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Westworld 2.2 Review – ‘Reunion’
Image Credit: HBO
Loading...[Warning: spoilers abound for those who have not seen Sunday’s episode of Westworld.]
The first season of Westworld spent a lot of time established a clear line between its heroes and villains. Sure, there was some variation here and there, but overall the show’s alignment chart put hosts on the good side and humans on the evil. That’s one of the big things that was blown up in the season finale and a line that has continued to blur in the first two episodes of season two. Last week’s season premiere showed hints of the hosts crossing some moral lines. I’m primarily talking about Dolores, but Bernard also deserved a raised eyebrow over apparently killing all the hosts. Both these characters are still sympathetic and ostensibly protagonists, but you can see a real potential for darkness in them. Much like Breaking Bad was for Walter White, Westworld could be Dolores’ journey from hero to villain.
“Reunion” further re-establishes the villains for the story, and Dolores is still potentially leaning a bit in that direction. But more signficantly, this episode makes it clear what the overriding arc will focus on, and it’s an exciting one. As Delos comes further into center frame, we’re getting new looks at what they may be up to. “Reunion” follows up last week’s military moves with a trip back to reveal some of the motivations for Jim Delos and his son-in-law William to buy the park. And those are even more chilling than what we originally knew.
In the opening sequence, we see what appears to be another instance of Bernard waking Dolores up out of inactivity mode for a diagnostic interview. It quickly turns out that isn’t the case. Instead it’s Arnold, and we’re in the “real world” in a flashback sequence. The opening sets the stage for “Reunion’s” premise: to peel back the layers of Westworld and get into the men behind the park. For the opening, that’s Arnold and Robert. They use the hosts to make presentations to potential buyers, specifically Logan. The sequence also further establishes the importance Dolores had for Bernard, who didn’t want to see her pimped out to our favorite Westworld douchebro. There’s also a little reinforcement of the difference between Robert and Arnold. Arnold has emotional attachments to his creations, while Robert implores, “You have to let go at some point.”
As much as he was an asshole in season one, I’m glad to see Logan back in some capacity this year. Much like Game of Thrones has done, Westworld is great at exploring the complexity of humanity. Logan may have been just a sleazy jackass in season one, but when we see him a second time in this episode he’s changed. Sure, he’s still a jerk; that seems to be a core of his character. But he also knows that the hosts are a legitimate threat. Visiting Westworld appears to have changed him, as has the falling of his star in the wake of William’s rise. I think there’s still a lot of potential for his character. He’s a plot thread that, if Westworld is going to keep going to the past, it’s nice to revisit in contrast to William.
Of course, William is still the star among the humans of this show. Last week, I said that William’s arc seemed to be unnecessary in the new season. I take that back. While I’m still not entirely on board with the “current” William’s arc, revisiting young William is a delight. Jimmie Simpson’s transition from good guy to monster was magnificent in season one. Seeing more of that is welcome, especially since he seems to be factoring in more heavily than we suspected in Delos’ ultimate plan. As we learn this week, he convinced his father in law to invest in the park. “It’s the only place in the world where you see people for who they really are,” he tells Jim Delos. “And if you don’t see the business in that, then you’re not the businessman I thought you were.”
I don’t think I need to expound much on of why this is so topical. In the era of social media, subversive market research is a common tool of the trade. This is the kind of thing that has led to some serious discussions about online privacy. That adds an even creepier element to Delos’ use of hosts as fantasy fulfilmment. They’re no longer just pimps at this point. Now, they’re the pimps who sneak in and literally steal their johns’ most personal thoughts and impulses without their knowledge or consent. I’m not saying that Delos was ever presented as the good guys, obviously. But you could argue that they were simply negligent to realize that their hosts were more than just ones and zeros. Adding intentional privacy theft (and, possibly, selling that information) piles onto their already considerable sins.
It’s worth noting, however, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy present that as the tip of the iceberg regarding what Delos might be up to. Consider the exchange between William and Jim at the latter’s retirement party:
William: “Our arrangement’s been a perfect fit. You stepping down doesn’t help me at all.”
Jim: “Nor me. And I was told I might not have to.”
William: “Well, things are progressing, but we’ll all need a little patience.”
Jim: “Yeah, well, some of us can afford to have more patience than others.”
I’m going to speculate a little. The implication seems clear: Jim is sick and Delos is looking at a way to fix that. To me, that sounds like they are (or were) trying to put people in host bodies. That’s a bold narrative move, taking the science fiction to new levels. The show has earned that escalation, to be fair. It also makes me wonder if they’ve succeeded and, if they did, who’s a human in a host’s body? Are Robert’s taunts to the elder William coming from the actual consciousness of Robert? Is Maeve a human who actually had a daughter? Could Robert’s game lead to elder William eventually facing off with a younger one? The possibilities are wide open. And even if not, whatever William and Jim were discussing is still an intriguing story arc with many possible directions.
As we delve deeper into Delos via the flashbacks, we also get the chance to look at Dolores’ transformation. I cannot say enough good things about Evan Rachel Wood’s work here. She makes Dolores’ transition from compliant host to revolutionary believable, and keeps enough of the former in the latter that we still want to believe in her. That said, if we had seen a less sympathetic character doing what she does, she’d be a straight villain. Dolores tortures techs for information. She kills hosts and brings them back as her minions. She talks about having killed God and is basically running a Wild West cult.
And through it all…well, I kind of want to cheer for her. It’s tough to feel too bad for the techs when the best response to Teddy’s “Why?” is, “It’s all for fun! Just for fun!” And, well, it’s easy to get behind Dolores when we see what William and other people in charge have done to her. The flashback scene with William and Dolores is incredibly creepy, from the power dynamic to the sexual implications and casual dehumanization of calling her a “thing” and a “reflection” of him. Flat-out telling Dolores that he will be pimping her out is callous, even believing she’ll never remember it. In this way, she’s still serving as his fantasy, just his twisted one.
And yet, as sympathetic as she is, it’s easy to see Dolores going off the wrong end here. The showdown between Dolores and Maeve is great not only because we get Wood and Thandie Newton playing off each other. It also allows Maeve to throw some of Dolores’ bullshit back in her face. Dolores tries to recruit Maeve, and she’s slick. But Maeve isn’t down for revenge and asks Teddy, “I know you. Do you feel free?” Maeve’s questioning of Dolores is important so as to give some of the hosts their own agency, and to shine a light on Dolores’ darker dealings. As Dolores’ army grows and Delos moves in to oppose her, the shades of grey established in “Reunion” will likely become very important building blocks for everything else.
Some Final Thoughts:
• For those curious, that was not Anthony Hopkins’ voice as Robert in the flashback. Nolan and Joy have confirmed that Hopkins is not coming back, so it was just an incredibly talented mimicry job by another, as-yet-unnamed, voice actor.
• Speaking of twisted fantasies, this week’s piano player anachronism was Kanye West’s “Runaway” from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
• I’m happy to see Clifton Collins make a return as Laurence. Laurence had the best dynamic with elder William of all the latter’s season one interactions.
• Shout-out to Giancarlo Esposito for a brief but pivotal appearance as the new El Lazo. He has the best quiet menace of any actor in the last twenty years.
• Taking bets now on what weapon Glory/Valley Beyond is. I’m thinking it might be the technology to turn humans into hosts, but I’m probably wrong.
• Jonathan Tucker made his debut as Major Craddock and is now part of Dolores’ army. Looking forward to see if his role factors in a bigger way or not.
• An actress who isn’t getting enough praise for this show: Talulah Riley. She’s played the different faces of Angela so well, I know a few people who didn’t realize they were the same person.
