Watching Westworld - 201 – Journey Into Night

The opening salvo fired in HBO’s Westworld season two premiere wasn’t what we were expecting. We were expecting literal salvos fired by lots of angry hosts into lots of frightened guests, which, you know, that’s certainly there.  But there is so much more.  What to make of Bernard’s time bending descent into near death madness, Dolores oddly performative attempted takeover of the park, Maeve’s increasing attachment to various fellow hosts, to say nothing of what Delos is up to trafficking in the rich and famous DNA and memory trade. What are creators Nolan and Joy up to?  If it’s anything like last season, it will take until the finale to tease all the secrets of Westworld out!

Watching Westworld - Season Two Preview

The long awaited sophomore season of HBO’s Westworld returns this weekend, and we’ve been champing at the bit.  We discuss the open questions from last season, the tantalizing glimpses of the future we’ve seen from the trailers so far, and discuss upcoming format changes and our policy on spoilers and speculation. Why is William’s past still relevant to the story? What is the door, and how are we supposed to find it? Are Dolores and Maeve running diametrically opposed armies? What is Delos up to with their secret project? Is a robot searching for it’s artificial daughter any more sad and pointless than anything we do in our day to day lives?  Why or why not?  These and many more questions are entertained as we await answers!

Watching Westworld - Season 1 Wrapup

Jim and A.Ron put season one of HBO’s Westworld in cold storage by talking about our overall thoughts, opinions, and hopes for next season. Then we consider a giant sized mailbag where we discuss scalp maps, the nature of consciousness and free will, the impact of self aware robotic hosts on fast food chains, and much more. We’ll be back whenever Westworld returns, but we never really go away. In 2017 we have an early line up including The Leftovers, Better Call Saul, Game of Thrones, among others. Hope we see you around!

Watching Westworld - 110 – The Bicameral Mind

A.Ron and Jim are very pleased with how the violent delights over season one would up having violent ends in the finale episode for Westworld, “The Bicameral Mind”. Sure, maybe the first third of the episode was merely review for a class that has studied their podcasts and their reddit. But once Hector and Armistice got their hands on the P90s, it was pedal to the metal until the conclusion that we found extremely satisfying. Not only that, it setup season two so well that it’s almost criminal that we’ll have to wait until 2018 to find out more. But you won’t have to wait that long for Watching Westworld, we’ll be back next week for a wrap up podcast where we’ll consider your ideas for next season, including theories, thoughts on consciousness and sentience, casting suggestions, and who knows what else. See you then!

Watching Westworld - 109 – The Well-Tempered Clavier

Many more puzzle pieces fell into place over the weekend as HBO’s Westworld deployed episode 109, “The Well-Tempered Clavier”. But there is still a lot left to uncover. Why did Dr. Ford deploy the reverie code? What is his ultimate intentions for his new narrative and indeed future of the park? What are those sentient robots doing hiding up in the hills of Westworld? And what does the Man in Black intend to do with Delores once he finds her? We’re excited to see how things wrap up next week, as we’re hoping to get a glimpse of how Nolan and Joy intend to expand this series going forward. See you then!