Westworld is a television series set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, exploring a world in which every human appetite can be indulged without consequence.
After a wild episode last week that brought us into two new “worlds,” The Man in Black (Ed Harris) was back continuing his journey to complete the game that Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) has laid out for him. Not only that, but we come to learn the original purpose behind Westworld, and Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) is reunited with an old friend.
The episode picks up with Clementine (Angela Sarafyan) dragging Bernard away from the fort where the shootout occurred last episode. She takes him to a cave up in a mountain where he finds Elsie Hughes (Shannon Woodward) chained up, but otherwise ok. Elsie is apprehensive to see Bernard after their last encounter where we thought he may have killed her, but after he frees her he starts to gain her reluctant trust after telling her that Ford was previously in control of him.
Bernard starts having visions of himself that lead them to find a hidden passage in a cave that takes them to a lab full or murdered scientists. We come to learn that these “visions” are actually either flashbacks or flashforwards, and that Bernard is having difficulty grasping whether he is in the past, present, or future. He lies to Elsie and tells her that he is completely in control, but then he is struck with a flashback where he learns he was responsible for murdering the scientists in the lab.
The Man in Black and Lawrence (Cliffton Collins Jr) continue their journey to Lawrence’s hometown, only to be taken hostage by Major Craddock (Jonathan Tucker) and his men. The Man in Black reveals to Tucker where the town munitions are hidden, in turn gaining trust and being released. Tucker proceeds to torture Lawrence and his family, which causes The Man in Black to have a sudden change of heart as he starts having flashbacks to his wife’s suicide. He kills Tucker and all his men, saving Lawrence, his family, and their townspeople. The Man in Black and Lawrence set back out on their quest and run into Grace (Katja Herbers), who’d escaped her Indian captors earlier in the episode. She greets The Man in Black by saying “Hello, Father.”
Throughout the episode we witnessed former Westworld CEO, James Delos (Peter Mullan), living in a lab room by himself, going through a daily routine over and over again. He would continually be visited by William (Jimmi Simpson) who was testing him to see if he was ready to re-enter the world. As they continue these tests, time passes until it is now The Man in Black (formerly William) who comes into the room to visit. In conversing together, we come to learn that Delos has passed away, the body we’re currently seeing is a host, and that they’re attempting to load his consciousness on it. After trying for decades, however, The Man in Black decides to shut the project down, in turn killing Delos.
After 14 episodes across 2 seasons we have finally learned what Westworld was always intended to be, a way for the wealthy to extend their lives. The engineers at Westworld had found a way to save a person’s consciousness with the hope of loading it onto a host so they could carry on their life. Unfortunately, particularly for Delos, they weren’t able to work out all the kinks and the project is shut down. We also see that Bernard is privy to the true purpose, and that he may have killed some scientists in order to protect a secret around it. He also has no problem lying to Elsie as he floats between time and still commits his murderous ways.
One part that I thought was particularly well done was when we were given a brief glimpse of The Man in Black having a conscience. Tucker goes on a rant about how he serves death, all the while torturing Lawrence and his family. Fed up with this, The Man in Black ever so coolly tells him “You didn’t recognize (death) sitting across from you this whole time.” Right after uttering that phrase he goes on a rampage, ridding the world of Tucker and his men. Other than it being nice to finally see The Man in Black do some good, the line was delivered with perfection by Harris as he sat there calm as ever.
At the end of the episode, Ford (using Lawrence’s daughter as a vessel) tells The Man in Black “if you’re looking forward you’re looking in the wrong direction.” It’s a cryptic message leaves you pondering what it’s foreshadowing in the weeks to come. It’ll also be interesting to learn more about the dynamic of The Man in Black with his daughter, but it looks like we’ll have to wait a little while as episode 5 is going to be dedicated to fully introducing us to Shogun World.