'Westworld' Season 3 Episode 1 Review: Futuristic buildings, self-driving cars have changed the feel of the show
Spoiler alert for 'Westworld' Season 3 'Parce Domine' Episode 1
After a very long hiatus, 'Westworld' is back on air and it opens into a drastically different world. About as far removed from the vast open spaces and dusty trails of the Old West as it can be, 'Parce Domine' immerses us fully in Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan's vision of the world in 2058. After spending two seasons exploring the capabilities of AI and conditioning an audience to trust no one, the show sets itself in a world far more familiar in an attempt to make us equally paranoid about our own future.
It almost feels like a different show. In fact, had it worked just a little better at working recaps into its plot, the Season 3 premiere would have worked as a great jumping, perfect for those who want to see what the whole 'Westworld' fuss is about. The new season shows us a world where everything is systemized, from corporate decisions, to therapy, to even crime.
"Bit of a tactical error," says Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), as she claims her first victim of the series by using his own security systems against him. Humanity in 2058, has all but completely given themselves up to the system, and Dolores' goal appears to be gaining control of that very system.
For the first episode, at least, there appears to be less confusion as to what is happening. Where Season 2 relied perhaps a bit too heavily on keeping its audience guessing by adding one layer of complication over another, Season 3's premiere makes everything more relatively clear. Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright) is on the run as the scapegoat of the Westworld massacre, switching between his two personas with a control device. Dolores is gunning for a way for artificial intelligence like her to thrive, and she's going to the very top to do it.
Meanwhile, new character Caleb (Aaron Paul) is a man on the street, who is trying his best to live by a system that has failed him, and crosses paths with Dolores in what seems to be a chance meeting, and if there's any human who would be sympathetic to the cause of disrupting the system, it seems like it would be him.
The plot may get more complicated as the series goes on, but the first episode clearly establishes what you need to be paying attention to: The themes of whether we've given algorithms and technology too much control, how the world may be a simulation, how the system is rigged to benefit those who control it, and how poor Bernard can never, ever quite catch a break.
Also important to be aware of is that there's yet another theme park, one Maeve (Thandie Newton) appears in in the episode's post-credits scene. The show being unwilling to let go of its theme parks is a bit of a letdown - setting the show in 2058 is a huge risk, one that's undermined slightly by its insistence on having another physical simulation ripped straight from history and made real.
The new setting of 2058 makes for some stunning visuals that we've never had the chance to see before on 'Westworld.' The futuristic buildings, the sleek, black, self-driving vehicles are all stunning and vastly different from the kinds of sets we've seen before. There is wealth and opulence on display, everywhere, as Dolores attempts to infiltrate the highest levels of society, a far cry from the spartan life that guests immersed themselves in at the Westworld parks.
'Westworld' Season 3 feels very different. It builds off of the setup of two seasons without being too heavily reliant on every complicated detail that the series has been saturated with. It's a strong start and an important refresher. The future of 'Westworld' looks bright and fittingly, increasingly sinister.
The next episode of 'Westworld' airs March 22, on HBO.