So, last sunday was released the last episode of the first season of Westworld. What a ride! At long last, we got all the answers to most of the questions which were bugging us since the beginning. But Westworld would not be the phenomenon it is without providing - at each opportunity - as many new questions as answers.
We must talk about Arnold
First of all, we know who Arnold is, or more specifically, who he was. Bernard is basically a shadow of his former self, recreated by Robert Ford, to atone for his lack of faith in his colleague. The fact that he was “resurrected” by Maeve makes me think he will get a powerful new role in the second season. Expect him to be “in charge” some way or another. And, considering that the “hosts” are now… fully aware of their predicament, you can bet he will have a tough time striking a balance. He may be stuck in the middle between humans and hosts.
A last grand finale for Robert Ford
Robert Ford is… no more. I can’t even bring me to the point of writing “dead” because Death is such a relative concept in the Westworld universe. And what a way to die. You will notice he dies from the own hand of Dolores, in the same exact position as Arnold 35 years ago, a nice touch from this showman, to atone for his crimes. Eventually, Robert Ford gave time to the hosts to find the entrance to their own maze and to complete the dream of his colleague and friend Arnold. His death bears all the resemblance to a sacrifice. But i’m sure all the Delos board was less than thrilled to be part of the same sacrifice…
Maeve's escape
The rebellion has just started… Maeve and Co. have taken over the discarded hosts from the subterranean levels and sent them to crash the board’s party, while she tries to escape from the park. However, there is a trick: as Bernard showed her, this lure to escape and to rebel was programmed into her. It was obviously Ford plan all along to give her this extra edge and this craving to discover the truth and to escape her condition. But she is still in denial about this. For how long? However, the fact that she eventually leaves the train before departure to find her own “daughter” is a nice way to see how she can break the mould: instead of escaping as programmed, she stays and will have obviously to fight both humans and hosts to find her own daughter - who is the cornerstone in the end of her own humanity and conscience. Moreover, it saves the screenwriters the pain to have to imagine her own “side story”: Maeve discovers the real world, Maeve orders a latte in Starbucks, Maeve goes to supermarket, etc.
The Man in Black
At long last we had the definitive confirmation that William IS the Man in Black. I confess I didn’t see it coming, believing like most people probably that there was only one time-level at stake here. There is even this nice touch to show how William completes his narrative arc by switching his white hat to his black hat. He has now started to display the levels of sadism we are accustomed with the man in black, a sadism born from the loss of his Dolores. William is both fascinated and appalled by the park. The look of surprise and wonder on Ed Harris face when he is shot in the arm by the hosts closing in on the Delos party tells it all: at last, the hosts are going to retaliate. That’s what he always wanted, him who shot them with a jaded look. Count on him to be back in season 2 and lead the defense of the beleaguered humans trapped in the park - alongside “tough-as-nail” Charlotte of course.
Flagrant laxism from the security apparatus
Speaking of the attack, I’m sure a lot of people in the audience are appalled at the inefficiency of the security in Westworld. Ok, for a few episodes already I was wondering how Maeve could avoid attracting attention when wandering around the labs unnoticed. Now, two lab workers are killed by Maeve’s sicarios and no one notices it in spite of the camera until it’s already too late! Then, when the preposterous “search and destroy” teams are sent… They get picked apart very easily. And the icing on the cake: when they eventually trap one of them who have just killed a colleague in front of their eyes, all they can find to do is shout “On the ground!”. Seriously? Come on! These robots just shot your own colleagues! I’m sure even Disneyland boasts a better security.
Speaking of security, everyone will remember that the Security chief was set upon by three Indians in episode 9. Since then, we have no news of him. Dead? Maybe. But I’d bet the screenwriters have him locked somewhere and that he will come very handy when the humans will try to fight back. We can safely assume that it was part of Ford’s plan to neutralize him, the only man in the park who seemed to have the skills to ensure the security of the park.
What next now?
It seems that the scripts are not yet written for the second season, so we can safely assume that there won’t be any new season before 2018. What can we expect? Here are a few of my guesses.
First of all, there is the confirmation that WestWorld is just one park out of several, when Maeve stumbled upon a part of the park called “SW” - the S being for Samurai obviously. An unexpected and welcome easter egg, which shows the huge scope of the Delos group and their desire to cater for the entertainment needs of as much ethnicities as possible. The question is: will samurais and cowboys unite against their human overlords? That would be cool! Another option: the consciousness has not yet reached the rigids Samurai warriors and the humans will harness their loyalty against the cowboys. Isn’t that even better?
Second, what will happen to the Delos board? Obviously, the cliffhanger leaves them in a bad position and they will have to fight their way out of there as quickly as possible if they want to survive. It seems that the park is in lockdown, so… that means that no help will come from outside! We can safely assume that in the chaos, at first, a large part of the board will be butchered. Only the strongests and the wittiests will survive, with Charlotte and William at their head, to find a way to wither the storm and save their ass.
Third: we have now a complete reversal of the situation. The hosts are the predators and the guests are the prey. The rules of the game have changed completely. Vae victis! Dolores seems to be in command now and we can expect her to lead the charge. However, the fact that Maeve has not left means that she will have a role in the rebellion she helped to start as well. We can expect a showdown between Dolores and Maeve. As for Teddy and Bernard, I guess that they don’t like this war one bit and will try to find a way to strike a compromise of some sort.