They spiked the show pretty hard in S2. Echoing everyone who has said Japan world was a dumb cringefest
-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
LTTP: Westworld season 2 (WTF is this)
- Thread starter cognizant
- Start date
Add.
I wont even feel sad if HBO cancelled season 3 altogether.
I think the one decent episode was the one with the
.
The rest of it was just... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I wont even feel sad if HBO cancelled season 3 altogether.
I think the one decent episode was the one with the
guy in the room that repeated itself over the years.
The rest of it was just... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Season 1 was at times uneven and pretentious but I loved the concept so I stuck with it to the end. I hoped that Nolan and Co. had heard the criticisms and would learn from Season 1's mistakes with Season 2.
...Nope.
...Nope.
It wasn't great but the Ghost Nation episode was a masterpiece
Oh man, when they tried to storm the fort by just slowly walking over an open field and firing their guns. It was as if they suddenly used Wild West military tactics
So much melodrama in this thread.
Wasn't as good as Season 1 and had its issues but I thought ended on a quality note. Give me a fucking break with all this "GAWD IT WAS UNWATCHABLE" shit.
Wasn't as good as Season 1 and had its issues but I thought ended on a quality note. Give me a fucking break with all this "GAWD IT WAS UNWATCHABLE" shit.
unlike, say, LOST, Westworld had no likeable, interesting or relatable main characters to anchor things in case the story got too crazy. the only person I had any emotions for was the Ghost Nation guy, and that was only one episode. I didn't care about any of the main characters, so when the main story lost me, the show lost me, too.
I've got mixed opinions about it - they do some interesting things with the setup of S1 and there are some fantastic individual scenes and episodes, with a lot of great performances throughout (Zahn McClarnon deserves a shout-out in particular).
But as a whole it felt unfocused and loose compared to S1, and the general execution was lacking in many areas (don't get new started on the action scenes). And despite those great performances, it more often than not didn't translate to actual satisfying character arcs.
The end of S2 tied a lot of things up and wiped the board clean for S3, so it'll be interesting to see where they go from here - Jonathan Nolan's last show took a few seasons to hit its stride, after all.
But as a whole it felt unfocused and loose compared to S1, and the general execution was lacking in many areas (don't get new started on the action scenes). And despite those great performances, it more often than not didn't translate to actual satisfying character arcs.
The end of S2 tied a lot of things up and wiped the board clean for S3, so it'll be interesting to see where they go from here - Jonathan Nolan's last show took a few seasons to hit its stride, after all.
Did they really change the plot because people on reddit (or wherever) were guessing correctly and they wanted to throw people off? Just the fact that I'm not entirely sure is testament to how scattered the plot was.
I didn't think the timelines were too convoluted, as others have said, they have visual cues like the glasses or how they were dressed. Still inexcusable to me the opening scene was Bernard on the beach with wine glasses or whatever around him to make us think that this happened immediately after season 1; then they go into this whole thing like they have no idea why the valley was flooded, and it turns out most of them were there and the wine glass mysteriously disappeared when we finally caught up to that scene. It's like setting up a ton of mystery boxes and then opening them all up with just disappointment after disappointment.
I didn't think the timelines were too convoluted, as others have said, they have visual cues like the glasses or how they were dressed. Still inexcusable to me the opening scene was Bernard on the beach with wine glasses or whatever around him to make us think that this happened immediately after season 1; then they go into this whole thing like they have no idea why the valley was flooded, and it turns out most of them were there and the wine glass mysteriously disappeared when we finally caught up to that scene. It's like setting up a ton of mystery boxes and then opening them all up with just disappointment after disappointment.
This is basically my take on it too, I'll keep watching because I think (hope) that season 3 will be a smaller-scale story with more room for character development and interaction, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
Like so many Lost imitators, it's a show with ten thousand mysteries and no interesting characters to participate in them.
Only good episode that came out of season 2 was the Ghost Nation one, probably the best of the entire series.
The rest? Blegh.
In the end, Dolores and Bernard feel almost like a cheap version of Magneto and Xavier.
The rest? Blegh.
In the end, Dolores and Bernard feel almost like a cheap version of Magneto and Xavier.
Last edited:
It took me 8 months to watch episodes 1-9 because each one felt like a slog. The Ghost Nation one was the closest to great, but even that felt like a wasted opportunity in the end. Then I finished episode 9 with the silly deaths of William's daughter and Teddy's suicide, thought about how little I gave a shit about anything that was going on or anyone in the show, and was about to watch episode 10 just so I could say I watched the full season until I saw the finale was 100 minutes long and burst out laughing. Like hahah fuck no. How a show this intellectually simple can be this up its own ass astounds me
Smaller scale? The main robots are now free to roam "worldwide", that's the opposite of small.
There are fewer characters and the show seems to have zeroed in on a core conflict between Dolores and Bernard that could provide for better, character-focused drama instead of constant pointless mystery. But we'll see.
I enjoyed it when it aired, but it also highlighted how the showrunners are trying to make it convoluted for the sake of being convoluted, by intentionally mudding the timelines and throwing red herrings literally everywhere. As a consequence, the actual good twists were overshadowed by some bad decisions, and as a whole it was a far less memorable season than season 1, which is one of the strongest debuts for a TV show that I can remember (up there with True Detective S1, the original Twin Peaks and Homeland S1 among others). Not that much passed since its airing and I realize I forgot a lot already, because they spent a crazy amount of time trying to hide the important plot details behind 7 layers of timeline fuckery and mystery instead of opting for a nice and tidy narrative.
