Westworld

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jbeall
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Re: TV of 2015

#1 Post by jbeall » Wed Sep 30, 2015 11:15 pm

So this is really about a 2016 show, but this salacious article about Westworld is pretty surprising (though HBO has issued a statement that may clarify things).


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Re: TV of 2016

#3 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Mon Aug 29, 2016 2:57 pm


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Murdoch
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Re: TV of 2016

#4 Post by Murdoch » Tue Oct 04, 2016 12:57 am

Westworld started fairly strong, I think. The happenings of the corporation outside the fantasy world I didn't find very captivating, but the world itself was set up nicely. There's an overt critique of simulated violence and I rather enjoyed how the robots of Westworld behaved like non-playable video game characters, glitching out or unable to comprehend humans' mention of the outside world or the simulation.
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The best moment of the premiere was when a robot given the role of the murderous bandit is shot dead mid-sentence by a "newcomer," shocking the bandit's partner into silence as she too is offed by the tourist happy to get a photo after with the corpses! It's a darkly funny moment to see the world's head writer roll his eyes at his character being cut off in the middle of his chilling speech. I find that moment fascinating since it reflects an interest of mine that's grown in the era of open world gaming: user interference with the intended story. I would be very happy to see Westworld become a sort of live action Grand Theft Auto, wherein the world's offerings and user desires clash to produce unintended outcomes. I think the Ed Harris character demonstrates this as well - a user so bored by the countless times he's seen the same story play out that he resorts to taunting the world's robots and engaging in the most depraved acts imaginable.

Also, the potential for exploration of simulated violence is exciting since few movies or TV shows have approached the kind of relentless murder and rape and whatever else an artificial world can cultivate. There are of course examples, but with the explosion of games that seemingly give the player absolute freedom, I was waiting for other media to catch up and wag a finger, so to speak. Westworld seems aiming for that kind of critique, as the users treat the bots like cattle to be killed or fucked. I particularly enjoyed the scene where two women look over James Marsden's good guy and the one remarks she's looking for a bad guy type. There's a lot of potential in the show so I hope it doesn't stumble too much going forward.

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DarkImbecile
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Re: TV of 2016

#5 Post by DarkImbecile » Fri Oct 21, 2016 1:19 pm

Murdoch wrote:Westworld started fairly strong, I think.
I've only just now watched the premiere, but it may have been the best first episode for a prestige series like this I've ever seen. It establishes the compelling themes and strong visual style I would hope the series leans on throughout, while also clearly laying out the rules, core characters, and mysteries of the world in such a way that I'm excited both to continue watching the series and rewatch this first episode at least once more in the next few days. I have no idea if the show will be able to sustain this level of quality, but the premiere is unequivocally promising in a way that the first episodes of even the best series rarely are (Breaking Bad, GoT, Mad Men, True Detective Season 1).

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Re: TV of 2016

#6 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:37 am

Finally got around to Westworld. Well done, was almost everything I was hoping a big HBO sci-fi show could be.

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Luke M
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Westworld

#7 Post by Luke M » Sat Mar 31, 2018 9:18 am


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Murdoch
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Re: Westworld

#8 Post by Murdoch » Tue Apr 24, 2018 8:26 pm

I'm happy to see that the second season premiere picks up right after the events of last season's finale. Based on the promo for the upcoming episodes, it looks like things will advance beyond the park.

Also, the location of the park looks to be
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somewhere off the coast of China given the Chinese military showing up early on in the episode.

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Mr Sausage
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Re: Westworld

#9 Post by Mr Sausage » Tue Apr 24, 2018 9:19 pm

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Interesting that the structural device of this season, so far, is that Bernard's critical malfunction is causing him to confuse past and present events.
Promising first episode.

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Re: Westworld

#10 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Sun Apr 29, 2018 10:26 pm

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Epic cameo tonight
I'm really digging where the 2nd season is going and the issues it's exploring, scratching beneath what was dug up last season.

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Re: Westworld

#11 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Mon Apr 30, 2018 11:22 pm

Back to last week's episode but I love how one of Ed Harris' scenes is essentially a mashup of two classic scenes from movies.
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When he meets the young Robert host, it's like the iconic moment between Henry Fonda and the child in Once Upon a Time in the West (which the show has frequently referenced all around) and when Michael Douglas talks to his television in The Game.

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Re: Westworld

#12 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Mon May 14, 2018 9:52 am

Last night's episode was excellent, particularly anything with Peter Mullan on screen.

