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Westworld TV Series

Started by SGOS, December 19, 2017, 10:37:04 AM

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Hydra009

#60
Quote from: SGOS on September 10, 2020, 06:34:08 PMI'm not sure they are in the real world yet.  Maybe it's just a bigger theme park.
There's a fairly popular fan theory that this all takes place on the moon or Mars.  Yet there's no evidence to indicate that this doesn't take place on the Earth.

Still, there are certainly some incongruities.

In season 1, MiB says the the real world is one of plenty, where people's basic needs are met and disease has been eradicated.  And while people do have pretty decent living conditions, there is a wide gulf between rich and poor and poor people certainly do not live lives of plenty.  And not only does disease still exist (exhibit A: Caleb's mom), Caleb struggles to pay for treatment.  And there's also a pretty noticeable criminal element, with a disturbingly large amount of "wetwork" (murder)

It's also alluded to that there's some extensive eugenics going on - not just the elimination of genetic defects but also cultivating certain personality traits.  Felix says something to Sylvester to that effect.  This system apparently had one hell of an oversight with the MiB (and a small fraction of people who share his personality).

This isn't enough to call bullshit, and part of that can be explained by an unreliable pov, but the show in general seems to have all the hallmarks of on-the-fly-rewrites that leave these sorts of incongruities whenever the writers decide to take the show in a different direction.

SGOS

Quote from: Hydra009 on September 10, 2020, 10:07:19 PM
but the show in general seems to have all the hallmarks of on-the-fly-rewrites that leave these sorts of incongruities whenever the writers decide to take the show in a different direction.
I keep thinking there is some overall goal that the plot works toward, but I suppose it's not necessary to follow that form.  Mini plots are used quite often in serial comedy, but not usually in serious drama.  There can be subplots of course.  The premise of androids getting loose and functioning outside the park is a good one.

I never watched the series Lost, but a friend told me before the final reveal that the point of the show was for viewers to figure out what was happening.  In the end, I understand it was just someone dreaming, which I think would be a  let down for fans.  But I suppose it depends on how it was done.

I did enjoy Season 3s 5th episode, but it's hard to explain why.

Hydra009

Quote from: SGOS on September 11, 2020, 08:38:25 AMI did enjoy Season 3s 5th episode, but it's hard to explain why.
Because that episode had weight.  There was a huge reveal to the entire world - a major shakeup in the status quo - and it had an enormous personal impact.  So it was a major big picture and small picture event.  Audiences understood both the big picture ramifications and the individual sadness and anger at being used by a system that knows everything about them but doesn't care at all about their wellbeing (remind you of anything?)

The beginning of the episode also revealed a lot about the "villain".  And there's also a decent amount of action, all during a weird drug trip, all culminating in a sobering tragic death.

For most shows, that would have been a season finale.  But for Westworld, that was just a mid-season escalation.  There's a reason I still like this show, even if it does have its faults.

Hydra009

Here's the recap for that episode I'm working off of:

[spoiler]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPYDtwal0Jg[/spoiler]

Quite a lot of meat on the bones, in terms of plot.

SGOS

That was a good recap.  I'll look for more from that guy.

SGOS

Episode 5 makes way more sense with the spoilers from that recap, and was definitely enjoyable.  It's sort of like "cheating" to use spoilers, but I don't mind cheating in this case.