I'll start by saying that I thought Season 1 of Westworld was a true masterpiece. Nearly perfect writing the likes of which had never been seen on television before. Pure confusion for the first 6 episodes was perfectly tied up in the following 4 episodes of Season 1, with possibly one of the best season finales ever, "The Bicameral Mind."
Although Season 2 started out slowly, I stayed the course (Season 1 started somewhat slowly too, remember). "The Riddle of the Sphinx" is where the season started to show promise and give me hope. However, it was followed up by "Akine No Mai", my least favorite episode of Westworld to date. One hour of pointlessness used as a plot device to teach us that Maeve can control minds of other hosts basically. Episodes 6 and 7 bounced back and were stronger, and Episodes 8 and 9 were VERY well done. After these two episodes I really had high hopes for our Season 2 finale. After watching last night, all I can say is that I'm very disappointed.
Getting into the episode itself, the pacing and writing started with no rhythm. I could tell something was off. But I figured with the 90 minute run time, the episode would find its way out of the odd funk it was in. This did not happen. Though there were times where genuinely solid scenes took place, there were several holes in the writing. For example, Dolores and William team up. Dolores claims, "I need a monster to make it to the Valley Beyond." Although she doesn't at all...William is not needed whatsoever and in fact is left in the dust no later than the very next scene. Then there's the scene with Lee where he "bravely" sends his comrades along their path while yelling his speech, ending with him getting shot and presumably killed. I think the writers wanted this to be a heroic ending for Lee, instead I felt nothing. I like the idea of him dying heroically, but in this instance he just as easily could have either rode along with the rest of the gang, or come out with his hands up and survived while his friends got away. This may seem picky, but we're talking about Westworld here. These things shouldn't happen!
I actually like the Charlotte being Dolores dynamic towards the end, because it gives her a legitimate way to get out of the park and advance the story. However, I think the show is getting too reliant on revealing that important characters who are inferred to be human are actually hosts. When it happened in Season 1 with Bernard, it was done masterfully. When it happens in Season 2 with William and Stubbs, it feels like they just wanted to throw in a pointless plot twist and say "Gotcha!" which isn't creative to me. In fact, making William a host really ruins his character that has been built so well by Ed Harris and the writers over the past two seasons. The thing that made William who he was: unique, flawed, yet searching for his humanity or some sort of meaning in a world filled with the hosts, playing "the game" out of genuine desire, was all taken away in this episode. I no longer really care about who he is presently, I now only care about his past, how he died, etc. And that is where I think the Westworld writers missed in this season: rather than give us what made Season 1 so fanastic...the flaws of both the humans and the hosts and how they interact and search for greater purpose, the writers put more stock (and amount of screen time) into things we do not care about: Maeve's daughter (I honestly would prefer if she died at this point so we don't have to see the same two flashback scenes any more), more people being revealed as hosts, and hosts being super-beasts with no flaws or weaknesses (Dolores and Maeve were pretty much unstoppable).
This wasn't a 10 star episode as many reviews paint it, or a 9.2 star episode as it is currently rated on IMDb. This was a mediocre ending to a season that never really grew wings. I will be watching Season 3 in hopes that the writing returns to its former self. Showrunners: Give us Episodes 7-10 of Season 1. Give us Episodes 4, 8 and 9 of Season 2. THAT is the show I want to watch. 6/10 stars for me on this episode. 7/10 for me on the season.
See everyone in Season 3.
Review of The Passenger
