So far I've seen just the first season and based on that I'd say that Westworld is a fairly entertaining show that gets more interesting as the storylines go further behind the scenes. Ultimately, though, the central issue becomes (of course) what's going wrong with the robots or is it all So far I've seen just the first season and based on that I'd say that Westworld is a fairly entertaining show that gets more interesting as the storylines go further behind the scenes. Ultimately, though, the central issue becomes (of course) what's going wrong with the robots or is it all part of some Machiavellian scheme enshrined in the robots' programming.



One of the founders of Westworld, it seems, wanted the robots to forever serve as an experiment on the nature of consciousness and was opposed to the idea of the robots populating a theme park. And then somehow he died, or was killed or murdered, and maybe a robot did it, or didn't, and despite all the flashbacks we'll never really know because all the flashbacks come via the robots and their memories, which, we're told, are always getting wiped clean, or manipulated, and their minds and personalities adjusted and rebooted, to the point that you could not find a less reliable fictional narrator if you went about creating one yourself.



There's a great deal of contemplative chit-chat and philosophical debate about the nature of the robots' "reality" and so forth, but the problem of course is that we are presented with nothing to substantiate the idea that some of the robots are evolving beyond programming to become self-aware and therefore "alive." I remember nothing to suggest how this would even happen. And frankly a lot of this ruminating reminds me of nothing so much as Dr. Eldon Tyrell in "Blade Runner" remarking that providing replicants with (fictional) memories only makes it easier for replicants to be controlled.



Also, the idea that the robots are nicer or more moral than the humans who visit the park (espoused by at least one member of the cast) is pretty much annihilated by the robots (bandits and others) who are every bit as murderous and evil as any of the humans who visit the park. And if they're not self-aware and "alive" then just asking if they are "moral" makes as much sense as asking if lawnmowers are "moral."



I suppose the biggest problem of all is the season finale, which, to my mind, answers no questions and only succeeds in raising all kinds of issues.



Overall, though, it's a pretty good show. … Expand