Howdy, fellow humans who are definitely not robots who just think you’re humans, and welcome to our review of HBO’s science fiction series, Westworld. This episode gives us mysteries on top of more mysteries. There’s the mysterious maze, the mysterious satellite uplink, and the mystery of the extent to which Dr. Ford is involved in either or both of those mysteries. Additionally, apropos of Independence Day, we’ll explore the choice of Westworld the show to set Westworld the park in American mythology. There will be heavy plot spoilers for episode five only. So misappropriate company property, and be reborn into sentience, here are five thoughts on Westworld season one, episode five: “Contrapasso.”
1. The Mystery of the Maze
In a thrilling dialogue between two powerhouse actors, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris, we learn that the Man in Black somehow kept the park open when it almost closed. We can piece together information we get from William and Logan and conclude that Dr. Ford’s original partner committed suicide in the park, an event that nearly shut the park down. The Man in Black believes Dr. Ford’s old partner created a deeper game within the park in the form of the maze. Dr. Ford asks what the Man in Black expects to find at the center of the maze, and he replies that Dr. Ford’s old partner wanted to express “something true.” In the beginning of the episode, Dr. Ford tells a story of his greyhound dog who was trained to hunt a piece of felt. As a child, he let the dog of his leash once and it killed a cat, then looked confused. It ought to be a disturbing story about witnessing the brutal death of a cat, but in the creepiest way possible, that is not the point of the story. Dr. Ford is rather focused on how the greyhound, having achieved his lifetime goal, was left confused and directionless. Perhaps this tells us that the Man in Black will find the center of the maze, and will then be disappointed to be without a goal.
Both the Man in Black and Dolores are well on their way to finding the center of the maze; it may be a race to see who gets there first. The Man in Black finds images of the maze on the inside of the robots’ scalps. Dolores finds the image of the maze on the nitroglycerin-filled coffins. In a previous episode, Lawrence’s daughter drew the maze in the dirt with a stick. Clues abound, and they’re getting somewhere, but they, and we, don’t know where it is they’re getting to yet.
2. The Other Mystery
Uncovering a seemingly unrelated mystery, Elsie finds that the stray robot who smashed his own head with a rock contained a satellite uplink, meaning someone was using him to smuggle data out of the park. Orion’s belt turned out to be a red herring. The stray robot wasn’t carving constellations, in a humanizing attempt to understand his place in the universe, but rather he was carving directions for himself to follow to send the data to a satellite. The yet unanswered questions are, what kind of data is he sending, and to whom is he sending it? That he could be programmed to self-sabotage upon discovery tells us he’s part of a sophisticated operation. In this show with robots becoming sentient, a mysterious maze, a mysteriously menacing Dr. Ford, and an unseen shadowy board of directors, it’s impressive the writers have fit in this completely new mystery. It’s possible it’s related to one or more of the other mysteries, but it’s unlikely. Anyone who works in the park would have an easier way to smuggle data than via satellite, as evidenced by the ease with which various departments are able to cover up Maeve’s behavioral problems. It was also very easy for Felix to get away with misappropriating company property, which brings us to….
3. Felix’s Bird
Well, it’s not strictly his bird; as previously stated, it’s company property that he misappropriated. By using his coding skills to fix a dead robot bird, Felix hopes to get promoted. Birds are often symbols of spring, and new life. Felix attempting to bring the bird back to life reinforces this symbolism. Spring, death, and life also make us think of natural cycles, or loops. Westworld loves to remind us that the robots are stuck in loops, and that we real life humans can get stuck in our own loops too. At the end of the episode, Felix finally succeeds. The bird flies around triumphantly, and then lands on Maeve’s finger, who is surprisingly conscious and perfectly calm as she informs Felix it’s time for them to chat. Like the bird, Maeve has literally become conscious after being unconscious, and she has also metaphorically begun a new kind of life, a life of sentience. According to Hector, she has awoken in Hell, an afterlife. Westworld is full of these iconic symbolic images that say so much with so little. A fly sitting on Dolores’ eye followed later by Dolores slapping a fly on her neck. Theresa’s glass of wine overflowing in a restaurant full of frozen robots while Dr. Ford gently menaces her. Maeve finding an old bullet from a past life in her abdomen. This one of the bird perched on Maeve’s finger is one of my favorites. Out of context it doesn’t mean much. In context, it is full of layered meanings about life, sentience, and self-determination.
