By Max Rosenberg
Theme Editor
The “Westworld” season two premiere episode grabs viewers’ immediate attentions with an impressive blend of mystery and action.
The season two premiere of HBO’s largest endeavor after Game of Thrones maintains the mysterious intrigue of the first season and dives into action quicker than any other episode, in addition to upholding the show’s phenomenal acting.
Season one of “Westworld” left off in complete chaos, as the real-life wild west amusement park, where a guest could enter and interact with artificial intelligent life
consequence free, has fallen into shambles. The most important problem issue introduced in the beginning of the season two premiere is that guests can now be killed in the park.
As the season two premiere continues, the “hosts” –– robots –– reach a point of almost complete consciousness, and upon learning that they have been killed over and over again by wealthy guests for entertainment, begin rounding up guests and company investors in the park to seek revenge. Rebellion seems quite likely.
By beginning the episode on an unknown beach with a disorientated protagonist, the episode immediate has an element of mystery. However, as what seems like a private army shows up to contain the chaos, one realizes that there is much we still don’t know about Westworld and the Delos Company which owns it. By giving small hints to much larger ideas, the premiere does a great job of grabbing viewer attention.
In addition the action of season two’s first episode is gripping. Never before have there been actual consequences in the park, but the premiere starts off with horrifying scenes of hosts slaughtering the humans that have been a major part of their creation. Scenes like these are dark, but intriguing and the premiere leads viewers to want to know what the hosts will be doing next.
Finally, the acting in the show is phenomenal. In a famously comical Robert Downey Jr. Quote from “Tropic Thunder”, he states, “I’m the dude, playin’ a dude, disguised as another dude”. When you think about the actors and actresses of “Westworld”, you realize that people are playing robots who have been designed to act as human as possible but maintain tiny specs of robotics within them. It is impressive to say the least.
Overall, the season two premiere does a fantastic job of grabbing viewers’ attentions using the show’s classic techniques: mysterious intrigue, gripping action, and awesome acting. I know I will be following along throughout the season, and I would recommend it for anyone else as well.
“Westworld” season two premiered April 23rd at 9pm PST, and it is available on HBO GO and the HBO Channel.
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