Of course, the episode challenges her independence as being just another affectation from her programming. Felix reluctantly points out to Maeve that she is made, not born, and that all her thoughts were put there, even almost malfunctioning her by revealing how her mind works. However, and by his own admission, there is little difference between birth and creation this far into the future, and even if her "mind" is the product of programming, does it mean she is any less alive or conscious than these two men? Perhaps, most disturbingly for the future safety of the guests, Felix also notes that her processor operates at rate far faster than the human brain. And by the end of the episode, they have turned her standards of perception up to 20, making her effectively as smart as a rocket scientist. But before even that final chill, the real tremendous moment of the night came when Maeve pressured Felix to let her walk around upstairs and see the inside mechanics of her world. This is where Newton really shined and likely earned herself a frontrunner status at the Emmys next year. Without words, Newton is able to express her dismay and heartbreak-even if her character has no literal heart-at the realization that her world is a lie and all she holds dear is a cruel illusion. She, quite intentionally, appears to be a slave in chains witnessing the degradation of her people at the market. This cultural reading is intentional, just as much the dress she has forced Felix to place on her while still being treated as his subservient pet by all passerbys. Hence, while the episode as a whole was quite powerful, it is stained just enough to cost it that fifth star. Nonetheless, "The Adversary" was high-quality television as a whole, and there is undoubtedly plenty of fun (and answers) to be had in the first season's final four episodes to come. Also, the standard cliché of him bad-mouthing the boss while in the presence of a beautiful woman, who is actually his superior, just feels rote and beneath the quality of the rest of the episode.