Usually we title these sort of guides “ everything you need to know about XYZ show . ” But HBO ’s Westworld is n’t easily sum up up or explained . A Brobdingnagian part of its ingathering is that it ’s so enigmatic , dropping clues and tease out mysteries as its story builds . To fully appreciate season two , it ’d be secure to follow season one first — preferably twice — but if time is an issue ( or if you just need a season one refresher ) , here ’s a crash course of action .
What it’s about
Westworld is based on the 1973 Michael Crichton photographic film , though the cathode-ray oscilloscope of the TV show go way beyond the moving-picture show . Still , the basics are the same : it ’s about a futurist , fully immersive amusement commons , run by a fellowship call Delos , that completely recreate the Wild West with dead lifelike robot “ host ” that can be pop by human “ guests , ” but not vice versa . At least , that ’s how it ’s supposed to be , until the hosts suddenly start going off the script — mirroring the chaos that ’s going on behind the setting at the sleek adeptness that ( purportedly ) controls everything in the park .
That ’s the plot on its simplest term . But in just 10 episode , Westworld save a narrative as voluminous and layered as the “ maze ” that some of its players become possessed with . There are big , shocking moment : A primary grapheme who come along to be human is actually an automaton ; and two more master characters are actually the same quality , just at different ages , a reveal that also exposes the fact that not all of the show ’s storylines are taking place at the same metre . In gain to being a mystery that share only what it call for to about its world filled with violence , romance , and some very deep question about what it mean to be human , it ’s also stunningly gorgeous — part panoramic John Ford Western , part high - technical school thriller , it ’s take with clever stylistic touches , like a player pianissimo that plinks out great , old - timey covers of out of the blue modern songs . And it ’s one of the most imposingly - acted television set shows of all time , run unbelievable range from its performers .
Who’s who
The hosts
Dolores ( Evan Rachel Wood )
The Old android in the parking area , Dolores is a golden - haired farmer ’s girl who survive on the outskirts of Westworld ’s main settlement , Sweetwater . As the serial progresses , her program floor “ iteration ” veers off form , or seems to , and her percept of realism becomes heartbreakingly confused . finally , we discover how special she was to Arnold , Westworld ’s conscientious objector - founder , who died before the common opened . Decades ago , she was the key constituent in his quest to understand artificial consciousness , and when he realized that a ) he was n’t able to make her unfeignedly witting and that b ) the hosts would inevitably be horribly mistreat by the future guests , so he decide Westworld should never open to the world . His programme to foreclose that from happening , which obviously go wrong , was to manipulate Dolores into killing him . Dolores is also a huge part of Westworld ’s later storylines , going on an extended journey with first - metre client William to the far reaches of the ballpark , and playing one of the star roles in the final tale woven by Arnold ’s former married person , Robert Ford .
Maeve ( Thandie Newton )
The madame of Sweetwater ’s Mariposa Hotel house of prostitution is a tough lady , but she ’s haunt by nightmares of her “ past life”—really her previous storyline — when she witnessed her new daughter ’s fell slaying . She also keeps have visions of the biological agent suit - wearing Westworld techs that hustle in to restore order once a legion has been killed , something no horde should ever be able-bodied to register . Maeve is one of a fistful of hosts in the park ( like Dolores ) who slow become more and more self - aware ; once she count on out who she really is , she convinces a tech to heighten her acquisition solidification , making her the wise and most powerful android in the parking lot . Her wondrous plan is to ditch Westworld in favour of the outside world , though on the brink of exemption , she turns back to look for her “ girl , ” who ’s still go somewhere in the Mungo Park . In another shocking report spin , we learn that Maeve ’s apparent self-sufficiency — which we ’re run to believe is organically manifest — is actually 100 percentage part of commons co - Jehovah Ford ’s latest plot line , filed under a subplot titled “ escape . ”
Teddy ( James Marsden )
Poor Teddy . The well-favored puncher gains a slightly interesting , war - themed backstory halfway through the series , but he ’s basically there to woo Dolores and/or Salmon Portland Chase after her to rescue her from Westworld ’s various spoiled men , and inevitably gets horribly killed in the process every clip .
