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[Cornballer]

Ep 1 Reviews:
- Onion A|V Club
- Sepinwall
- Alyssa Rosenberg at the Washington Post
- YahooTV
- Rolling Stone
- Vanity Fair

Interviews:
- EW: Westworld showrunners explain that premiere episode
- EW: Evan Rachel Wood

Discussion:
- NY Mag: Our Biggest Questions After Westworld, Episode One
- TV Guide: All the Questions We Have After the Premiere

Videos:
- "In the Weeks Ahead" promo (please spoiler tag any discussion)
- Official Opening Credits: Westworld
- Teddy Versus the Man in Black

The cast and creators delve into Episode 1’s stand-off scene.

Quick note on spoiler tagging - please spoiler tag any promo/preview discussion or anything about episodes that haven't aired yet (e.g. interview discussion, loglines, and the like), but anything that happened in the premiere (since it's already aired) and speculation based on the premiere is fair game.

A few more tidbits from earlier today:

Reviews:
- SlashFilm
- Polygon
- Warming Glow

Commentary:
- NY Mag: Why Westworld’s Violence Doesn’t Feel Gratuitous

Interviews:
- Slashfilm interview: ‘Westworld’ Creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy on Building Their Intellectual Lego Set
- THR: Evan Rachel Wood

 

[dave is ok]

They mention it here. (This lists the specific song, in case you're concerned about there being no surprises in future episodes.)

Spoiler

Spoiler jacked again!

 

[calder]

Loved the pilot, but this mashup of gritty western and pensive scifi is so totally up my alley it's absurd.

 

[jfkgoblue]

If this thread is anything to go by, HBO may have found its pop culture replacement of GoT.

Also GoT season 1 was by far the best, it actually followed its source material, then they went into s2 and said "fuck that"

Not sure if it was intentional, but the creator being named "Dr. Ford" while mimicking the old John Ford movies is a nice shout out.

 

[ZOONAMI]

Yeah I think Ed Harris is a host who is somehow off the grid and has developed sentient AI and has figured out that if bullets don't hurt guests they shouldn't hurt him either so he's turned off his damage receptors.

Or not, as teddy was clearly physically trying to hurt him and couldnt.

Could be that he has figured out to how to program himself as a guest within the system. Potentially he came out of cold storage undetected and killed a guest and "replaced" the guest within the game and potentially in real life, even potentially leaving the game world to kill anyone who may question the dissapperance of the guest.

I think that Ford is aware of him though and is actively hiding his existence from the other curators and mgmt because he wants to create sentient beings and ed Harris is the closest example he has yet created, with Delores and her father also starting to develop the same traits. Note that her father was put into cold storage as well. Maybe he wakes up at some point.

 

[smisk]

This was a pretty solid pilot. Didn't do anything to really surprise me, but it had the great production value I expect from HBO, and good acting. Looks like things will definitely get more interesting in the next few episodes. Also Evan Rachel Wood is just gorgeous.
Was I the only one who didn't like the orchestral version of "Paint It Black"? Went on for way too long and the song just feels overused at this point. Film scores are already derivative enough without reusing 40 year-old hit songs.

 

[jfkgoblue]

This was a pretty solid pilot. Didn't do anything to really surprise me, but it had typical production values I'd expect from HBO, and good acting. Looks like things will definitely get more interesting in the next few episodes.
Was I the only one who didn't like the orchestral version of "Paint It Black"? Went on for way too long and the song just feels overused at this point. Film scores are already derivative enough without reusing 40 year-old hit songs.

Yes

 

[Kai Dracon]

I liked Paint It Black but felt you were supposed to take it a little sarcastically. It was meant to undercut the drama of the raid and make it seem contrived or fake, because it's all fake.

And this is one show where anachronistic music should be part of the score. The park is designed to entertain guests in a contemporary and slightly cheesy way. It's not highbrow. (In-universe.)

