HBO's "Westworld" [Spoilers!]

[Jaxom 1974]

10 hours ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

I don't know, I was expecting him to be a silent killer like Yul Brynner but now that you mention it I'm not sure if he's a guest.  

My reactions were so varied...he's a guest, he's a host who's become self aware, he's a guest who was an original partner of Anthony Hopkins...that he's a host programmed with memories of someone Anthony Hopkins knew (something I suspect with the daughter as well, as she's the oldest host there...)

 

10 hours ago, Nictarion said:

Speaking of the score, I liked the piano versions of Black Hole Son & Paint it Black. Very cool.

Both songs drove me nuts trying to place initially.  So we'll done.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

26 minutes ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

My reactions were so varied...he's a guest, he's a host who's become self aware, he's a guest who was an original partner of Anthony Hopkins...that he's a host programmed with memories of someone Anthony Hopkins knew (something I suspect with the daughter as well, as she's the oldest host there...)

 

Both songs drove me nuts trying to place initially.  So we'll done.

I wonder if he is a host programmed to do all sorts of shit Anthony Hopkins wanted to do but couldn't. 

[Spring Bass]

That was great stuff. I'm not sure what I was expecting going into it, but it delivered and did well. I'm really looking forward to the next episode.

They tossed a lot of balls into the air to juggle with that episode, and with the hints about the second episode. I wonder what the mid-season twist will be (the 6th episode title is "The Adversary" - ominous), if anything.

Spoiler

Anyone else think that Westworld might not be on Earth? It's in the ambiguously far-off future where we've cured all diseases, they have phenomenal robotics, the Westworld area is so vast that apparently no hosts or guests have ever found the edge of it - something's going on here.

Then again, that's probably over-reading into it. I do love how they used a lot of the Green River area for CGI back-drops in the show. I live in Utah and have driven through that area a couple of times, and it's really pretty.

 

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

33 minutes ago, Electric Bass said:

That was great stuff. I'm not sure what I was expecting going into it, but it delivered and did well. I'm really looking forward to the next episode.

They tossed a lot of balls into the air to juggle with that episode, and with the hints about the second episode. I wonder what the mid-season twist will be (the 6th episode title is "The Adversary" - ominous), if anything.

  Hide contents

Anyone else think that Westworld might not be on Earth? It's in the ambiguously far-off future where we've cured all diseases, they have phenomenal robotics, the Westworld area is so vast that apparently no hosts or guests have ever found the edge of it - something's going on here.

Then again, that's probably over-reading into it. I do love how they used a lot of the Green River area for CGI back-drops in the show. I live in Utah and have driven through that area a couple of times, and it's really pretty.

 

It could be but I'm not sure to be honest. I'm not even sure how far in the future it is. The photograph leads me to believe that the future isn't that far off. They would probably make an effort to at least give us a clue. 

The hosts are probably programmed not to go looking for it and the visites paid way to much to waste their time. Granted it might come up later in the story when things really go to shit. 

My biggest problem with it was people bringing a child. I had assumed it was adults only. [\Spoiler]

[Corvinus85]

46 minutes ago, Electric Bass said:

That was great stuff. I'm not sure what I was expecting going into it, but it delivered and did well. I'm really looking forward to the next episode.

They tossed a lot of balls into the air to juggle with that episode, and with the hints about the second episode. I wonder what the mid-season twist will be (the 6th episode title is "The Adversary" - ominous), if anything.

  Reveal hidden contents

Anyone else think that Westworld might not be on Earth? It's in the ambiguously far-off future where we've cured all diseases, they have phenomenal robotics, the Westworld area is so vast that apparently no hosts or guests have ever found the edge of it - something's going on here.

Then again, that's probably over-reading into it. I do love how they used a lot of the Green River area for CGI back-drops in the show. I live in Utah and have driven through that area a couple of times, and it's really pretty.

 

 

7 minutes ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

It could be but I'm not sure to be honest. I'm not even sure how far in the future it is. The photograph leads me to believe that the future isn't that far off. They would probably make an effort to at least give us a clue. 

