Westworld - Trompe L'Oeil - Review: “Turning the tables”

A few weeks ago, my podcast co-host, The ODI, put forth an idea about Westworld and its to date establishment of who is a host and who isn’t. His suggestion was that Theresa was, in fact, a host, unbeknownst to her but known to - at the very least - Bernard, whose relationship with her was perhaps a means of ensuring she remained under control and that she never once questioned her existence. Though I didn’t necessarily subscribe to this theory, his suggestion of it lingered in the back of my mind, and it’s been impossible to watch each passing episode completely in a vacuum: much as I’m trying not to indulge in the endless stream of fan theories, it’s always going to be there on a subconscious level, if nothing else.

“Trompe L'Oeil” confirmed such a theory, though it resulted in Bernard being revealed as a secret host, controlled only by Ford. It’s a surprising twist, particularly given the logistics of it. We’ve seen, in a prior episode, Bernard converse with his wife via a video call. We’ve seen, in this episode, Bernard dream of his son, Charlie. So for Westworld to pull the rug out from underneath us creates questions, questions over how the portrayal of Bernard over these past six episodes plays into him being a host.

The whole sequence with Bernard and Theresa exploring Ford’s ‘family’s’ house before the creator explained the truth to them was always building to something. After Elsie’s encounter last week, the notion that Westworld would go full teen horror movie once again seemed far-fetched; what followed instead was a crushing blow to the board, and to us as viewers. Throughout, we’ve witnessed Bernard, Ford, Stubbs, etc. ensure that the hosts they analyse aren’t questioning the nature of their reality. In actuality, it has been us for whom those repeated queries are directed to.

Initially, there was a brief moment in the series premiere where Teddy’s status was unknown, the show toying with the idea that he may be a guest. (HBO even accompanied screeners for the premiere with a note asking that it not be revealed prior to the episode.) Since then, the line has been mostly clear-cut (*), and those we think to be guests have been guests, and those we think to be hosts have been hosts - until now, that is. From here on out, accepting what we assume to be true would be a gross misstep, because we simply don’t know everything. Ford appears fully aware of all that is happening inside his park - Hopkins’ look as Theresa and Hale put on their little show indicated that he knew full well how false the explanation was - but beyond that, there’s a stifling of the information flow that would prove crucial to enhancing our understanding of this world and the characters in it.

(*) The other exception that immediately comes to mind is the woman that greeted William in the second hour.

But while this is certainly an intriguing twist, it’s a potentially dangerous one as well. Revealing that someone we thought to be human is actually a host means that - by the show’s own admission - we have to look more closely at what we see and wonder if it means what we think it means. Though Bernard is probably the only host implanted in the facility, for narrative’s sake, it becomes difficult now not to speculate whether anyone and everyone else we encounter is also a host. Westworld's foundation is built upon a complex mythology, and that’s good. With this reveal, however, its complexities open up the show to more doubt than is necessary about each of the facility’s characters. Yes, we should be sceptical of how Ford runs the park. Yes, we should be sceptical about new characters. But making us sceptical of previously established characters is a real rabbit hole, as Mr. Robot found out the hard way in its second season, and one that needs avoiding. In and of itself, Bernard’s twist works in this regard. Future twists will not, and that’s a concern that now lingers over the series.

Still, perhaps more importantly than Bernard being a host is Bernard killing Theresa. First off, this thing has an enormous cast, with 13 actors appearing in the opening titles. As such, trimming was inevitable, and it’s no real surprise that a player like Theresa would be the one to go: she had a mid-level role and her opposition to the way this story is developing would pose obstacles that the series would be better without. Death on television has become a major tool in the writing armoury (whether this is a good or bad thing is a whole other essay) and shows tend to come across as thinking they need a main character death early in their run in order to sustain interest (this doesn’t require further consideration than saying, simply, it’s a misconception).

Here, there’s been a build towards a moment like this. Sooner rather than later, there was going to be a host that kills a guest; the initial fallout would depend on the particular circumstance, but the ultimate end goal for Nolan and Joy would remain the same regardless. Theresa’s murder creates issues that are completely unexpected, given both that Ford is not only aware of it but orchestrated it, and that her sudden disappearance (*) will raise red flags with Delos. While the long-term game is now apparent, and we’re now privy to the fact that hosts can absolutely kill humans, the short-term issues are much more pressing. Quite how the show endeavours to resolve either will be fascinating, and I’m curious to see whether we get more host killings before the season is out.