 

[kevin1025]

This was a pretty solid pilot. Didn't do anything to really surprise me, but it had the great production value I expect from HBO, and good acting. Looks like things will definitely get more interesting in the next few episodes. Also Evan Rachel Wood is just gorgeous.
Was I the only one who didn't like the orchestral version of "Paint It Black"? Went on for way too long and the song just feels overused at this point. Film scores are already derivative enough without reusing 40 year-old hit songs.

It reminded me a lot of the piano version of "Where Is My Mind?" in The Leftovers. Loved that.

 

[oktarb]

Black Hole Sun also was playing on the auto-piano.

 

[Jb]

I really dug this pilot. It had a good Crichton feel to it and it set up a few interesting mysteries. I wonder if some characters will soon emerge as the heroes we should be rooting for or if the show will keep us guessing as to everyone's true motivation.

 

[More_Badass]

I really dug this pilot. It had a good Crichton feel to it and it set up a few interesting mysteries. I wonder if some characters will soon emerge as the heroes we should be rooting for or if the show will keep us guessing as to everyone's true motivation.

I think it's clear that Dolores will be at least one of the main characters.

 

[FinaruDensetsu]

How come there are so many people saying this show is a sequel to the original movie? Did I miss something during the show?

I've read multiple professional reviews that all specifically state that this show is NOT a sequel.

 

[nomis]

They did a really good job showing throughout the episode that the hosts had nothing programmed for flies, but it made the fly swat at the end kind of predictable. Still a cool scene.

There was no benefit to the narrative if that moment at the end had instead been subtle or surprising, it was too important a beat to not hit the audience over the head with it. Hell, I think a poster in this thread referred to someone noticing the importance of Dolores killing a fly as a "good catch".

 

[More_Badass]

How come there are so many people saying this show is a sequel to the original movie? Did I miss something during the show?

I've read multiple professional reviews that all specifically state that this show is NOT a sequel.

The "hasn't been a critical failure in 30 years" seemed to tease that perhaps the movie was canon and that incident was in an earlier iteration of the park. But later comments from Nolan stated otherwise

 

[Moff]

How come there are so many people saying this show is a sequel to the original movie? Did I miss something during the show?

I've read multiple professional reviews that all specifically state that this show is NOT a sequel.

they made a remark that there has not been an incident in over 30 years, implying that there was one once. otherwise they would have said there has never been an incident. and the movie is 40 years old.

but of course that is a) not clear by any means and b) even if true pretty meaningless because it was so lang ago that this can be considered a (soft) reboot either way

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

I rewatched the ending a bunch of times. It's so compelling, when you realize that Peter and Delores have both gone way beyond what the Westworld creators are thinking.

 

[More_Badass]

I rewatched the ending a bunch of times. It's so compelling, when you realize that Peter and Delores have both gone way beyond what the Westworld creators are thinking.

I also realized that the engineers shutting off Dolores' emotional affect really hurt them in that moment. Because it was pretty clear she was lying (consciously? subconsciously?) but they couldn't tell.

 

[Cider X]

Fantastic first episode only dragged a bit down by some absolutely dreadful acting early on in the control room scenes.

 

[Corpekata]

The incident 30 years ago thing is just an easter egg.

 

[SolidSnakesMyStepDad]

I really enjoyed the first episode. This will be the first TV show, in a long while, that I will be watching from the very beginning.

Also one small thought that made me laugh. They comment that all disease has been cured and body parts can be replaced. Yet it still seems that there is no cure for Male Pattern baldness. Either that or balding is in style in the future.

 

[vehn]

Michael Crichton wrote this and Jurassic Park. Anyone know if he write any other theme park stuff?

 

[-Plasma Reus-]

The incident 30 years ago thing is just an easter egg.

Yea.
Also the hands thing.

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

There was no benefit to the narrative if that moment at the end had instead been subtle or surprising, it was too important a beat to not hit the audience over the head with it. Hell, I think a poster in this thread referred to someone noticing the importance of Dolores killing a fly as a "good catch".

