Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t seen Season 2 Episode 5 of Westworld, go watch it now. NOW!
After giving us glimpses here and there, we were finally immersed in Shogun World! And to make it even easier to enjoy, it basically happened all on one timeline. Our time there provided the most action of any episode of the series.
We were also given plenty of new characters to care about, and deepened our love for Maeve even more.
Much like Westworld (the show) we aren’t recapping this in chronological order. So we’re gonna start with the most fun storyline.
Ninjas & Geishas & Shoguns Oh My!
There was a ton of awesome fighting in nearly every scene here. But the best fight scene was one in main village, which was a period-updated version of Sweetwater. As our Westworld captives are dragged into town, a fight just like the street fight in WW breaks out.. and our heroes freak out. Adding to the drama (for the audience) is a Japanese version of Paint It Black plays throughout, just like during the pilot episode. We like it because it added continuity and let us feel the similarities along with the characters.
The characters quickly realize they have counterparts that are almost identical, even saying many of the same lines at the same time. It’s meta on so many levels and fun to watch.
Maeve is openly perturbed with Lee (nothing new there), this time for basically self-plagerizing his WW creations. He challenges Maeve by telling her to create 300 stories in three weeks. But hey, when you’re Head of Narrative, that’s the gig. But we’ll let Delos deal with him later. That’s assuming he lives. Taking that radio could be the death of him!
And while that may have been one of the sillier lines of the show, Maeve had the best. When being forced to make decisions on how to continue with Daughter-quest, she looked at her asian counterparts and said ‘some things are too precious to lose, even to be free.’ That may be the most human thing anyone (host or human) has ever said on the show.
How the West was Done
Now we turn, because we must, to the alleged main storyline of the show: Dolores in Westworld. Honestly, this story (even without Man In Black William) becomes more tedious with each passing episode.
This week Dolores became more human than ever.. and that’s not a good thing. After finally sleeping with Teddy, she got her minions to change his behavior pattern on their ultra-cool iPad35s. But she made a show of it. Dolores could have just had it done in his sleep, but she made sure Teddy knew he was inadequate. At this point, she wields the power formerly held by Dr. Ford et al. Westworld is developing a very Animal Farm vibe.
Delos Demolition
Meanwhile, back in what (we think/hope) is the present, cleaning up the chaos and understanding how far it reaches continues. The biggest revelation from this timeline/storyline is that a third of the hosts are “virgin.” Which means we need to learn either what happened to them or where they came from.
We also see Teddy’s body tossed on a pile, which means Dolores’ violent game will come to a violent end, at least for poor Teddy Flood.
But the worst &/or silliest moment of the night came when one of the Delos peeps asked: ‘how did all these disparate threads come together to create this nightmare? If we figure that out, we’ll know how the story turns.
Well.. duh! Isn’t that why we’re all watching the show at this point? Anyone just hoping for a fun romp through a western fantasyland quit watching at season one episode five!
And our criticism from earlier this season still holds true: there are so many storylines on so many timelines, that they can’t service each one each episode. This week was essentially bereft of Man In Black William and Bernard/Arthur.
The Critic’s Cocktail Recommendation
Saki Bombs! Cuz this episode is dropping bombs all over the place.
Kanpai!
Critic's Cocktail 