'Westworld' Season 3 Episode 6: Charlotte Hale lost her 'family', she deserves to have vengeance
Spoilers for 'Westworld' Season 3 Episode 6 'Decoherence'
There’s a scene in James McTeague’s 2005 adaptation of Alan Moore’s ‘V For Vendetta’ where the titular V’s backstory is shown for the briefest of moments. We see an angry V emerge from flames, screaming. It’s a powerful scene. Episode 6 of ‘Westworld’ season 3 ends on a very similar note. As a bomb destroys the car Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) and her family is in, killing her husband and child, she emerges crawling and charred, with rage in her eyes.
Season 3 of the Jonathan Nolan-Lisa Joy science fiction magnum opus has told more of Hale’s story than the first two. To be fair, the Hale in season 3 is not Hale per se; she’s a Host with Dolores’ (Evan Rachel Wood) consciousness. But that doesn’t take anything away from the extraordinary turns her arc has taken.
The build-up to ‘Decoherence’ has seen Hale struggle. While she maintains a calm and cold and strong composure in front of the world, we as viewers have seen how Hale has been barely keeping it together. Perhaps it was the fact that Host consciousnesses weren’t meant to be duplicated and triplicated, but Hale’s discomfort in her skin was evident from the self-harm and constant anguish. Only Dolores’ touch seemed to bring her some semblance of comfort, as she struggled to deal with the fact that her real-world family was not her family at all.
But the urge to emulate Hale more and Dolores less led her to do some things that are totally out of character for the cold and vengeful Dolores we have been seeing since season 2. Hale murdered a man who threatened her quote-unquote child. She was visibly affected by footage of the real Hale from the Delos theme park before she died. She was constantly struggling with balancing these two identities.
That struggle culminated into a confession in episode 6 where she told Dolores that she was less of her and that her emotions -- a component they had decided not to delete, despite the possibility of it -- were getting the better of her. This confession was not a standalone gesture. While escaping the Delos facility, from the clutches of the villainous Serac (Vincent Cassel), Hale’s head was still with her so-called family. She cared for them more than she cared for Dolores’ revolution.
Ultimately, it was this decision only that led to the death of her family. Serac’s men bombed her car. Maybe they would have been killed even if Hale hadn’t reached them. They may have been used as leverage against her. But it doesn’t change the fact that it was her weakness for them that sealed their fates. Because Serac knew where her head was at.
The charred Hale that emerged like a Phoenix from the ashes of her car and her family may not be fit enough to fight back right now but it is only likely that she will play an important role in the ending of this tale. How can she not? What is interesting, however, is who will her rage be directed at?
Would she blame herself, and by extension the Prime Dolores? The chances of that are likely, for her anguish with Dolores has been visible for a while now, and more so, in this episode. Or would she be the final nail in Serac’s coffin, a divergence even his Rehoboam couldn’t predict and control?
Either way, Tessa Thompson’s incredible journey in this season has yet to end and one can only hope that the ending finds her justice. Of all the Hosts and humans in the series, Hale is definitely among the lot that deserves a satisfactory ending.
The next episode of 'Westworld' airs April 26, on HBO.