Westworld: The Auguries
June 26, 2022 11:00 PM - Season 4, Episode 1 - Subscribe
"Hello again. Don't worry about a thing. It's all in your head."
Trigger warning: suicide
We lingered and watched the "Inside the episode" bit afterward and there was at least one reference (and probably more) to Christina being a human being, which is...going to be weird. We also got a hat-tip to the fly wranglers.
The Teddy reveal was great!
posted by jquinby at 6:26 AM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
The Teddy reveal was great!
posted by jquinby at 6:26 AM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
Dolorestina seems unlikely with the number of parallel nods to s1e1. If true, maybe this is a pre-S1 timeline, but my guess is misdirection and this is a park or VR created by Halores to get the key that she thinks Dolores still has. Meanwhile the world has gone to dust and Bernard is out there. I have no idea where Maeve/Caleb fit into that tho.
Also, still bothered that Maeve's character, badass as she still is, has been reduced to mother-motivated-by-child. She was so much more in S1/2 (even though clearly that was part of her drive).
posted by kokaku at 8:20 AM on June 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
Also, still bothered that Maeve's character, badass as she still is, has been reduced to mother-motivated-by-child. She was so much more in S1/2 (even though clearly that was part of her drive).
posted by kokaku at 8:20 AM on June 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
... this is a park ...
That seems likely because of those guys Dolorestina comes across along her way to work:
Man 1: "That was insane. This is way better than I expected."
Man 2: "This place is fucking wild. "
Man 3: "I can't believe this is your first time."
posted by Pendragon at 1:38 PM on June 27, 2022 [6 favorites]
That seems likely because of those guys Dolorestina comes across along her way to work:
Man 1: "That was insane. This is way better than I expected."
Man 2: "This place is fucking wild. "
Man 3: "I can't believe this is your first time."
posted by Pendragon at 1:38 PM on June 27, 2022 [6 favorites]
still can't believe how much money they spend on this show.
posted by AlbertCalavicci at 1:45 PM on June 27, 2022
posted by AlbertCalavicci at 1:45 PM on June 27, 2022
I didn't have HBO Max the last time this was on, so I accidentally watched the first twenty minutes of the pilot wondering why the new episode was a shot-for-shot remake of the first episode.
Which is to say that I've totally lost track who anyone is other than Maeve, and I don't really care. This was better than the Rehoboam from last season. I really hope they have plans for Ariana DeBose beyond being Dolores' roommate.
Yeah, I think the return of Teddy means it's another park.
posted by gladly at 5:38 PM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
Which is to say that I've totally lost track who anyone is other than Maeve, and I don't really care. This was better than the Rehoboam from last season. I really hope they have plans for Ariana DeBose beyond being Dolores' roommate.
Yeah, I think the return of Teddy means it's another park.
posted by gladly at 5:38 PM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
gladly, my husband and I also watched the first part of the pilot thinking it was the new episode. I was thinking they were going back to the beginning as sort of a break from the confusing plot of the last couple of seasons until I realized it was exactly the same and I didn’t check what episode I started.
posted by artychoke at 9:25 PM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by artychoke at 9:25 PM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
I did the same thing re: pressing play on the pilot. To the point where I was expecting a
"Some people choose to see the ugliness in the world. The disarray. I choose to see the beauty." during that story editor meeting.
posted by bartleby at 11:25 PM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
"Some people choose to see the ugliness in the world. The disarray. I choose to see the beauty." during that story editor meeting.
posted by bartleby at 11:25 PM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
one reference (and probably more) to Christina being a human being, which is...going to be weird.
Well the super comando that attacked Maeve was human, at least until she opened his severed skull and plugged herself in.
Thought I saw one flash of Clementine Pennyfeather
posted by sammyo at 6:03 AM on June 28, 2022
Well the super comando that attacked Maeve was human, at least until she opened his severed skull and plugged herself in.
Thought I saw one flash of Clementine Pennyfeather
posted by sammyo at 6:03 AM on June 28, 2022
Well the super comando that attacked Maeve was human, at least until she opened his severed skull and plugged herself in.
