"You have a trillion dollar park with a thousand robots - many of which that have to be repaired daily - a huge technological infrastrcuture, thousands of staff AND - 3 or 4 human guests at the park. What - are they paying a trillion dollars each to be in the park????? "

That one bugs me too. Whole towns seem to exist where there are no guests. This week, in one scene, the narrative was for the robot robbers to all shoot each other...and there were no guests. What would be the point?

"How do robots seamlessly go through past and present reality (see last episode with Dolores changing clothes and setting as she walks from scene to scene)??"

This one I can explain. They are not changing clothes, they are reliving memories.

I have to agree with your general conclusion, Dave. I enjoy the show, but the plotting is senseless.

Quoted from leitskev This week, in one scene, the narrative was for the robot robbers to all shoot each other...and there were no guests.

Yeah, that bugged me too. Who were they paying to?

Only guess would be that maybe some guest might stumble upon them by accident. But then again, aren't people monitoring the park at all times, can't they put these robots offline when there's no one near and online when a guest approaches.

Seems like a huge waste of resources for the robots to kill each other, act out scenes when there's no one around. Then they'll have to be repaired, pulled for the park, etc. Makes no sense.

The only way to enjoy the story is to try not to ask too many questions. Which is hard for me, because I'm always that annoying guy with the questions.

I like the story for two reasons:

One, I like the whole issue of exploring what it means to be conscious. For example, there was scene this week showing how in the early years they set the robots to run inner monologues in order to develop a type of consciousness. That was the scene where all the robots are mumbling in the church.

Another example is how Bernard is given the memory of his dying son as a cornerstone for his personality.

They really are doing a great job exploring what it means to be conscious.

The second reason to follow the story is Anthony Hopkins. Every scene he's in holds one's attention.

I like Ed Harris the actor, but that plot angle is going nowhere fast.

Quoted from Demento SPOILERS. Since this show is happening in the future, how come no one knows what Arnold looked like? There are no photos or documents of the co-inventor of this huge revolutionary park? No one did their research of the history of their place of business? Or did I miss something?

Good point

Quoted from leitskev "You have a trillion dollar park with a thousand robots - many of which that have to be repaired daily - a huge technological infrastrcuture, thousands of staff AND - 3 or 4 human guests at the park. What - are they paying a trillion dollars each to be in the park????? " That one bugs me too. Whole towns seem to exist where there are no guests. This week, in one scene, the narrative was for the robot robbers to all shoot each other...and there were no guests. What would be the point? "How do robots seamlessly go through past and present reality (see last episode with Dolores changing clothes and setting as she walks from scene to scene)??" This one I can explain. They are not changing clothes, they are reliving memories. I have to agree with your general conclusion, Dave. I enjoy the show, but the plotting is senseless.

Yeah - it's  shame given how visually striking it is

I'm up to speed except for last Sunday's episode.

I'm still watching, but I find myself not that interested in watching..or even wanting to watch.

Things are completely senseless for the most part, and that's really too bad, because it's just an obvious fault on the writers to make everything more than it needs to be.  I've said this several times - WestWorld, as a concept, and as the original movie, was a pure genius, because it was kept very simple, easy to follow, easy to understand.  The series isn't any of these things, and that's where it's a big fat fail.

IMO, they should have had new human characters coming and going on almost a weekly basis - think of it as "The Love Boat" or "Fantasy Island", where stories are completed relatively quickly, yet we learn more about the core characters, both human and robot, through interactions with "guest stars".

If it weren't for Thandie Newton's giant puffy nipples, I may have been out weeks ago.

Quoted Text IMO, they should have had new human characters coming and going on almost a weekly basis - think of it as "The Love Boat" or "Fantasy Island", where stories are completed relatively quickly, yet we learn more about the core characters, both human and robot, through interactions with "guest stars".

Exactly as I thought and I would add - show us some scenes where they have to adapt to the real world - I wold haved loved to see the Ed Harris character back in his old Board room listening to some ad exec as he yearned to just blow his brains out with a six shooter.

Quoted from eldave1 Exactly as I thought and I would add - show us some scenes where they have to adapt to the real world - I would have loved to see the Ed Harris character back in his old Board room listening to some ad exec as he yearned to just blow his brains out with a six shooter.

