Westworld Review: Dissonance Theory (Season 1 Episode 4)
Westworld’s maze begins to reveal itself in “Dissonance Theory” season 1, episode 4.
The groundwork for the maze comes in “The Original,” but we have been given little to nothing to go on in regards to The Man in Black’s absolute obsession with it, other than the reveal of its potential shape after he scalps a Host and finds a map underneath it.
THE MAN IN BLACK: This whole world is a story. I’ve read every page, except the last one. I need to find out how it ends. I wanna know what this all means.
As Bernard explains, the maze is like a game — and if Dolores reaches the centre of it, she can be free. The Man in Black, however, has a slightly different perspective: the maze is the last undiscovered territory of Westworld, something that Arnold, Ford’s original partner, left behind before he died in the park. He intends to conquer it.
But is Arnold really dead? The question of his identity has been on my mind for a while now. Ford is continually cagey about how or where Arnold died. In fact, the only other person that seems to know the real story of Westworld and its creation is the Man in Black.
Is Arnold Wyatt? Or did he create Wyatt as another piece of a puzzle we have yet to discover the motive for?
It seems too easy to guess that the centre of the maze is what we know as reality. Sure, Dolores could find a type of freedom in our world, but that doesn’t hold much of a reward for the Man in Black. And the same goes for the maze leading to another area of the park — Dolores would find the shock of entering something like Romanworld (from the original film’s plot) incredibly unsettling, but that wouldn’t be news to the Man in Black, who comes from the outside and obviously possesses knowledge of each potential world that may exist.
A quick shout-out goes to Armstice, who (so far) is the only female Host who hasn’t been put through any form of sexual violence. It’s nice to see a woman get to be an outlaw like the rest of the men; Armstice is a quiet badass with an equally badass tattoo who has no qualms about shooting someone to get her way. She’s a well-designed host, and I personally give that credit to Arnold. Ford doesn’t feel like a man with an imagination who allows women to be anything outside of a gender stereotype.
FORD: […] It’s not a business venture, nor a theme park. It’s an entire world. We designed every inch of it. Every blade of grass. In here we were Gods. And you, merely our guests.
Speaking of Ford, his power move against Theresa is one of his creepiest yet. The absolute fear Anthony Hopkins can inflect while doing nothing more than sitting still and speaking evenly is a masterclass in acting.
Ford and Theresa introduce us to a slightly new world while they dine at what looks to be a plantation, because apparently Ford doesn’t understand not building worlds that aren’t inherently racist. What he reveals feels nothing short of uncomfortable: to him, Theresa and his board of directors are as disposable as his creations.
It’s nice to see Theresa bring the full potential of her impressive role in the park into how she reacts to Ford. She is many things at once: afraid, confident, and angry at Ford’s machinations. Though Ford clearly lays out a threat for Theresa to back off of his new project, I hope she doesn’t — I hope they go head to head, and I hope she wins.
Ford also drops another clue in our laps before his machines come into, quite literally, bulldoze the building they’re in: a representative of the board is already in the park. Is that what Logan’s true role is, then? An easily distracted playboy with a family name to uphold would be putty in a man like Ford’s hands. Whether Ford counted on William is another matter entirely.
HECTOR: What does it mean?
MAEVE: That I’m not crazy after all. And that none of this matters.
Thandie Newton once again shines as the awakening Maeve. It’s interesting to see her story intersect with Hector after their brief interaction in “The Original.”
Where Dolores seems to be stumbling and struggling her way to sentience, Maeve is blazing through it with both feet firmly planted underneath her. Maeve’s story just gels far more naturally than Dolores’, which seems directionless — even with the incentive of the multiple-storyline unification involving the maze.
Maeve has the same shock and horror at her memories that Dolores does, but she seems more determined to solve the puzzle in front of her. It is perhaps the influence of Bernard’s continual tinkering with Dolores that clouds her progress, but nevertheless, Maeve’s screentime is used more efficiently and more interestingly than any of the other Hosts at this point in the season.
STRAY THOUGHTS:
- Logan is bland and boring and I kind of want to punch him in the jaw. I hope William does soon. Do it for me, Jimmi Simpson!
- Theresa and Bernard are still going strong. It’s nice to have that relationship anchor the other ones on the show, because Dolores’ connection with William and her past with Teddy aren’t doing that nearly as well.
- What is Ford’s new world going to be? Is it perhaps one from the original film, or a new one entirely?
What do you think of this episode of Westworld? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Westworld airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.
Brittany Rae
Brittany is a writer and avid TV blogger hailing the infamous year of 1989. She trained at Vancouver Film School in screenwriting for television and film, and has gone on to become a graphic designer and blogger in her free time. When she’s not watching the Food Network, she’s trying to consume every bit of sci-fi television she can get her hands on (current favorites include The 100, Person of Interest, and Doctor Who). She’s always up for female-led dramas and, of course, a literal interpretation of the phrase “Netflix and chill."