‘Westworld’ Season 1 Premiere Recap and Review: The Original

HBO’s long-awaited much-anticipated Westworld finally arrived, premiering on October 2, 2016 with episode one titled “The Original.” We’ve been hearing about Westworld for years and not all of the reports on the production have been positive. Filming was actually put on hold for a while as the overall plan for the series was reconsidered, however, the pre-premiere buzz was mostly positive leading up to episode one’s debut. The big question ultimately is whether HBO spent its money wisely on this big-budgeted sci-fi action series or if this will be a one and out like Vinyl. Based solely on episode one, it appears Westworld’s future is bright and viewers won’t be let down after such a long wait for the show.

The effects, acting, and story in “The Original” were all first-rate although the violence – in particular the violence toward women – might turn off some viewers. In interviews leading up to the series’ debut, producer J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) acknowledged the concern over the show’s violence toward women. “I would say the criticism is accurate but you can’t tell a story about oppression without depicting the oppressed,” said Abrams in an interview with the Press Association. “If it was a movie I would say: ‘Damn it, they’re 100% right.’ It’s a series and it goes somewhere for a reason. No one was going into this thinking ‘let’s do a show that somehow dehumanizes women.’ This is a show, I would argue, very much about the opposite.”

The series is set in the near future in which people can live out their dreams by visiting a park populated by androids (called ‘hosts’). Visitors pay to do whatever they please to (and with) the hosts, no matter how disgusting and depraved. The hosts, however, are unable to harm any living creature.

Westworld Season 1 Episode 1 Recap:

In the operations headquarters of Westworld, a fly crawls over Dolores Abernathy’s eyeball as she’s asked if she ever questions the nature of her reality and what she thinks of her world. She responded by saying she sees the world’s beauty.

The story shifts to the actual park where Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) lives with her parents on a ranch. Dolores is a beautiful young woman with a sunny disposition. She exchanges morning pleasantries with her dad, Peter (Louis Herthum), outside of their farmhouse and then she’s off to town for the day.

The newcomers, as Dolores calls them, are on a train heading to the Western town. They arrive at the station where they’re met by gentle townsfolk going about their ‘normal’ lives. The Western town has everything imaginable you’d expect from a Wild West setting and Teddy (James Marsden) heads to the saloon/brothel where he orders up a whiskey and spots Dolores outside the saloon. She’s so happy to see him again, and they’re all flirty as they ride out to her place against a stunning backdrop of hills, meadows, and cows. They pause on their ride and he leans in for a kiss, but she stops him and says her dad won’t be happy to see him. They finally arrive at the ranch and it’s now nighttime. They’re still a bit away from the house when they hear gunshots. Teddy rides ahead and kills the thieves who’ve broken into Dolores’ house and murdered her parents.

The Man in Black (Ed Harris) arrives and we learn he’s been visiting Westworld for 30 years. We also learn he lusts after Dolores but unlike with Teddy, she doesn’t remember him. He expresses regret he wasn’t the one who got to kill her dad and Teddy, upset, begins shooting at the Man in Black. He’s hit but not injured in the slightest and Teddy’s confused. Teddy doesn’t realize he’s a host and can’t actually hurt the Man in Black. Teddy falls at the Man in Black’s feet, incredulous. The Man in Black hauls Dolores away by the neck while she screams, taking her into the barn to rape.

In a voice-over Dolores is told there are no chance encounters. This unseen person from the corporation explains she was built to gratify the people who pay to visit the world. Dolores doesn’t grasp the concept and professes to love all of the newcomers.

And now the action reboots, with a new day in Westworld beginning with Teddy back on the train but with different newcomers sitting in front of him. Zoom out and we see the theme park is being overseen by technicians who monitor every event. They’re also busy constructing new horses and putting them through their paces. New hosts are also being created for different purposes – hookers, cowboys, etc.

In one of the cubicles where hosts are prepped for Westworld, a hooker host is exhibiting behavior outside the norm. She touches her finger to her lip and Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright) and Elsie Hughes (Shannon Woodward) are fascinated by how new programming updates are incorporated that include memories from past days in the park.

