Westworld (HBO/Sky Atlantic) [** Spoilers **]

Riddle101

I thought the show was interesting, has potential, but slow paced. I'll keep watching though as it was a good watch.

pickarooney

MeatTwoVeg wrote: »

A tightrope will need to be thread.

This sounds like a cryptic crossword clue.

I agree that SBK from Bergen was badly miscast. Much as I admire her and as impressive her British accent is, her attempt at an American one is very jarring and without her trademark twinkly smile is hard to warm to her but impossible to hate her.

frostyjacks

Thought it was a promising opener. Agree about the Danish woman and the English guy, their scenes together were stilted and as robotic as the hosts. I liked the fly motif, perhaps a nod to Norman Bates.

The villainous cowboy, Escaton, was slightly camp with the embroidered hat and shiny clothes, like something a 7 year old girl would draw. But I suppose if it's a theme park they have to be a bit OTT to bring the punters in.

Five or six seasons of this seem like a lot, unless they break it up between the different worlds. But then you'll have the problem of essentially the same themes but in a different setting. I prefer a clear narrative arc.

CastorTroy

For what Ed Harris is, the version I watched had a conversation about the Marsden/Harris scene where they talked about both characters so I can tell you that they referred to him as a

human. Of course they could just be working along those lines for now, revealing later that he's a robot

The Black Oil

Positive overall.

The hook seems interesting enough - I didn't have much in the way of expectations as I'm not familiar with the story. Good production values, tone consistent - did become a little swashbuckling when business kicked off in town, but fun. The synthetic people/hosts were eerily realistic in the laboratory/analysis setting, with their movements, etc. Have to confess I was also unsure about Sidse Babett Knudsen - so much so that her presence also pulled me out of the show. Hearing her speak English in a professional capacity does take some getting used to, but that aside, she just seemed misplaced, tbh.

Red P90s and Paint It Black. A shame the late Michael Crichton isn't around, at least his work lives on.

FunLover18

Arghus wrote:

I'm reading here that HBO want to make five seasons of this. To me that seems like a lot. I think you'd be better off making two solid and satisfying seasons, without running the danger of stretching the material too thin.

Given the pacing of the first episode I don't think we're in danger of overstretching. 5 seasons, 10 episodes a piece with potential to explore other themed worlds as well.

Unearthly wrote:

Ed Harris such a good villain actor

I have a sneaking suspicion we may end up half rooting for him, he's clearly after something and there's something mighty funny about that design inside your man's scalp. He's been going there long enough he may have uncovered some secrets guests aren't supposed to know.

Joeface

Watched it last night , very good pilot episode .
Looking forward to seeing more , but at the moment I cannot see past 3 or maybe stretch to 4 seasons . And I think I would like them to limited it to that.

pixelburp

If you watch enough Network US TV, it's sometimes easy to forget just how Blockbuster (for want of a better word) the material coming out from HBO can be; that first episode represented a lot of money on-screen, executed with the kind of panache and intelligence that other channels could only dream of.

Only the smallest dabs of personality, human or otherwise, were applied through what was clearly a scene-setting episode, but there were enough hints from characters of bigger things going on in this world. I hope it manages to maintain that tone & pace.

homerun_homer

Snake Plisken wrote: »

Deadly Serious lol! Loved that show and thought the ending was great!

I liked the ending too. It was always going to be a hard one to land but ultimately I think it proved a very good finale.

cowboyBuilder

Unearthly wrote: »

Thought this was a great pilot episode. Loved the scenery shots.

Ed Harris such a good villain actor

Yep, stunning stuff allright - Moab Utah, dead horse point .. amazing place..

silverharp

any non spoiler speculation on what the guy wants with the robot "scalp" , he made some cryptic comment about he deeper levels of the game?

ManOfMystery

This might have been posted already? Trailer for upcoming episodes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwxD_L5gIrQ

cowboyBuilder

I'd advise against watching the trailers, some spoilers in there ..

Hazys

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

I'd advise against watching the trailers, some spoilers in there ..

Yeah i saw the extend trailer on HBO On Demand as it came right on after the credits where I was enjoying Johnny Cash. When the extended trailer of whats coming up in the season, it was like a car crash, i couldn't look away. IMO it reveals too much of where the season is going, very disappointed that I saw that.