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Roger Ryan
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Re: Westworld

#13 Post by Roger Ryan » Mon May 14, 2018 12:32 pm

flyonthewall2983 wrote:Last night's episode was excellent, particularly anything with Peter Mullan on screen.
While I was disappointed with the season two premiere episode (felt like it was simply reiterating what we already knew), the season has gotten better with each new episode. Last night's one was, indeed, excellent with plenty of new tangents to keep things interesting. I loved how the Jim Delos scenario alluded to...
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...the famous urban myth that Walt Disney had his body frozen with the hope of being reanimated through some kind of future technology.

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Re: Westworld

#14 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Mon May 14, 2018 7:39 pm

Was hoping from the start of this season Mullan and Ed Harris would have a moment together, and was not disappointed with how they delivered it last night. A good emotional turning point for Harris' character, particularly with how the episode ended.

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Mr Sausage
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Re: Westworld

#15 Post by Mr Sausage » Thu May 24, 2018 7:17 am

Last week's episode was great, but this latest one was the weakest of the season. It was a filler episode. Nothing of consequence happened until the end. It wasted the one interesting idea it had, of the hosts directly encountering the evidence of their own lack of authenticity, but wastes it on sentimentality. The one British asshole spent the whole episode either pointing out the obvious or saying 'this isn't supposed to happen' after every plot beat.

Maeve's storyline is the least interesting so far. I hope they pay it off in interesting ways, because, honestly, I was disappointed when at the end of last season she chose to stay to pursue a relationship she knew to be inauthentic and not a real part of her burgeoning personality instead of getting on the train. Dolores had and is having much more interesting reactions; I love the nihilism and anger, her sense that so much of what was meaningful to her has no true meaning. Maeve, the most self-aware and intelligent of the hosts from last season, is saddled not with the burdens of self-consciousness but the triteness and sentimentality of traditional maternal feelings. Chasing a previous backstory is not a clear evidence of free will as Maeve claims; it's remaining shackled to old narratives. Of all the places to take her story, I'm disappointed they chose one so rote and unpromising, one that reduces her range of thoughts and emotions to just a few possibilities.

The problem, too, is that where other storylines are setting up mysteries and parceling out revelations, hers is in a holding pattern: just adding more blocking figures to prevent her from completing her quest too early.

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Re: Westworld

#16 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Mon Jun 11, 2018 2:14 am

Zahn McClarnon turned in a fantastic performance on the latest episode. His work on the 2nd season of Fargo and especially his run on Longmire attested to his talent but in one episode he really elevated the show.

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Re: Westworld

#17 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Sun Jun 17, 2018 11:17 pm

Happy Father's Day

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Roger Ryan
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Re: Westworld

#18 Post by Roger Ryan » Mon Jun 25, 2018 8:56 am

So I'm thinking the Season 2 finale had about six endings too many. It's not that I didn't like the revelations provided by each, but given the second season was a little slow in providing plot advancement, it would have been better to introduce some of these twists in earlier episodes instead of saving everything for the last half-hour.

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Re: Westworld

#19 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Mon Jun 25, 2018 9:08 am

I would add on to that that
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the issue of stakes are becoming a bit unraveled if you can kill off characters but resurrect them almost immediately as they did with two characters
In some areas they've painted themselves into corners but otherwise it was an okay season, with some excellent performances and production value. Hopefully the writing can catch up for next season.

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barryconvex
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Re: Westworld

#20 Post by barryconvex » Tue Jun 26, 2018 6:16 am

It was a really mediocre season with way too much padding. Maeve's story line took up entirely too much time -Mr. Sausage is right on the money in his observations- and episode 8 especially could've been condensed into a two minute monologue. I enjoyed the heavy biblical allegory in the finale but I'm still not 100% on what happened with Harris' character.

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Colpeper
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Re: Westworld

#21 Post by Colpeper » Tue Jun 26, 2018 7:35 am

For those in the UK, or who can pose as such, here is Will Self's recent monologue Mindless Replicants, from the BBC Radio 4 A Point of View slot, in which he muses on consciousness, kicked off by his thoughts on Westworld.

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domino harvey
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Re: Westworld

#22 Post by domino harvey » Thu Sep 13, 2018 3:52 pm


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Re: Westworld

#23 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Mon May 20, 2019 8:10 am

A taste of the next season.
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When I saw Paul in the trailer for Triple 9 I thought he looked like a cyberpunk version of Jesse. This seems to have realized that.

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Luke M
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Re: Westworld

#24 Post by Luke M » Mon May 20, 2019 8:39 am

Looks like a completely different show. I'm in.

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Roscoe
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Re: Westworld

#25 Post by Roscoe » Mon May 20, 2019 9:49 am

Forgive me -- these old eyes couldn't quite make out who it is that Paul meets in the final seconds of the trailer. Can someone identify her?

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