The screen play is the best!!! loved each and every scene and the plot
48 Reviews
A pleasant change in the setting
night_owl200922 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Watching and reading about Edo period and generally old japan always fascinated me. Now that it comes to westworld with Master Hiroyuki Sanada, you are treated to perfect acting, sword fighting, gory scenes, and.... well Japan is not complete without Cherry blossoms!!!
Better
filmobsession9417 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Much better than the previous episode. I take my words back. I actually really enjoyed the exploration of Shogun World. However, Mauve's storyline is the only one I'm truly enjoying. I love Mauve. Brave, got a bit of a bite, funny, playful, but the love for her daughter is in the heart of her character. Dolores/Wyatt, however, is seriously starting to bug me. I think Dolores turning evil in the last episode of season 1 was cool, because you had that shocking explosive ending, but I don't think they planned to ever make a season 2. I freaking loved Dolores in season 1. Started off innocent and a bit of a damsel in distress, but really got stronger and braver and more interesting in the season's run. Here she has flipped 180 so fast that there's just no way on Earth that herself now and before are the same person. Just, please bring back Dolores. Also, Teddy.....What the hell did she do to Teddy. What the hell did she do to beutiful, good old Teddy. Omg I hate her, please tell me if she doesn't get redeemed, she at least dies by the end of season 2!
Unlike the other reviews I found it great episode
mgidb27 August 2019
Warning: Spoilers
It's a great way to add some thrilling to this season. A parallel story to the park with paralleled characters. The new ability which developed Maeve character in the world mixed with the traditional old culture of Japanese spirituality
"Kuroku Nure" redux
XweAponX21 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
We can start to see what BernArnold's timeline actually is. Some of the scenes he is in are occurring much later than the fabric of stories we are seeing right now. There is actually a huge clue to the real fate of the "Hosts" here: if you remember why Maeve had herself and some other hosts burned alive when she needed some "Allies" for her "Escape" narrative.
Why did she need to do that? Do you remember?
There was actually a very good reason for it.
And I believe Delores has figured this out too: and she has her own captured Westworld 'tech.
Why were all of the hosts bodies dumped into a huge reservoir that wasn't supposed to exist?
Why did William's "weapon" appear to be a huge hole in the ground?
While we are left to chew on that, Maeve and her little entourage have stumbled into samurai world.
If you thought the narratives in Westworld were bad, those were nothing.
Maeve sees a story she is familiar with being told in a different way.
And Teddy, well he's "too nice of a guy".
Lots of jangly pieces of story here, if we have an imagination we can almost predict what's going to happen. The Samurai World narratives are huge, like "The Last Samurai" huge. Where are they filming this?
And it's like the Park Itself has come to life. But Whose life? Whose "control unit" did BernArnold abscond with? And why does it appear that Dr. Ford can take over any host in his quest to torment William? How can he be doing that?
Go ahead, put the pieces together, I dare you. "Turn the other cheek".
And then it appears to be coming down to Maeve vs Delores. Wherever did I get that idea?
The problem here, is who do I want to root for? Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? I'm starting to even be sympathetic to "The Man in Black", William. And I've always rooted for BernArnold. And I'm glad Elsie is still with us. For now, I don't see her in other "Mesa" scenes. And Maeve. I like Maeve more than Delores, but then again Ford turned her into Wyatt. So for me it's William, BernArnold, Maeve, Maeve's Army, Elsie and Teddy. I want to see them win, but win WHAT? Maybe I want to see Hosts escape into the real world, but not being driven by Ford, like Ford still seems to be driving BernArnold. But Delores, is evil now. It's like she chose to be that way, and you will see what happens when Teddy tries to talk her into running away with him. It's Grave of the Fireflies all over again. And The Wolverine, and Seven Samurai.
This has been the most delightful second season, i've got no complaints about any S2 episode.
Wow, just came back in here after a week, I can't believe the amount of people making comments that probably didn't even watch any of season one. If they had, they would see that everything that happens here was referenced in the very first episode. Instead, they have gone on a "not helpful" fest, as if this were REDDIT. It Ain't, i've got an idea, stay away from IMDb and go back to reddit and start a new sub where you can complain about Westworld all you want, keep it out of here, we're trying to enjoy it. Interesting, how all of the positive reviews have been trolled to the bottom, and all of the verbatim 1-stars up top. Hey, I'd love to do that too! How much does a Bot farm cost these days?
