April 03, 2020
There's a lot to like about the new season of Westworld. We're getting a look at a whole new world (and possibly more) as we're introduced to the world outside the park (or at least that's where we think we are).
But one of the things that makes it great — the complex plot and even more complicated storytelling techniques — are the same things that have turned many casual viewers off. And, despite show runners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy telling fans prior to the season that this year was going to be a little more straightforward, we're nearly halfway through the season and the plot is as complicated as ever. Not only do we not know how many timelines we're seeing — or when we're making the jump from one to another — but now there are likely multiple realities thanks to the introduction of Rehoboam's simulated "mirror world."
Oh, and we still don't know which characters are inhabiting various hosts bodies, which started with Martin Connells and Charlotte Hale in Episode 1 and was thrust back into the spotlight in Episode 3, which focused largely on whoever is inside Robot Charlotte adjusting to life in a new role.
There are also several new characters, like Caleb and Serac, who have as many question marks surrounding them as anyone on the show.
As has been the case with each episode of this new season, we were left with a lot of unanswered questions coming out of last week's episode. But it seemed like one was much bigger than the others, so we'll spend most of our time discussing that, with a few other questions sprinkled in below. We may not have the answers yet, but let's try to get to the bottom of some of the show's biggest mysteries heading into Episode 4, "The Mother of Exiles."
As always, if you aren't caught up through Episode 3, there are spoilers below. But if you're caught up, you should be fine — unless you don't like theories, and if that's the case, you might want to find a different show.
Right now, the question of who is inside Charlotte is arguably the biggest mystery of the show. That doesn't mean it's the central focus of the Season 3 plot, but it's a big one, and one of the biggest theory generators out there. Let's break it down into a couple potential answers.
Is it one of the characters from inside the park, like Teddy, Angela or Clementine? I don't really think this is the case. For starters, Teddy would be the best fit to be the one running around and doing Dolores' bidding, but last time we saw Teddy at the end of Season 2, Dolores had just fired his pearl into The Valley Beyond. So, unless the show wants to pull a fast one on us and have us believe that Dolores created another Teddy, it seems like his time on this show has run its course. Furthermore, Dolores didn't seem to believe that Teddy was "woke" enough to survive in the real world, so he doesn't seem like an ideal candidate.
Angela is in a similar position, as she blew herself up along with all the hosts backup control units in the cradle during Season 2. Even though control units can be reprinted, that also doesn't seem like Dolores' M.O., as she said several times last season that she is looking for something real, and "that which is real is irreplaceable." So, it's probably not Angela or any of the other hosts that died. Then there's Clem, who spent much of the last season as a robot zombie under Delos' control. Unless her control unit was given a full makeover, it's doubtful that she's the correct answer either. Another possibility is her father, Peter Abernathy. But his pearl seemed far too damaged at the end of Season 2 for it to be him. And as much as I miss Peter Abernathy and would love for him to return, this wouldn't mean the return of actor Louis Herthum, so I'm out on this theory.
There's also a theory floating around out there that Dolores took the best qualities of each of those hosts and put them into one pearl as she tries create a new species. But I tend to think that's a bit of a stretch and not something she would do. Although because she had her consciousness merged with Wyatt in the past, we know it's at least possible. But let's move on...
Is it Maeve? This whole season has seemingly been leading up to some sort of epic showdown between Dolores and Maeve — after all, they made as much known in the official Season 3 trailer — but what if the two most powerful robots in the world team up? Given the way Maeve operates and how she views humanity, it's a lot more likely that she'd team up with Dolores before she worked with Serac. What if the scene we saw with Maeve and Serac at the end of Episode 2 was actually a flash forward, with Maeve already working with Dolores and sending herself in to Serac in order to disrupt his system from the inside? And perhaps her first meeting with Serac took place inside Charlotte's body? That would still leave the question about how Dolores got her hands on Maeve's pearl in the first place, but isn't Bernard currently looking for her? And didn't Bernard have relatively recent contact with Dolores?
