Westworld Is a Show for People Trying to Figure Out Who They Are in the World
(Episode 1.09)
John P. Johnson/HBO
The debate between free will and determinism is nothing new to the world of popular culture and art. It’s been one of the primary forces behind everything from superhero origin stories to The Brothers Karamazov. It’s also the nucleus around which every storyline in Westworld revolves.
And what better representation can there be than Bernard (Jeffrey Wright), an android who has finally come to understand his reality, poised to shoot himself under the command of his creator Ford (Anthony Hopkins) and begging him to reconsider? What we don’t know is if he actually went through with the act and will, in the season finale, come gunning for his potentially psychotic boss. Can he break free from Ford’s hold and write his own future?
So many of Westworld’s characters are in much the same situation, in a place of uncertainty that leaves much of the show hanging in the balance. Which is right where the creators of Westworld want us to be in the penultimate episode of Season One. They want us to wonder just what is going to happen between William (Jimmi Simpson) and Logan (Ben Barnes) after the former went on an apparent rampage and now looks willing to slit his future brother-in-law’s throat to help rescue Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood). And what Maeve (Thandie Newton) has planned beyond fucking an outlaw in a burning tent (one of the most eye-rolling moments in this otherwise solid series). All of this is making The Man In Black (Ed Harris) and his pursuit of “The Maze,” the plot that was most intriguing early on, seem downright superfluous at this stage.