In life we’ve come to accept certain things. We’ve come to accept that football announcers are always biased against your team and we’ve come to accept that your neighbor is always going to be mowing their lawn at a time that you feel is too damn early for a Saturday morning. We’ve come to accept that politicians are full of it, cell service is always bad at the worst time and your town’s leaf pickup will always be a week too early.

We’ve also come to accept that when it comes to our favorite television shows, a season’s penultimate episode, the episode before the finale, will always be a doozy. Golden Age of Television shows set this plan in motion and Game of Thrones has all but perfected the art of sticking the landing as a season comes to a close. So when it came time to watch Westworld’s penultimate episode, Sunday night’s “The Well-Tempered Clavier,” we were conditioned to expect something big, if not a few big things, whether it was plot twists, reveals or character deaths. Of course Westworld has kind of been like nothing we’ve watched before, so would things be different for them? Sounds like a good lead in to our seventh Westworld Q&A.

Let’s start here, what the hell is going on?

Okay.

• Maeve is leading a robot rebellion
• Ford is working on a new narrative
• Bernard has realized he is a robot (again apparently)
• Dolores is traveling through the looking glass
• William has broken bad
• Charlotte is trying to get rid of Ford and get her hands on some sweet IP
• The Man in Black is looking for the maze that Arnold created
• Thor’s brother has been attacked by Indians.

Indians?

Robot Indians.

Can we start with Dolores? What the…what is she…uh…what’s going on with Dolores?

I’m not even going to pretend to know.

Is she time traveling or is her mind in a sense, time traveling?

I think it’s all in her head.

And we’re seeing her in multiple timelines?

Yes. Although it’s become increasingly harder to figure out where she is, especially in the latest episode where they kept changing her outfit. But I do think she’s doing some internal deep dives in her memory and the show is trying their best to take us along with that. I’m just not sure how successful they are in doing so. I think they might trying to be a little clever for their own good.

Man, if only there were a clip from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia that summed up trying to make sense of the Dolores plot, huh?

I know, right? Oh wait.

Moving on, so Bernard is essentially Robot Arnold?

Yes. Ford built him in Arnold’s image and as somewhat of a tribute to him. It seems like he also built a version of Arnold he could control, seeing as how Human Arnold and Ford butted heads and had differing opinions (not about Drake) about how human the robots should be. We saw what looked like one of those disagreements as Dolores was strolling down memory lane.

So mystery solved – we know who Arnold is.

Yes. And also we learned that Dolores killed him, most likely at the behest of Ford.

And now Bernard is “dead?”

Yes.

Does the fact that he’s a robot cheapen that some? Cause you know, he’s not really dead.

On paper it does but I actually think the show had done a good job throughout the season building some sympathy for Bernard so that when he did kill himself, there was some sense of sadness to it. Sure it was fleeting, but I think there was a jolt when it happened.

A Maeve update?

She’s recruiting. Shaking hands, kissing babies, making promises.

Kind of weird watching robots have sex, huh?

Yeah, that whole scene and the fire and everything seemed kind of unnecessary.

Agreed. Can we take a minute to do a little who’s who?

Sure.

Charlotte

She represents the board of Delos, a board that is more interested in the technology Ford has developed than the park Ford developed.

William

Maybe a younger version of the Man in Black, depending on who you ask. But he’s engaged to Logan’s sister and enamored with Dolores to what we can safely say and agree is to an unhealthy degree.

Logan

William’s future brother in law whose family is either investing or looking to invest or straight up buy West World. He’s also kind of a douche, but in “The Well-Tempered Clavier” made sense when trying to put William’s fascination with Dolores into perspective.

Thor’s Brother

Head of security and not a fan of robots.

Hector

The park’s outlaw, currently being recruited by Maeve to join her rebellion.

Wyatt

The park’s new outlaw, currently roaming the country side and Teddy’s memory-fueled backstory.

Teddy

“This poor guy” my Darling Wife said when he appeared on screen.

Thanks. That’s helpful. How about some predictions for the finale?

We get some clarity on what’s going on with Dolores, an answer as to whether or not William is the Man in Black and the first major move by Maeve’s rebellion.

Still a fan of the show?

I’m a fan, but it’s not a fandom backed by unbridled enthusiasm. It’s more like I’m entertained by this show and optimistic based on the premise and ideas presented. But if they could nail the finale, it would really help.

Categories: Television

Tags: HBO, Q&A, Westworld