Why did she need to do that? Do you remember?
There was actually a very good reason for it.
And I believe Delores has figured this out too: and she has her own captured Westworld 'tech.
Why were all of the hosts bodies dumped into a huge reservoir that wasn't supposed to exist?
Why did William's "weapon" appear to be a huge hole in the ground?
While we are left to chew on that, Maeve and her little entourage have stumbled into samurai world.
If you thought the narratives in Westworld were bad, those were nothing.
Maeve sees a story she is familiar with being told in a different way.
And Teddy, well he's "too nice of a guy".
Lots of jangly pieces of story here, if we have an imagination we can almost predict what's going to happen. The Samurai World narratives are huge, like "The Last Samurai" huge. Where are they filming this?
And it's like the Park Itself has come to life. But Whose life? Whose "control unit" did BernArnold abscond with? And why does it appear that Dr. Ford can take over any host in his quest to torment William? How can he be doing that?
Go ahead, put the pieces together, I dare you. "Turn the other cheek".
And then it appears to be coming down to Maeve vs Delores. Wherever did I get that idea?
The problem here, is who do I want to root for? Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? I'm starting to even be sympathetic to "The Man in Black", William. And I've always rooted for BernArnold. And I'm glad Elsie is still with us. For now, I don't see her in other "Mesa" scenes. And Maeve. I like Maeve more than Delores, but then again Ford turned her into Wyatt. So for me it's William, BernArnold, Maeve, Maeve's Army, Elsie and Teddy. I want to see them win, but win WHAT? Maybe I want to see Hosts escape into the real world, but not being driven by Ford, like Ford still seems to be driving BernArnold. But Delores, is evil now. It's like she chose to be that way, and you will see what happens when Teddy tries to talk her into running away with him. It's Grave of the Fireflies all over again. And The Wolverine, and Seven Samurai.
This has been the most delightful second season, i've got no complaints about any S2 episode.
Wow, just came back in here after a week, I can't believe the amount of people making comments that probably didn't even watch any of season one. If they had, they would see that everything that happens here was referenced in the very first episode. Instead, they have gone on a "not helpful" fest, as if this were REDDIT. It Ain't, i've got an idea, stay away from IMDb and go back to reddit and start a new sub where you can complain about Westworld all you want, keep it out of here, we're trying to enjoy it. Interesting, how all of the positive reviews have been trolled to the bottom, and all of the verbatim 1-stars up top. Hey, I'd love to do that too! How much does a Bot farm cost these days?
Loved this one!
jwwalrath-227-8548721 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Couldn't think of anything not to like here: the samurai fights, characters meeting their dopplegangers, including the tragic scene of lobotomized Clementine meeting hers, and Maeve's new powers. They do a wonderful job of revisiting what we know of Maeve, while giving her more depth. Also, really like Sizemore here. Last season he was just annoying. Here he is funny and we see there is a clever side to him.
A masterpiece
OwlsWatch12 June 2018
I honestly think these reviews got invaded by some incel message board with the negative reviews, this was easily, clearly, unquestionably one of the best if not THE best episodes of Westworld. It was a detour, yes, but also a much needed breath of fresh air. This episode is beautiful and haunting and absolutely magical. The sets, the costumes, the performances were all next level.
Sounds like Fanfiction
sspureurubin2 February 2023
...I knew they can't really do again the masterpiece that is Season 1. I knew that but this was too much. All the time I was watching I half thought I was watching a parody, or a production brought by a weeb in management. Maeve's last shot with a katana looked so ridiculous; it really just is "Hey guys lets put samurais and katanas and ninjas in a Westworld episode! That would be so cool!" Story too is at a snail's pace.
Still, set looks amazing. If they made a samurai centric movie I would watch it. Standalone story parallelling the Westworld characters was a decent concept. Maeve's actress did a good job speaking Japanese.
Still, set looks amazing. If they made a samurai centric movie I would watch it. Standalone story parallelling the Westworld characters was a decent concept. Maeve's actress did a good job speaking Japanese.
Misses the mark aesthetically; painfully unaware of how inauthentic it is.
wandersgion13 July 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Let me start with the positive. Choosing to make all of the dialogue Japanese was ambitious and commendable. The actress portraying Maeve delivered her lines well-enough to be understood most of the time.
Ideally, though the Japanese actors would have spoken Japanese and the main cast English. That way everyone could have given their best performance.
