Westworld: Vanishing Point (2x09)

I mean... damn. In some ways this episode crossed a line for me. That was a level of intensity that I was not expecting.

Cons:

There's a moment where Ford gives Maeve a little talk, and I had some problems with it. Basically, this is part of Ford's consciousness, programmed to give Maeve a message, right? Well, in that message, we learn that pretty much everything Maeve did up to the point of turning back for her child was of Ford's design. Her coming to a realization of herself, her access to her own programming, all of it. There are moments when Ford's planning becomes a little too ridiculous and far-seeing. It makes a twisted kind of sense why William would be so convinced that Ford is always behind everything, because it seems like a lot of the time, he is behind everything.

I... mean... William kills Emily. And I really don't know how to feel about that. In one sense I guess it was effective, in that I certainly wasn't expecting it and it made me feel emotions. But on the other hand... yikes. This was a level of intensity from this show that I wasn't really looking for. I know William has done a lot of terrible things, but this is beyond the pale.

I know I keep lodging this same complaint over and over again, but it must be said - next week is the finale, and this was yet another episode that spent most of its time on one character. It was a good episode, with a ton of important moments centered around one of the show's most critical players. But still. There are still SO MANY questions left unanswered, and even here, in the penultimate episode, I still feel uncertain about how this is going to wrap up. Maybe I should be more trusting?

Pros:

For all that the Emily thing was shocking, I do need to compliment this episode for how much it stressed me out. In a good way. I was really on the edge my seat for a lot of these moments. And no more so than when it looked like Bernard might be ready to kill Elsie. Again. Or, for real this time. I was shaking. I had just come off the horror of Emily's death, and we'd already seen Emily's mother's suicide earlier. No more lady deaths, please! I was so scared. The stuff with Bernard and Elsie has been an unexpected delight this season. I like that she trusts him, even though she knows what he is. Even though she probably shouldn't trust him, all things considered. It's interesting, and it says something about the nature of hosts vs. humans. Elsie knew Bernard for a long time as her human friend and colleague. She seems unable to let go of that perception of him. On the flip side, Bernard was absolutely right to leave Elsie and get as far away from her as possible. Ford's voice in his ear got him frighteningly close to killing her, and he absolutely needs to get away. It sucks. The situation sucks. But I'm proud of Bernard for making the right call.

While I wasn't crazy about Ford's monologue to Maeve, we did learn a couple of interesting things from it. Sure, most of this was Ford's plan. But Maeve turning back, failing to escape into the real world... that was the breaking point. It's interesting that at the time, this moment was pretty big and important, but now we can see it for what it truly was. Everything Maeve had done up to that point, while impressive, was still orchestrated by her creator in some way. This moment, where she turns back for her child - that's the moment she became a truly sentient being. I like that a lot.

Poor Clementine has been reprogrammed so she can pull the Jedi-Maeve trick, which means bad news for poor Maeve. I don't know where exactly they're going with this, but I think the idea is that the humans can weaponize just a few hosts to mind control the rest, and therefore win this battle. Is that how all the hosts are going to end up floating in the lake? It's the sort of plan that just might work, but of course the moral implications are really icky, given how much humanity we've seen in these hosts this season.

Before we get to the William stuff, let's just... ugh. Teddy. Teddy and Dolores you're breaking my heart here. I knew, from the minute that Teddy started that speech, that he was about to blow his brains out. The interesting thing about this show is that we know death doesn't have to be the end... but I think that might have been the end of poor Teddy. Dolores turned him in to a sociopath, but apparently not good enough - she did that so he could survive this harsh new world, but instead he couldn't face himself anymore. The one constant through it all? His love for Dolores. The two of them were connected from the very moment of Teddy's creation, and here at the end, he apologizes to her for being unable to protect her anymore, and then he shoots himself in the head. Props to Evan Rachel Wood for her portrayal of Dolores in this moment. She goes blank at first, falls to her knees beside him, and only becomes hysterical after a few moments of stunned silence. Really powerful stuff. I'm incredibly bummed about poor Teddy.

Okay. William. The worst person ever. We learn that in the real world, he was considered by almost everyone to be a stand-up, generous, kind person. Even his daughter Emily believed this. The one person who didn't? His wife. (Well, ostensibly Logan isn't a fan of William either, but he wasn't around to talk about it). Juliet can see right through William's act. She knows the darkness that lingers beneath. We see that Juliet has a drinking problem, and that Emily is ready to have her committed, not for the first time. However, that night, Juliet finds William's profile from the park, showing all his dark deeds. She leaves it for Emily to find, and then swallows a bunch of pills and dies in the bathtub. Years later, we're in the park with Emily and William, as Emily tells her father she wants in on his plan to solve Ford's puzzle. Why? Not to seek immortality, but to seek understanding. She wants to know why her mother killed herself.

I believe Emily. I love the moment when she snaps, and says that she has been lying. But not about being the real Emily, as William believes. What she's been lying about is the idea that she and her father could have a second chance. She finally understands her mother's perspective. She finally knows what a monster her father truly is. And William just can't believe in the reality of this. It's all down to his damn ego, in some ways. He really believes that Ford would go this far. I can't entirely blame him for that, but still. He's so sure that Ford would construct a host to look like Emily just to mess with him, even though that hasn't been Ford's MO this whole time. When human people show up to rescue Emily and William, William shoots them down, and then... he kills Emily. He realizes pretty quickly that he's killed his flesh-and-blood daughter, and not a host, but it's too late.

So... obviously William doesn't really kill himself, but he does end the episode cutting in to his own arm, wondering if he's real. The darkness within him has started to twist him up so badly that he's not sure if he himself is a cog in Ford's machine. At least, that's how I'm interpreting this. I don't think William is a host. I think that would undercut a lot of the tension and buildup of the show thus far. But the fact that he's doubting his own reality to such an extent? That's interesting as hell! And messed up!

I guess that's kind of the take-away this week. That was messed up. I'm kind of shaken up about it, in all honesty. I wonder what next week will bring?

8/10