Could Bernard be under the impression he's looking for Maeve as a way to stop Dolores, when actually finding her will only help her fulfill Dolores' ultimate plan? After all, she did say they all had a role to play, so perhaps Bernard's role is one he believes is acting in his own self interest when he's actually doing her bidding. It's probably the only way she could get him to go along with her without physically programming those commands into his system. Still, there's some issues with timelines and such that would make this a little difficult, although the only reference we have for Bernard's timeline is that it's been 92 days since his last contact with Dolores, which we presume took place just after they left the park. But as we mentioned last week, Bernard has admitted himself that there's a corruption in his code left by Dolores, so how can we trust anything he says, specifically as it relates to her. Ultimately, I don't think it's Maeve. But here are two theories that I really like.
Is another Dolores (possibly Wyatt) inside Charlotte? This is a theory that's picked up a lot of steam this week, and was championed by The Ringer's David Shoemaker on "The Recappables: Westworld" podcast this week. Here's more from co-host Danny Heifetz's recent post pondering about who could be in Charlotte's head.
If [the Dolores and Wyatt] personalities can be merged, it makes sense that they could be pulled apart. When Dolores left the Westworld park in Charlotte Hale’s body, she likely took Wyatt out of her head and put his consciousness into Dolores’s body while leaving the sweet, rancher’s daughter version of Dolores in Charlotte’s body.
With this possibility in mind, everything Dolores and Charlotte say to each other makes more sense. In their first scene together in Sunday’s episode, Dolores stares at Charlotte and tells her to “bring yourself back online.” Charlotte begins to freak out, and Dolores grabs her hand and tells her to “remember who you are.” She remembers. What character would remember who they are by staring at Dolores other than … Dolores? We’ve already seen Dolores awakened with this exact scenario at the end of Season 1, when Dolores sat in a chair across from herself. [theringer.com]
Heifetz then goes on to break this theory down with even more details from the season so far, specifically Episode 3, follows it up with a great point about Nolan's past work delving into the use of doubles.
This theory is not as out there as it sounds. Westworld co-showrunner Jonathan Nolan has done this kind of thing before. [Spoiler alert for a movie that came out in 2006.] In The Prestige, written by Jonathan and directed by his brother Christopher, Christian Bale plays a magician who pulls off an elaborate trick in which he teleports from one side of the stage to the other. But at the end of the movie, we learn Bale’s stagehand had actually been his twin brother in disguise the whole time. The two brothers were so committed to the act that they took shifts living one life. Now, I’m not saying David Bowie as Nikola Tesla is going to show up in Season 3 of Westworld, but history might be repeating itself a bit. [theringer.com]
I really like this theory, as it fits right in line with the types of tricks Nolan and Joy liking playing on their audience. While a lot of what happens in the episode seems to support it — I highly recommend going over to The Ringer and checking it out after you're done here — there's just one nagging point that runs counter to this idea that I simply can't get out of my head. And I said as much to our sports editor (and fellow Westworld fan) Evan Macy when he first proposed the idea of there being multiple Doloreses ... way back in mid-March, shortly after the season premiere.
Props to Evan for being ahead on this even though I basically laughed him off.
While I like the idea of different versions of Dolores, I keep going back to the thing she said last season about what's real is that which is irreplaceable. That being said, I wouldn't be against them going through with this idea — and there's evidence right in the opening credits to support it. There's what looks to be a cells multiplying, as well as two figures reaching out to touch each other in a very "Creation of Man" way (Season 1 finale callback!), only to find out that it's not two people, but rather one person (host) seeing their own reflection.
This might be the one that winds up sticking.
Finally, is there any chance Caleb is inside Charlotte? If you thought the multiple Dolores theory was out there, you're in for a treat. Last week, I said I thought there was something wrong with Caleb, and speculated that possibly it was because he was a host, or his storyline was taking place inside a simulation, but this week's episode brought up a new theory — what if Dolores figures out a way to put Caleb's mind inside a host, and he's the one inside Charlotte?
That was a theory brought up this week on the Bald Move podcast "Watching Westworld," which is another great listen if you're a big fan of the series.
Now, there are a few timeline issues that could cause this whole theory to fall apart, but there were a few hints within the episode that this could possibly be the case. However, in order for that to happen, all of what we're seeing with Dolores and Caleb would have to take place prior to the scene from the cold open, with Dolores turning Charlotte back online.
