Westworld S3.05 — The right to know
We just found out that there are only 8 episodes in this season of Westworld, which is pretty lame. With that in mind, they really needed to get things going since they are already more than halfway through.
While there were a fair amount of plot-progressing parts to this episode, I wasn’t blown away by it. The episode picks up exactly where last week left off, with Dolores, Caleb, and Liam (the schlubby son) on the run. Liam drugs Caleb with a party drug called “Genre,” which just makes him feel like he is in different movie genres. Cool?
They need Liam’s private key to access the system and kick off Dolores’ plan. With some coercing, they get it. A car chase ensues. Look, it’s fine that they wanted to do a chase sequence, but did anyone else think the self-driving cars were driving really slowly? Also, why is it that the bad guys never hit the good guys when they are shooting in these chases? Caleb is just hanging out the top of the car, in plain sight, high on “genre” and he never gets hit! Don’t they teach how to aim in bad guy school?
The car chase ends when Giggles (Marshawn Lynch) and Lena Waithe’s character (can’t remember her name) arrive to provide assistance. They get onto the train (not really sure why). Dolores sends the key to Connells, who is with Bernard at the center where Rehoboam lives, and he enters the key into the system. With that, they send every person in the world their past, present, and future data from Rehoboam.
Obviously, this causes major distress for basically everyone. But, it opens up a very interesting question — one that Dolores has been exploring ever since she gained sentience in the park. Is it better to know the truth and feel pain or to be fed lies and feel false hope? She is doing exactly what she did for the hosts: showing the humans that someone else is in charge of their choices.
Of course, this is the exact opposite of what Serac wants because he’s a control freak who believes that he is saving the world by keeping everyone in their predestined positions. He’s basically Will Ferrell in The Lego Movie. This episode also explains his backstory: he and his brother were the only survivors when Paris exploded (or something? They’re not really clear what actually happened to the city). They decide that humanity needs a new god and set about building one.
They convince Liam’s schlubby father to provide the financial backing and it takes a few tries. Serac’s brother is the genius, but he is too erratic and Serac has him committed into what seems like an institution for “outliers”. Note: I’m pretty sure Serac’s brother is in the same place as the Man in Black, so I am hoping for a meeting of the minds at some point. Serac then orchestrates the murder of Dempsey so that he can be the sole controller of the system and continue to “protect” the world from people who would ruin his perfect predictions.
To finish out the episode, Bernard and Stubbs (surprise! He’s still here) escape the center before Serac’s people can get them, but Connells (meaning one of the Dolores pearls) sacrifices himself to kill them. Lena Waithe kills Liam, causing a minor PTSD spiral for Caleb, who will hopefully snap out of it when he finishes his trip. He did seem to be slightly less on Dolores’ side at the end, so it is possible that he won’t continue to help (but I don’t really think so).
Next week, we will likely see the continued aftermath of everyone learning about their futures, a Maeve/Dolores interaction, and a return of the Man in Black. Only 3 episodes left!
Producer who loves TV, looking for my next opportunity to be creative & pet dogs. View all posts by lizziekreitman
Originally published at http://lizziekreitman.wordpress.com on April 13, 2020.