WESTWORLD Season 1 Episode 10
Episode Title: “The Bicameral Mind”
Writers: Lisa Joy & Jonathan Nolan
Director: Jonathan Nolan
Previously on Westworld:
Episode 1.09: “The Well-Tempered Clavier“
There are spoilers ahead for last night’s episode of Westworld, but don’t pretend that you didn’t know that!
What does it mean when almost every single mystery of a show was solved weeks ago by the fans? It means that mystery is dead on TV, unless it’s being delivered by a binge watch. To Westworld‘s credit, most of the clues laid out through the season held together and pointed everyone in the right direction. But fans had ten weeks to uncover the riddles of this series, and they pulled it off after only two or three weeks. That can’t have been the intent of Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, especially when this episode lingered on the identity of the Man in Black. They treated that revelation as if it was a surprise, which seems to indicate that letting the audience in on the secret early wasn’t a part of the plan.
So, William is definitely the Man in Black. Jimmi Simpson was a little short-changed in what will presumably be his final episode on the show, but it was admittedly a cool transition to see his younger William pick up the black hat before Ed Harris adjusted it in the present time frame. William’s dark turn wasn’t an entirely successful transition, but the episode did explain how he went from Dolores’ lover to her tormentor. How could a man who knowingly loved a machine turn on her so violently? Because he wasn’t special. Whoever picked up the can for Dolores in town tended to be her love interest. It could have been Teddy, William, or the random guy in this episode. Dolores may have really been on the verge of awakening 30 years in the past, but William no longer loved her after seeing his experience with her play out with another man. It’s a pretty ugly way to go, considering that the older William raped Dolores in the pilot episode and it was implied that he had done that many times before. It was satisfying to see Dolores get some measure of revenge, but she was ultimately cheated of getting justice…for now.
Simpson may be off the show, but it looks like we’ll still have the Man in Black to kick around. In the closing moments, William actually got what he wanted: a group of hosts who could fight back. That smile on Harris’ face was so perfect. With Anthony Hopkins presumably off the show as well, it’s a good thing that Harris isn’t done with this story yet. The explanation for the maze made sense, and it did deliver some comeuppance for William: it was never meant for him. He sacrificed most of his humanity looking for something that was meant to spark consciousness inside of the hosts. On a side note, we really want one of those handheld mazes that Dolores and Bernard got their hands on.
Related: Jimmi Simpson Tells Us About ‘Westworld’ Season 1
What was less than perfect was the way that the finale kind of undercut Dolores and Maeve’s respective journeys by implying that this was the plan all along, first by Arnold, and then by Dr. Ford himself. That meant that all of Maeve’s fascinating rebellion was just another storyline that was presumably crafted by Ford. What made Maeve so interesting was her apparent free will and her ruthless streak. If she was just unknowingly following Ford’s orders than it’s a bit of a letdown. Maeve ended up being more of an active heroine than Dolores throughout the season, but the finale didn’t quite come together for her. She’s going to go search for her android daughter, which seems less compelling than seeing what’s outside of the park.
As for Dolores, she turned out to be the Wyatt that encouraged Teddy to wipe out a town of hosts without mercy. Again, another mystery solved by the internet. Upon reflection, this one held up fairly nicely since Ford mentioned that his new narrative was inspired by his late partner, Arnold. There may have been a Wyatt in the present time frame that was created by Ford. But in the past, it was Dolores who took on the role and murdered Arnold at his request. The unsatisfying part of Dolores’ realization about herself is that she still seemed like a puppet when she murdered Ford. That didn’t have the same impact that would have come from Dolores actively choosing to kill Ford.
The finale had some great touches of humor, including Felix briefly checking himself to see if he was also one of the hosts. Of course, Samurai World appears to have captured the imagination of the internet. That was a great twist, although we’ve been expecting other parks since the beginning. It also brings up an intriguing question: is Samurai World also going to face an android uprising? Or are the Westworld visitors the only ones raping and torturing their hosts? It was also darkly funny to see Ford so easily give in to Charlotte’s retirement demands because he knew that he had already engineered his own death and presumably the murder of the Delos board members as well. Now we know why Anthony Hopkins signed on for a TV show: one season and out isn’t a huge commitment to make. However, we hope he’ll be back on the series in some capacity.
Compared to last week’s episode, the finale felt a little empty. By no means was it a lackluster hour-and-a-half of television, but knowing most of the answers ahead of time did take away some of the power that this show should have had. To a certain extent, that was out of Nolan and Joy’s hands. But the episode itself didn’t have enough truly dramatic moments to really cap off this season with an unforgettable installment. Make no mistake, Westworld had a terrific first season and it may even be one of the best shows of 2016. However, it didn’t quite stick the landing, and that’s always the hardest part for any show. We love it, but we want more from it. And if this series can give us Samurai World next season, we are absolutely in favor of that.
What did you think about the season finale of Westworld? Let us know in the comment section below!