The in-world justification for speaking Japanese doesn't seem to make sense. We are told that all hosts have this latent multilingual ability that they can use to respond to guests in other languages. If Maeve is able to "tap into" this ability, then surely the other hosts should be able to as well -- even "off loop".
Furthermore, Simon speaks Japanese for reasons not explained beyond the fact that he wrote all of the park's story scenarios. We do not know the mechanisms behind engineering stories for the hosts, but if it's anything like game design, it would go through a localization process where professional translators would be involved. It's really difficult to believe that Simon wrote all of that Japanese dialogue by himself given what we know about his temperament. And conversely, if he was such a Japanese expert, we would expect him to have designed a much more authentic-looking Japanese town.
The town looks so fake, and lacks any of the defining characteristics of Edo Period buildings, despite Simon describing that as the setting. Ostensibly, the reason for designing a set from the ground up was to mirror the layout of the hub-town in Westworld and draw parallels between the two parks. Watching it for the first time, however, this intention was completely lost on me. I only know this from watching the behind the scenes commentary. Having a red Torii gate in the middle of the town (not even of the proper design) feels very out of place. Also, the roof of the tea house should use thatch, and the door shouldn't be positioned on a corner.
If Simon had drawn attention to how fake it looked and made some cheeky in-world excuse (e.g. "Dr. Ford spent too much on side projects that we had to cut corners with Shogun World"), then the lack of authentic architecture and clothes wouldn't have bothered me.
Others have commented on the story-telling aspect, so I'll be brief on that.
Some problems I had: Why didn't they immediately flee after killing the Shogun's messenger? Why send ninjas to kill such a low-level target? Very petty and dishonorable. Why carve a cherry tree on Sakura's back if she was dancing clothed? Her face would have made more sense. Why didn't Maeve intervene when the Shogun was about the kill Sakura? Why didn't guards intervene immediately after Akane cut the Shogun? Every problem was resolved by Maeve's mind-control power. Redundant.
Ideally, though the Japanese actors would have spoken Japanese and the main cast English. That way everyone could have given their best performance.
The in-world justification for speaking Japanese doesn't seem to make sense. We are told that all hosts have this latent multilingual ability that they can use to respond to guests in other languages. If Maeve is able to "tap into" this ability, then surely the other hosts should be able to as well -- even "off loop".
Furthermore, Simon speaks Japanese for reasons not explained beyond the fact that he wrote all of the park's story scenarios. We do not know the mechanisms behind engineering stories for the hosts, but if it's anything like game design, it would go through a localization process where professional translators would be involved. It's really difficult to believe that Simon wrote all of that Japanese dialogue by himself given what we know about his temperament. And conversely, if he was such a Japanese expert, we would expect him to have designed a much more authentic-looking Japanese town.
The town looks so fake, and lacks any of the defining characteristics of Edo Period buildings, despite Simon describing that as the setting. Ostensibly, the reason for designing a set from the ground up was to mirror the layout of the hub-town in Westworld and draw parallels between the two parks. Watching it for the first time, however, this intention was completely lost on me. I only know this from watching the behind the scenes commentary. Having a red Torii gate in the middle of the town (not even of the proper design) feels very out of place. Also, the roof of the tea house should use thatch, and the door shouldn't be positioned on a corner.
If Simon had drawn attention to how fake it looked and made some cheeky in-world excuse (e.g. "Dr. Ford spent too much on side projects that we had to cut corners with Shogun World"), then the lack of authentic architecture and clothes wouldn't have bothered me.
Others have commented on the story-telling aspect, so I'll be brief on that.
Some problems I had: Why didn't they immediately flee after killing the Shogun's messenger? Why send ninjas to kill such a low-level target? Very petty and dishonorable. Why carve a cherry tree on Sakura's back if she was dancing clothed? Her face would have made more sense. Why didn't Maeve intervene when the Shogun was about the kill Sakura? Why didn't guards intervene immediately after Akane cut the Shogun? Every problem was resolved by Maeve's mind-control power. Redundant.
Should be 8 stars
astom_2322 March 2020
Filler episode but enjoyable
hanimhomsi4 July 2022
This episode is a filler episode, if you skip this, you won't feel the difference. I mean the whole episode is retelling you the story of Maeve and her associates but in a Japanese version. Yes It didn't add anything to the story but it was fun to watch and the directing was awesome. So giving it a rating of 8 is fair I guess.
