Beep boop hello, 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 is mostly about Charlotte Hale, or rather, it’s about whoever is driving that Charlotte-Hale-shaped body discovering surprising things about the original Charlotte Hale. So figure out what makes you who you are, and don’t let predictions become limitations, here are five thoughts on Westworld season three, episode three: “The Absence of Field.”
1. Charlotte Hale the Mole
To continue making robots, so that their species can continue, Dolores and the person inside Charlotte Hale’s body need to keep Westworld open, despite the protestations of the other shareholders, who think Dolores’ massacre is a good enough reason to shut it down. So the plan is to take Delos private, but the person inside Charlotte Hale learns that someone has bought up 38% of Delos’ stock through a series of microtransactions from shell corporations. The only way they could have done that is with the aid of a mole! So now the person inside Charlotte Hale must discover who the buyer is, and who their mole is. The buyer, they discover, is Serac. The mole, they simultaneously discover, is… Charlotte Hale!
This puts all of season two into a whole new perspective. All that time, the original Charlotte Hale was trying to get the encryption key inside Peter Abernathy’s head for Serac. We thought she was risking her life for Delos, but it turns out she was risking her life to betray Delos. In some ways, it changes everything we know about Charlotte Hale, and in other ways, it changes nothing. Whoever she was working for, we know she spent (what she thought would be) her final minutes regretting it, weeping, singing to her son, apologizing for not being a better mother to him. And then, we know, after that emotional come-to-Jesus moment, given the chance to escape and go back to her son, she decided to stay and continue risking her life for the encryption key. Maybe this tells us all we’ll ever know about Charlotte Hale, or maybe this tells us more about Serac, and the kind of desperation he inflicts on the people who work for him.
2. Why Teddy Might Be Inside Charlotte Hale
When Dolores escaped Westworld in Charlotte Hale’s body, she brought five robot brains with her, but we don’t know who they are. A big mystery remains: who is the brain inside that Charlotte-Hale-shaped body? This episode, several clues point to Teddy. First, Dolores tells the person inside- let’s call them ChaBrain. First, Dolores tells ChaBrain that no one knows her like them. Of all the robots in Westworld, Dolores was closest to Teddy, so he definitely fits that description. Second, ChaBrain says they couldn’t live without Dolores. This sentiment could be interpreted literally. Whoever ChaBrain is, they wouldn’t be alive if Dolores hadn’t smuggled them out of Westworld in her purse. However, in a more emotional sense, Teddy specifically loves Dolores very deeply, and would probably say something like that. Third, Dolores tells ChaBrain, “You belong to me.” When ChaBrain has something like a panic attack, Dolores undresses them, cleans their wounds, and spoons them soothingly. Dolores’ behavior towards ChaBrain is sincerely intimate. She also spooned Teddy’s body after he killed himself.
3. Why Teddy Isn’t Inside Charlotte Hale
All of that is very compelling, but this episode also gave us two clues that point squarely away from Teddy. First, Dolores tells ChaBrain they’re identifying with Charlotte’s ruthlessness. Teddy doesn’t identify with ruthlessness. Dolores tried to make him ruthless, and it worked for a little while, but Teddy eventually rejected that change, so strongly that he literally could not live with himself feeling so ruthless. Second, when ChaBrain strangles the pedophile who had preyed on Charlotte Hale’s son, Nathan, ChaBrain said the act of killing him reminded them of who they are. Teddy’s no pacifist; he would absolutely kill that guy too, to protect Nathan. However, it isn’t the act of killing him that would remind Teddy of who he is; it would be the act of protecting Nathan. Whoever ChaBrain is, it’s someone who takes pride in their own power, and enjoys violence, and that person definitely cannot be Teddy.
Continued below4. The Data That Defines You
Serac, the backseat CEO of Incite, created Rehoboam, to collect and analyze the data of every human being in the world, to predict the best path in life for each person. With the creepily specific and even more creepily intimate data they have on Caleb, Rehoboam has determined that Caleb will inevitably commit suicide, and they’ve even predicted where and how. According to Rehoboam, a key moment that led to Caleb’s inescapable downward spiral was when he was a child, his mother left him at a diner. She was later diagnosed with schizophrenia. Of course this was a big moment in Caleb’s life, and of course it effected him deeply, but does it predict how he will behave in the future? Dr. Ford and the scientists at Westworld would say yes. They believe they’ve scientifically proven that human beings exist in loops, and freedom of choice is a collective delusion. Dolores believes this too, but for some reason, she wants to give Caleb the chance to prove her wrong.
The data that Rehoboam uses to predict people’s futures is also used to limit them. Maybe Caleb’s experiences wouldn’t make him the ideal employee, but he’ll never get the chance to find out if he can become a good employee because Rehoboam decided he’s not worth investing in. Stuck in a job he doesn’t enjoy, stuck committing Uber-crimes to pay the bills, Caleb doesn’t get the opportunity to break out of his daily “loop.” Rehoboams predictions become self-fulfilling prophesies. It’s a good thing that in real life people’s potentials aren’t defined by data points beyond their control, right? … Right?
5. How Do You Know Who You Are?
ChaBrain believes the Charlotte-Hale-shaped body is rejecting them. They cut themselves with their own fingernails. ChaBrain says it’s like Charlotte Hale herself is trying to claw ChaBrain out of her body, trying to take back control. Of course, this isn’t true. It isn’t Charlotte Hale’s body, it is only a mechanical replica. There are no traces of the real Charlotte Hale in the body, no sense memories. It isn’t the body rejecting the brain; it’s the brain rejecting the body. Whoever ChaBrain is, they’re having an identity crisis because they don’t feel at home in this new body. For robots and human beings alike, we are more than our physical form, but that doesn’t mean our physical form isn’t an important part of who we are. We aren’t just souls or brains driving around whatever meat-bag happens to be handy. We experience life in many dimensions at once; mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical. No part of Chabrain is Charlotte Hale, but a part of them is a Charlotte-Hale-shaped body. They also have to pretend to be a mother to Charlotte Hale’s son, so that’s a whole thing too. While ChaBrain believes she’s being taken over by Charlotte Hale, Nathan, smart kid that he is, knows that no part of this person is his mother. He tells them very plainly he wants his old mommy back.
The title of this episode, “The Absence of Field,” refers to a poem by Mark Strand: “In a field / I am the absence / of field. / This is / always the case. / Wherever I am / I am what is missing.” This speaks to the discomfort of taking up space. Wherever you are, you’re in a place where something or someone else cannot be. It’s also about defining yourself by what you’re not, as much as by what you are. ChaBrain has literally replaced Charlotte Hale, and is feeling that discomfort very strongly. Dolores’ ultimate plan is for robots to replace humanity, to take their space. ChaBrain reminds themselves who they are when they proudly murder the pedophile preying on Nathan. In stealing his dog, they take his place as a dog owner. They define themselves by another’s absence, but in a more confident way. Until next time, beep boop goodbye.