(*) This assumes Ford didn’t already build a host version of Theresa to fool Hale and the rest of the board, which would be pre-meditated murder in an even greater and more serial killer-esque manner than it is already.

Bernard is the least of the problems in the facility right now, however, as Maeve told Felix and Sylvester that she’ll be escaping with their assistance. Thandie Newton received a Critics’ Choice Award nomination earlier today, and she continued to display why that is so thoroughly deserved as Maeve posed the pair of techs an ultimatum: either they help her escape or they die. That speech is deeply terrifying, rooted in truth to know she’s not bluffing and delivered with such menace that it’s impossible not to be afraid of her. At this point, we’d not yet seen Bernard display the ability to kill a human, but even with the knowledge that it’s only possible, the scene hits all of the right notes in terms of convincing both us and the techs that she absolutely means what she says. While Ford’s reveries were designed to make the hosts more like humans, this animalistic instinct combined with a very real threat feels fundamentally human, more so than anything he could have programmed them to do.

The 2015 movie Ex Machina went down a similar path towards its end, and although it would be surprising if Maeve was able to escape in the real world, it isn’t out of the realms of possibility, and an arc focused on her coming to grips with the outside world and/or Delos trying desperately to track her down could be terrific. That being said, it’s probably more likely that we’ll see her attempt fail with some negative consequences for all three of them.

Dolores and William were back this week, continuing their train ride with Lawrence and the nitro-glycerine. As I noted at the top, trying to watch this show entirely in a vacuum isn’t possible, and though I said two weeks ago that I wouldn’t address one particular theory, it’d be a mistake not to do so at this juncture.

In an ideal world, Westworld is making this look too easy for the plain and simple reason that it wants to lull us into a false sense of security, only to go a different way. At this point, they’ve telegraphed that William is Man in Black so much that, while the nature of the twist would be clever from a structural standpoint, the reveal itself would be entirely unspectacular. It’s reasonable that an attempt to disguise such a twist may be forgone given the rise of internet fandoms, just to take some of the edge off and not make it seem like such a “Gotcha!” moment. And, yes, this still may all just be misdirection - though William’s desire to “find out what it means” is a pretty telling link - but if it isn’t, the show would be better served to reveal it soon and do something more meaningful with it.

William spent most of his first four episodes trying to prove to Logan that the typical pleasures one can engage with at Westworld aren’t for everyone, and they aren’t for him. Over those episodes, that gradually degraded, culminating in him leaving his friend to be beaten two weeks ago. “Trompe L'Oeil” returned to that thread, and gave us a deeper insight into William. What’s most interesting about his conversation with Dolores is how he goes against the grain of the park’s usual visitors. Most come to pretend: they pretend to be cowboys, pretend to be bounty hunters, pretend to be the kind of person that has sex with an endless supply of women - anything they want. Even if it speaks to their core instincts, this is still a make-believe world.

For William, the opposite is true. He tells Dolores that he’s been pretending his whole life, and his visit to the park has enabled him to be truly alive. His decision to have sex with Dolores is a bold one for him as a character, but it was somewhat jarring to see him go from telling her he had a life on the outside to immediately declaring that his park experience is too good to not continue. Presumably, the intent was to suggest him giving into what he really wanted, effectively saying that up until that point, he was pretending to be pretending…? In any event, it was muddled and it felt like there needed to be a scene in between.

Some really strong moments once again this week, and things are certainly ramping up as we come towards the end of the season.

Other thoughts:

• Though I’ve seen some online say that when Theresa told Bernard about the door in the house, they were suspicious, the kicker in indicating him to be a host was when he told Theresa, in regards to the sketches: “They don’t look like anything to me.”

• I didn’t mention it above, but Maeve is now not only able to overcome sleep mode in the facility but be unaffected by it when the techs enter the park.

• No Elsie this week, nor any Man in Black/Teddy. The latter pair will be back next week, I assume; who knows with Elsie.

• So Charlotte Hale was really making herself at home in the facility, having sex with Hector. That was… odd.

• The award for the most badass line of the hour goes to Lawrence, for his “Adios, motherf--kers.”

• The show was renewed today! Unfortunately, it probably won't be returning until 2018.

What did everyone think of “Trompe L'Oeil”?