TV: Westworld CANCELLED
- Thread starter Guardian17
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The Crypto Guy
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- Jun 26, 2017
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Man, I remember season 1 being so good, then it totally went to shit in season 2. I'm pretty surprised there are still enough people interested that it made it to season 4.
I had no idea that it was only a month and a half away (or even coming out this year). It sure fell off of the radar. Viewer interest and HBO's interest in promoting it seem quite low and in contrast to the hype that Season 2 had.
That teaser makes it look like Season 3, which I didn't care for. I don't have much interest in the hosts in the real world. What I liked about the first two seasons was the theme park setting. Without that, it's not that different from a lot of other sci-fi.
That teaser makes it look like Season 3, which I didn't care for. I don't have much interest in the hosts in the real world. What I liked about the first two seasons was the theme park setting. Without that, it's not that different from a lot of other sci-fi.
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MVP of West Hollywd
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Season 3 was one of the worst seasons I've seen for a show I used to like. I'll put this on a SHORT leash.
Guardian17
Strong & Free
Season 1 was definitely the best.
Honestly, I've forgotten the plot of Season 3, but, I'll watch Season 4 to see if it improves.
Honestly, I've forgotten the plot of Season 3, but, I'll watch Season 4 to see if it improves.
MVP of West Hollywd
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Worst part about Season 3 is it was all so avoidable, all you have to is cut Aaron Paul's screentime to "romantic subplot" level and make it robot Killing Eve between Maeve and Dolores. Why can't Bernard/Stubbs free William and Maeve have her first fight with Dolores by like episode 3? It took them like 6 or 7 episodes of 8 before they did that stuff.
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Hivemind
We're Touched
Ugh, why are they still making this show? Season 1 was phenomenal television, but it took a nosedive from season 2 onward. It needs to be put to an end.
Jussi
Registered User
There's a strong Lost vibe coming from this now. Plot gets more and more convoluted and the audience is left more and more confused.
MVP of West Hollywd
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It doubles down on mystery box internet theories side but spends half the effort on character development.
Lost is definitely one of the most influential shows of all time... For good and bad. So many failed network attempts to make another Lost (Flashforward, Terranova, V, The Event, La Brea, etc.), then some shows that took some part of it ie Westworld/Severance/Raised by Wolves (shows designed for reddit theories), The Leftovers (doubles down on the wannabe deep religion stuff of Lost), and sneakily the show that openly borrowed its style the most was Once Upon A Time, but a network show with real life Disney characters was never cool online or watched by critics. There's also apparently a new show on Epix called From that has Lost writers and Harold Perrineau.
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Hockeyfrilla
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Randy Butternubs
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Loved the first season and have only gotten partway through season 2 which actually seems decent so far though a definite step down.
With that said, it feels like the writers blew their brains out on the first season with how quickly the plot progressed. We went from totally subservient robots to a full blown mutiny as the robots became "self-aware" or rather they were programmed to become self-aware at a certain point after the death several years earlier of their true creator.
I seem to recall the writers had planned 5 seasons of the show from the outset. I think it would have been better if the full-blown revolution amongst the AI would have been drawn out quite a bit longer..at least not until the end of the second season or partway through the third season. Maybe the creators of the show felt they couldn't hold the audience attention for that long?
With that said, it feels like the writers blew their brains out on the first season with how quickly the plot progressed. We went from totally subservient robots to a full blown mutiny as the robots became "self-aware" or rather they were programmed to become self-aware at a certain point after the death several years earlier of their true creator.
I seem to recall the writers had planned 5 seasons of the show from the outset. I think it would have been better if the full-blown revolution amongst the AI would have been drawn out quite a bit longer..at least not until the end of the second season or partway through the third season. Maybe the creators of the show felt they couldn't hold the audience attention for that long?
Hivemind
We're Touched
I don't think the show has become too convoluted or confusing, I think it's just become too self-indulgent. And in that self-indulgence, they keep trying to expand the scope of the show and its characters, and it only leads to more trouble. It runs into cliches and stale tropes, dead ends created by poor writing, and an overly bloated premise.
The first season works because it has rails. Both in terms of setting/plot, but also in terms of thematic reach. The show is "confined" to the titular Westworld. The themes of post-humanism, gnosticism, and social inequality all work together and serve the same goal. While it makes allusions to the broader world, it doesn't burden itself with trying to explain exactly how this technology fits into every other technological development that happened in parallel. The characters all have their place (their loop, if you will) within not only Westworld, but also the plot of the season. Every character serves a defined role. They're all meaningfully placed. We're presented multiple, parallel examples of AI achieving sentience, each with their own wrinkles and complications. And there's also Anthony Hopkins there to deliver the philosophical monologues that tie elements together, and Hopkins can do so in a way that feels organic to his character and the plot.
