5 Hot Theories and Burning Questions about Westworld - Reunion

By: Brenna Gonzalez │@Brennagonzalez5

[Editor’s Note: This review contains spoilers for “Westworld” Season 2, Episode 2, “Reunion” - Last chance to bail!]

“Have you ever seen anything so full of splendor?”

In the follow-up episode to last week's season two opener we see the first introduction of host Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) into the real world as she is about to be shown off to yuppie elites, one of them the overly-excited Logan (the underappreciated Ben Barnes). She is mesmerized by the landscape in front of her, unable to comprehend the fact that so many things can exist within one space. She repeats the quote above many times throughout this episode, probably to show that she is not of full power and consciousness yet, but also to show something much more sinister that set the tone for the episode ahead.

For someone who is quite pleasant, it makes sense for her to look at the world below and see beauty, but for the people who live in that world every day, it is even easier to see the darkness. All I was thinking throughout that entire scene, besides the fact that she looked gorgeous, was how Dolores sees change and automatically assumed the best, when what really lay below her was the chaos we now see in present-day Westworld (with all the hosts retaliating against their corrupt oppressors).

We, unfortunately, live in a world today where we see Dolores’s life unfold so tragically, yet we still think “maybe it isn’t a good idea to meet the rest of the world as it is probably just as shitty, only in different ways”. It's a sad conclusion to come to, but hey man we created this dystopian mess of a world so we might as well realize it through a form of good ol' fashioned escapism: Westworld.

With that depressing reflection now over, I think it is important to touch on the fact that this episode was incredibly engaging and well done. By answering some of our biggest questions regarding the park's history we are now satisfied, yet simultaneously unfulfilled as we are left with even more questions (some of which I will mention later). “Reunion” was more about backstory than it was about moving the storyline forward, but I can certainly say it helped to further engage me in what is going on back at the now-rogue park. How did things get to where they are now after so many years of being active? What was the fatal slip-up that could land the world at war with A.I.? Jonathan Nolan, if you are reading this… I need answers, now! Also, keep up the good work.

HBO

THEORIES

Logan died not long after we see him last

I mean let's be real, this can’t be that much of a shock. With the revelation that he is not only a bitter, lazy, sex addict, but that he is also a drug addict, it is really no reach to say that he may have died sometime after our most-recent encounter with him. Given that throughout all the crazy timeline hopping we haven’t seen an old version of him (e.g. Old William, the Man in Black), it’s safe to say the reasoning behind that is not merely a creative choice but the only choice as there is... no old Logan. I'm sure that this will be further explained throughout this season, as he seems to be playing a decent role in the park's creation, even if he is barely involved with the company anymore after his father's retirement.

One of the Park's devious purposes is to create eternal life by uploading consciousness into the hosts

As William talks to Jim Delos, we are given a convincing plea for a shot at investing in Westworld's attractions. In part of his monologue, the newly-backstabby William explains that “this will be the only reality that matters in 20 years.” What if - and just bear with me - this sentence includes the implication that they could manipulate the hosts to a more severe degree within the years. What if, through some sort of “Get Out” style fuckery, they had plans of using the hosts as potential replacements for the old and rich and their soon-to-be withered-away brains…ultimately allowing them to live forever and cheat death altogether. It isn’t a huge stretch, as they were already willing to track every guest's “activity” inside the park. My point is, they've done a lot worse so who knows. Jim looked like he was dying anyway, so maybe that was part of the reason he agreed to William's billion-dollar passion project.

HBO

QUESTIONS

What made William turn on Logan like he did?

Wasn’t younger William a good guy? How does he actually become the untrustworthy, somewhat unsettling, power-hungry character we see in this episode? He’s corrupt, even at one point taking time to point of how he was so weak before for falling in love with Dolores, stating, “I can’t believe I fell in love with you.” At this point in the timeline, I’m not even looking at young sweet William as the soon to be horrible Man in Black, it still is too large of a leap, no matter how many shitty things they make him do behind Logan's back.

What is life outside like?

We haven't seen much of the outside world in its present state and I think there is a reason for that. Will the big reveal once Dolores and her ragtag host gang make it outside be that it is nothing close to what they imagined? The rich prick they encountered in the parks rehabilitation outpost did mention that they have no idea what they're going to be facing when they step foot outside but he wasn’t specific enough. Could there be more trouble outside than there is inside?

How were the "O.G." hosts created?

JUST LOOK AT THEM!! THEY’RE SO REAL-LOOKING… c’mon, if we haven't mastered plastic surgery, then there is no way we could ever make robots look like a bunch of “Angelas.” What technological advancement took place for A.I. engineers to create such hyper-realistic beings? Yes, I understand that it's a fictional show where the hosts are played by actual human actors, but even I was fooled by the party that took place. My brain was stuck on there being maybe 3 hosts tops... so much so that I was trying to pick them out with Logan. To then later see the room freeze, along with the incredibly euphoric instrumental version of Kanye West's “Runaway” used a backdrop, I was most definitely as shook as he was.