Exactly!

And this brings up another big problem with the concept - time.

How long has Ed Harris's character been in WestWorld?  How long have Jimmi Simpson and his buddy been there?  I mean, c'mon...really?

I think we have to believe that time is passing, as alot has happened with both the robots and the programmers, and my bet is that several weeks have passed at least.

Quoted from Dreamscale Exactly! And this brings up another big problem with the concept - time. How long has Ed Harris's character been in WestWorld?  How long have Jimmi Simpson and his buddy been there?  I mean, c'mon...really? I think we have to believe that time is passing, as alot has happened with both the robots and the programmers, and my bet is that several weeks have passed at least.

Yep!

I think part of the poison here is that rather than outlining a rational series - they somehow feel compelled to overwhelm us with everything at once. As it stands now, it is hard to envision what they could have for season 2. This could have been great as a slow broil. Something along the lines of:

1. Explain the world and how it was created - introduce us to both the mad geniuses and bureaucrats required to create this thing. Show us the conflicts between these two groups as well as evil governmental or corporate outsiders aiming to take the world down. While you are doing that:

2. Show us human beings facing challenges, resolving their conflicts (e.g., a man dumped at the alter in real life and now he is going to make all woman pay in Westworld, Show us the nerdish, timid little shit that is going to somehow gain his bravado in the park. Show us what happens to these people. etc. etc - rinse and repeat for a while because their is a ton of ideas to farm here.

3. Slowly show us the robot uprising - "awareness" - you could easily milk 2 intriguing seasons out of that as a back story to number 2.

Instead - they cram it down your throat creating a illogical mess!  

They're running too hard on the mystery boxes. They should instead by creating stakes and urgency. Will and Delores are running to who knows where. Same with Ted and the Man in Black, who are trying to find the maze, whatever that is. Mae is plotting the revolution...finally! But who cares? The reason we don't care is because there are no characters to worry about. Bernard...well, no spoilers. Will is out on the edge of the park with Clitoris...I mean Delores. No one is any real danger, no one has any tangible goal. Dr. Ford is cool because it's Hopkins...but that's the only reason. Lectre with robots.

I've available if they want an aside-loving slug-killing ing-using writer!

The amazing thing is that this has an insanely high 9.2 on IMDB, meaning, peeps seem to absolutely love it.

I honestly don't get it.

And, like others have said, where the fuck are the human guests?  Other than Jimi Simpson and his bro, who else has come in?  WTF????

Well that was a finale... thoughts?

Quoted from Penoyer79 Well that was a finale... thoughts?

Loved the William reveal, but the rest was a little too zombie on software for me.

I said it weeks ago and it's still true - I didn't connect with a single character. If there's a next season, I couldn't care less if any of them return or it's a whole new cast. I watched every episode, and I'll watch season 2 if there is one, but for the life of me I can't explain why.

The finale didn't change my opinion

I liked some of the twists in and of themselves. Not so much in the context of the series. They only further muddied the narrative waters.

Given what they've done so far, I thought the finale was a "responsible" one. Lots of big reveals and action for fans. Too many long-winded soliloquies, though, seemingly one after the other (at least three), which could also be said for most of the series. At the end of the day, I couldn't keep up, whether that be due to a failure on the showrunners' part or a waning interest on my part (ultimately, I think it's a mix of both). Too much of everything, really. Maybe I'm not as savvy as I used to be.

I get the sense that dudes like Abrams and the Nolans like to jerk their audience around. Their target audience seems like one that enjoys being jerked around. If you throw enough bullshit out there, the fan theories start. This is a brand-new show and even by mid-season, there were tons of them. I've never had an interest in any of that crap, especially since the way fans try to pick things apart and make predictions so rarely has anything to do with the way creators work.

MAJOR SPOILERS!!!

It seems like no one is leaving the park after all. A lot of the major characters don't even seem to have an interest in doing so. Coupled with Ford's final speech, the whole thing feels more like a complete, albeit convoluted, miniseries than a setup for seasons to come. I don't know where they're supposed to go from here.

With that, I think I'm out.