The later seasons pick up additional themes and plot points like a snowball rolling down a hill. "Oh, it's about personal privacy." "And now its about digital vs physical consciousness and the concept of digital immortality." "And now it's about big data." "And now it's about human autonomy." They try to tie them back to the concepts of free will, but it's done in a ham fisted and obvious manner. By season three, it's like watching a 10 hour long episode of Black Mirror (and Black Mirror episodes are already often far longer than they really need to be to communicate whatever point they're making). They writers keep trying to figure out how this technology would fit into a broader society, and end up contradicting themselves as they expand the scope further. Characters that were once important become loose ends that the writers force back into the plot without real purpose. The once impactful revelation that a character is a host becomes cliche very quickly when re-used (heck, even after the Bernard reveal in season 1, Maeve and Felix have a scene that is used to re-assure the audience that the writers now how silly it would be if they re-used that plot element - only for the writers to immediately re-use that plot elment in season 2). After the success of season 1, there's nobody left to tell the show runners "No" and to reel it in back to the core elements that made the show work.
It also suffers from the fact it used a non-linear format in its first season, and then switched to a more linear format in subsequent seasons (as its exceedingly difficult to keep a non-linear format going beyond one season) and suffered from it.
The first season works because it has rails. Both in terms of setting/plot, but also in terms of thematic reach. The show is "confined" to the titular Westworld. The themes of post-humanism, gnosticism, and social inequality all work together and serve the same goal. While it makes allusions to the broader world, it doesn't burden itself with trying to explain exactly how this technology fits into every other technological development that happened in parallel. The characters all have their place (their loop, if you will) within not only Westworld, but also the plot of the season. Every character serves a defined role. They're all meaningfully placed. We're presented multiple, parallel examples of AI achieving sentience, each with their own wrinkles and complications. And there's also Anthony Hopkins there to deliver the philosophical monologues that tie elements together, and Hopkins can do so in a way that feels organic to his character and the plot.
The later seasons pick up additional themes and plot points like a snowball rolling down a hill. "Oh, it's about personal privacy." "And now its about digital vs physical consciousness and the concept of digital immortality." "And now it's about big data." "And now it's about human autonomy." They try to tie them back to the concepts of free will, but it's done in a ham fisted and obvious manner. By season three, it's like watching a 10 hour long episode of Black Mirror (and Black Mirror episodes are already often far longer than they really need to be to communicate whatever point they're making). They writers keep trying to figure out how this technology would fit into a broader society, and end up contradicting themselves as they expand the scope further. Characters that were once important become loose ends that the writers force back into the plot without real purpose. The once impactful revelation that a character is a host becomes cliche very quickly when re-used (heck, even after the Bernard reveal in season 1, Maeve and Felix have a scene that is used to re-assure the audience that the writers now how silly it would be if they re-used that plot element - only for the writers to immediately re-use that plot elment in season 2). After the success of season 1, there's nobody left to tell the show runners "No" and to reel it in back to the core elements that made the show work.
It also suffers from the fact it used a non-linear format in its first season, and then switched to a more linear format in subsequent seasons (as its exceedingly difficult to keep a non-linear format going beyond one season) and suffered from it.
WingsMJN2965
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For what it's worth, IMDb can be inaccurate in this regard before episodes are released. For example, with Obi-Wan Kenobi...
A few weeks ago, Rupert Friend was listed as being in all six episodes, but hasn't been in the last two episodes.
After the third episode, James Earl Jones was credited as being the voice of Vader for only that episode, but was in the next episode and is now credited with being in episodes 3-6.
That said, if Wright is the only main character that's not listed as being in so few episodes, then that's maybe a bit curious and concerning, but not necessarily fact.
After the third episode, James Earl Jones was credited as being the voice of Vader for only that episode, but was in the next episode and is now credited with being in episodes 3-6.
That said, if Wright is the only main character that's not listed as being in so few episodes, then that's maybe a bit curious and concerning, but not necessarily fact.
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Same...
Has it been confusing/meh at times? Sure... but I've still enjoyed each season overall..
MVP of West Hollywd
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Guardian17
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NyQuil
Big F$&*in Q
Guardian17
Strong & Free
I was surprised that it takes place 7 years after Season 3 (or at least some scenes do; you never know with this show). That makes it a little easier if you don't remember much from S3, like me.
It's harder for a character to stay dead in this than in even Disney Star Wars. My reaction to the "surprise" ending was "oh, it's him... again" rather than much actual surprise.
It's harder for a character to stay dead in this than in even Disney Star Wars. My reaction to the "surprise" ending was "oh, it's him... again" rather than much actual surprise.
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Guardian17
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Kane One
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Mr Fahrenheit
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