Westworld

I don’t know if anyone is watching the new HBO series, “Westworld” based on the 1973 film starring Yul Brynner.

First of all let me say that, growing up–“Westworld” was one of my favorite films. I absolutely loved it. So I was really looking forward to the series which has been way too long in the making.

In any case—I am enjoying the series–but in a different way from the film. I read someone describe the series as a “puzzle” and I thought that was a great way to put it. There is a LOT going on. There are a LOT of characters and ideas and themes.

But what IS going on, exactly?

That’s the “puzzle” at the center of the series.

The show is really a view from the hosts(robots) and staff working at Westworld. Actually, it feels like there are only a few guests in the park at any given time and the show really focuses on two or three of them. This is a strength and weakness of the series. The “threats” at this point are against the robots. The guests are mostly evil. It’s a good look at human nature. If you were turned loose to do as you pleased with no consequences, what would you do?

In “Westworld” it’s a lot of murder, abuse, rape–anything you please–and the “hosts” suffer these consequences as they go through their story loops again and again. But what happens if they begin to remember? What happens if they begin to develop consciousness?

And bigger questions? What exactly IS Westworld? And WHERE is it?

The director, Robert Ford(Anthony Hopkins) is great as a sort of evil mastermind who seems to have some bad intentions. Bernard(Jeffery Wright) is a staff member who seems to care about the robots–but he has his own agenda. The beautiful Evan Rachel Wood stars as “Dolores”, the oldest robot in the park who really seems on track to developing consciousness. She also seems to have secrets that she hasn’t uncovered yet.

There is a “board” that seems to have it’s own agenda as well.

And then—Ed Harris as “the Man in Black”. He’s a guest. But he has some really dark secrets and he’s on a quest to find out what is real in the park, seeking out “the maze” and killing and abusing hosts to get closer to his goal. But who is he really?

There are a lot of questions raised in the first four episodes. LOTS. It’s interesting in that sort of “puzzle” way–but it will fry your brain if you think about it too much. And that is the one flaw so far–too much thinking–not enough feeling. It’s got some big questions, for sure. But the story itself can be a bit repetitive as it goes through the loops. It makes for a bit of a slow start.

But it has so much to set up, it seems, that it requires a lot of time.

We will see if it was all worth it.

It’s either going to blow your mind when the answers start coming–or you’ll be throwing things at the television screen and shouting: REALLY?

I have some faith in the showrunners. Johnathan Nolan is Christopher Nolan’s brother and he has a good track record–including writing the story that “Memento” was based on. He was also involved in “Interstellar” and the Batman flicks and I believe “Inception”. So he has a complicated mind.

I absolutely love the show right now. I joined some online groups to help sort through it and had my first , Ah-hah moment when someone put forth one of the big theories.

I do recommend the show. Just be prepared to watch some episodes twice and bring your thinking cap. It isn’t passive television by any means.