That was a host from season 2.
posted by Pendragon at 12:49 PM on June 28, 2022
That was a host from season 2.
posted by Pendragon at 12:49 PM on June 28, 2022
Well, and sort of the threads going all through the show are basically what if robots are sentient - are they human? What if humans are only permitted to follow the program given to them? What _is_ humanity after all? In a way, aren't we all robots?!? *long bong rip*
I dunno whether they're managing to sell the story all that well after the first season's mystery, but the actors are compelling anyway, although I've honestly sort of forgotten the individual driving goals of Maeve, Dolores, Charlotte, and Caleb (and lesser, Ford and Lowe, the MiB and whatever was going on there)...
posted by Kyol at 2:40 PM on June 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
I dunno whether they're managing to sell the story all that well after the first season's mystery, but the actors are compelling anyway, although I've honestly sort of forgotten the individual driving goals of Maeve, Dolores, Charlotte, and Caleb (and lesser, Ford and Lowe, the MiB and whatever was going on there)...
posted by Kyol at 2:40 PM on June 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Damn, I obviously need to avoid any WW-related threads until the end of the season, because I didn't make any of the connections that were apparently slapping me in the face from the get-go.
posted by bjrubble at 4:30 PM on June 28, 2022
posted by bjrubble at 4:30 PM on June 28, 2022
LOL. I am another household that accidentally started watching season 1, episode 1 thinking it was the new episode...
posted by armacy at 7:35 PM on June 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by armacy at 7:35 PM on June 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Is that a maze visible on the fire escape next to the upturned flower pot when Christina goes out to check on the noise? I had been wondering if her plot was taking place in the Robot Afterlife but alternate park makes more sense. Although what kind of masochist wants to go spend time and money visiting Game Dev Pitch Meeting And Crappy Date World?
posted by arha at 8:22 PM on June 28, 2022
posted by arha at 8:22 PM on June 28, 2022
And yeah, I definitely thought it was a maze, or something maze adjacent.
Probably a QR code to the ARG for all I'm going to go back and look, though.
posted by Kyol at 7:24 PM on June 29, 2022
Probably a QR code to the ARG for all I'm going to go back and look, though.
posted by Kyol at 7:24 PM on June 29, 2022
I mean this was better than anything in last season so far and I appreciate the hard-resetting of several character arcs for characters whose motivations and actions in previous seasons are uh let's say not well-preserved in my mind
the not-Dolores plot is going to drive me up a damn wall until it's resolved, though, since it's so obviously a feint and the nature of the feint won't be interesting until after the fact. the most interesting thing this show could do given its history is to blow that subplot up in episode 2 and actually explain what's going on so a viewer can make any kind of connection
also maybe this is just me, but for a show obsessed with storytelling WW's ability to juggle disparate threads has become very strained. i guess it's always had this problem -- S1 had to do some weird cross-editing shit to keep the William reveal as close to under wraps as it could -- but all the scenes that just sort of fade to black in lieu of having any coherent episodic throughline gets so exhausting
posted by Kybard at 4:23 PM on June 30, 2022
the not-Dolores plot is going to drive me up a damn wall until it's resolved, though, since it's so obviously a feint and the nature of the feint won't be interesting until after the fact. the most interesting thing this show could do given its history is to blow that subplot up in episode 2 and actually explain what's going on so a viewer can make any kind of connection
also maybe this is just me, but for a show obsessed with storytelling WW's ability to juggle disparate threads has become very strained. i guess it's always had this problem -- S1 had to do some weird cross-editing shit to keep the William reveal as close to under wraps as it could -- but all the scenes that just sort of fade to black in lieu of having any coherent episodic throughline gets so exhausting
posted by Kybard at 4:23 PM on June 30, 2022
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Going by the captioning, in the future, even the birds are twittering.
For kids at target practice, don’t set the targets on top of metal. You’ll shoot your eye out!
Hey, Teddy’s back!
Timeline check: 7 years have passed since the riots (season 3 finale), and 8 since the uploads (season 2 finale). William at the Hoover Dam, Caleb (Aaron Paul), and Maeve are in sync, more or less; I'm unsure about
DoloresChristina.posted by Pronoiac at 11:15 PM on June 26, 2022