Westworld: The Mother of Exiles (3x04)

I'm at the point with this show that talking about the plot is kind of fruitless. There's tons of good shit going on here, but I'm not really going to break it down for you vis a vis plot summary, because to be frank, I'm not sure I can untangle all the messiness.

Cons:

I find Serac's Big Brother thing, where he's trying to find the best way to map a human's brain, kind of mustache-twirly and too basic for a big bad villain. It's not bad, but he gets a little bit more explain-y than I would normally like.

Pros:

Dolores!! Holy moly mother of god, I did not see it coming that all of the pods that Dolores brought with her were just copies of herself!! So we've got Tessa Thompson playing Dolores, and at least two other hosts going about Dolores-ing with the best of 'em. That's intense and crazy and I can't wait to see how that all shakes out. Clearly there's Dolores Prime, the most evolved version, but she's manipulating and using herself in the way that humans used to use her back in the park. This is some twisty shit! I assume they're not a hive mind, but how much independence do they each have?

I loved the masquerade ball, and how it's a convergence of all of our characters. We've got Dolores and Caleb there, but also Dolores' billionaire ex who thinks she's dead, and who has direct power over the big weird computer thingy (see how much research I'm putting in? ha). And then there's Bernard and Ashley Stubbs, who also show up there seeking Dolores. It's a nice confluence where we get all the characters in the mix, and things start to go crazy.

Aesthetically, I thought the weird display of the high-end sex workers, and the general vibe of the party, was very striking and distinct. It looked like a typical richy-rich party, but also unique and intriguing, and I'm not trying to be weird here about all the naked people. I felt similarly about the fancy bank, and the cool heist vibes with Dolores and Caleb. I just really liked the visual style of the creepy fancy financial institution, and the way rough-and-tumble Caleb was sort of able to make himself fit in, but still came across a little uncouth.

This plot thread also provided a solid example of why Dolores wants Caleb around. She does need a human for some of what she's up to, and the moment when she stole an unconscious guard's blood and injected it into Caleb's arm shows how brutal she is willing to be, and also how he can be a useful asset for her. I'm excited to track their relationship moving forward, and how much Caleb is told about what's going on, vs. how much Dolores leaves out.

Then there's the William of it all. "Charlotte" comes to get him and bring him to a board meeting, but then double crosses him and brings him to a mental institution to be admitted, instead. The gradual reveal of Dolores is brilliant here. Because we, the audience, know that Charlotte isn't Charlotte. But we don't know who she really is until right there at the end, when the full magnitude of Dolores' plan begins to sink in. And William slowly unraveling as he hallucinates his dead daughter was really chilling to watch. The last shot we have of him is sitting alone, having hallucinated Dolores dressed in her outfit from the park, goading him into asking the question he so desperately wants to have answered: "am I... me?"

It's unclear if this is a swan song for the character or if he'll be back later on, but the whole setup and payoff was chilling, either way.

We get an intriguing world-building detail that apparently Paris got blown up. We also know that Caleb is a veteran, but we don't know from what war, or who is fighting with/against whom. I like the way this show builds its world from the inside out. We start small, and we are now expanding into bigger and bigger truths about reality.

So that's where I'm going to leave things - this show is really stunning to look at, and I sure do like the ladies kicking ass and taking names. Maeve's fate seems somewhat up in the air because Dolores (in yet another body)... killed her? But I'm going to guess we'll find out more about that soon enough. Until next time!

8.5/10