Snake Plisken

Thanks for the heads up! Going to avoid any trailer that's up on the net!

Dair76

Has a lot of potential based on that episode, and am desperately hoping they get it right. Really liked the subtly foreboding final scene.

cowboyBuilder

Hazys wrote: »

Yeah i saw the extend trailer on HBO On Demand as it came right on after the credits where I was enjoying Johnny Cash. When the extended trailer of whats coming up in the season, it was like a car crash, i couldn't look away. IMO it reveals too much of where the season is going, very disappointed that I saw that.

Yep, I watched 1st episode and then was checking it out on imDb stupidly thinking the trailer would only show parts of pilot episode .. :mad:

Now I know things about some characters I don't want to know ..

EoinMcLovin

Second episode was released early

BoJack Horseman

Finally got to see episode 1 last night.....

Loved it!

Question on Ed Harris's character:

Why are his actions not flagged up to the game masters?
Sure, the game is about hedonism etc, but he has tortured and raped the automotons.
Are the guests tracked at all like the robots they interact with?

pixelburp

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

Finally got to see episode 1 last night.....

Loved it!

Question on Ed Harris's character:

Why are his actions not flagged up to the game masters?
Sure, the game is about hedonism etc, but he has tortured and raped the automotons.
Are the guests tracked at all like the robots they interact with?

My theory is that:

He's not a guest; I suspect he's living in the wild somewhere, unbeknownst to those running the park & his actions are just written off as uhm, 'high jinks' on the part of actual guests. Maybe the scalping of the croupier will get flagged as suspicious, but his other actions seemed depressingly standard going by what other guests were getting up to

BoJack Horseman

Did anyone notice that the score used pop songs that were changed to sound more 'Westerney'

I noticed Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun (which was played on the mechanical-piano thing) & the Stones's 'Paint it Black' used also in the shoot out.

Birneybau

silverharp wrote: »

any non spoiler speculation on what the guy wants with the robot "scalp" , he made some cryptic comment about he deeper levels of the game?

Looked like it had a QR code printed on it. He'll probably scan it with his phone and get a free drink or something.

MeatTwoVeg

BoJack Horseman wrote:

Did anyone notice that the score used pop songs that were changed to sound more 'Westerney'

I believe you may be the first to do so.

ManOfMystery

pixelburp wrote: »

My theory is that:

He's not a guest; I suspect he's living in the wild somewhere, unbeknownst to those running the park & his actions are just written off as uhm, 'high jinks' on the part of actual guests. Maybe the scalping of the croupier will get flagged as suspicious, but his other actions seemed depressingly standard going by what other guests were getting up to

I like the thought of ....

...

the MIB being a skilled human who's somehow gone unnoticed and manages to evade detection. I'm just curious as to how he could do that - we've already seen that in the control room they can pretty much monitor, zoom in on and listen to any part of the park. All the key robots seem to get recalled daily for mind wipe, repairs, etc, so surely his OTT actions would have been noticed by now?

It's also feasible that some of the Park staff are secretly working with him to conceal his presence.

I have lots of questions about him and his actions. He's been coming to the park for 30yrs, or so he says - at $40k a day, that's a lot of money. So is he simply a bored billionaire who gets his kicks there? Or is someone else financing him as part of a corporate espionage deal?

He's human and presumably comes into the park, then dresses for the settings like the others do. What's with the all black outfit?

He's been presented as a villain, yet utters some curiously un-villain like lines - "What if I told you I'm here to set you free?". Is this all misdirection?

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

Did anyone notice that the score used pop songs that were changed to sound more 'Westerney'

I noticed Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun (which was played on the mechanical-piano thing) & the Stones's 'Paint it Black' used also in the shoot out.

Noticed BHS straight away as I'm a massive Soundgarden fan. Loved the way they dropped modern music into a western setting. Chris Cornell said the song had no real singular meaning when he wrote it, it was more a 'surreal dreamscape' so was a very apt choice for this show.

MeatTwoVeg

Perhaps the presence of Ed Harris was influencing me, but I thought there was a real Truman Show vibe running through Episode 1.

ManOfMystery

Pat Mustard wrote: »

I'd guess that he is a villain. He might say "What if I told you I'm here to set you free?" but only because it suits his own agenda. He's after something and he will stop at nothing to get it. If robots get freed or fried along the way, it doesn't matter to him, as long as he gets what he wants, whatever that may be.