What happened to the writing on this one?
heatsink9821 May 2018
See title. This episode was off. The creepy, puzzling atmosphere of the previous episodes vanished when we entered Shogun World. This slice of WESTWORLD, dare I say, got boring in parts. The action was fine, but pacing was off for the other parts of the episode like Dolores and Teddy. I'm also worried about Maeve and her abilities that she doesn't quite understand. Her (and the writers') solution to getting out of trouble in this episode was questionable for the story. It didn't require much build-up or practice, and it seemed like a cheap way out. And without some serious limitations, Maeve's ability might inject logical problems later on.
The Maeve Game
trollerbrendan21 May 2018
What an episode! Truly, this is my favorite episode yet. The plot is epic and the acting is superb. The best storyline of this episode is the one following Maeve. Thandie Newton truly captures the emotions of a mother searching for her daughter, a the while being a fierce cold blooded killer.
One of best episode in second season
lal_rakesh15 May 2020
C.R.E.A.M.
aaguilar092527 May 2020
Deus Ex Machina
theminorityreporter2 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Maeve is finally gagged. When she's ungagged she speaks respectful-sounding Japanese. It's almost kind of nice but totally contradictory, so I'm sure this is the episode where she's supposed to just become a sympathetic character with a heart of gold. She'll need to find the child from the stereotypical 'Madonna' story soon, so her image will have to change. Like some daft celebrity who's built her career on conniving self-aggrandizement, she'll try to spin a publicity campaign about her BS noble deeds, self-sacrifice, and surprising qualities that she's just now invented, to try to gain sympathy and escape criticism. She just gets to speak Japanese because it's just suddenly the case that all hosts just have entire languages somewhere in their code, and of course she just finds the Japanese and speaks it fluently because she's just special. She's not like the others, and Lee explains that she's special in this case because she's a madam. Of course brothel runners are highly skilled in many erudite ways.
Maeve's 'specialness' has so far made her the only one able to control other hosts with voice commands (other than Dolores who appears to simply be bossy and domineering), so it comes as no surprise when at an opportune time she gets to just suddenly be psychic, seeing an attack coming in advance and controlling other hosts even though she cannot speak, driving them to kill each other and commit suicide. (By the way, if she can just suddenly do something as radically unlikely as psychically provoke an attacker to impale his own head on a spear, why not just have them do the routine thing and simply stop all motor functions?.. yet more sensationalized suicide) A feeble explanation for her inexplicable new powers is made when she says she thinks she's "finding a new voice". I see the potential for this completely unfounded and frankly ridiculous new development to be used to just make any number of things happen.
The plot in the Shogun World scenes revolves around the goal of freeing a young geisha, Sakura from the tyrannical grip of a Shogun. The authors demonstrate cultural disrespect here by drawing a straight line from geisha to prostitute. They make the women in the Japanese version of the madam's saloon the counterparts to the madam and one of her prostitutes. But this is not a true depiction of the geisha's role in Japanese culture, and only foolish foreigners might encounter prostitutes dressed as geisha and think such an encounter is typical of legitimate Japanese experience. The authors apparently don't need to care about legitimacy and can instead just do whatever they please; their poorly esteemed western audience has been conditioned to just accept whatever they're presented with.
During a rest stop on their way to the Shogun, Maeve accurately declares "It's time to settle this ruse."
When the Shogun hears that there's a witch (Maeve) coming with an entourage, he mutilates his warriors' ears so they won't hear her commands; he displays the disturbing deformity of his warriors with evident pride in having accomplished this 'clever' work-around to witchery. He also displays Sakura with open disdain in a state of dishonor - her lovely attire replaced by a plain robe, her hair unpinned and stringy, her makeup gone. As an easy fix to justify their crude choices, the authors insultingly explain away his behavior by the fact that he's wonky and dysfunctional - insane. We later discover that he's mutilated Sakura's back with a carving of a cherry blossom tree etched into the deepest layers of her skin. It's supposed to be an intriguing merging of beauty and the macabre, but it's only just appalling; a sadistic abuse and disfigurement inflicted on a young woman.
