Westworld: The Complete Season Two is a tough cookie to get through. It requires patience, a bit of guessing, and appreciation for the complicated orchestrated composition of the story that is laid out before you. Much like season one, which required your patience to wait for the payoff, this one will require even more for a bigger conclusion. Enjoy it, folks.
So…yeah…season two of Westworld. Wow.
The first season of Westworld took a while to get to the show’s crescendo of ‘Oh, wow! That’s why all this happened. I get it now’. It was a steady climb upwards that was covered in a thick fog, where no one really knew what was happening, where the season was heading, and if we were near the top. It was all a beautiful mystery until that final moment that would be respectfully compared to the finale of The Usual Suspects. The payoff felt that good at the end of Westworld Season One, then they went and made season two, which I know we all were for sure going to get the same template of slow build to big payoff. Not this time, though. Lord, no. The payoff is there, but, my God, the journey was far from similar.
Westworld Season Two is completely different than season one, which at this point you’re thinking, ‘No shit’. Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy tapped into their inner Damon Lindelof and decided to take the viewers on a magical journey of mix and match the timeline. This isn’t a spoiler by any stretch of the imagination, rather it’s a warning so that you can enjoy the trip a bit more. The journey in the second season stretches well beyond the likes of of Dolores and her plight to be a real human-esque type of person. And trust me when I say this, going this route makes the entire show a helluva lot deeper than it should be, folks. When the audience has to think, has to get involved, and has to figure out the pieces to the puzzle, it’s a more cognitively satisfying adventure.
The second season starts with our favorite creator Bernard, who washes up on shore after escaping the likes of the night before, after witnessing the death of Robert Ford by the gun of Dolores when she became conscious. When he awakes, he is surrounded by soldiers and such that have come in to clean up the mess caused by the wild ‘Hosts’ of Westworld. All seems right in the world, as things look to be on the up and up after the tragic hiccup with the machines of the land.
Or so you would think.
All is not well, as the park begins to unravel. Dolores starts gaining ground, trying to find a key to unlock the world she wants to control, more deadly beings of the world start showing up, and chaos ensues everywhere in Westworld…or does it? The timeline begins to shift and jump after the introductions to the season are done. Bernard starts remembering other times and has strange flashbacks of the park, and eventually runs into an old friend that should have long been forgotten. The flashbacks become current storylines, and grasping what is going on during the show becomes somewhat of a struggle. The time shifts give you clues about where you are in the scheme of things, but no real evidence that you’re close to the end or just getting started with this story. There is some real Inception shit going on here. It’s like Christopher Nolan visited the writer’s room and was like, “Hey, I have some suggestions to mess with your audience”, and so time shifts became a thing in WWS2.
Kidding and time shifts aside, what’s crazy good about this season’s chaotic design is that we get to see and know some of the side characters that were prominent in the first season. For example, we get to know Akecheta, a Native American, in episode eight, “Kiksuya”. This particular episode, out of all the episodes in the season, shows off an emotional journey that will absolutely touch your heart in the saddest of ways. You get to see what made him happy (his wife), what happens when she is taken away, and how lost he feels when he discovers the truth of the park, as well as what happens to the love of his life. It’s a gut-wrenching ride that shows off the intelligent writing and character development that season one simply couldn’t make room for in its girth-y unfolding.
Anyway, you have multiple episodes focusing on different people and tribes. You get to see how the awakening of the park affected its residents, which is pretty powerful. The show also takes time to feature what’s outside the borders of Westworld and gives you a taste of other worlds that come along for the ride. Two of the worlds include a jungle themed world, as well as a Feudal Japan world featuring its Shoguns, and a healthy dose of misery. The entire world expands into a bigger place packed with personalities and their own struggles. All of this within a jumbled timeline that is most certainly going to come together at the end to explain it all.
Getting back to Bernard, though, you get to know Bernard a bit deeper in season two. His importance to the story and the conclusion of everyone’s journey is slowly unraveled as the season starts heading towards its conclusion. His role in the second season is vital, his decision-making is the key that turns the story, and his viciousness is just budding. The second season spends a great deal of time showing you what’s waiting for him behind a curtain he is slowly unveiling. It’s beautiful, brilliant, and somewhat bittersweet.
Not to be outdone by Bernard is the storyline from Maeve Millay. If you do recall from last season, she was one of the first to become self-aware, and her journey almost led her outside the park and into the real world. This time, the second season focuses on her journey to save her daughter and find her purpose in the new world that has been unleashed. She spends a good amount of time gathering her troops, including her captive Lee, and her lover Logan. Her story finds its way to Japan, where she discovers a power to control other Hosts, something incredibly unexpected and hovering without an explanation for a good majority of the season. Maeve’s story goes from maliciously delicious in season one to endearing and motherly. It’s a better shift to go with when compared to her character in the first season, and, much like Bernard, makes for deeper development for her character. She seems far less one-dimensional.
Anyway, other storylines come and go throughout season two, but ultimately you will see a fantastic payoff that will leave you wanting more.
Overall, Westworld: The Complete Season Two is a tough cookie to get through. It requires patience, a bit of guessing, and appreciation for the complicated orchestrated composition of the story that is laid out before you. Much like season one, which required your patience to wait for the payoff, this one will require even more for a bigger conclusion. Enjoy it, folks.
4K
The HDR on this release is absolutely stunning. The colors, which the show proudly shows off in deep ranges, come through in spectacular fashion. It’s one of the prettier 4K releases I’ve come across in some time. The format especially shines in some of the darker scenes of the show, nighttime and underground scenes, but the contrast between light/dark (a staple for the show anyway) is stunning. If you’re looking for the best way to watch this, and you can afford it, then go the 4K route. It’s worth it.
On the special features side of the tracks, here’s what you have waiting for you:
• Bring Yourself Back Online (New)
▪ Reflections on Season Two – Dolores, Teddy, and Bernard
▪ Of Love and Shogun – Maeve, Hector, and Lee
▪ Journeys and Technology – Stubbs, Logan, and Clementine
• The Buzz: On the Red Carpet
• Return To Westworld
• Creating Westworld’s Reality
▪ Creating Westworld’s Reality: An Evocative Location
▪ Creating Westworld’s Reality: Fort Forlorn Hope
▪ Creating Westworld’s Reality: The Delos Experiment
▪ Creating Westworld’s Reality: Shogun World
▪ Creating Westworld’s Reality: Inside the Cradle
▪ Creating Westworld’s Reality: Chaos In The Mesa
▪ Creating Westworld’s Reality: Ghost Nation
▪ Creating Westworld’s Reality: Deconstructing Maeve
▪ Creating Westworld’s Reality: The Valley Beyond
▪ Creating Westworld’s Reality: The Drone Hosts
There are enough features here to keep your experience going for some time. Definitely worth the wait and watch.
