I rarely get the opportunity to review stuff like Westworld. So, naturally, when Jorge fell behind on it, I was willing to pick it up. Which is why it was so unfortunate that I had to skip it last week just to keep up with everything.
If you thought the trauma conga line ended for Bernard last week, well, you were wrong. Before the reveal, I’d considered the thought of Bernard being a host a bit too obvious to be likely. But in retrospect, the writer’s ability to take an obvious turn and make it surprising was itself masterful. That said, his true nature gets brought to the fore once again while he examines Maeve. She takes control of him just as he begins to discover the changes she had made to her programming. After forcing him to send her back to the park, he’s left questioning his identity.
He goes to Ford’s office to confront him. He tries to convince him to let him access his complete memory; Ford declines, but Bernard had a backup plan. He uses the lobotomized Clementine to manipulate a gun in the one way he can’t. Ford then acquiesces, giving Bernard insight into his history. He first realizes that his entire backstory as it directly relates to him is, in fact, false. Ford had warned him he wouldn’t like what he found, and the obvious being that Ford had used him as an impromptu hitman on more than one occasion. The entire reason Bernard did this was to see if he could remember Arnold; Ford warned him that Arnold didn’t build him.
Bernard eventually comes to the one obvious conclusion; he is, literally, a simulacrum of Arnold built by Ford. I had guessed this turn a short way into the episode. If Bernard was a host, and ford built him, it was a reasonable conclusion that he was a replacement goldfish of sorts. The most interesting thing about this wrinkle, however, is that Jeffrey Wright tailored his performance between the two. If you look carefully at past episodes, you’ll see that Arnold and Bernard are very similar, but there is a noticeable difference between them.
The realization unhinges Bernard, as Ford knew it would. But Ford’s been in control the whole time; this wasn’t the first time this situation had played itself out. He takes the gun from Clementine, hands it to Bernard, and orders him to kill himself via his programming backdoor. The way Ford does it is important; it is exactly the same way Maeve has been controlling other hosts. And to his eternal credit, Hopkins doesn’t just play Ford as sinister in these scenes, but subtly so. The last three episodes have given him far more to work with.
Will and Dolores are stuck with Logan, who really wants to deal with Dolores to get Will back on track. To that end, he partially opens her up with a knife, revealing her robotic innards. She turns the tables on Logan cutting him on the cheek with his knife and escaping. Will feigns coming to his senses, and butchers the hosts Logan’s surrounded himself with in the night.
Dolores makes it to the town from all of the flashbacks. This is where you’re supposed to figure out that Bernard is Arnold. The scenes were put together in such a way that as Dolores is exploring the area underneath the church, both past and present, Bernard is having his breakdown. The ultimate realization the scene brings about is that Dolores was the host that Arnold used to kill himself.
Maeve recruits Hector for her little plan, She decides not to use her access to the backdoor to do it, though. She mentions preferring to convince him naturally. Specifically, by altering the end of his normal narrative by killing Armistice before she kills him. Oh, and showing him that the safe is always empty and that his life’s ambitions are a lie.
The episode closes out with Dolores leaving the old underground part of the labs and returning to the church. And I really hope that they’re not doing what they seem to here. Earlier, Will had told her to run from Logan, and that he’d find her. Who should show up at the door to the church but The Man in Black, though? I was personally hoping that it isn’t the case, though the picture Logan and Will pass between them seems to be proof in favor of it. There just seem to be an equal number of things that are at odds it to work. Though that can be explained away as being part of Dolores’ perception of things.
I’m guessing Westworld will at least answer a few questions with its finale. Though I doubt The maze will be found just yet. that would just be anticlimactic for the series.
Final Thoughts:
- The fact that William and Logan are definitely in the past is incredibly likely at this point, though. Specifically thanks to the mechanical hosts, and what The Man in Black mentioned to Teddy a few episodes back.
- The reveal that The Man in Black is a Delos board member isn’t too much of a surprise at this point. He’s gotten away with a lot for it not to be the case.
- I will, however, state that the arcane time jumps are wearing their welcome very thin.
4/5
“Great”
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