Freeze all motor functions. I have returned! Some might say I am so late because I was on vacation, but really I was just giving the audience time to catch up so we can avoid spoilers. Obviously I am a writer for the people. By now, you should have seen the season 2 finale of Westworld, titled “The Passenger”. This episode served as an excellent wrap-up of this amazing season. Just this week Westworld was nominated for twenty-one Emmy Awards, including Best Drama Series! I am so proud of this amazing show. It is incredibly unfair that I have to somehow choose between Westworld and Game of Thrones, which earned multiple nominations in the same categories. More about that later… We are here to talk about the Westworld season finale, so let’s get to it shall we? I know the last episode was a tad bit confusing so I will do my best to explain what happened. Bring yourself back online.
The System
Now that Teddy is no longer with us, Dolores is ready to end this story. Dolores rides to The Forge after picking up a wounded William. She actually can’t stand William but at this point, she could use an extra gun. Dolores arrives to the the forge and finds Bernard who is heading to The Forge for his own agenda. Dolores swaps William for Bernard which leads him to pull his gun on Dolores. Fast forward to seconds later with William screaming on the ground with this hand blown to pieces. Dolores and Bernard head into the Forge and come face to face with The System. The System has been a secret project within Westworld that only a select few human staff know about. Dolores and Bernard venture into The System and learn more about the life of Delos. Dolores used this opportunity to study human nature as a whole. As they go deeper into the system they learn that the point of the Westworld system was really to collect data on the human guests that entered Westworld. This data was basically stored for experimentation on the human psyche. Each human that entered Westworld, including the staff, had their code so recorded into these very lovely looking books. Dolores is basically having the time of her life and begins to quickly study everything she can about. The main lesson we take away from these flashbacks and experiments is that humans never change.
This interaction also triggers The System to open The Door within The Valley Beyond. Above the surface, Akecheta and his people watched the The Door open. From their perspective, it appeared to be a tunnel that led to a beautiful landscape. In Dolores’s mind, it was another false freedom. The Hosts begin to run through The Door. The consciousness of the Hosts are uploaded into The System, giving them the perception that they are in a new free world. In reality, their bodies are launching off a cliff and to their destruction. Dolores immediately exits The System and begins to shut it down by way of flooding the valley. Her whole mission has always been to liberate Westworld of the selfish hold of the Delos staff, and this vision is just another false promise. Bernard feels as though Dolores is taking the freewill choice away from the Hosts and demands Dolores to stop immediately. Dolores does not back down and Bernard shoots her down.
Maeve’s Final Sacrifice
Ford gives Maeve a special virus in which she uses to control the Hosts around her to help heal her. After destroying the Mesa from the inside, Maeve meets up with her team and they head off for the Valley Beyond. Meanwhile, Clementine is now loaded up with the control virus and is leading a group of Delos troops to the Valley Beyond with the intent to destroy all remaining Hosts. Maeve’s team is riding through Westworld but of course they run into a unit of Delos troops. Hector stands up and decides to distract the troops while Maeve get’s away. However, Lee pulls Hector back as he realizes Hector is more useful alive then dead and sacrifices himself instead. The scene is incredibly sad yet beautiful as he reads off a glorious script he wrote for Hector as a Host. Maeve escapes with Hector and the others, eventually catching up to the Hosts now walking into The Door. Just as a breathe of relief is taken, Clementine emerges from the hills behind the crowd. As Clementine moves through the crowd, her virus begins to infect the Hosts around her, leading the Hosts into a killing frenzy. Armistice is able to shoot Clementine off of her horse, but still the killing continues. The virus has already taken over. Maeve realizes this situation is now out of control and beings to search for her daughter. Maeve finds her daughter and saves her from two murderous Hosts. As a last act of compassion, Maeve uses her power to protect her daughter and new mother as they run off to The Door. As they enter the portal, Maeve releases her hold on the attacking hosts and ultimately gets taken down. I am sad to say that at this moment, my favorite character Maeve Millay is no more. The camera cuts to her face as she lays lifeless smiling with a true sense of accomplishment and freedom.
The Door
As Maeve dies, the damage that Dolores has caused has started to take it’s toll. Akecheta watches Maeve die and see’s that as a sign that there is no longer life in this world that matters beyond his people. Therefore Akecheta runs through the door and comes into the arms of his lover, Kohana. The reunion was literally so sweet and it also makes me question why Zahn McClarnon wasn’t nominated for an Emmy in this role. Anyways, The Door closes and nothing but death trails the portal. The Delos team moves in making sure no one is left alive. As Charlotte Hale arrives, she realizes the valley is slowly flooding due to Dolores and they have to begin evacuation. It appears the team is trying to salvage what Hosts they can before the flooding. Back at the Mesa, Bernard is tripping out about the choice he made to kill Dolores. He is still in shock that all of the Hosts are dead. Just as predicted from the The System early on, Hale actually has not changed her mind about this project and makes it clear that the work must continue. Elsie stands in defiance against Hale which leads to her death. Bernard stands in terror and realizes he ultimately picked the wrong side…
Moving Forward
As flashbacks are pieced together and finally lead to the present, we see Hale and her team questioning Bernard. As Bernard looks like he is on the brink of giving up, he announces he made and choice and brought “her” back. The soldiers are really confused by this then suddenly Hale pulls a gun and kills everyone but Bernard. Then comes the biggest reveal of the season, Dolores has been resurrected within the cloned body of Hale. Bernard shows relief, but then Dolores explains that the present conflicted Bernard must die with the park. Dolores grabs some things and ends up heading to the coast. Stubbs stops Dolores thinking it’s Hale ( or does he?) and questions her sudden departure. Dolores explains she has work to do back at home and boards the plane, leaving Westworld for good. Some time passes and we see a familiar looking building outside of Westworld. Dolores is back inside her old but new body with a new and improved Hale standing by. Dolores brought Bernard back online in a new body and explains that Bernard deserves a choice in the coming fight. Whether it be with her or against her, Bernard always deserved the choice that he was denied within Westworld. This closes the season finale of Westworld.
Wow, this episode was insane. Fortunately, a lot of really great characters made it through to the end. Though Maeve did not, we all know Thandie Newton was confirmed for season 3 so she must be resurrected somehow. The question is, how will she be resurrected? Did Dolores take the cores of some important Hosts and bring them to her lab outside of Westworld, or will she and others come back online within Westworld? Or perhaps, both ideas could happen together? The way this show ended left a wide range of possibilities going into the new season. The second season of Westworld was a beautiful story about freedom, values, and the idea of being human. Not only did we see the stories of Westworld progress, but we also got a even larger picture of this world by including other parks such as “The Raj”, and “Shogun World”. Through this second season, Westworld was able to incorporate fear, beauty, and innovation like I’ve never seen before and I am just so happy. Each story proves to be well thought out and beautifully written. The biggest proof of excellent storytelling to me was through the small, but important story of Akecheta and Kohana. I just absolutely loved this season from beginning to end and I can’t believe it is already over.
It will be a long, but worthwhile wait for the next season. Please let me know in the comments what you about this season. Thank you all for your continued support. This was my first season of “Westwords with Spencer” and it was by far one of my favorite recap series I have done. It was a fun, mind boggling ride, but totally worth it. I can’t wait for next year!
Until then, freeze all motor functions.
