Westworld: Season 1/ Episode 10 "The Bicameral Mind" [Season Finale] – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

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Overview

And so the journey ends as all could have predicted, but it is never about finally arriving at point Z from A is it? It is about all the letters and details of the journey to that point.

Review (with Spoilers)

Topic 1: Do You Remember Who I Am? (William, Man in Black, and Dolores)

The person formerly known as the man in black reveals himself to be William. Someone who solely invested heavily into the park because of Dolores. She helped him understand who he truly was and with him getting rid of Logan, sending him off to the far reaches of the world to die, he became the head of Delos. The company which has a major stake in Westworld.

Commentary

Multiple timelines, the man in black’s true identity revealed, and Dolores at the center of it all. The surprise that William is the man in black makes sense yet, strangely, as this show has been all season for me, there is no jaw drop nor shock and awe. Not because I predicted that, though I’m sure someone out there did, but because we weren’t given much of a reason to invest in either William or the man he became. Did William grow and change before us? Yes. Even to the point of understanding how he became the woman beating psycho who dressed in all black. However, despite the efforts of the actors and writers, can you say you were really invested in them as people? Were you not just trying to figure out who the Man in Black was, where William story may have ended, and with that didn’t necessarily care who they were at any present time. It was all about the mystery and they simply were the delivery person. Nameless almost, though a kind and friendly face. However, still, someone easily forgotten and but a fragment of your memory.

Topic 2: The Great Escape – Part 1 (Maeve)

Alongside Felix and her two favorite gunslingers, Maeve all but escapes. However, that little girl, from her first narrative, haunts her. She haunts her so much that Maeve gets off the train and seemingly will spend the next season finding her, awakening her, and then pursuing freedom again.

Commentary

It is implied Ford what her story of trying to escape, but as Bernard reads off what is to happen she snaps the tablet. Thus we are left in the dark as to where she may go from here. I mean, it is clear, with Felix giving her the location of her child, that is where she may go. However, once she finds her, how can you convince a child, even with a very awake mother, that she is a prisoner? How will she convince her to run away with her much less not scream her head off? Can Maeve deal with such a pain? The one thing she loves, outside of Clementine perhaps, tearing her from her dream. The dream she would love this child host to join in but may refuse to do so. That is if she isn’t killed or destroyed in the process.

Topic 3: The Great Escape – Part 2 (Ford, Arnold, and Dolores)

With Charlotte, alongside the board, getting ready to force retire Dr. Ford, he decides to pull an old story out of his memories. The story being, the death of Arnold. To make a long story short, to stop the park from being opened, Arnold had Dolores kill every host at the time including him. This way, these conscious beings, wouldn’t be trapped and Ford would be without the resources to go on. However, William fell for Dolores, invested heavily in the park, and so Arnold died for nothing.

That is, until now. Charlotte has been fighting for a simpler park, more manageable hosts, and Ford does everything but give that to her. He plants the seed that the murder of humans is the path to freedom and with this Dolores kills Ford like she killed Arnold. The only difference is the audience isn’t solely Teddy but every member of the board. To add onto the spectacle, all the hosts who were in the vault have been awakened and seemingly have formed some sort of army. So while the board members run from Dolores they shall soon meet those who were turned off. William is the first and with being shot comes delight. He is witnessing Arnold’s creations fighting back as he has dreamed and his madness enjoys the spectacle.

Commentary

The revolution has begun and Westworld is largely on a lockdown. Leaving you to wonder, what is next? Will the board be massacred and so the hosts try to maintain things as gods of their own domain? May they, like Maeve, take who or what they need and try to venture into our world? Heck, all things considered, did all the hosts in the vault end up at Ford’s going away party or were some, like Maeve, programmed to leave? From here on, Westworld perhaps enters new territory. There are a large swarth of conscious robots who can reprogram each other and are capable of harming humans. Most movies and shows don’t go beyond the aware either entering society, a la Ex-Machina or the defeat of the rogue AI. So now Westworld may very well earn its hype and not just live off the instant hype anything associated with HBO gets.

Things to Note | Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. What is the chance Charlotte is in any way related to Arnold? For while he has no surviving children, he still had a wife right? Surely she was in contact with Arnold and had to have some stock in the business. Plus, who knows if Arnold had family beyond her. Shows like throw a bunch of seedlings around so they can pick and choose what to bloom when it is convenient. Thus leading to what appears to be a shock but was long planted just in case the situation was needed.

Collected Quote(s)

Consciousness isn’t a journey upward, but a journey inward. Not a pyramid, but a maze.

—           “The Bicameral Mind.” Westworld

Brutal, isn’t it? Here you are, finally awake, and your only wish is to go back to sleep.

—           “The Bicameral Mind.” Westworld