'Westworld' Season 3 Episode 4 Review: Plot kicks into high gear in the season's best episode yet
Spoilers for 'Westworld' Season 3 Episode 4 'The Mother of Exiles'
Sometimes, it's easy to forget just how much fun 'Westworld' can be. Between the long, drawn-out moments of intrigue and drama and enough twists for the show to become a writhing mess of plot points nigh impossible to keep track of, 'Westworld' can often be a mixed bag of confusion and boredom, usually only offset by stellar production values that keep the show from becoming too exhausting.
This episode, however, kicks things into high gear, with Maeve (Thandie Newton) finally sent out into the world to do what she does best, Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) unveiling the season's first twist that isn't a twist for twist's sake, and some excellent action scenes all set to a wonderful cover of The Weekend's 'Wicked Games.' What more could one want?
This episode, we get a closer look into what makes these characters tick. The enigmatic Engerraund Serac (Vincent Cassel) is peeled back a few layers, to reveal a self-assured rich man motivated by bitterness and a desire for global influence, who enjoys the taste of vengeance like a good steak. We see a man who assumes himself to be the world's only real moral compass, and thus, any action he takes is completely justified.
In the meanwhile, we learn a little bit more about Dolores as well. For all her talk about a robotic revolution, and building a better world for her kind, the only person she finds she can trust is ultimately revealed to be herself. Dolores is giving herself all the power and it's a disappointing twist, but only for those who wanted to believe in Dolores' revolution itself. We see that Dolores has become just as selfish, paranoid and untrusting like the people she's seeking to bring down. While the other Doloreses did a great job of selling that they were all the same person, Tessa Thompson deserves extra high praise for portraying an excellent Dolores before we even knew it was her in Charlotte Hale's body.
Maeve's casual ability to take charge of the situation has been something the show's been sorely missing, and her first confrontation with Mushashi-as-Sato-as-Dolores (Hiroyuki Sanada) sees samurai swords meet Yakuza guns in a fantastic start to the Dolores-Maeve conflict. The action was all on point this episode, and it's especially noteworthy how every fighter has their own unique style. Maeve is pure elegance in her violence — casual, ruthless, and stylish. Dolores combines brutal efficiency with grace. Ashley Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth) is a brawler, through and through. Seeing the action set to the backdrop of that orchestral cover was an added delight.
Let's not forget, of course, the return of the Man in Black (Ed Harris), who is dealing with his own existential dilemma. It's hard to say what connection he really has to Season 3's overall story, but that doesn't take away from the brilliance of his performance. In the Westworld theme park, he was always self-assured, and in charge, and most importantly, he had a clear sense of when he was being lied to. It's ironic that out in the real world, his perception of what is real and what isn't is unraveling at the seams, as he is haunted by the memory of him killing his own daughter. The situation he's in now is perhaps the most fitting revenge that he could have received, but his story isn't over yet.
It's becoming increasingly rare for 'Westworld' to present a show that provides a lot to talk about that isn't just plot twists and conspiracy theories. It may not last, but this episode, at least, was one of the season's best.
The next episode of 'Westworld' airs on April 12 on HBO.