But where a showrunner would start wrapping things up, Ford can never do that.
#WESTWORLD SEASON 1 HOW MANY EPISODES TV#
We’re seeing that formula in practice with the slow reveal of Ford’s new narrative, the one that is supposedly going to revitalize everything it kicks off with a violent sneak attack in the dark that many Hosts don’t survive, one that plays almost like a horror movie.Īnd the more we get to know Ford, the more he seems like a TV showrunner who’s really tired of having to pull all of these strands together even though he realizes that’s his job. (You can imagine, for instance, a version of the park designed to appeal primarily to what are stereotypically thought to be women’s baser impulses.) But Westworld’s suggestion that the theme park of the same name seems of primary interest to men is gendered, in a way I find intriguing.īuried somewhere within Westworld, constantly waiting to emerge, is a statement about quality television, genre fiction, and the HBO drama, where art is always seasoned with a little blood and nudity. The choice to highlight sensation over deeper meaning - which was presumably made by the park’s leadership - is not, in and of itself, gendered. By presenting shallow narratives that men will hopefully lose themselves in, Westworld the park seems to skip over anything with meaning in favor of quick violence and sex. I actually think there’s a lot to unpack here about art and why we consume it. It’s probably not an accident that most of the female Guests we’ve been introduced to are wives rolling their eyes at their husbands’ pursuits. (He seems to be looking for something deeper than a quick sexual experience, perhaps because he’s got a fiancée back at home.)īut every "narrative" we hear about in Westworld seems designed to appeal to humanity’s baser impulses - and to men’s baser impulses in particular. And William’s not terribly interested in it. It’s a transparently masculine narrative: Shoot the bad guy to save the pretty girl, then have her reward you with a kiss or more. That understanding comes after William ( Jimmi Simpson), one of the Guests, saves Clementine ( Angela Sarafyan), one of the Hosts, from violent criminals who aim to drag her off into the wilderness. "The Stray" marks the first time I’ve understood the complaint some female TV critics have about Westworld, which is that it seems to cater almost exclusively to male fantasies. 1) We want our entertainment to have meaning, leavened with sex and violence Teddy has a new backstory. Here are three of the biggest themes "The Stray" explores, with some thoughts on how well Westworld is executing them. At a certain point, its themes and ideas have to start feeling like they exist organically within the show’s world, instead of because the writers are just really interested in them. I’m not saying the show is unsatisfying or anything like that it’s good for it to be exploring lots of thematic territory, and the more it sketches out its world, the more immersive it becomes.īut Westworld often feels like a mashup of several entirely different shows, which isn’t as satisfying. On a thematic level, however, there are a bunch of ideas competing for space within Westworld, and I’m not always sure they all serve the same ends.
(The Man in Black mostly sits out this episode, so at least it feels slightly less busy.)
In "The Stray," the show’s third episode, the multitude of storylines I discussed last week continue to pile atop each other in a way that either works for you or makes you wish the show would calm down for three seconds.
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