In two weeks WestWorld returns to fill Game of Thrones’ usual slot in the television calendar and while the fantasy show is winding down towards its final season next year, WestWorld, which was HBO’s most viewed series premiere since True Detective, is gearing up for a second season that could cement it as Game of Thrones’ rightful heir. The sci-fi show wowed audiences and sent the Internet into a fan-theory frenzy 18 months ago and looks set to do it again and below are four hopes I have for the series’ return after rewatching the first season.
Minimal use of the other parks
The concept of there being other parks is an interesting one but it also brings about a whole bunch of questions. While there are a couple of lines that tease the existence of these parks throughout the first season, it’s the finale that confirms the idea with the reveal of a Feudal Japan-set park named ShogunWorld. I hope this world, and the multitude of others (there are six in total), are used sparingly in the show’s future; the series is called WestWorld after all. Ford and his long dead partner Arnold are the true geniuses behind the robotic hosts and, from what we gather in season one, they worked exclusively on WestWorld so who runs these other parks? Delos is trying to steal and transmit the Host code from WestWorld throughout the first season so the technology behind WestWorld must be much more sophisticated than that of the other parks. I guess WestWorld’s Hosts are the most technologically advanced but then again Maeve’s “daughter” was transferred to “Park 1” which is likely not WestWorld (possibly ShogunWorld because that’s where we see Maeve in the season 2 trailer) so the technology can’t be that different and if so why wasn’t Delos infiltrating the parks away from Ford’s control? Keeping the existence of the other parks a secret so it could be a twist in the finale leaves an assortment of unanswered questions about those parks and what was happening in them during season one and I hope the second season starts to answer them.
Delos’ true goal
Delos, the company behind the parks, is set up as a nefarious entity in the first season, trying to make Ford exit the company and taking the Host’s code and technology for their own purposes. So, what exactly is their plan? It’s implied they want to simplify the parks once Ford is out of the way because the technology is too good to waste on the type of twisted entertainment WestWorld offers but that is currently all we know. The obvious answer is some sort of military application and while that could be done well I hope it’s something else. I don’t know what but just something different than using Hosts as some kind of super-soldiers especially considering Jurassic World, another property based on a Michael Crichton futuristic theme park idea, went the same way with InGen wanting the Raptors to hunt down terrorists. Also, we don’t know why Ford wanted Maeve to leave WestWorld. Was it to also get the data out of the park for his own reasons or in the hope his advanced form of life will replace humanity?
Don’t try and out do the season 1 twist
One of the most memorable things about season one was the big twist that William was a young ‘Man in Black’ and that his storyline with Logan and Delores was set decades before the rest of the show. As someone who searches the Internet (mainly Reddit) after each episode for theories/things I missed/other speculative chatter I came across the theory straight after William’s debut in episode 2. While I was unconvinced initially I couldn’t get the theory out of my head and it soon became clear that the fan-theory was correct. I still think the twist worked despite people figuring it out and it became a defining feature of the season; so much so that I’m worried the writers will try to out do themselves in season 2. While I like mysteries and twists (apart from Star Trek Discovery’s incredible obvious twists that don’t amount to anything) I don’t want any huge ones in season 2 that shake up the whole show and Jonathan Nolan commenting that he has a bold and controversial plan to deal with fan-theories in the upcoming season has me concerned.
Old Man Logan
We last saw Logan, William’s co-worker/future step-brother, 30 years before the ‘present’, riding into the sunset, butt naked, after being humiliated by the now black hat William. William’s future is the more immediately interesting considering this is the first stage of him turning into the ‘Man in Black’ but what about Logan. From the trailer we know we’ll be returning to this earlier part of the timeline in season 2 and Logan will probably play a part in that but could we see Logan as an older man in the primary time period? I hope so. Maybe he still works for Delos in some capacity, working from within to plot revenge on his former friend or maybe he now works for a rival of Delos, dragging William out of his now deadly immersive experience in WestWorld for business, either to save Delos from the Host Revolution or watch them go down in flames. It sounds mad but could Logan be the one in control of the mysterious Ghost Nation? Or could his story end in the past with a confrontation with William not long after their original spat? Either way we don’t have long to wait to find out.
I’ll be back next week with four more hopes for WestWorld season 2 but in the meantime, what are your hopes for WestWorld’s second season? What do you think about mine? Let me know in the comments and geek out with me about TV, movies and video-games on Twitter @kylebrrtt.