I read a review that described the moment as Dolores "swatting away a fly." Um, hello, the whole point was that she killed it? They even specifically used the phrase "couldn't hurt a fly" earlier to describe a host. And this was a professional critic.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Michael Crichton wrote this and Jurassic Park. Anyone know if he write any other theme park stuff?

It's not exactly a theme park, but he did do Timeline. Great book, awful movie.

 

[Kenzodielocke]

I don't think I've ever rewatched a first episode ever.

 

[Oscar]

Rewatched the first episode during breakfast.

Spoiler

Idk why I thought the Man in Black was a rogue host but he's definitely a guest.

 

[Matticers]

Loved the pilot. I think my main question is that if the man in black is a guest, why are the people in charge not picking up on what he's doing and keeping tabs on him? I assume they can and do watch everything that is going on in there and you would think a guy who has been coming for 30 years would be a point of interest for them. I just figured they would pick up on his conversations and what he's doing and try to put a stop to it.

 

[More_Badass]

Loved the pilot. I think my main question is that if the man in black is a guest, why are the people in charge not picking up on what he's doing and keeping tabs on him? I assume they can and do watch everything that is going on in there and you would think a guy who has been coming for 30 years would be a point of interest for them. I just figured they would pick up on his conversations and what he's doing and try to put a stop to it.

Considering how well managed the park seems to be, that says a lot about who his character could be, how connected he may be to the company, and what he knows about the hosts and park

 

[Ogni-XR21]

Yeah I think Ed Harris is a host who is somehow off the grid and has developed sentient AI and has figured out that if bullets don't hurt guests they shouldn't hurt him either so he's turned off his damage receptors.

Or not, as teddy was clearly physically trying to hurt him and couldnt.

Could be that he has figured out to how to program himself as a guest within the system. Potentially he came out of cold storage undetected and killed a guest and "replaced" the guest within the game and potentially in real life, even potentially leaving the game world to kill anyone who may question the dissapperance of the guest.

I think that Ford is aware of him though and is actively hiding his existence from the other curators and mgmt because he wants to create sentient beings and ed Harris is the closest example he has yet created, with Delores and her father also starting to develop the same traits. Note that her father was put into cold storage as well. Maybe he wakes up at some point.

He says something along the lines of "I did not pay so much money just to..."
Definitely not a host.

Rewatched the first episode during breakfast.

Spoiler

Idk why I thought the Man in Black was a rogue host but he's definitely a guest.

 

[spyder_ur]

Loved the pilot. I think my main question is that if the man in black is a guest, why are the people in charge not picking up on what he's doing and keeping tabs on him? I assume they can and do watch everything that is going on in there and you would think a guy who has been coming for 30 years would be a point of interest for them. I just figured they would pick up on his conversations and what he's doing and try to put a stop to it.

From my perspective, I think you just answered your own question.

Ed Harris is perfect casting for that role.

 

[Cornballer]

- Deadline: “Westworld’: HBO Drama Off To Strong Start In Multiplatform Premiere Ratings

The Nielsen linear ratings for the series premiere of HBO’s new drama series Westworld are not available yet, but I’ve learned that in its first night, the futuristic epic, based on Michael Crichton’s 1973 movie, drew 3.3 million total viewers on TV and on the HBO Go/HBO Now streaming platforms.

That is the most watched HBO drama series premiere in the combined metric since the debut of True Detective almost three years ago, which also averaged 3.3 million multi-platform viewers. Westworld more than doubled the L+SD debut of Vinyl (1.4 million total across platforms).

The well reviewed AI drama, written/executive produced by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy and executive produced by J.J. Abrams, also was strong on Twitter, surpassing any recent drama debut on HBO, including True Detective.

 

[DerZuhälter]

Exciting pilot. Going to stick with this show. Let's hope it doesn't get cancelled early.

 

[Frillen]

So James Marsden's character is a human and not a robot? Kinda confused there.

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

So James Marsden's character is a human and not a robot? Kinda confused there.

He's a robot. They make that pretty clear.

