(Some spoilers below, but either you are reading this having watched the most recent season, or you are reading because you are never going to watch this shit, right?)
Westworld
HBO
Seasons 1 and 2 available on HBO apps; Season 3 release TBD
Westworld, during its second season, became one of the most controversial TV shows on air, but I don't mean that how you think I mean it. I don't mean that the plot or the presentation itself was controversial. I mean that TV watchers in general argued about whether Westworld was worth watching at all. One side argued that it was a worthwhile show, full of suspense and action and fun plot twists. The other side states that Westworld is a little too much for them, that they just don't "get it," due to its endless labyrinth of mysteries and confusion. I find that I fall somewhere in the middle, but I would argue that the tension between those two sides, the thrilled and the confused, that tension is in itself what makes Westworld so great.
I've never had to work so hard to follow along with a show. Probably nine out of the ten episodes this season ended with me and Pam turning to each other and saying "What the fuck was that?" Reading recaps online became a necessity for the first time in my life. But I cannot hold this against Westworld, for every episode captivated me truly, even during those (many, many) moments I didn't know what was going on exactly.
Did I completely understand why all the characters were headed toward "The Valley" this season? Kind of, I guess? William seemed like he had unfinished business of some kind with Ford. Dolores was trying to set the hosts free. The Ghost Nation were looking for a mythical door. And Bernard, uhhh, was confused about pretty much everything except where he had to go? But the events that lead up to these characters setting on the path to the Valley were legitimately thrilling. And that (very Lost-esque) moment in the finale where you realized all the character were about to converge at the same place at the same time was a great, if still somewhat confusing, payoff.
Is this why we watch Westworld? For moments like this?
I'm a big fan of when a character's motivation informs the viewers how they should be watching the show, and Westworld might have the best example of this in William (the "Man in Black"). William obsesses constantly about "the game," how he should be playing it, how to solve the mysteries of the game, and so on. Not only does this inform the viewer of William's character motivation (albeit a thin one, sure), but it also serves as an example of how we, the viewers, should be watching Westworld. This is not only a TV show. It's a game that we're all playing.
So fuck yeah, this show is confusing. You don't know how many times I turned to Pam and had to confirm something that was currently happening on screen (and she could only confirm it for me about 50% of the time due to her own confusion). Do you think I honestly understood what the fuck Delores was doing this whole season? Something about creating a world for the hosts? But how?! But... that's part of the point, I think. Westworld is built to be confusing. It's meant to layer mysteries and puzzles on top of one another, and gradually pull the rugs out from the viewer one episode and one rug at the time.
If this is not your cup of tea, then I completely understand. I can't really hold anyone's hatred of Westworld against them. But Westworld is intriguing enough to me to keep me coming back week after week, even if there are no satisfying conclusions to anything, pretty much ever.
Look, I'm not claiming that this is one of the greatest shows ever. Typically, the best dramas work in two distinct and intertwining ways: intriguing mysteries, and deep, real, interesting, relatable characters. Westworld only worries itself with the former. The characters on Westworld are more often than not character sketches, at best. When Lee Sizemore all of a sudden decided to sacrifice himself, it was almost laughable, because it practically came out of nowhere. In a drama that concerned itself with the characters, this would have been a heartfelt moment. In a drama that concerns itself with a twisted and layered plot only, a sacrifice, heroic or no, just becomes another step in the plot.
(You deserve yourself a TV show that can do both, so check out The Leftovers, please.)
And I'm not trying to make excuses for Westworld, but again... I think this is all kind of the point. I mean, one of the main theses from the finale of this season was that humans are, basically, even more primitive than the hosts. Humans just like to believe they are more complicated than the basic core motivations that they actually are.
So, is this really the show that we should be complaining about when it lacks human moments? Wouldn't that be the antithesis to the whole point that the show is trying to make? In a show that's trying to prove that humans are no better than robots, why would the human characters featured in the show have more depth than a robot?
As a sidenote, I had a big problem with critics' takes on Westworld this season, and it got me thinking about a problem I have with TV criticism in general. AVClub's Westworld reviewer, Zach Handlen, spent a lot of time nitpicking every goddamn thing on every goddamn episode of Westworld this season, but his main concern was what I explained above—he felt that the characters lacked sufficient motivation for the viewers to care about them.
I take offense to that, not because he's wrong, but because, if that's what you want, why the fuck are you watching Westworld? Clearly by this point you have to know what Westworld is and strives to be as a show, and the reasons it gives audiences for coming back. Why is he the one reviewing this show every week when he doesn't understand HOW to watch Westworld? It's like purposefully buying a tomato pie and then complaining that yeah, it's fine, but it would be REALLY good with cheese. Just buy a fucking pizza!
In my mind, Westworld did what it set out to do, and you can't really fault it for that. It made its audience concentrate really hard on what was going on, and sometimes go over their head despite the intense concentration. It had some thrilling action sequences (William's duel with the Confederados, for the best example). It moved the plot from A to B in an intriguing and complicated way, and set up the stakes for Season 3 and beyond.
If that's what you like in a TV show, then Westworld could be a winner for you. If you want nuanced character studies, you should probably look elsewhere. I fucking love the latter, but as far as the former goes, there's really nothing quite like Westworld on TV right now, so I'm along for the ride.
GRADE: 3 pukes out of 5
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