Before the dance of Sakura and Akane, the Shogun suddenly brutally kills Sakura by thrusting his sword into her abdomen. Withdrawing the blade, a torrent of blood shoots out of her belly and she drops to the floor and dies. We shouldn't be surprised that the young geisha couldn't be saved and instead died a bloody death after being cruelly abused; all relationships end in disappointment/disfigurement/death in this show. Akane's response to Sakura's murder is to dance as she's been instructed but then coming near the Shogun, she produces a long knife which she uses to very quickly, efficiently, and grotesquely saw through the Shogun's head at the chin. His dying body stands up, takes a few steps and collapses in a bloody heap. It's a heinously gruesome killing made 'necessary' by how very very bad the Shogun was written to be. Insultingly, the authors also attempt to make the more conscious viewers accept it by associating it with a 'maternal bond', having Maeve say "Akane. You are a true mother". Then, as even further insult, when Maeve and Akane are about to be executed Maeve works her 'magic' and just makes the Shogun's warriors attack and kill each other - something she could've just done at any time because she just can, but just didn't do earlier, so that Sakura could just die. A large group of warriors then advances from outside and Lee says "What do we do now?" Picking up a sword, Maeve says "I told you, I found a new voice" and assuming a warrior stance: "Now we use it". So now we're supposed to just accept that she can just take them all on at once by herself. She's full of surprises. Or something.
* * *
Dolores was shot a couple of times in the betrayal battle scene as Mr. Abernathy was being abducted for Hale, but there's no evidence of damage - just bloodied and torn clothing. Looks like she just gets to be unaffected by bullets now.
Dolores presents Teddy with a moral dilemma via a story about her father killing cows that had become infected with a disease or were weak enough to eventually, and burning them to drive off the flies that carried the disease. In response to Teddy's answer that he would house the weakest in the barn out of the air away from the flies and wait for it to pass she says he's a kind man; she seems to think it's a shortcoming and she's testing him again, saying that she'll think about what he said. Later, after they declare their devotion to each other, she sleeps with him and then promptly betrays him, waking him up in the night to corner him and forcibly reprogram him radically. There was nothing wrong with Teddy at this point, or his treatment of her, or his handling of their relationship. In support of the useless theme of useful misery, she says "To grow, we all need to suffer".
Maeve's 'specialness' has so far made her the only one able to control other hosts with voice commands (other than Dolores who appears to simply be bossy and domineering), so it comes as no surprise when at an opportune time she gets to just suddenly be psychic, seeing an attack coming in advance and controlling other hosts even though she cannot speak, driving them to kill each other and commit suicide. (By the way, if she can just suddenly do something as radically unlikely as psychically provoke an attacker to impale his own head on a spear, why not just have them do the routine thing and simply stop all motor functions?.. yet more sensationalized suicide) A feeble explanation for her inexplicable new powers is made when she says she thinks she's "finding a new voice". I see the potential for this completely unfounded and frankly ridiculous new development to be used to just make any number of things happen.
The plot in the Shogun World scenes revolves around the goal of freeing a young geisha, Sakura from the tyrannical grip of a Shogun. The authors demonstrate cultural disrespect here by drawing a straight line from geisha to prostitute. They make the women in the Japanese version of the madam's saloon the counterparts to the madam and one of her prostitutes. But this is not a true depiction of the geisha's role in Japanese culture, and only foolish foreigners might encounter prostitutes dressed as geisha and think such an encounter is typical of legitimate Japanese experience. The authors apparently don't need to care about legitimacy and can instead just do whatever they please; their poorly esteemed western audience has been conditioned to just accept whatever they're presented with.
During a rest stop on their way to the Shogun, Maeve accurately declares "It's time to settle this ruse."
When the Shogun hears that there's a witch (Maeve) coming with an entourage, he mutilates his warriors' ears so they won't hear her commands; he displays the disturbing deformity of his warriors with evident pride in having accomplished this 'clever' work-around to witchery. He also displays Sakura with open disdain in a state of dishonor - her lovely attire replaced by a plain robe, her hair unpinned and stringy, her makeup gone. As an easy fix to justify their crude choices, the authors insultingly explain away his behavior by the fact that he's wonky and dysfunctional - insane. We later discover that he's mutilated Sakura's back with a carving of a cherry blossom tree etched into the deepest layers of her skin. It's supposed to be an intriguing merging of beauty and the macabre, but it's only just appalling; a sadistic abuse and disfigurement inflicted on a young woman.
