One of the challenges ofWestworldsince the show left the park after the first season has been to keep viewers coming back for some reason other than to see hosts taking out humans. That meant that theHBO Max serieshas had to weave some rather intricate mysteries into the stories so that people can try and figure out what exactly is going on and what will happen next. The only problem is that if there is a great mystery so far in this season, there are some challenges in making it interesting. The good news is that even if it’s a little more obvious as to what’s going on at times, there’s still enough of a question as to “why” to make the second episode, “Well Enough Alone,” watchable.
However, that doesn’t mean that the follow-through with “Well Enough Alone” was perfect. It’s only two weeks into thefourth season ofWestworldand there are some aspects that are already growing a bit stale. That’s especially a problem considering that the show’s last remaining big mystery is being fed out at such a slow pace, that the show runs the risk of making it entirely inconsequential. There are fans of the show who will enjoy trying to unravel every little clue of what exactly is going on. There are also those who are going to wonder just why there has to be a mystery around every corner. This week’s episode felt an awful lot like setting up the pieces on a chess board and that’s going to need a good follow-through in Week 3 to make it worth it.
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Westworld Or Austin Powers?
The majority of this week’sepisode ofWestworldfocuses just a little over half its story on the trials and tribulations of Maeve and Caleb. The two are basically working like they are some sort of military operatives going after a specific group of people … for reasons. Part of the problem with having as many irons in the fire as this show does is that it can be hard to follow just what is going on from one minute to the next. Yes, some of that is the responsibility of the viewer, but a show shouldn’t be actively trying to leave its audience in the dust.
It’s not entirely clear how or whyMaeve and Calebknew to go to the senator’s house that they visit near the beginning of the show. Likewise, it’s not clear why when they do go there and find hosts having replaced the senator and his wife, those hosts are hiding in plain sight, even if they do know who Maeve is when she walks in the door. This is also the problem with the show in general in that what Hale and Host William are doing seems an awful lot like something a Bond villain might plan out.
That evil plan is certainly foreboding enough considering that part of it allows the hosts to take over the minds of human beings thanks to “bugs” that are implanted in them, but it all feels a bit too complicated. That’s especially the case when the intrepid adventurers are straight invited into a trap later in the episode, they go willingly and it appears that things are going to play out even further before the trap is sprung. There are explanations for this, including the fact that the evil hosts just aren’t all that concerned about their enemies, but it feels like super smart villains would see the benefit of taking out their adversaries without wasting any time. AllowingThandie Newton’s character to follow the bread crumbs just seems silly. It would have been nice to see at least a few more roadblocks thrown up.
The same goes for the large plot that is going on with Hale and William killing and replacing their way up the line of succession, but… stopping short of getting to the top. It’s always interesting when television shows and movies make the Vice President the top target of their evil plot. To be clear, it’s only interesting because it always seems a little weird that the bad guys are aiming just below the guy they really should be taking out. This is especially the case for a show likeWestworldwhere the baddies are apparently able to replace or control whoever they want. To the show’s credit, it does try and explain why the villains are slow playing things. However, the entire evil plan unfolding the way it does feel like Seth Green fromAustin Powersis going to pop up at some point and ask why they don’t just kill the people they’re toying with.
One of the reasons it’s disappointing at how long the evil plot is taking and how pointless some of the careful sidestepping seems is because Westworld is risking wasting some truly impressive performances by Ed Harris. He’s always been an imposing figure asThe Man in Blackbut he’s, even more, imposing out in the real world, basically playing the same character he did when he was killing his way across Westworld. It just feels like the show is having too much fun making him be bad to realize it could overplay its hand.
The Mystery Of The Tower
While one of the evil plots has basically been divulged at this point - though the end game is still a question - the big mystery forthis season ofWestworldis just what is going on with Delores/Christina? There were some hints last week that her return to life, and more than that her return to life as an amnesiac has something up its sleeve. That’s started to unfold a bit more as she realizes that she was writing a story that actually unfolded in the real world. The question of course is how and why and what it means.
The problem here is how much things are being slow-played. With all the action going on in the other subplot, there’s a real danger that the series could lose the interest of the viewers. It feels like something is going to need to happen sooner rather than later here. The problem is thatWestworldhas a history of drawing things out just a little too long.
