What to expect from the second season of "Westworld" - a sensational science fiction series

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The most interesting thing about the return of the HBO television project: from fan theories to "Easter eggs" from the creators of the series. Caution: Spoilers!

I have already forgotten what kind of "Westworld". Remind me briefly?

Westworld is a hugely successful science fiction series with tons of stars (from veterans Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris to Evan Rachel Wood and Tessa Thompson) and one of the most engaging stories in television history. It was invented by Christopher Nolan's brother and co-author Jonathan, together with his wife Lisa Joy, based on the film of the same name by science fiction writer Michael Crichton.

HBO has created this expensive new project with the expectation that it will take over the baton of the flagship show from Game of Thrones, which ends in 2019. About $ 100 million was invested in the production of the first ten episodes (the approximate cost of the "Martian" or any part of the Kingsman series), but all the costs paid off with interest.

The series became the most watched in the history of HBO among the first seasons, breaking records for "True Detective" and "Game of Thrones".

OK. What happened in the first season?

As in the cult movie by Michael Crichton in 1973, the first season takes place in a theme park. In it, any visitor for a large sum can try on a cowboy costume and literally feel like in the Wild West.

To make everything look as natural as possible, the park is inhabited by robots. They are endowed with artificial intelligence, but cannot go beyond their "storylines". The robots are programmed to satisfy every need of the guests, up to and including rape and murder.

However, the system fails when the oldest robot in the park, Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), followed by the prostitute Maeve (Thandie Newton), begin to see "dreams" from their previous lives and hear a voice inside themselves. Bernard (Jeffrey Wright), as the park's chief programmer, tries to fix the bug, but instead reveals the mystery that hangs over the death of Westworld co-creator Arnold.

At this time, two young people arrive, whose company "Delos" is going to invest in the park. Logan (Ben Barnes) is a regular at the place, and his humble son-in-law William (Jimmy Simpson) is a rookie. Together they set off on a journey through the unexplored territories of the park and learn about the quest hidden by the creators.

There are other important storylines in the show. One of them focuses on the mysterious Man in Black (Ed Harris), who has been wandering around the park for 30 years in search of a maze that can turn the game upside down.

The second concerns Ford (Anthony Hopkins), the aging park creator and colleague of Arnold. He must present to the board members a new storyline designed to dot the top and bottom.

What do all the viewers get a fan of?

"World of the Wild West" is atypical in its structure. Several unpredictable and complex storylines are conducted in parallel over the course of 10 episodes, in order to connect at the last moment in a grand finale. At the same time, it is difficult to remember another series that would have so steadfastly and coolly held its trump cards to the very end, without trying to impress an impatient viewer.

The on-screen secrets and scenario traps set by the creators on the plot field of the series unfold here with the leisurely philosophical parable, but addictive no worse than any action from Marvel.

In terms of content and genre somersaults, "The World of the Wild West" resembles a real labyrinth.

Deceptively simple at first, it never becomes familiar to the viewer. And this is captivating! Changing color from episode to episode, from hero to hero, to the finale, the train launched by HBO brings viewers scared, anxious and eager to hit the road again.

There are also two main components that HBO is famous for: violence and explicit scenes. However, the "World of the Wild West" offers viewers primarily intellectual, not animal entertainment. To realize a large-scale story, the creators indulge in plot intricacies, use a trick with time and in every possible way fill up the event horizon with dramatic branches, just to knock the audience off the scent.

If we look for any analogies to such a corrosive approach to the entertainment stuffing, then the closest associates of the series will be the "Left Behind", which ended last year, and the cult project of JJ Abrams, "Lost." By the way, he was one of the producers of "Westworld".

And how did it end up there?

To cover the full scale of the first season, you will have to go through several storylines.

The Man in Black turned out to be William only 30 years later. All this time, their stories developed in parallel. Saying goodbye to Logan (who may have died in the wilds of the park), he stayed in Westworld to find the maze. He also convinced the owners of the Delos company, in which he works, to buy the company.

Thus, we know that the Man in Black / William is the owner of the park. The labyrinth, in his opinion, can free robots from a programmed scenario, making visiting the park a truly dangerous entertainment.

Dolores turned out to be the same dysfunctional robot that massacred the park 30 years ago (and whom everyone calls Wyatt in the series). At the same time, she also killed one of the creators of the park, Arnold, who believed in the existence of self-awareness in robots. True, it happened on his orders. So Arnold tried to prevent the opening of "Westworld".

Bernard turned out to be a robot into which Ford implanted part of Arnold's consciousness. That is why he spent the whole season communicating so sweetly with Dolores and asking questions about the self-awareness of robots. At the same time, Dolores realizes that the voice that sounded in her head all the time is her own awakened consciousness.

Ford's new storyline turns out to be a posthumous gift to the deceased Arnold and all the inhabitants of the park. In the final episode, he makes a pretentious speech about the upcoming changes, and then hands Dolores the revolver, from which she once killed his friend.

