WESTWORLD Season 1 Episode 5
Episode Title: “Contrapasso”
Story by : Dominic Mitchell & Lisa Joy
Teleplay by : Lisa Joy
Director: Jonny Campbell
Previously on Westworld:
Episode 1.04: “Dissonance Theory“
There are spoilers ahead for last night’s episode of Westworld, but don’t pretend that you didn’t know that!
There’s something powerful about the idea of rewriting your own destiny, especially the one you’re living isn’t what you wanted. That was one of the key ideas at play in this week’s Westworld, and it paid off with a really terrific turn for Evan Rachel Wood’s Dolores. Remember, she was essentially created to be eternally tormented by the visitors of the park. She was meant to be killed and to be raped, thanks to the story that she was trapped in. There’s probably not enough bullets for Dolores to ever get revenge on everyone who wronged her, but it was satisfying to see her take up a gun and “imagine” a story where she wasn’t the damsel anymore.
This week’s episode also confirmed that whoever Arnold was, he may have set a time bomb of sorts in Dolores herself. If the park is going to fall, then she’ll be the one to push it over the edge. That seems like a good plot for the first season, but it’s hard not to look past that and wonder where the show can go from there. There is also the question of whether the Dolores we’ve been watching on the show is the same model, or if we’re watching two different timelines play out. An argument could be made for both, as the lab tech spotted two Maeves in for repairs, and we saw two copies of Lawrence. It’s easier to explain why Lawrence is still around if the one running with William and Dolores is one from the past. But the only there can be two Maeves is if both are present at the same time. Is this why Maeve has the memories of being another woman who had a child?
“Contrapass” actually had a rocky start, as last week’s episode made it seem as if William and Logan had gone their separate ways. In this episode, William and Dolores were suddenly on board for Logan’s plan to join the Confederates. It also brought the conflict between William and Logan to a head with the revelation that they aren’t actually friends at all. Logan simply considered William to be nonthreatening to his position in their company back in the real world. And yet Logan seemed oddly proud when William gunned down the Union soldiers and even when he abandoned Logan to escape with Dolores.
Related: Androids Dream in New ‘Westworld’ Trailer
The episode also delivered another standout moment by bringing Ed Harris and Anthony Hopkins together in a scene. And if the way they reacted to each other was any indication, then the Man in Black and Robert Ford aren’t exactly old friends, but they clearly knew each other. Of course, they’re far from friends, and the Man in Black couldn’t have expected his murder attempt to go anywhere. That does beg the question as to how he has such a free hand in the park that he can simply kill and ravage without consequences that other guests might face. The Man in Black’s maze keeps popping up as well, but if he’s looking for a way to stay in Westworld, there’s really only one ending for him: death.
An added touch of corporate espionage was a bit more iffy. Elsie Hughes (the Programming investigator for Westworld) just isn’t that interesting. So if that angle falls squarely on her shoulders then it could be a problem. That said, it does raise a few additional questions about what’s so valuable in the park that it’s worth infiltrating with hidden tech inside of the hosts.
Which brings us back to Maeve. She, or at least one of her models, seems to have the unique ability to turn herself back on and to retain more concrete details of her memory after each wipe. From the way that Maeve addressed Felix by name, it suggests that she learned from her previous rogue experience not to let on that she was awake while the techs repaired her. It’s worth noting that the women of Westworld have been constantly victimized, and yet both Dolores and Maeve seem to be primed for the opportunity to destroy the thing that enslaved them.
This show requires the long view, as it’s difficult to judge in midseason whether all of these plotlines are going to converge in a meaningful way. But Westworld has already proven itself to be a top notch drama. Now we want to see it become a great one.
