Overall enjoyment varied, but these responses are notably different than a complaint facing Season 1, that the audience solved the puzzles long before the series confirmed them. Still more cited the need to actively engage in “Westworld,” to the point of creating your own substance. Some felt this resulted in a season with low-to-no risks. So much of Season 2 felt like viewers were being asked to keep up the pace, but kept from getting ahead. Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and later New Dolores (Tessa Thompson). Just look at how Bernard recaps his thoughts in the finale for O.G. He needed to explain what was happening inside “The Cradle” to the audience, so he needed someone to talk to alongside him. Ford’s return in Season 2 was basically just so Bernard could have a sounding board. Lots of exposition was needed just to explain what was happening, and not just in the finale. Truths were held back in order to preserve twists - like why The Man in Black suddenly wanted to destroy the park and what Bernard had been up to during all those timelines - but those truths also resulted in lengthy, befuddling dialogue. Setting death aside for a moment, Season 2 often felt confusing for the sake of being confusing.
Debatable as that may be, it leads to the potential problem facing Season 3: Are Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy running the show, or is Reddit? Reddit Runs the World The idea of killing off too many characters - or, to be more accurate, killing off the same characters too many times - may just be the unfortunate (and somewhat unavoidable) result of writers trying to one-up what began on “ Game of Thrones.” Showrunners seem to feel like they can’t just kill off their stars anymore, they have to find more creative ways to shock their audience. Anytime a writer has to explain something important in their show - instead of showing as much in the series itself - that’s a bad sign.Įven beyond all those deaths, this idea is what got “Westworld” in trouble throughout Season 2. That’s not the way a story should unfold. Someone is undoubtedly prowling the internet right now trying to find out if Shannon Woodward is signed on for Season 3. Fans scour interviews, panel discussions, critical analysis, Reddit AMAs, and more to try to confirm a character isn’t coming back next season. The only way to trust someone is truly gone is based on information gleaned offscreen. Even Emily (Katja Herbers), who was thought to be an accidental victim of her father’s mad romp through the park, turned up in the finale’s post-credits scene. Teddy’s death last week was the climax of the episode, and then there he is, standing in The Valley Beyond, waiting for Season 3 to start. Ford, Dolores, or Maeve, most of the series regulars have died and been resurrected in dramatic fashion. After all, seemingly everyone who could come back from the dead has come back from the dead.
Perhaps you noticed that deadened feeling inside when an actual human died instead of a host, like Lee (Simon Quarterman) or Elsie (Shannon Woodward) in the Season 2 finale.Įven with their heroic and horrific ends (respectively), there’s a nagging sense they could come back. Ford (famously slain in the Season 1 finale) returned only to be deleted as coldly as a typo in your toolbar. The deaths meant to evoke a response did not, and everyone probably realized it at different times perhaps it was the lack of earth-shaking anger felt when the once-benevolent Teddy (James Marsden) rose from the dead (again) only to take his own life instead of helping Dolores one second longer. Though characters dying and coming back to life has been an accepted aspect from the start of the series, things shifted in Season 2. Call it a byproduct of the time-hopping story structure or the hosts’ recyclable nature from the get-go, but by the end of Season 2, one thing is clear: When a character dies on “Westworld” - and their death is supposed to matter - the emotional toll is negligible.