The hosts are probably programmed not to go looking for it and the visites paid way to much to waste their time. Granted it might come up later in the story when things really go to shit. 

My biggest problem with it was people bringing a child. I had assumed it was adults only. [\Spoiler]

Spoiler

I believe some of the security people had P90s for weapons. And the head security guy had a regular pistol. So it's either not that far into the future, or it's one of those far out future where only some of the technology advanced significantly.

 

[Jaxom 1974]

55 minutes ago, Electric Bass said:

That was great stuff. I'm not sure what I was expecting going into it, but it delivered and did well. I'm really looking forward to the next episode.

They tossed a lot of balls into the air to juggle with that episode, and with the hints about the second episode. I wonder what the mid-season twist will be (the 6th episode title is "The Adversary" - ominous), if anything.

  Reveal hidden contents

Anyone else think that Westworld might not be on Earth? It's in the ambiguously far-off future where we've cured all diseases, they have phenomenal robotics, the Westworld area is so vast that apparently no hosts or guests have ever found the edge of it - something's going on here.

Then again, that's probably over-reading into it. I do love how they used a lot of the Green River area for CGI back-drops in the show. I live in Utah and have driven through that area a couple of times, and it's really pretty.

 

Spoiler

Interesting theory.  One article I was reading seemed to thing Westworld was in a VR world, but that confused them because robots in the real world, etc. etc...

Though I admit I was a bit confused too...it seemed that the Westworld the humans were looking down upon were a miniature world...but then it seemed like they were watching the town massacre at the end like something out of Truman Show...

And a side note: no one wants to speculate about Thandie Newton's actions there near the end...?

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

12 minutes ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

  Hide contents

Interesting theory.  One article I was reading seemed to thing Westworld was in a VR world, but that confused them because robots in the real world, etc. etc...

Though I admit I was a bit confused too...it seemed that the Westworld the humans were looking down upon were a miniature world...but then it seemed like they were watching the town massacre at the end like something out of Truman Show...

And a side note: no one wants to speculate about Thandie Newton's actions there near the end...?

I assumed it was a holographic map so the administrators could monitor the park. And if it was VR the hosts would be able to kill the guests and it would be ok. 

[Astromech]

14 minutes ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Interesting theory.  One article I was reading seemed to thing Westworld was in a VR world, but that confused them because robots in the real world, etc. etc...

Though I admit I was a bit confused too...it seemed that the Westworld the humans were looking down upon were a miniature world...but then it seemed like they were watching the town massacre at the end like something out of Truman Show...

And a side note: no one wants to speculate about Thandie Newton's actions there near the end...?

I'm thinking either massive glitch or cyber sabotage at this point.

[Slurktan]

15 minutes ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Interesting theory.  One article I was reading seemed to thing Westworld was in a VR world, but that confused them because robots in the real world, etc. etc...

Though I admit I was a bit confused too...it seemed that the Westworld the humans were looking down upon were a miniature world...but then it seemed like they were watching the town massacre at the end like something out of Truman Show...

And a side note: no one wants to speculate about Thandie Newton's actions there near the end...?

What is there to speculate about?  I assume that was part of the "storyline" to bring in hosts who had been updated.

[Jaxom 1974]

1 minute ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

I assumed it was a holographic map so the administrators could monitor the park. And if it was VR the hosts would be able to kill the guests and it would be ok. 

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's VR.

1 minute ago, Astromech said:

I'm thinking either massive glitch or cyber sabotage at this point.

With Thandie?  A glitch maybe, but it's gotta be more too...

[Jaxom 1974]

1 minute ago, Slurktan said:

What is there to speculate about?  I assume that was part of the "storyline" to bring in hosts who had been updated.

It was something else.  It seemed like something else.  She seemed to aware.  And her actions seemed independent of the storyline playing outside...

[Spring Bass]

1 hour ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

Spoiler

 

  Reveal hidden contents

It could be but I'm not sure to be honest. I'm not even sure how far in the future it is. The photograph leads me to believe that the future isn't that far off. They would probably make an effort to at least give us a clue. 

The hosts are probably programmed not to go looking for it and the visites paid way to much to waste their time. Granted it might come up later in the story when things really go to shit. 

