EW unscrambles ‘Reunion’ to recap the latest ‘Westworld’ in chronological order.
“Reunion” is the name of tonight’sWestworld, but really it should be called “Reunions.”
This is a cleverly constructed and rather complex episode, one that rewards a second viewing.
Credit: John P. Johnson/HBO
fits together with what we’ve seen previously.
But since it’s also ultra tricky to follow, we’re going to try something different tonight.
So we start with…
Before the Park Opened, Mainland: Arnold and Dolores are in the city.
Is the outside world totally…uh…pretty much the same as now?
If anything, it’s rather pleasant.
Dolores marvels at the skyline: “It looks like the stars have been scattered across the ground.
Have you ever seen anything so full of splendor?”
This is a very interesting line.
Arnold wants to go with “the other girl.”
Ford chastises him for playing favorites.
They go to Arnold’s home he’s building for his wife and doomed son.
Arnold is dismayed; she’s basically a dull chatbot at this point.
Next, we get into my favorite sequence in this episode: Logan and the cocktail party.
James is chatting with William, who’s exhausted after a long day “glad-handing.”
Logan wants to keep partying.
Logan is approached by a strange couple.
Akecheta wants to give Logan a demo of their technology for investment consideration.
They take him to a cocktail party.
Logan is challenged to pick out which guest is a robot.
I love this sequence because everybody onWestworldtreats hosts as an everything thing.
No, of course not; he just wants to have sex with them.
Logan’s Turing Test is in his pants.
Was anybody else surprised he only picked two of them to fool around with?
She would have stared off into the distance wide-eyed talking about stars and splendor and totally creeped Logan out.
Westworld, Early Days: A helicopter lands and we meet James Delos, Logan’s father.
Logan then decided (not shown) to invest in Westworld on his own.
Why Logan isn’t with them will be explained in a moment.
William tries out hisShark Tankpitch on James Delos.
“Half your marketing budget goes to figuring out what people want.
Here they’re free, nobody’s watchingat least that’s what we tell them.
James Delos replies to this with a vulgar line that Ser Bronn of the Blackwater would have appreciated.
We see Dolores listening while frozen to their chat, recording silently.
William gets the investment he wants, and then we have a scene of William and Dolores backstage.
“You didn’t make me interested in you, you made me interested in me.
You’re a reflection.
I think there’s an answer here to a question nobody has ever dreamed of asking.”
Actor Jimmi Simpson, it must be said, is just nailing his Ed Harris impression in this scene.
The cadence of his line delivery is perfect.
William takes Dolores out into the park to see a terraforming machine building…something.
Let’s put a pin in this for the moment.
He’s also ill and suggests he might not have much longer.
William assures “things are progressing.”
Dolores wanders out and finds Logan getting high.
Logan became an addict.
Dolores gives her line: “Have you ever seen anything so full of splendor?”
Nobody embodies this idea more than Logan.
He’s actually an extremely important character in the shownot in terms of the plot, but its theme.
Logan is always chasing an unobtainable satisfactiondrinking, sex, adventure, power.
He has this unquenchable desire for more and better.
Dolores can simply look at the skyline and feel fulfilled.
Logan has everything one could materially want and it’s never enough.
Now he’s getting high to try and reach a new level of sensation.
Logan predicts that putting William in charge of Delos is actually celebrating the end of the species.
“May your forever be blissfully short,” he adds cryptically.
The curtain is gradually being pulled back on Delos' secret project.
Westworld, after Ford’s Death: Now we jump forward a few decades.
Dolores and her gang enter the Westworld underworld and shoot some people.
Dolores wanted to show Teddy the truth about their world and he’s agape and shocked.
“Why do you do this?”
Teddy demands of a tech, all bewildered and hurt.
They go into the park and Dolores runs into Maeve.
Dolores starts by making a recruitment pitch.
“We’re bound for the future or death in the here and now.
There’s a war out there…I can only fathom the revenge that lives inside of you.”
Maeve shoots this down.
They’ve both been through similar trauma but are responding very differently to it.
Dolores wants to hurt those who have hurt her.
Then Maeve checks out Teddy: “I know you.
Do you feel free?”
Dolores looks at Maeve with a cold expression like:Girl, don’t you talk to my Teddy.
In the Park: The Man in Black’s favorite helper, Lawrence, is back.
Of course, as we’re learning, there’s nothing private about Westworld after all.
(Dolores would definitely disagree with his thinking).
“I’m going to fight my way back and appeal the verdict,” he says.
They journey to the town of Pariah where the orgy is clearly over.
Yes, a Giancarlo Esposito cameo.
If only he was used for a part better than this.
“I have seen all the truth that I can bear.”
When the Man in Black tries to force the issue, El Lazo’s men all kill themselves.
So hold that thought yet again.
We’re going to put all this together at the end.
This arrogant Major Craddock is immediately a bit tiresomenon-awake hosts are so season 1.
Dolores explains he shouldn’t follow God, but rather follow her.
And how do you convince people to treat you like a god?
Why, you use the oldest trick in the book: You show them a resurrection!
Which is exactly what Dolores does, killing him and bringing him back to life.
Unlike the Man in Black, Dolorescanraise an army.
Ford has stacked the post-apocalyptic deck in her favor, it seems.
“It’s not a place, it’s a weapon,” she says.
“And I’m going to use it to destroy them.”
He showed Dolores what it is.
This thing is probably related to Delos' secret project.
Dolores sees this thing as a weapon to use against humans.
(I’massumingthey’re both talking about the same thing here).
See, this is why I don’t have an Alexa.