I'd also say that his actions have not gone unnoticed but that they simply blend in with the actions of the other human 'guests' in Westworld. They see him but he doesn't stand out. That's why he appears invisible.

I doubt that the MIB is anything other than a human guest because otherwise the results of his actions would be observed and he would be sought out. The robots are property of Westworld and if that property is getting damaged by anybody or anything other than standard human guests, it will will cost money in parts and maintenance and will unnecessarily interfere with the running of the theme park. The MIB is shooting, maiming and damaging the robots. He must be causing a lot of damage and costing a lot of money. I reckon that the security team would be all over the MIB if he was anything other than a human guest, who had already paid handsomely for the privilege of running amok in Westworld. There would hardly be any chance of him running through the raindrops as a rogue or interloper for three decades, without being noticed and stopped.

I reckon he is as he appears to be, a human villain. It will be interesting to see his obsession and what drives it.

Thinking about not only his actions, but the things he actually says - I wondering why the control staff hadn't come down on him for being so open with the robots about the simulated reality that they're in. But I guess with them being seemingly reset at the end of each day, that was never a massive concern - not until now anyhow, now that some of them seem to be exhibiting memory retention of some kind.

Still, he's just scalped one of them and drained him almost entirely of blood. I wonder how far a human has to go for the control staff to actually sit up and take notice.

claiva

pickarooney wrote: »

Much as I admire her and as impressive her British accent is, her attempt at an American one is very jarring and without her trademark twinkly smile is hard to warm to her but impossible to hate her.

Aha......and therein lies the conundrum............
Is SHE a robot aswell ?????
Her English speaking accent is almost otherworldly....neither one thing or another....almost not human......
I LOVED Borgen and she was amazing in that so I am absolutely prepared to give her a few more episodes before I condemn her casting in this role.

The scenes with the English guy were very jarring. Ridiculously over the top with all of the F-Bombs.
Perhaps we are not supposed to like her.......I would be very surprised if they bump her off `soon though because she is a fabulous actress and the show would definitely suffer without her in it.

pixelburp

ManOfMystery wrote: »

I like the thought of ....

...

the MIB being a skilled human who's somehow gone unnoticed and manages to evade detection. I'm just curious as to how he could do that - we've already seen that in the control room they can pretty much monitor, zoom in on and listen to any part of the park. All the key robots seem to get recalled daily for mind wipe, repairs, etc, so surely his OTT actions would have been noticed by now?

I have lots of questions about him and his actions. He's been coming to the park for 30yrs, or so he says - at $40k a day, that's a lot of money. So is he simply a bored billionaire who gets his kicks there? Or is someone else financing him as part of a corporate espionage deal?

That's kind of why I think he lives in Westworld: he'd have to be phenomenally rich to be able to visit the park for 30 years, plus his constant presence on the train would surely have raised some eyebrows. He'd practically be a celebrity.

As for the surveillance, they can monitor the town and habitats, but by all accounts Westworld looks huge; it's not inconceivable a human could live in the wilderness, way beyond the 'main' areas without the staff realising there's a hermit in the desert. The control-room only seemed to zoom in on events when the bugs started manifesting or they wanted to admire their work.

As for OTT stuff, other than the scalping (which again, took place way outside of town), nothing the MiB did seemed all that different from the other horny/blood-lusting guests visiting. Presumably the park is relatively hands-off if there's a rake of programmed narratives that are allowed to evolve and change on their own.

stevenmu

pixelburp wrote: »

That's kind of why I think he lives in Westworld: he'd have to be phenomenally rich to be able to visit the park for 30 years, plus his constant presence on the train would surely have raised some eyebrows. He'd practically be a celebrity.

As for the surveillance, they can monitor the town and habitats, but by all accounts Westworld looks huge; it's not inconceivable a human could live in the wilderness, way beyond the 'main' areas without the staff realising there's a hermit in the desert. The control-room only seemed to zoom in on events when the bugs started manifesting or they wanted to admire their work.

As for OTT stuff, other than the scalping (which again, took place way outside of town), nothing the MiB did seemed all that different from the other horny/blood-lusting guests visiting. Presumably the park is relatively hands-off if there's a rake of programmed narratives that are allowed to evolve and change on their own.