My biggest problem with it was people bringing a child. I had assumed it was adults only. [\Spoiler]

Spoiler

I think you're right. The photo that Dolores' "father" was looking at looked like a regular photo of someone in Times Square in the very near future. And the very old version of the Hosts that Dr Ford was chatting with down on sub-level 83 didn't look much more advanced that something we could build now.

 

[red snow]

Damn - didn't realise it wasn't a spoiler thread. Sorry, was full of cold/medicine yesterday.

An impressive start. I like how they double bluffed us with James Marsden's character in terms of being a human and then not. It certainly fooled me. I also like how they've caught viewers of the film off-guard with Yul Brynners/Ed harris character. Is he a human or a host that thinks he's human? or a host that knows he's a host but has tricked the others? A very good way of making this not a simple retread of the film.

The other thing I really liked was how the management had that feel of olympian gods - especially with the table map (that felt right out of clash of the titans). They even have similar personality traits and bickering like the old gods and it certainly seems some of management care for them while others are indifferent or just enjoy messing with them. I think this approach could be fascinating as it continues.

The show also continues the trend for actors playing robots needing to be even more nuanced than the human characters. Gone are the days of them needing to be wooden. Now it's all about being real but with an off-ness and they all seemed to do a great job.

Someone involved in the creation of this show must be a fan of "red dead redemption". It feels like a live-action version of the game but still a game. Some of the missions even felt similar and Rodrigo Santoro looked like the main game character (although i concede to the fact RDR was a pastiche of westerns in itself so I'm maybe missing the original inspiration).

Anyway I'm on board for this. It's different and not simply chasing the GOT or True Blood crowd. There's also a surprisng amount of mystery present but it doesn't feel too forced or has that dreaded feeling of the creators not knowing the answers.

Is Delores playing along throughout or did she only awake at the end? For most of the show I was wondering whether the fly was a nanobot reprogramming them but that final scene showed the real reason for those scenes - none of those other hosts were capable of harming a living thing even when they'd went off the rails. That implies Delores isn't the result of a new update. I wonder what actually happened when the man in black dragged her off to the stable? I'm guessing the two of them go back a long way.

[Mexal]

Add me to the chorus who really enjoyed it. Hit all the right notes with me and is definitely a show I will continue to watch and see evolve. Nolan has a lot of leeway after POI so glad to see him swing for the fences here.

[Mladen]

I liked it very much... There is still hope for HBO  The nudity was, IDK... I guess it adds to the sterility of the company's rooms and it kinda makes it very sci-fi-oriented, but I enjoyed it.

It was a bit slow burner, but it did raise some interesting questions. That talk between Maker and Dolores' father was so beautifully sinister. I like the mix of western and sci-fi, and quite enjoyed that it was a nice background for some existential questions. In that, it reminded me of "Sense8", although they are very different shows.

 

EDIT: Just found out that Miranda Otto will be part of it... Oh, Eowyn, how I missed you  

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

I thought Mirada Otto dropped out. She was supposed to be the administrator of the park. 

[Mladen]

1 minute ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

I thought Mirada Otto dropped out. She was supposed to be the administrator of the park. 

Yeah, I googled that... Damn

[HexMachina]

15 hours ago, Theda Baratheon said:

Ooh so tomorrow? Nice1! I thought it was a week tomorrow. Excited! 

Yeah, tomorrow (wait no, Today! ) There happens to be a board right outside my flat with an advert for Westworld on so I've been feeling pretty excited about it (bearing in mind I know nothing about the plot/the original). 

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

12 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Yeah, tomorrow (wait no, Today! ) There happens to be a board right outside my flat with an advert for Westworld on so I've been feeling pretty excited about it (bearing in mind I know nothing about the plot/the original). 

The movie was cheesy but good. 

[Jaxom 1974]

Okay...I'm still trying to figure out Westworld itself...a couple of the management types go to the roof for a smoke and they're very high up...when the team goes to cold storage, they go to more than 80nlevels below and come out into an area that looks like an abandoned office building...

If nothing else, the shows got me wondering about all kinds of mysteries...