Having earned twenty-one Emmy nominations for its second season, Westworld returned to the world of the hosts and the humans with a passion, an unholy Maeve and Dolores fury. Driven by these electronic hosts who have now found their consciousness, the show propels them forward on a path of self-discovery that challenges the audience’s understanding of justice and truth.
While the first season took us on a mind-bending trip that kept audiences off-kilter with its time-jumping and lack of chronology. In the second season, the narrative is driven less by the Man in Black (Ed Harris) and more by Maeve (Thandie Newton) and Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood). But now that he knows his true self, Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright) also plays a part that gives us more of a chance to see the actor behind him shine.
It’s nearly impossible to discuss the second season without undercutting the first, and that would be a horrible shame. If you haven’t seen the first, then you’re missing out on a terrific exploration of what it means to be human and conscious. The second elaborates on that struggle, and hones in on what it means for personalities/souls/people like Maeve and Dolores to have control over themselves and to make decisions for others, even against their will. What does it mean for us to assert ourselves? When do we rightly make decisions for others, or when is that inappropriate or even evil?
One of the more interesting things morality-wise in the show is the way that we become sympathetic to Maeve and Dolores, skeptical of others, and downright antagonistic on behalf of our favorites. It seems like everyone would agree on one thing: no one is safe in the wilds of Westworld.
Special features on the Blu-ray include the featurettes “Paved with the Best Intentions” and “Violent Delights Have Violent Ends.” On the digital and the Blu-ray are “Bring Yourself Back Online,” “Reflections on Season Two,” “Of Love and Shogun,” “Journeys and Technology,” “Return to Westworld,” and a take from the red carpet. There’s also a whole series on “Creating Westworld’s Reality” that looks at various topics like Cradle, the Ghost Nation, Maeve, and more over ten sections of featurette.
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