He said at the start that it was good to be back, so he has been visiting for 30 years, but not there continuously all that time. At the time, I thought of him as a tourist who visits the same spot every year, or takes the same cruise etc.

I suspect the MiB will actually turn into the hero of the show, if maybe a flawed one. I think whatever mystery he's chasing could be related to whatever the hidden purpose of the park is. He could even be an undercover cop of some type.

I also think that as the hosts become increasingly self-aware (I'm making an assumption here, but I think it's pretty obvious that's where the show is going), he will actually start to defend them.

Unearthly

Episode 2 leaked. No spoilers but superb again.

bluesfan

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

was there a hint that the film is treating the original westworld film as a sort of prequel they mention early in the film that there was a critical failure over 30 years prior to the series, also

when they go into cold storage you can see the name of the company from the film on the globe and I think the set itself is from the film, not sure on that, havnt seen westworld in years. I dont think I've seen a mention of the current series company's name yet.

I had the same thought, that leads to the idea that the Ed Harris character and the female robot, described as the oldest robot in the park, may have been there in the original film.

naughto

2ep very good more confused than ever

Falthyron

Episode 2:

I was delighted when the camera shows the cross on the top of the steeple! The perfect test for the hosts - can they believe in something irrational?

Yet another great episode, filled with so much wonder and some answers, specifically: how the guests enter the park. The sales pitch for the next narrative really reminded me of an E3 showcase where a developer comes on stage and talks about the next expansion pack for their MMO. I wish this was a Netflix series... I just want to watch it all right now!

jcsoulinger

Falthyron wrote: »

Episode 2:

I was delighted when the camera shows the cross on the top of the steeple! The perfect test for the hosts - can they believe in something irrational?

The hosts are not capable of belief in anything, you could make them act like they believe in God quite easily tho.

JohnK

Havent seen the movie or read the book but I'm really liking this series :cool:

***Episode 2****

Guess we know now that the MIB isn't living "off the grid" in the park or that his actions are either unnoticed or being blamed on someone else, they seem to be fully aware of who he is and what he's been up to with the comment on him having already taken out a posse and being able to do whatever he likes. Also, given that the girl was able to tell him the next clue for whatever it is he's looking for, it would seem that he's on a legitimate path/adventure within the park, otherwise how could any of the hosts aid him with information?

Hazys

Amazing second episode

This show fcuks

Birneybau

GerB40 wrote: »

Obviously some people on this thread have read the books so what's the chances of creating two threads. One for those who have read it and for people who like being spoiled (we all know they exist), and one for those that avoid ad's and only watches the show and is new to the story.

At the moment I can't find a problem with it but by the time the weed dies off I could find many problems.. Anyway, PEACE!!!

I really don't think the book will have any bearing on this whatsoever. Sure, the first episode flipped all the conventions on their head.

Also, why did people conclude that the actress from 'Borgen' is meant to be English? There were no signs. Maybe her character is just...Danish.

alchemist33

Birneybau wrote: »

I really don't think the book will have any bearing on this whatsoever. Sure, the first episode flipped all the conventions on their head.

Also, why did people conclude that the actress from 'Borgen' is meant to be English? There were no signs. Maybe her character is just...Danish.

She's called Cullen. She's probably from Tipperary.

Snake Plisken

Really enjoyed the second episode but I think it might divide audiences, as in a lot will be going what the hell is going on where others will enjoy the mystery of it all! My favourite character is the Piano, this week we got a blast of

Radiohead

cumulonimbus

I am not sure that the whole concept of westworld would work as they are portraying it. When the newbie guest arrived and asked what were the rules the girl told him he would learn them as he went along. His friends treatment of the old miner would have been upsetting to other guests imho unless they were also a**holes. What is the ratio of guests to hosts? There were quite a few guests judging by the number of people on the train.

Sad Professor

cumulonimbus wrote: »

I am not sure that the whole concept of westworld would work as they are portraying it. When the newbie guest arrived and asked what were the rules the girl told him he would learn them as he went along. His friends treatment of the old miner would have been upsetting to other guests imho unless they were also a**holes. What is the ratio of guests to hosts? There were quite a few guests judging by the number of people on the train.

