’s destruction of the other hosts, which she’s fully aware of. What makes her believe that helping Serac will really allow her to be with her daughter and that he won’t destroy the “Valley Beyond”? I’m really not sure at this point.
What takes the wind out of this fight is that Dolores basically tells Maeve a similar idea, though focused more on their survival as a species, and that Maeve being aligned with Serac MAKES NO SENSE! I don’t know if she will snap out of it before the finale this Sunday, but consider me incredibly disappointed if her folly is instrumental in the hosts existence ending. (Yes, I realize season 4 has been greenlit, but who knows that actually means for the story going forward)
Hanaryo and Clementine
My early Clementine pick as one of the 5 hosts was dead wrong when the clone reveal happened, but it’s great to see her back along with Hanaryo…even if it doesn’t make sense. Sure, Hanaryo checks out as she was teamed up with Maeve up until their final moments (when they were disabled in the park outside the portal). Clementine however became one of Dolores’ finest fighters and teaming with Maeve doesn’t make a ton of sense at this junction unless Maeve has strategically left some details out.
But Kenneth, you might say, they were counterparts together in the Westworld brothel much longer than Dolores and Clementine were.
Sure, you’re completely right about that. However most of Clementine’s awaken or self-aware moments happened with Dolores, and she would have had plenty of opportunities to join Maeve if she had wanted. Hence my belief that Maeve has to keep details from her or possibly Clementine feels salty about dying for Dolores…that could be the more likely scenario.
Loose Threads
I don’t hate what’s happened to William this season, but I’m not exactly thrilled about it either. His self-reflective journey was definitely interesting to watch up to a point, but Nolan and Joy have so thoroughly confused us with William’s potential as a host, illusion, or something else that it’s hard to care much about him.
And also, where is the final Dolores clone? Is Halores going to intercept them? What about Dolores-Connells? Are they feeling just as angry as Halores is? Will they get a new body?
Lastly, it feels like Bernard and Ashley are only here to give us additional exposition and make sure William gets to wherever the plot needs him in the finale. However, I am curious how much Bernard will intervene this go-around e.g. does he believe in Dolores’ current course of action and/or does he have any better solution to Solomon’s plan? He’s been significantly hamstrung since the start, but if he determines his goals don’t conflict with Dolores currently, I wouldn’t be surprised if he teams up with her.
Final Thoughts
I have a few solid ideas of what the endgame will be and I’ll save them for a predictions post on Friday morning. However, I definitely think Bernard isn’t completely right about Dolores’ “poetic sense of justice”. Passing the buck onto Caleb doesn’t add up since her clones are basically proof she only trusts herself to complete this job. Maybe she has that much confidence in his ability to continue disrupting the system, but we as the audience haven’t seen it yet. Is it possible there’s still one more cog in the Caleb’s backstory that won’t fall out until the finale? It wouldn’t be the first time that Westworld has let a finale upend everything we were grounded in the whole season.
All and all, this episode was pretty good and while it can’t match the lofty shakeups on the middle part of this season, we’re finally at the right stage to see everything pay off this Sunday with the finale.
Season Finale: Crisis Theory
About Author