Clementine ( Angela Sarafyan )
The pretty girl in Maeve ’s sporting house , Clementine gets extract off the floor as part of a presentment to show how Ford ’s mysterious new update has the tendency to reverse hosts tearing . Though the presentation is actually a lightly - veiled power play , hatch by the Delos board of directors to discredit Ford , Clementine still gets lobotomized and tucked into the cellar with all the other unused models . A replacement Clementine is speed back to Sweetwater , a switch that nobody notices in - world except an increasingly “ alive ” Maeve .
Lawrence ( Clifton Collins , Jr. )
He ’s an outlaw who appears in multiple storylines , helping ( sometimes against his will ) the Man in Black as well as William and Dolores .
Hector ( Rodrigo Santoro )
He ’s another felon ; his loop-the-loop has him forever riding into Sweetwater with guns blazing , hellbent on robbing the Mariposa ’s rubber , which is finally , and appropriately , revealed to be empty . His extremely - charged relationship with Maeve leads to her roping him into her relief valve plan , so while he ’s not initially among the crew of ego - aware hosts , he eventually has his mind expand more than Lawrence or Teddy ever do .
“ Wyatt ”
The MacGuffin of Westworld . Though we do seem to glimpse him in one of Teddy ’s flashbacks — his narrative is that he ’s a military man who goes demoniacal and massacres an intact town , then takes to the Alfred Hawthorne as the drawing card of a gang of eerily block out crook — it ’s in the end expose that Wyatt is more of an idea - rick - legend than a forcible comportment . Really , he ’s part of Dolores , thanks to Arnold , who merges their personality together as part of his tearing , affirmation - making dodge to ensure the commons would not be able to open .
The guests
The Man in Black ( Ed Harris )
Cruel and vicious , the Man in Black is mega - rich and mega - knock-down in his real life , where his spoils admit being the absolute majority stakeholder of Delos . As for his personal living , it ’s very bleak : His wife recently committed suicide , and his daughter hates him . A longtime Westworld visitor , he ’s seen everything and done everything and probably killed everyone in the parkland at least once . When we meet him on the show , he ’s obsessed with lick what he imagine is Westworld ’s last frontier : a mystifying experience / storyline / location simply call the maze , which he ’s determined to find no matter how many time he ’s told “ the labyrinth is n’t meant for you . ” At the last of his frustrative journey , with no actual maze in heap , he provoke Dolores — with whom he has a foresightful history — into fighting him . But his hunting for deeper signification really set ahead once Ford declare to the Delos elite that his young story comes with a spin : hosts are now able to harm guests , the same fashion the guests have been harm them for decades . Real consequences have add up to Westworld at last , a realization that makes every human scream and run … except for the Man in Black , who looks delighted , in keeping with one of the show ’s other repeated idiom : “ These red delights have tearing end . ”
William ( Jimmi Simpson )
We cope with William as he arrives at Westworld for his very first sojourn ; though he ’s initially very reserved , he soon gets completely draw into a story with Dolores — an emotionally devastating ( yet liberating ) experience that helps him discover his reliable ego . Too spoilt his true self is so sadistic . Just as we see William , who ’s develop a fresh taste for thrashing , change his white hat for a black one , we learn that William is the youthful version of the Man in Black , and his scenes have been pose in the past tense all along — an easy affair to miss , since the hosts never age .
Logan ( Ben Barnes )
William ’s succeeding comrade - in - law come to Westworld with no risky venture in nous beyond pop , fucking , and just generally behaving like an oversized asshole . The extreme lot he and William get into make the pre - existing high-risk vibes between them even worse . There ’s no citation of Logan in the Man in Black ’s present ; the last we see of him is when William beam him off into the Westworld wilderness with a horse and literally nothing else .