While monitoring Harris's MIB character one of the technicians asked if he should slow him down, so they obviously have the ability to reign guests in if necessary. I'm guessing the number of new guests starting out at Sweetwater at any one time is kept low so that new or returning guests don't step on each other's toes. As they venture out they are probably unlikely to encounter each other. But given the price per day, I'm thinking the host to guest ratio is very high anyway.

cumulonimbus

I watched the first episode again - 10% of the hosts were upgraded and the scriptwriter mentioned removing all 200 upgraded hosts from the stories. The woman/robot in charge said there were 1400 guests. So 1400 guests : 2000 hosts.

BlitzKrieg

cumulonimbus wrote: »

I am not sure that the whole concept of westworld would work as they are portraying it. When the newbie guest arrived and asked what were the rules the girl told him he would learn them as he went along. His friends treatment of the old miner would have been upsetting to other guests imho unless they were also a**holes. What is the ratio of guests to hosts? There were quite a few guests judging by the number of people on the train.

I find when I think of it in terms of an MMO it makes sense to me.

I dont think there is 1 starting town, I imagine there are 2-3 connected by the trainline with each one being tweaked for certain audience. Got a bit of a hint of this with the family in the first episode specifically saying they shouldnt cross the river *as its too adult* so I wouldnt be surprised if the centre of westworld has a river running through it and sweetwater is on the south and disneytown is on the north and the train connects them.

I do think yeah Sweetwater is likely the a**hole starting area. People who specifically bought the *shoot people and f*ck hookers holiday package*

If I have one issue with how westworld is set up is that if its meant to be *like a game* which is how Ed Harris's character seems to see it. Its not a very good one if all the players have god mode on. It makes sense from a holiday perspective but the way Ed Harris talks about it, it almost sounds like he's actually skilled. Though perhaps that is the intention? Perhaps he has confused himself in his fantasy thinking he is actually skilled. Perhaps a rude awakening point is coming up for him when the safety rails are taken off (it is hinted with the gun that was found)

Also Ed harris's character is really looking like he's just a hardcore gamer taken to its most darkest conclusion, I will not be surprised when that flips fully certain groups will throw a hissy fit. His dialogue about the real world in episode 2 made me smile as its very similar to a speech given by another *hardcore gamer* character in a japanese anime series called No Game No Life, though it was less darkly murder stab stab in how it was delivered there.

Sad Professor

I'm not tagging the following but be warned it contains spoilers for episode 2:

Yeah BlitzKrieg, the guests being basically invincible bothers me about the concept as well. However, I think the cost of visiting the park is so high that most guests aren't there long enough to get bored with it.

I think MIB is skilled by the usual standards of the guests. I mean, imagine it was your first time in the park. If you weren't a good aim or ran out of bullets the sight of dozens of hosts bearing down on you would be pretty frightening. Knowing that you can't be badly hurt and believing it are two different things. MIB has been to the park enough that he knows how it works, he knows the bullets will bounce off him without a scratch. A newbie doesn't and will probably run for their life. As established in episode 2, they don't really tell the guests the rules.

1400 does seem like a lot of guests. But as I suggested before I think most guests venture out into the wilderness as part of the various adventures and side quests where they probably travel in groups and don't encounter that many hosts. Even if Sweetwater is the biggest town and the starting point for everyone, given the size of the park it's unlikely there's more than a hundred guests there at any one time.

iguana

Last week milk. This week a McPoyle. Next week Bird law?

corkie

Theory: -

Could the Man In black be Peter Martin (a.k.a Richard Benjamin) character from the original film, as he has been visiting the park for 30 Years?

As mentioned earlier in the thread: -

Found the "Delos" logo in the first episode. Around 19 mins.

RobbingBandit

Loving the subtle use of music so far. Black Hole Sun in the first episode, No Surprises in the second, I bought the movie yesterday on DVD am planning on watching it after the last episode airs.

Sugarlumps

Totally blown away, lost for words.

CiaranW

Can't wait for next episode.

cowboyBuilder

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

Did anyone notice that the score used pop songs that were changed to sound more 'Westerney'

I noticed Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun (which was played on the mechanical-piano thing) & the Stones's 'Paint it Black' used also in the shoot out.

Paint it black!!!

It was driving me mad trying to id it .. thanks!