Westworld

[Krgrecw]

Anyone watch Hbo's next big thing?
To much of a mind**** for me.

[thewupk]

I've seen the trailer. I'll check out the show at some point this week. Looks like a hell of a cast.

[50PoundHead]

Watched it and will continue to. Pretty heady stuff. Like all HBO shows, a bit of nudity for nothing other than shock value, but that's come to be expected. Has sort of an Ex Machina feel so it's going to be delving into some existential territory. Great cast. I'll tune in again.

[zitothebrave]

Season Finale was tonight. Not gonna delve too much into the nitty gritty for spoiler reasons.

But a few questions I have.

First, guns. Why and how? The last episode really brings things to a head for me. And there is less explanation and this makes it crazier.

Second is where does it take place. We know more about the whens of the show, but the where is all over the place.

The rest are spoiler heavy so I'll come back tomorrow with a spoiler wrap.

[thewupk]

Season Finale was tonight. Not gonna delve too much into the nitty gritty for spoiler reasons.

But a few questions I have.

First, guns. Why and how? The last episode really brings things to a head for me. And there is less explanation and this makes it crazier.

Second is where does it take place. We know more about the whens of the show, but the where is all over the place.

The rest are spoiler heavy so I'll come back tomorrow with a spoiler wrap.

two words for ya

Spoiler: 

Samurai World

[50PoundHead]

I enjoyed the season. Some great concepts. I will let other weigh in on their perspectives before I list a couple of gripes I have.

[jpx7]

Watched it and will continue to. Pretty heady stuff. Like all HBO shows, a bit of nudity for nothing other than shock value, but that's come to be expected. Has sort of an Ex Machina feel so it's going to be delving into some existential territory. Great cast. I'll tune in again.

I actually think, unlike most other HBO shows, the nudity is Westworld was not for shock value—at least not the usual sort. I personally really like the reading (not original to me) that the show is, in any ways, a commentary on (among other things) the nature of spectatorship, and specifically a critique of HBO's viewers and other shows/showrunners. The nudity in Westworld is mostly very clinical and sterile, and I think the staging and cinematography does a very good job of making its nudity desexualized, or at least "unsexy," in a way that nicely problematizes the sort of nudity featured in, say, Game of Thrones*. Meanwhile, the guests function, to at least some extent, as a stand-in for the viewers at home, especially those who are also fans of Game of Thrones and its ilk (of which I am admittedly one), and even more especially for those who watch the show for its sex-&-violence appeal.

* Somewhat to its credit, I think Game of Thrones attempts this as well, at times—for instance Circe's "walk of shame" scene; but it's also telling that its biggest moment of desexualized nudity involved a proud woman being shamed, spit upon, assaulted, et cetera.

[weso1]

I actually think, unlike most other HBO shows, the nudity is Westworld was not for shock value—at least not the usual sort. I personally really like the reading (not original to me) that the show is, in any ways, a commentary on (among other things) the nature of spectatorship, and specifically a critique of HBO's viewers and other shows/showrunners. The nudity in Westworld is mostly very clinical and sterile, and I think the staging and cinematography does a very good job of making its nudity desexualized, or at least "unsexy," in a way that nicely problematizes the sort of nudity featured in, say, Game of Thrones*. Meanwhile, the guests function, to at least some extent, as a stand-in for the viewers at home, especially those who are also fans of Game of Thrones and its ilk (of which I am admittedly one), and even more especially for those who watch the show for its sex-&-violence appeal.

* Somewhat to its credit, I think Game of Thrones attempts this as well, at times—for instance Circe's "walk of shame" scene; but it's also telling that its biggest moment of desexualized nudity involved a proud woman being shamed, spit upon, assaulted, et cetera.

This is funny timing. I'm currently rewatching Game of Thrones and was just discussing with my wife the necessary vs. unnecessary nudity in Game of Thrones. I'm on season 2 and every episode has had nudity so far, but I think only three scenes of nudity were necessary in regards to the audience. The scene where dragon lady is disrobed by her brother, the scene where the lady of the light is being seductive to seduce the wannabe king and the scene where the gay wannabe king was seduced by his girl. All other nudity seemed like pornography.

[50PoundHead]

To be clear, I'm not anti-nudity in film/television/stage and weso has summed up my feelings better than I did. As he points out, if the nudity is central to what is happening to a character or furthers the plot in some way, it can be an effective and meaningful storytelling tool. It just seems to be a requisite on a lot of the premium cable dramas that there is nudity for the sake of nudity, which can dull its effectiveness.

[goldfly]

To much of a mind**** for me.

after watching the first episode

this comment i quoted isn't a surprise
-------


i'm in on the show and hope it's another great hit for HBO cause it has potential

[chop2chip]

Meh.

This continues to be a show with an amazing premise, but mediocre writing.

[thewupk]

Meh.

This continues to be a show with an amazing premise, but mediocre writing.

Was a weaker episode than #8. Seems like there is a lot left to do for the season finale. There is still a gap of roughly 7 days between where the main story is with MIB/Dolores/etc and where Bernard woke up on the beach and Delos figures out he's a host. That's a lot of ground to catch up in 1 episode.

[zitothebrave]

Was a weaker episode than #8. Seems like there is a lot left to do for the season finale. There is still a gap of roughly 7 days between where the main story is with MIB/Dolores/etc and where Bernard woke up on the beach and Delos figures out he's a host. That's a lot of ground to catch up in 1 episode.

I don't think they'll cover it all. THis episode was clearly about setting up the finale. It did a handful of things well, though it didn't really move the plot forward, just set the cogs in motion to shoot the plot forward for the finale. There's probably a dozen things that will happen in the last episode. And that will determine the fate of this episode.

[thewupk]

I don't think they'll cover it all. THis episode was clearly about setting up the finale. It did a handful of things well, though it didn't really move the plot forward, just set the cogs in motion to shoot the plot forward for the finale. There's probably a dozen things that will happen in the last episode. And that will determine the fate of this episode.

Well seems like they just glossed over it. Only a couple of things really happened in that time frame. I think we saw a glimpse of where the series finale is heading with that post credits scene.

[Tapate50]

Crazy ending. End of the show I'd imagine.

[chop2chip]

That was a really good finale. The show still continues to frustrate me, but I am optimistic that expanding the geographic scope of the show will help it from being too cute. This is show is at its best when it’s chewing through plot (see Episode 8 and the Finale).

[zitothebrave]

That was a really good finale. The show still continues to frustrate me, but I am optimistic that expanding the geographic scope of the show will help it from being too cute. This is show is at its best when it’s chewing through plot (see Episode 8 and the Finale).

I think the struggle of any show is the balance needed to flesh out characters and move the plot. They want you to care about people if they die or if they survive. Otherwise you're just cannon fodder.