Dolores shoots the assembled board members and Ford himself as the decommissioned robots stored under the park come to the surface to seize power.

Maeve manages to escape with the help of the mutinous robotic thugs, but Bernard informs her that the uprising is part of Ford's programmed scenario. Maeve does not believe, but at the last moment decides not to leave for the human world, but to return to the park in search of his robot daughter.

Fuh! When is the second season coming out?

The premiere of the first episode of the second season is scheduled for April 22. Residents of Russia will be able to watch it on the 23rd morning at the "Amediatek". The second option is on Monday, but in the evening to see it on the big screen in one of 30 cities, which will host closed screenings timed to coincide with the premiere.

Do you already know what will happen next?

For such popular shows, spoiler leaks are certain death. Therefore, the creators suppress any attempts by journalists to find out something about the fate of the characters or the further development of the plot.

Showrunners of the series Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy even decided to play a trick on lovers of spoilers and released a 25-minute video in which "fully reveal the plot of the second season." In the video, of course, there is nothing like this. Most of the time, the dog just sits there at the piano.

And yet we know a thing or two about the second season for sure.

1. Subtitled "The Door", the story will directly follow up on the events of Season 1. The action will unfold in a park occupied by robots, led by Dolores. This means that many of the characters you love will return. Ed Harris (Man in Black), Jimmy Simpson (young William), James Marsden (Teddy), Thandie Newton (Maeve), Jeffrey Wright (Bernard / Arnold), Tessa Thompson (Charlotte) have confirmed their participation in the second season.

2. They promise to show new worlds and new characters. It is already known that we will be immersed in the world of the samurai, which was briefly shown in the finale of the first season. On the official website of Delos, which owns the rights to Westworld, you can see a description of the shogun's world, as well as empty slots for four more unnamed amusement parks. This is confirmed by the joining of the Japanese actresses Tao Okamoto, Kiki Sukezane and Rinko Kikuchi to the cast of the series.

3. In one of the episodes of the trailer, the head of an unknown robot is seen standing behind Bernard. As Nolan and Joy confirmed in an interview, these are new drones that Delos was developing in secret from Ford and the rest of the fleet. These same creatures can be seen in a video created as part of a viral advertising campaign, which was dug up on the Web by Reddit users who solved the Easter eggs in the trailer. Disclosure of these and other secret plans of the corporation "Delos" in the second season and Bernard will be engaged.

4. Jimmy Simpson's return to the role of young William means that we will have several storylines that diverge in time. You can dig even deeper into the past of the Man in Black and find out what exactly he has been doing in the park all these years. And it is likely that many of the resolved issues of the first season will surface again. For example, what happened to Logan in the end? And will he still play his part?

5. There are several hints that the robot Peter Abernathy will become an important figure. Recall that in the first season, Abernathy played the role of Dolores's father, until he was jammed at the sight of a photograph depicting a person from the outside world, which became the starting point for Dolores's transformation. The fact that Abernathy may still return was again discovered by Reddit users. They stumbled upon a username and password hidden in a viral video, which led to this command line: "Find Peter Abernathy."

6. Timing of some episodes of the second season will go beyond the usual 60 minutes, and the finale is promised to be made "endless". This can only mean one thing: even more epicness awaits us in the new season.

What are the main fan theories about the fate of the characters and the world?

Ford survived, but his copy was killed instead

Remember how the old man was constructing some kind of robot all this time in his office? It is likely that Ford was making a replacement for himself. Given his passion for the game of God (think of Michelangelo's reproduction and the conversation with Bernard about self-awareness in Episode 8) and thinking through all the details, this theory seems quite real.

All this time, Ford was a robot

More precisely, the first robot that Arnold created. This explains why 30 years ago, Ford did not stop his "friend" from committing suicide and opposed the idea that robots could be conscious. In addition, Ford is the only character who can give commands to robots with a voice, and not with a remote control. Finally, he dresses old-fashioned and keeps an unauthorized family of robots inside the park, allegedly copied from his real parents. Too many coincidences.

Dolores is designed in the image of a real person

In the trailer for the second season, we see her in a modern setting and new clothes. So, either she got into the world of people or some other of the theme parks, or we are shown flashbacks from the life of her real prototype.

Delos will take over the world

This theory came after Jonathan Nolan's comment about new drones that the company was creating in secret. Here you can recall that in the sequel to the original 1973 film called "The World of the Future", "Delos" created robotic copies of world leaders in order to take political power on the planet into their own hands. Which raises the question: To what extent is Delos involved in the robot mutiny at the end of the first season? And isn't this all part of the company's plan to seize power over humanity?

All characters in the series are robots

If the idea seems too crazy to you, remember the words of Ford: “You cannot understand what consciousness is, because it does not exist. People like to think that they perceive the world in a special way. But we live with plots as predetermined and closed as robots, rarely doubting our choice and obeying those who tell us what to do next."

Where can I watch all the official videos for the new season?

We have collected them here. Happy viewing!