Before the dance of Sakura and Akane, the Shogun suddenly brutally kills Sakura by thrusting his sword into her abdomen. Withdrawing the blade, a torrent of blood shoots out of her belly and she drops to the floor and dies. We shouldn't be surprised that the young geisha couldn't be saved and instead died a bloody death after being cruelly abused; all relationships end in disappointment/disfigurement/death in this show. Akane's response to Sakura's murder is to dance as she's been instructed but then coming near the Shogun, she produces a long knife which she uses to very quickly, efficiently, and grotesquely saw through the Shogun's head at the chin. His dying body stands up, takes a few steps and collapses in a bloody heap. It's a heinously gruesome killing made 'necessary' by how very very bad the Shogun was written to be. Insultingly, the authors also attempt to make the more conscious viewers accept it by associating it with a 'maternal bond', having Maeve say "Akane. You are a true mother". Then, as even further insult, when Maeve and Akane are about to be executed Maeve works her 'magic' and just makes the Shogun's warriors attack and kill each other - something she could've just done at any time because she just can, but just didn't do earlier, so that Sakura could just die. A large group of warriors then advances from outside and Lee says "What do we do now?" Picking up a sword, Maeve says "I told you, I found a new voice" and assuming a warrior stance: "Now we use it". So now we're supposed to just accept that she can just take them all on at once by herself. She's full of surprises. Or something.
* * *
Dolores was shot a couple of times in the betrayal battle scene as Mr. Abernathy was being abducted for Hale, but there's no evidence of damage - just bloodied and torn clothing. Looks like she just gets to be unaffected by bullets now.
Dolores presents Teddy with a moral dilemma via a story about her father killing cows that had become infected with a disease or were weak enough to eventually, and burning them to drive off the flies that carried the disease. In response to Teddy's answer that he would house the weakest in the barn out of the air away from the flies and wait for it to pass she says he's a kind man; she seems to think it's a shortcoming and she's testing him again, saying that she'll think about what he said. Later, after they declare their devotion to each other, she sleeps with him and then promptly betrays him, waking him up in the night to corner him and forcibly reprogram him radically. There was nothing wrong with Teddy at this point, or his treatment of her, or his handling of their relationship. In support of the useless theme of useful misery, she says "To grow, we all need to suffer".
Mind-blowing
GusherPop18 March 2022
There's a bit of blurriness when it comes to Westworld. Specifically, it's the writing of the show. There are layers upon layers of things to parse. Specifically, if a character says something cliched, is it because of bad writing (on the behalf of the writers of the show) or bad writing (because of Lee Sizemore)? After all, even the most self-aware host is still imprisoned by the dialogue options running through a robotic brain. We've seen that played out with Hector, Maeve, and Dolores, among others. They're free, and yet, they're still kind of reciting the same tired lines from Lee Sizemore's hack brain. Lee Sizemore's tired writing-and a really funny performance from Simon Quatermain-serves as one of the highlights of the episode. From his first appearance (after another cold opening involving Bernard in what appears to be a future time line), he tends to steal the show with every little moment he's given. Dolores might be arguing that humans are cruel for using and abusing hosts, and there's a logic to that. Yet she's doing just the same thing in her pursuit of freedom. She's breaking her word, leaving hosts to be slaughtered, and taking away free will from those around her to try and get what she wants. Is Dolores really any better than the people she's trying to gain her freedom from? She might believe so, but Teddy doesn't seem to be on board with her plans, nor does he agree to having his brain scrambled. That is a crucial difference between the two ostensible heroines of the story so far. Maeve is willing to let others have their freedom, even if it means sacrificing something that might prove useful later. Dolores is not so kind-hearted anymore. She might still see the beauty in those around her, but she's willing to crush that beneath her boot to get what she wants, even if it breaks her heart to do so. She's searching for something greater than herself, greater than love, and if that means sweet Teddy Flood morphs from William to the Man In Black in the process, so be it.
This episode and season 2 is a huge dissappointment.
kd34423 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I'm not sure what the writers are going for in season 2 of Westworld but every episode is just getting more confusing and I'm getting to the point where I'm not sure if I care any more. It's hard to care about characters when you know they are just machines and seriously vicious machines as well.
The mind control in this episode was just an easy way to get out of trouble and as others have said lazy writing. The writers are bringing too many storylines into the plot. Like the geishas in this episode.
Through most of this episode, I was incredibly bored as season 2 just seems to be wandering all over the place with little or no direction. If the next few episodes don't improve, I'll move on to another more intriguing series. It's too bad as season 1 was so good.