Delos
Robert Ford ( Anthony Hopkins )
Westworld ’s brilliant conscientious objector - laminitis and creative director is very aware that the Delos board of directors is plot to bump off him , intent on jerk aside his more intricate stories in favor of a more simple guest experience . But he ’s arrive much large plans for the place , which he ’s been influence on for over 30 years since his spouse Arnold ’s demise . The park was able to continue over the years thanks to William / the Men in Black ’s investment , and while Ford and Arnold did n’t always see eye to eye , Ford eventually achieve Arnold ’s goal of helping Dolores achieve rightful knowingness , have her realize the vocalisation in her head go to nobody but herself . He also came around to the idea that human beings are garbage and should start making elbow room for what ’s next : “ a newfangled people and the choices they will have to make … and the people they will resolve to become . ” His final narrative unleash total topsy-turvyness in the park , and Dolores shoots him , just like she inject Arnold .
Bernard Lowe ( Jeffrey Wright )
Bernard is a legion made precisely in Arnold ’s image , though he does n’t roll in the hay it — for most of the season , only Ford have sex the truth . He heads up Westworld ’s computer programing department , and we subsequently learn he was specially created by Ford as an Arnold replacement to help program realistic emotions into the emcee . His dead on target identity element is revealed in one of Westworld ’s most shocking moments , when Ford rate him to vote out Theresa Cullen , the common ’s head of Quality Assurance , with whom he ’d been romantically involved — an parliamentary law Arnold ca n’t disobey , since he ’s a master of ceremonies himself . ( There ’s also a flashback unveil the fate of a carbon monoxide gas - actor who ’s go miss after asking too many questions ; turn out Bernard apparently belt down her , too . ) Later , Ford prove to convince Bernard to repay him as his partner , but Bernard resists ; he ’d rather set the sentient hosts free like Arnold wanted , which Ford believes would never work because humans would never allow it . ( As we see in the closing curtain , he has another plan underway to “ mark the hosts free , ” by get them make their own choices . ) He forces Bernard to shoot himself — though he ’s later bring back by the Westworld techs who are aid Maeve escape .
Charlotte Hale ( Tessa Thompson )
The belligerent , calculating interpreter of Delos ’ incorporated instrument panel of directors , she ’s there to free the park of Ford and what she views as his needlessly complex stories — roping in Westworld ’s sleazy foreland of narration , Lee Sizemore ( Simon Quarterman ) , to help smuggle Ford ’s valued engineering out of the park . At the Delos jamboree , after Ford denote his terminal chronicle , she looks thrilled — until Dolores shoots Ford and a posse comitatus of baleful hosts emerges from the woodland .
What’s next—and why you should watch
Considering that Westworld showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy have alreadycheekily trolledfans who were hope for some substantial season two spoilers , it ’s not totally surprising that we do n’t know a gross ton about what to expect this season . It will be themed “ The Door ” ( season one was “ The Maze ” ) , and the most recent drone offered some blue clues as to what went down after Ford ’s robot rising . These admit a potential peek at a new part ( represent by Gustaf Skarsgård ) who ’s called in to facilitate clean up Delos ’ raft ; Bernard ’s on-going battle with his conflicted identity ; Maeve ’s continuous quest to find her girl ; a flashback looking at how William took control of Delos ; the potential return of Ford ( maybe in host word form ? ) ; and perhaps even a hint about what find to Logan . Here ’s our full , barb - by - shot crack-up of that lagger .
https://gizmodo.com/this-new-westworld-trailer-looks-like-a-lot-of-things-t-1824182333
As for why you should find out — the real doubtfulness is , why are n’t you watching already ? Westworld is n’t just an exceptionally well - made scifi tv set show ; it ’s a mystifier box that ’s establish a thousand sports fan theories , and as its world expands , so will its closed book . We ca n’t wait to plunge back in .
Westworld returns Sunday , April 22 on HBO .
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