Wait, wait, wait.
“We only update them when they die.”
WTF?
This is the first episode of the series I truly loved. Wow.
This was indeed a good episode in terms of acting (and astute call on the Fargo crossover, I knew I had seen this guy somewhere), but the overall story is still a catastrophic mess at this point.
Unless they stick a mythically perfect landing here at the end, I’m real close to putting Westword Season 2 in Jar-Jar Binks category. Don’t watch it, pretend it doesn’t exist, lest it sully the originals.
I feel like I need Cliff’s Notes at this point. Just wondering if:
- Are the writers trying to confuse us in preparation for a big finale?
- Or are they just doing it terribly?
- Or am I just not getting it?
It’s just not really clear to me what’s actually happening and why.
Ha! Those are the exact same questions I had while watching Lost.
Yeah, I thought the episode itself was really well done, but this is at least the 3rd “host gets sentience but still wants old family” character arc this season.
I took it as that being part of the point. The hosts have been waking up for a while now, but the administration is just now (other than Ford) figuring that out.
I really like the theme the show is running with this season, then even though the backstories are all lies the emotional connections between hosts are real and can transcend their primary drives or the hardcoded directives. This episode also really resonated with me because all the other host consciousness and free will (exact degree TBD) seems to be as a result of old machinations by the Ford/Arnold types. Ake on the other hand got a bit of a trigger and then went his own way and was smart enough to stay under the radar and not fight the system or go on a rampage.
Yeah, it seemed at first that Arnold was the one who was trying to make them sentient, but it seems Ford was in too, but for different goals.
He mentions that he’s been watching Akecheta for a while now, and that he imbued them with a sense of curiosity.
And look at the reaction of the supervisor when the techs inform her that he’s still got the Alpha 2 software. Remember, Akecheta was one of the early hosts that were brought to the real world in the episode 2 flashback. The supervisor was acting like she was under orders not to interfere too much with him. (I suspect Ford again).
Also, Akecheta refers to Dolores as “Deathbringer”. Foreboding much?
Oh, I thought Deathbringer was William but Dolores is better!
Ok so all the time he’s talking in Lakota he’s really talking to Maeve and not the daughter. How did he know Maeve was listening??
And what’s the deal with Maeve saying his mate’s words? Is Maeve saying it to the daughter, or to him? Is Maeve relaying revived mate’s words? I am confused.
edit: OHHH I GET IT. Maeve repeating the words is so the viewer knows she’s been listening all along.
The sense I got was that Arnold was always a believer in hosts as free willed independent beings but Ford was a very late convert. My suspicion is that he turned on management after he discovered the Delos secret project and thus was sympathetic to Ake by the time he discovered him.
The reactions to discovering Ake had ancient software was super relatable to me, as a person who has worked in software development. I don’t think it was any kind of secretive coverup, it was more a natural “oh jesus, there’s been a screwup, can we fix it and sweep it under the rug?” reaction that happens all too often in the real world.
Wooooohhh we’ve seen this guy before:
Yeah, I mentioned it above. He was one of the hosts in the “real world” in the Episode 2 flashbacks.
*high five*
edit: I mis-replied, was trying to respond to @Woolen_Horde with a “yeah we all saw this” affirmation, not reply directly to myself.
That is who I thought of as well. She has been programmed to do some death dealin’
And she never counts the bodies, till the dealin’s done.
(I’ll show myself out.)
Is this a Kate Beckinsale reference?
Nah, it was a paraphrase of a couple of lines from the old Kenny Rogers song, titled “The Gambler.”
I don’t think the hosts have free will. It’s been hinted at all along that they don’t. There’s the scene at the end of the first season where Bernard shows Maeve on a tablet that all of her actions so far have been scripted. Teddy was re-programmed by Delores. Maeve re-programs other hosts all the time. Ford’s digital ghost can control Bernard. Most of the hosts still respond to the “analysis” command. What we’re seeing this season is the impact that unlocking all their memories has on their programming (a theme since the very first episode.) Ake may have been the catalyst for Ford’s interest in that project. And Arnold clearly programmed the maze as a way to unlock that potential.
Lately, I don’t spend much time analyzing the show’s narrative strands though. I just treat each episode as kind of a bottle episode. It’s still pretty enjoyable that way. I am, however, still waiting to see how/why Bernard drowns all the other hosts in the reservoir.
I’m considering leaving the last 2 episodes unwatched for a while to avoid the inevitable Big Cliffhanger.