HBO’s ‘Westworld’ Pulls Off A Massive Reveal In A Must-Watch Season 4

I’m not sure what happened, but someone flipped a switch over at HBO, and what used to be one of the show’s most buzzed-about productions is suddenly living up to its old standards once again.

That would be Westworld, which captured an engaged audience trying to sort through its mysteries week after week in season 1, but seasons 2 and 3 seemed like a downward slope for all but the most dedicated of superfans.

But I said it earlier in the season, and I will say it again, Westworld season 4 is fantastic, definitely close to season 1 standards, and despite the park being gone and the show taking place in the “real world” that made season 3 so muddy, the storytelling and performances are on point.

It’s hard to go into too much detail without spoiling anything, but yes, you probably do need to watch season 3 for the context needed for season 4, which now feels like connective tissue. Really, I just want to discuss this week’s episode, which featured the kind of huge plot twists that Westworld used to be known for, and they pulled it off pretty flawlessly.

Spoilers follow. Just go watch the season.

What unfolded in the second half of the episode last night was more timeline tomfoolery, with a reveal that worked on a level even better than what we saw with William and The Man in Black in season 1, as by that point, many fans had correctly guessed that we were seeing a younger version of the man in mixed timelines.

I did not see this one coming, however, as it was revealed that the Bernard/Dolores scenes have all been taking place in a dystopian future where superhost Hale has effectively won the war, domesticating humanity (or at least one major city) where they can be scripted and controlled by hosts, using a giant, offshore tower that the humans cannot perceive.

This was revealed as she explains what happened to a now host-ified Caleb, who we learn died 23 years earlier, and has been running through ‘fail states’ hundreds of times since. Maeve has been buried in the desert after their showdown for two decades, but Bernard is about to resurrect her to use her as a weapon against Hale’s empire.

Questions remain. We know that Dolores exists in this Hale-controlled human city, but we don’t know why she’s actually there in the first place, and why now Teddy has shown up, seemingly with his memory intact about who they used to be to each other. It seems like there is probably already some sort of resistance within the city, but I just wonder why any original hosts are there at all. Maybe Hale just likes seeing Dolores walk around like one of her little dolls, although that loop seems to be unraveling quickly.

It’s a fantastic reveal, up there with any big plot turn from season 1, and I love how it was presented. Looking forward to the rest of the season, which is not something I thought I’d say after the last two years.

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