Why might that be the case? Well, for starters, in each of the past two seasons, there have been these types of fidelity tests taking place in alternate timelines (Bernard training Dolores, and Dolores training Bernard), and it's only become apparent after the season ends that we've been viewing these scenes both out of context and time. Then there's the question of why Dolores would need to print another Charlotte body. If this scene takes place right after they've reached the mainland, as they'd have you believe, wouldn't Dolores just use the same one she left Westworld in? However, if something happened to that body at some point, maybe she would need to in the future?
The problems arise when you begin to wonder why Dolores would still have four pearls, including Bernard's, if we already know one has been placed in Connells and Bernard's is presumably already in his head? If this takes place in a far enough forward timeline, there's a chance the final battle has already taken place and Dolores has collected the original control units she brought back from Westworld. It might also explain why Bernard's pearl appears to be part red in that opening scene — perhaps it got bloody along the way.
Then there are the reasons to suspect Caleb. For starters, Dolores seems to be forming a real bond with him. There's the similarity between his interaction with his mother, when she says "You're not my son," and Charlotte's with her son, when he says, "I want my real mommy back."
There are others, but to avoid going too deep down a rabbit hole with very little real evidence to support the theory, let's press pause on this one until we get to know a little more. And, let's be honest, we're still technically on the first question and, since this was a cold open, haven't really talked about anything beyond the opening credits.
If you really like this last theory, I highly recommend going and listening to this week's episode of "Watching Westworld." They get into the Caleb theory pretty early on.
And now, some shorter questions for you to ponder before Sunday night...
We mentioned a little about Bernard above, but what if Dolores didn't actually put Bernard's pearl into his body, and instead used on of the other control units she smuggled out? We've been led to believe that Bernard is out there looking for Maeve, but what if it's someone working for Dolores who is just wearing a Bernard suit? That would potentially work for the theory that Maeve is in Charlotte in the opening scene of this episode.
However, I actually think it might Bernard, at least in part, inside his own head. Maybe the reason his pearl looked red in this opening scene doesn't have to do with blood, but rather that he's a combination of a human and a host. We know human-copied control units are red, and the hosts' are gray/black, but this one looks to be black with some red speckled in. Could Dolores have created a Bernard/Arnold hybrid, in an effort to make Bernard more like her original creator? After all, it was previously explained that when Ford created Bernard, he didn't make an exact replica. Instead, he made Bernard into a version of his former partner that he could more easily control.
Maybe Dolores decided to give him some power back, which seemingly wouldn't help her if they're on opposite sides, but is definitely on brand for her. It also may explain "the corruption" that Bernard thinks Dolores placed in his code. Maybe that's just Arnold. Based on the preview images for this week's episode, we should be getting more of BernArnold's plot, so we'll see.
Even before last week's episode, I was skeptical of Serac. Not his motivations, but his humanity itself. My theory was that Serac was simply a manifestation of Rehoboam. He does not exist in the real world, but rather resides in the mirror world created by "the AI that saved the world." So far, we've only seen him appear in the real world as a hologram — and there's reason to suspect that Maeve's meeting with him took place inside a simulation. And when real-world characters talk about him, like Charlotte's assistant, they speak as though he's some futuristic Keyser Soze. Like a black hole, they only know about him because they can account for the void he's left in the economy, which plays nicely into the title of the episode, "The Absence of Field," which is a line from a poem called "Keeping Things Whole" by Mark Strand (hmm, that last name sounds familiar).
The poem begins:
In a field
I am the absence
of field.
This is
always the case.
Wherever I am
I am what is missing.
Very interesting in the context of what Charlotte's assistant tells her.
What this means for the rest of the show remains to be scene, but wouldn't it be ironic if Dolores gets to the end of this maze only to realize that the person she believes to be responsible for the very system she's trying to bring down turns out to be not a machine, not all that different from herself. That would certainly change her worldview and might be just the kind of lesson the show runners are trying to teach us.
Almost certainly. Or at least a different reality.
You monsters.
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