 

[BeeDog]

Really liked the first episode, got me hooked. Though I have to say, the Westworld boss lady and the British storywriter acted terribly, and the show looked surprisingly cheap-looking at parts.

 

[Kenzodielocke]

So James Marsden's character is a human and not a robot? Kinda confused there.

He is a host, but he seems important. The "that guy is kinda creepy" line made him really interesting.

 

[Fjordson]

Didn't get to watch this yet, but everyone I know who has loves it. Hyped.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

So James Marsden's character is a human and not a robot? Kinda confused there.

He's 'teddy' right? The only confusing bit is he's on the train with the newcomers but his whole bit with the man in black spells it out clearly

 

[HawkeyeIC]

Intrigued to see week 2 ratings. I loved it, but this show might not be for everyone.

 

[ZOONAMI]

He says something along the lines of "I did not pay so much money just to..."
Definitely not a host.

If he has assumed the identity of a guest I would assume he is paying for his time in the park.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Loved the pilot. I think my main question is that if the man in black is a guest, why are the people in charge not picking up on what he's doing and keeping tabs on him? I assume they can and do watch everything that is going on in there and you would think a guy who has been coming for 30 years would be a point of interest for them. I just figured they would pick up on his conversations and what he's doing and try to put a stop to it.

Nothing he's doing is technically against the rules of the park, right? Indulging in sadism is scary, yeah, but it's one of the "perks" of paying admission. None of the bots have malfunctioned in his presence. None of the techs seem overly concerned with his 4th wall breaking narration of his misdeeds (the hosts either cannot or will not respond accordingly to non sequitur stimulus, like the little boy telling the woman she wasn't real). Some of the bots die or get fucked every day according the actual script, it seems for now he's just a regular with a freaky kink.

So James Marsden's character is a human and not a robot? Kinda confused there.

Definitely a host, but his first instance is portrayed in a way that makes you believe that he's a guest. Then the man in black shows up and shows this is tragically not the case. His "chance encounter" and feelings are all an elaborate ruse.

 

[Frillen]

He's 'teddy' right? The only confusing bit is he's on the train with the newcomers but his whole bit with the man in black spells it out clearly

Yeah, that's what I thought. I just read somewhere that everyone on the train are guests. I guess so, except Teddy?

 

[BastardSamurai]

He's 'teddy' right? The only confusing bit is he's on the train with the newcomers but his whole bit with the man in black spells it out clearly

There's a guest on the train after a reset who comments on how lifelike he looks, so it seems like arriving in town with guests is part of his narrative routine.

 

[sflufan]

the Westworld boss lady and the British storywriter acted terribly....

Those two characters are so ridiculously cliched that I really did roll my eyes at them.

 

[Double D]

Is Westworld actually a physical, full-scale world? If so is the control room where they watch what's going on just like a holographic video feed thing?

 

[BattleMonkey]

Definitely a host, but his first instance is portrayed in a way that makes you believe that he's a guest. Then the man in black shows up and shows this is tragically not the case. His "chance encounter" and feelings are all an elaborate ruse.

They were also obviously going for a twist there for fans of the original. Every expected Teddy to be the hero, while Ed Harris to be the gunslinger from the original.

 

[Helmholtz]

Is Westworld actually a physical, full-scale world? If so is the control room where they watch what's going on just like a holographic video feed thing?

I was also wondering this but I think that's the case. It's a physical world.

 

[ffejeromdiks]

Is Westworld actually a physical, full-scale world? If so is the control room where they watch what's going on just like a holographic video feed thing?

Yes, I was confused at first as well but yes the slice of the western frontier is a real place, you get there by train.

It would be silly if it was a simulation y'know? Like why build physical horse and human androids when you have the fucking Matrix.

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

Yeah, that's what I thought. I just read somewhere that everyone on the train are guests. I guess so, except Teddy?

The train is how guests get into the park, but it's still an attraction itself. Teddy helps set up the experience from the beginning, helping ease guests in.