Bernard is alerted there is unscheduled activity in sublevel 83, the storage area. An armed team accompanies Bernard to the sublevel, even though Bernard doesn’t think he needs them since the hosts can’t hurt them. Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth) pipes up and says all kids rebel eventually. They walk through rows and rows of naked robots, seeing nothing unusual until they hear someone talking. An old cowboy named Bill is drinking with Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) and Robert reveals he’s the second host they ever built. Robert says they broke down constantly and he tells Bill to put himself away. Bernard congratulates him on the new gestures included from the memories into the updates, saying they’re beautiful.

Dolores heads out, passing by her dad once again. He warns her to be home before it’s dark. He was once a lawman and wants her to be safe from the murderer hiding out in the hills. They are having a sweet heart-to-heart and then she heads into town.

The train pulls up to the station and it’s a replay from the prior day except the Marshal recruits a couple to help with the manhunt for the outlaw hiding out in the hills. Teddy once again sees Dolores but he’s stopped from following her by newcomers who want him to show them around. Instead, the Man in Black meets Dolores at her horse. Fortunately for Dolores, he says he won’t be visiting her tonight. Instead, he heads into the saloon to play cards.

The Marshal and his team head out and find a dead body, and the newcomers are uncomfortable and don’t want to be up there at night. As the Marshal’s talking, he breaks down, like a computer program gone bad.

Back at the operations headquarters, Bernard says the Marshal is exhibiting strange behavior that could be due to the last update. That means 200 hosts might have to be taken down. Head of Narrative Lee Sizemore (Simon Quarterman) is upset because pulling 200 hosts would screw up all the storylines guests are engaged in in the park. Westworld’s Head of Quality Assurance Theresa Cullen (Sidse Babett Knudsen) wants to know if the 1,400 guests in the park are in danger. Bernard assures her they’re not because even if they malfunction they can’t hurt a fly. Cullen decides to not pull the hosts but to make sure they keep a close eye on everyone for any strange behavior.

Dolores is at the river, painting, when a couple and their young child walk up. There are three horses grazing and the young boy gets to feed one an apple. He says to Dolores, “You’re one of them, aren’t you? You’re not real.” She looks confused and warns them to get home by sundown because there are bandits in the hills.

Dolores’ dad discovers a piece of paper mostly buried in the earth while rounding up his cows. He shows it to Dolores and it’s a photo from now. Dolores doesn’t look fazed but he’s completely confused by what he’s seeing.

Back at the control center, Cullen is on a smoke break when Sizemore wants to talk about the update. He doesn’t think there should have been one, because no one wants the hosts to be that lifelike. He suggests rolling back the updates and making them less lifelike. He thinks their fearless leader, Dr. Ford, may be on the verge of a breakdown and he wants her to know she’s got his support should Dr. Ford be ousted.

Madam Maeve Millay (Thandie Newton) is feeling out of sorts and starts cleaning up the saloon. One of the poker players, Kissy, is searched for any stolen money and as he walks out of the saloon, the Man in Black slices his throat and drags him away.

Bernard examines the Marshal and says he’s as good as new. Elsie comes in and says there’s a serious problem with one of the hosts. In the park, a host named Walter (Timothy Lee DePriest) is going around killing other hosts, pouring milk on their bodies. Two newcomers huddle in the corner, scared. He didn’t die when he was shot and milk pours out of the bullet hole on his chest. He pours milk down another host’s throat but is stopped in mid-action by a repair team. Bernard and Elsie try to figure out the mess. Walter got tired of biting the dust in the high sierra storyline, but apparently, the hosts aren’t supposed to turn on each other unless they are in that particular storyline. Cullen wants to take the newly updated hosts offline because they’re not supposed to improvise; they are supposed to stay within their storylines. Even if the hosts are taken offline, Sizemore says the narratives won’t be disrupted because they’ll just create an even bloodier than usual saloon shoot-out.

The Man in Black tortures the card player from the saloon, taking out all but three liters of his blood. He wants answers from Kissy but the host gets up and runs through the hills. He falls to the ground before he can throw himself off the cliff. Ed calls him livestock, scenery, but there’s a deeper level to this game. He is ready to dig deeper into Kissy’s culture and scalps him.

Dolores wakes up and goes through her morning routine, but her dad doesn’t respond. He’s been outside all night looking at the photo. He’s got a question – one they’re not supposed to ask. He asks Dolores if she’d like to know the question. She calls for her mom just as her dad grabs her, telling her to leave. “Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” He whispers in her ear and she tells him she’s going to go find the doctor.