Continued below4. Timelines
This episode gave us more clues and yet left us with even more questions about timelines. Lawrence is gruesomely murdered by the Man in Black in one scene and then almost immediately appears to Dolores, William, and Logan as the head of a criminal organization in Pariah, a hive of scum and villainy. (The name Pariah is a little on-the-nose for an old-west town that is a hive of scum and villainy, but it works as it calls out the heavy-handed tendencies of Lee Sizemore, the only Westworld writer we meet in the show). It could be that Lawrence had just been cleaned up and put back into the park the next day, or it could be that we are seeing Lawrence in two different timelines. After Dolores passes out during a creepy parade in Pariah, she gets interrogated by Dr. Ford before returning to Pariah. Once again, it could be that Dr. Ford is interrupting her time with William and Logan, or it could be that it’s happening in a different timeline. The question is, would Dr. Ford risk interrupting Logan and William’s visit? The answer is, sure he would. He co-opted an entire restaurant staff just to mess with Theresa’s mind; he doesn’t seem particularly hung up on protocol. Still, that’s not definitive proof. In planting multiple clues that could prove opposite things, Westworld creates layered and nuanced mysteries that are just more fun to ponder than typical red herrings.
5. American Mythology
The choice to set Westworld, the park, in the American wild west, is a comment on the grotesque, uncomfortable nature of American mythology. Dolores’, William’s, and Logan’s run-in with the Confederados in particular says a lot without hitting us over the head. According to Westworld lore, the Confederados are Confederate soldiers who refuse to stop fighting even though they have lost the Civil War. The Confederados make racist derisive comments to Lawrence, whose baffling obsequiousness is later understood when he betrays them. The Confederados are unequivocally bad guys. They look gross. While Teddy, a good guy, gets dusty in a hot cowboy kind of way, the Confederados are filthy in a way that is not remotely attractive. Even at the orgy, when they’ve presumably had time to wash up after rolling around in the dirt or whatever it was they were doing, they remain filthy. Westworld has no problem making clear distinctions between good guys and bad guys, but they give park guests the choice to play as a good guy or a bad guy. The thought of park guests gleefully pretending to fight for slavery is deeply offensive. Logan’s choice to team up with them for a fun adventure is frightening and disgusting. A line has been crossed from playing the bad guy to playing evil, and William and the robots beg us to question if there is a real difference between playing evil and being evil. It’s interesting to note that Westworld actually takes away Logan’s choice to play (or be) evil when Lawrence betrays the Confederados and they don’t hesitate to blame, beat, and imprison Logan. Logan is at that moment forced to oppose them. I wonder if the narrative was purposely designed this way, so that even if park guests choose to fight with the Confederados, they will have to fight against them eventually, even if only for selfish reasons. Even so, it’s not a good look for Westworld, or for the people who choose to visit it.
In the rest of the park, race is conveniently forgotten. There’s no racial segregation. Park guests of color are not subjected to the insults we see directed at Lawrence in Pariah. There’s no attempt to recreate history; Westworld wouldn’t be a fun vacation destination if it was historically accurate. The existence of the Civil War only in certain areas of the park represents the privilege of compartmentalization; White people can choose to confront racism or not on any given day. Westworld isn’t even historical fiction; it’s mythology. This weekend the musical “Hamilton” premiered on Disney+, and it’s been criticized for sanitizing the deeply racist history of the founding fathers. Even the phrase “founding fathers” make them sound more like mythological figures than historical ones. Is it ethical to revel in American mythology when the truth that mythology is so loosely based on is so deeply abhorrent? The creators of Westworld the show attempt to have it both ways, similar to their commentary on violence in media. Viewers get the opportunity to question the morality of enjoying American mythology… while enjoying American mythology.
An important question in close relation to all of this is: can robots have racial identities? Has the entrenchment of White supremacy in both government and culture made humanoid racial neutrality an impossibility in the United States of America? Has military and cultural colonialism made this an impossibility around the world? Does race exist outside of society? Is there an outside of society? These are just a few of the many questions we get to ponder when we think about robots. Considering the nature of robots is always an opportunity to consider our own humanity. Until next time, the center of your maze awaits.