Agree 100%.
I'm kind of checked out but those 2 episodes specifically kept me from totally checking out. And wanting to see stuff at that level might get me back for season 3. They were that good.
Two episodes that feel like they are from another show they are so good. I think the main problem is that the writers have interesting stories to tell about the history of the park and how it came to be, but they have zero fucking clue what they actually want the present characters to do. It's not really a coincidence the two strongest episodes of the season are essentially lore dumps.
It was a bad decision to rely on a weaker narrative time premise right after season 1.
There were still some stand out moments, but getting strung along felt way more obvious week after week after most of the mystery is gone and storylines get stretched out as characters slowly move into positions for things to happen.
The amount of shots of Jeffery wright staring dumbfounded into the middle distance trying to remember was ridiculous.
There were still some stand out moments, but getting strung along felt way more obvious week after week after most of the mystery is gone and storylines get stretched out as characters slowly move into positions for things to happen.
The amount of shots of Jeffery wright staring dumbfounded into the middle distance trying to remember was ridiculous.
There is good in season 2, but it's lost in the tangled mess of obfuscation the writers felt necessary to keep us guessing. They didn't really need to do that as Westworld shines in the character moments.
OP
OP
As was the amount of flashbacks of Maeve and her kid doing laundry!
they got upset reddit completely guessed every twist from s1 so they tried to outsmart everyone by being extremely deceptive and incoherent at all times
very bad
very bad
Yea it was pretty mediocre outside of Episode 8, which is kind of sad since that episode focused on a side character. What disappointed me most was Dolores' character. I had my gripes with S1 too, but it was fascinating seeing her slowly evolve throughout the season. Unfortunately the Wyatt persona is completely dreadful to watch.
Just like with S1, S2's finale is just interesting enough to make me consider sticking for S3. Assuming I even care anymore with how long that'll take to come out...
That's such a good point. Shit was so dire in that regard that some people's favorite character was Elsie
Just like with S1, S2's finale is just interesting enough to make me consider sticking for S3. Assuming I even care anymore with how long that'll take to come out...
That's such a good point. Shit was so dire in that regard that some people's favorite character was Elsie
For me, the first season told a complete story. It was the story of how the robots discovered the true nature of their existence.
The second series was just blah blah blah.
It reminded me of The Matrix. The first movie was about Neo discovering the nature of his existence. Then.... yeah, blah blah blah.
Also, writing a story and then just showing it out of sequence so the audience have to piece together what is happening is just lazy.
The second series was just blah blah blah.
It reminded me of The Matrix. The first movie was about Neo discovering the nature of his existence. Then.... yeah, blah blah blah.
Also, writing a story and then just showing it out of sequence so the audience have to piece together what is happening is just lazy.
Outside of one episode, it's a terrible sophomore season for an already mediocre show.
I don't intend to watch season 3 unless they somehow turn things around. They lost the benefit of the doubt with last season
I don't intend to watch season 3 unless they somehow turn things around. They lost the benefit of the doubt with last season
Season 1 is a good show.
Season 2 is a bad show that happens to have several good *episodes*.
I'll keep watching the show because it's very glossy and expensive looking genre television, but it's basically trash at this point and not nearly as highbrow as it thinks it is.
Season 2 is a bad show that happens to have several good *episodes*.
I'll keep watching the show because it's very glossy and expensive looking genre television, but it's basically trash at this point and not nearly as highbrow as it thinks it is.
and the next final season was such a plodding garbage, I would never recommend it to anyone. As for westworld, if it continues to be as aimless and pretentious in season 3, it's probably not going to be renewed.
If you're already paying for HBO, might as well watch the 1st episode. If you're not, I wouldn't subscribe just for that anyway.
The truth is neither season was good and season 2 was somehow so much worse than season 1 was. Preston Jacob videos are the only reason you watch this show because he meticulously destroys the writing in every episode and its cathartic having someone so keen on the details lay out why its such a cluster fuck. The worst offense is having 0 likeable characters or anyone you can root for. Biggest waste of potential Ive seen for a tv show.
The reason those two episodes are good in season 2 (4 and 8) are because they actually give us a character, set him them up so we understand their motivations, who they are, their goals, and we follow them through that progression. The fact that everyone else's motivations are tied up to mysteries or have set ups that don't resonate because the show takes it as fact that we should care about robots like we do with living creatures, is the biggest contribute to its character problem. But some people just want mysteries for the sake of having mysteries and don't care at all that the story doesn't make sense or every character is unbearable. They just want to come back week after week trying to guess what happens.
The reason those two episodes are good in season 2 (4 and 8) are because they actually give us a character, set him them up so we understand their motivations, who they are, their goals, and we follow them through that progression. The fact that everyone else's motivations are tied up to mysteries or have set ups that don't resonate because the show takes it as fact that we should care about robots like we do with living creatures, is the biggest contribute to its character problem. But some people just want mysteries for the sake of having mysteries and don't care at all that the story doesn't make sense or every character is unbearable. They just want to come back week after week trying to guess what happens.
I liked the same two episodes everyone else did (I really liked them a lot) and thought the rest felt like kind of a pointless mess. I don't even remember what the twist was at the end - or was it a series of twists?
It seems like they need to cool it with the mystery stuff at this point and focus on a more straight-ahead story.
It seems like they need to cool it with the mystery stuff at this point and focus on a more straight-ahead story.