Beautiful, underrated episode.
snackpack_chilligarlicsauce31 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Season 2 only gets better with age. I didn't like this episode at first but I have come around. It's actually a great Sizemore episode, who might just be my favourite character in Westworld. We get to see Sizemore humanize the hosts more as they stray further from their loops. He starts the episode making funny sarcastic comments and seeing things from a technical perspective, which is hilarious, but after Maeve confronts him about it by the end of the episode he no longer sees host lives as fake but real.
Lovely episode.
Lovely episode.
Worst episode so far!
hnt_dnl22 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Westworld writers, you might want to dial down on all the Dolores and Maeve constant self-promotion! We get it, they are badasses. Strong, independent, don't need no man, taking control of their own destinies badasses. Now, can you please get back to the incredible ensemble storytelling from Season 1 juxtaposing characters that were deeply philosophical (Ford, Dolores, Man in Black), pragmatic (Bernard, Theresa, Maeve), relatable (William, Elsie, Stubbs), lovable (Teddy, Clementine, Lawrence) or just plain entertaining (Hector, Armistice, Logan)?
What was this atrocity of an episode? Dolores screwing over Teddy in more ways than one, Maeve gaining Jedi mind control powers over hosts, and both of them using and manipulating a band of eager followers, whether host or human, around like puppets without an ounce of resistance or defiance. Both of these ladies used to be good characters, especially Dolores who was the centerpiece of the masterful first season. Now they just get what they want, when they want, and how they want it. At least Dolores is connected to the overarching plot but Maeve's story feels like it might as well exist on a completely different series. And I've seen each of these 2 actresses in interviews shamelessly talking about their characters as if they are the be-all-end-all of characters in the history of TV. I can't tell who is more full of themselves: Dolores and Maeve, or the actresses playing them.
What was this atrocity of an episode? Dolores screwing over Teddy in more ways than one, Maeve gaining Jedi mind control powers over hosts, and both of them using and manipulating a band of eager followers, whether host or human, around like puppets without an ounce of resistance or defiance. Both of these ladies used to be good characters, especially Dolores who was the centerpiece of the masterful first season. Now they just get what they want, when they want, and how they want it. At least Dolores is connected to the overarching plot but Maeve's story feels like it might as well exist on a completely different series. And I've seen each of these 2 actresses in interviews shamelessly talking about their characters as if they are the be-all-end-all of characters in the history of TV. I can't tell who is more full of themselves: Dolores and Maeve, or the actresses playing them.
Slowly unraveling
Natuschka7923 May 2018
Where Westworld was a true masterpiece in season 1, it seems to slowly unravel in season 2. As feared. There seems to no longer be a pulsating plot that moves us forward. The matters at hand used to seem actually meaningful and tantalizing: who is the Man in Black? What is the maze? What did Ford plan all along? Every episode was like a fine Swiss clockwork, gripping into each other and moving us forward with great story telling and psychological depth.
Now in this second season, and with episode 5 being the worst episode I have yet seen of Westworld, the characters have turned into semi Terminators, losing all 3 dimensionality. Maeves 'quest' to find her daughter seems artificial and just another writers ploy to keep her marching on through Westworld. It is a flat quest with little emotional investment of the viewer; all we've ever seen of the scripted daughter story line is flashes of an angelic girls face, violence and separation. I frankly do not care and don't quite get why Maeve, 'knowing' all she does, is still so invested. It seems a very meager story plot after all the awesomeness from season 1. It almost feels as if the series should have ended there, and as if the main story has already been told, and the writers are now plotting and plodding along to deliver another ordered series by HBO. I'm completely bored with the 2 dimensionality of the characters by now and the slow and frankly pointless story lines that are left.
Now in this second season, and with episode 5 being the worst episode I have yet seen of Westworld, the characters have turned into semi Terminators, losing all 3 dimensionality. Maeves 'quest' to find her daughter seems artificial and just another writers ploy to keep her marching on through Westworld. It is a flat quest with little emotional investment of the viewer; all we've ever seen of the scripted daughter story line is flashes of an angelic girls face, violence and separation. I frankly do not care and don't quite get why Maeve, 'knowing' all she does, is still so invested. It seems a very meager story plot after all the awesomeness from season 1. It almost feels as if the series should have ended there, and as if the main story has already been told, and the writers are now plotting and plodding along to deliver another ordered series by HBO. I'm completely bored with the 2 dimensionality of the characters by now and the slow and frankly pointless story lines that are left.
What happened?
Moneygrip9923 May 2018
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