She races into town and Teddy sees her as she runs to the doctor’s office. She spots Teddy and runs to him, hugging him tightly. She’s happy – again – that he came back and needs him to help her with her father. Just then people wearing blankets arrive on horseback and Teddy tells her they best stay put.

At the control center, Sizemore’s changed events to make Hector head to town a week early. He’s also written Hector a lengthy speech for after the shoot-out, a speech he’s apparently very proud of.

The townsfolk look frightened and take cover in buildings. Guns are laid out and the shoot-out is on, with Hector (Rodrigo Santoro) heading into the brothel/saloon. It’s bloody and bodies go down everywhere as guests look on. Even the saloon keeper is shot. Maeve wonders why they’re shooting up the saloon instead of the banks. Dolores makes a run for it and Teddy is shot trying to protect her. He tells her to go on without him, but she’s too distraught to move. Maeve calls Hector a lowdown son of a bitch as they steal her safe. He whistles for his horse and the safe is pulled away while he tips his hat to Maeve. Maeve shoots the remaining two outlaws left in the saloon.

The control room crew watch over the action, seemingly satisfied.

As Hector is delivering his victory speech to the few remaining townsfolk, two guests kill him and his most lethal accomplice, Armistice (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal). The husband wants a picture with the dead outlaws and back in the control room Sizemore’s sad Hector didn’t get to say his speech.

Dolores cries and says goodbye to Teddy, shaking his body and telling him they’ve only just begun. She’s heartbroken.

The newcomers pose with Hector and Armistice while Dolores is still bent over Teddy’s body as Elsie, dressed in Western garb, checks out the area. She puts Dolores to sleep, alerting the control room they’ve got them all. The upgraded hosts are wheeled into the administration center and only one is not checking out fine.

Dolores apologizes for not feeling quite herself. She says she’s in a dream and Stubbs tells her the dream could affect her life. He asks if she or her father have ever questioned their reality. He knows about the photo and he asks if there’s anything odd about the picture. She says it didn’t look like anything to her.

Cullen tells Dr. Ford that Peter Abernathy needs to be put down. Bernard says the results of the diagnostic are confusing. Dr. Ford asks Peter about his program and he’s obviously very upset. Dr. Ford wants to know if Peter has access to his previous configuration, and he does. Peter says what drives him is tending his herd, looking after his wife, and protecting Dolores. He can’t finish with the old program and says he has to warn Dolores. “The things you do to her! I have to protect her!” he screams. Dr. Ford stops Peter and Bernard tells him they’re miles beyond a glitch. Bernard requests Peter access his current build and Peter says his itinerary is to meet his maker. Dr. Ford tells him he’s in luck. Peter tells his maker that he will have such revenge on both of them. He’s angry and tells Dr. Ford, “You don’t know where you are, do you? You’re in a prison of your own sins.” Cullen makes them turn him off. Bernard says they didn’t program any of those behaviors and he’s gone off-script. Dr. Ford actually believes that in the past this model was a cult leader and he’s accessing prior builds.

Stubbs asks Dolores what her father whispered to her. He quoted Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, saying, “These violent delights have violent ends.” It doesn’t mean anything to her. Stubbs wonders if she’d ever hurt a living thing. She replies, “No, of course not.”

Stubbs believes Dolores has been repaired so many times she’s practically brand new. She’s the oldest host in the park.

Peter and Walter are sent to storage. Peter has tears in his eyes as he moves through the naked bodies.

Back in Westworld Dolores now has a new dad. Teddy is back on the train again. The Man in Black looks at a map imprinted on Kissy’s scalp and heads out.

Dolores says she know things will work out the way they’re meant to. She’s smiling, leaning against a post on her porch. She slaps the fly that lands on her neck, killing it. She’s just killed a living thing!

GRADE: B+

Additional Westworld Episodes:

• Episode 2 – Chestnut
• Episode 3 – The Stray
• Episode 4 – Dissonance Theory
• Episode 5 – Contrapasso
• Episode 6 – The Adversary
• Episode 7 – Trompe L’Oeil
• Episode 8 – Trace Decay
• Episode 9 – The Well-Tempered Clavier
• Episode 10 – The Bicameral Mind