Wow. What an episode. At first blush, I would say “Reunion” is the second best episode of the series, behind only the season one finale. Though I am very partial to episodes that are heavy in back story, at least when that kind of episode is rare. And it would be fair to argue that every episode of Westworld, with the multiple time lines and all, gives us ample back story. But I’m talking back story back story, from the beginning stages. That’s something I’ve been interested in since the series premiere, so I was fully dialed in for the entire hour (not that I’m not always for this show, but you get the point). So with that, let’s dive into it.
This was a very Delores-centric episode and that is never a bad thing. The episode starts with Delores and Bernard…in the mainland! Even though this was a glimpse into the past “real” world, we still nevertheless get our first views of it. And it wasn’t anything special. From what we saw, it was more or less like the world is now. She is there for an event that ends up being an initial showcase of the hosts in the pre-park days. We also see signs written in Chinese, providing further evidence of the park’s physical location.
That brought with it the return of Logan. He is presented with a party full of hosts, and his reaction was an interesting development. He seemed genuinely shocked at the advanced level of the hosts, even stating “No way, we’re not there yet.” Even at the beginning, the hosts were a huge technological advancement; they weren’t something that happened gradually. I wonder if this will play into the series at all. That from the start, there should have been questions about how advanced the hosts were. Should there have been worry or concern over this from the jump? During this stretch we also learn Logan’s last name: Delos. He is the son of James Delos, founder and owner of Delos Incorporated, the company that of course eventually takes over control of the Westworld park.
We later get a scene of William showing James Delos the park for the first time. Logan is curiously absent, though it likely has something to do with that pesky little drug problem he’s revealed to have. His trip to the park with William really did a number on him. Here we may get a more detailed hint about Delos’s true intentions with the park. James is at first hesitant to increase his investment stake. Logan gives him his best sales pitch.
“Half your marketing budget goes to figuring out what people want. Here they’re free, nobody’s watching – at least that’s what we tell them. This is the only place in the world where you get to see people for who they really are – and if you don’t see the business in that you’re not the businessman I thought you were.”
And in case you missed it, we get a close up of Dolores (who had been frozen along with the other present hosts), seemingly indicating that she had been listening to and recording this entire exchange. Don’t forget about this sequence just yet, we’ll be back before too long here.
An interesting quote for sure, but is this telling us that the big bad Delos plan is free market research? It might seem that way on the surface, but I can’t believe it would be something as simple as that. If that is the case, that would be one of the most disappointing reveals of all time. But because it would be so obvious, I have to doubt that’s the plan, or at least that’s it the entire plan.
This week’s Man in Black story gives us some interesting information as well. He gets shot rescuing his old pal Lawrence and we see him retrieve a hidden first aid kit. I loved this, as it indicates he might have hidden caches or who-knows-what all throughout the park. He takes out the same futuristic high-tech healing device to instantly heal the gunshot wound. This is the same device we have seen used to repair the hosts. But lest you start to think the MiB might be a host as well, remember that the host bodies are supposed to be the same as humans. Therefore it would stand to reason that the device would work the same for both hosts and humans. And maybe that’s how the MiB’s broken arm from the season one finale was mysteriously healed in the season two premiere?
Here we get another hint at the true intention behind Westworld, as MiB explains to Lawrence. He says the park was built as way for the visitors to “sin in peace” away from the eye of God and His judgement. But he goes on to say that the park wasn’t private at all, that they were watching all along. “Judgement wasn’t the point, we had something else in mind entirely.” Compare that to what younger William told James, and the general surface ideas of the quotes do somewhat match up. But MiB quote is in a much more cryptic tone, further leading me to believe that the park was meant for something much more than simple market research. He goes on to explain that even still he has received his judgement and he’s “going to fight my way back and appeal the verdict. And then I’m going to burn this place to the ground.” Remember when I said to remember the Dolores/Younger William scene? Well keep holding on, we’re almost there.
Holy crap it’s Gus Fring! Yes, Giancarlo Esposito is now a Westworld character, El Lazo. MiB is there to get El Lazo and his men to come with him on his journey. But alas, he will find no help here. Just like in the premiere, we see another appearance of Ford via host, telling MiB, “This game was meant for you William but you must play it alone.” El Lazo and his men then all kill themselves. Here’s hoping we get another resurrection scene and we see lots more of Esposito going forward. Even from the grave, Ford has his hooks firmly in the park, or at least in what he has planned for William. As MiB and Lawrence prepare to leave, MiB drops another small hint at the season’s bigger story, “I built this world and the place we’re going is my greatest regret.”
The end of the episode is where we get our payoff of the earlier William/Dolores scene. In the past William shows Dolores a part of the park where some huge machines are building something. What it is exactly we don’t know, because it’s only episode two. But this would seemingly be the “regret” MiB had previously mentioned to Lawrence. Dolores clearly knows of its importance as well, telling Teddy their destination is something she was shown by a “foolish” friend. “It’s not a place, it’s a weapon. And I’m going to use it to destroy them.”
Based on everything from this episode, the logical conclusion is that MiB and Dolores are looking for the same thing, finding themselves on a direct collision course at some point this season. And of course this “reveal” only serves to raise more questions than it answers. What is this mysterious thing? Has it been used before? Were the machines building the thing itself? Were they just clearing out space to build something to house and protect this thing? Could this be what was used to cause the flood and/or kill the all the hosts from the closing scene of the premiere?
I’m thinking that’s not a weapon in the traditional sense. It’s not going to be some horde of guns or anything like that. I think it’s the storage location for all the data Delos has been collecting from the park’s guests. Guests from all six parks, not just Westworld. Remember, Dolores, and therefore possibly numerous other hosts (or even all?) have been listening and recording everything around them, seemingly from the beginning of the park. They would have 30+ years of data on who knows how many rich, powerful people.
In a season one episode, Logan remarks that he’s paying $40,000/day for the park. Only the richest of the rich can afford this kind of trip. And with that kind of money, power and influence is sure to follow. Delos could blackmail and/or manipulate world leaders, government officials, big time businessmen and women and bend them to their will. Notice Dolores said “destroy” them all rather than “kill” them all. Revealing that a massive corporation like Delos has been collecting this information could have far-reaching, disastrous implications. With all the information Dolores is sure to have heard over the years, it’s well within the realm of possibility that she would be able to come up with this kind of shrewd strategy versus all-out bloodshed and warfare.
Okay, so we’re two episodes in and it’s only just getting started. This week only raised my already high hopes for season two and I think we’re in for an epic, tense, amazing season and I cannot wait for it to keep cruising right along.
