**2016 TV Watercooler Thread**

[southsider2k5]

I am but I'm beginning to wonder how much longer. I will admit, the plot involving the bombing is much better than the president stuff

 

I like it in general, but I swear there is at least one moment a week where the show leaves me moaning about how unrealistic it is. For example this week, the guy who is the President after the entire capitol is bombed and all of Congress dies, is apparently wandering around a military hangar alone, and meanwhile a solider walks in, doesn't salute either upon realizing he is talking to the President, or when he leaves.

 

I am OK with the whole idea of his learning on the job, but some of the stuff is so common sense, I don't get how it gets missed.

[Harry Chappas]

I like it in general, but I swear there is at least one moment a week where the show leaves me moaning about how unrealistic it is. For example this week, the guy who is the President after the entire capitol is bombed and all of Congress dies, is apparently wandering around a military hangar alone, and meanwhile a solider walks in, doesn't salute either upon realizing he is talking to the President, or when he leaves.

 

I am OK with the whole idea of his learning on the job, but some of the stuff is so common sense, I don't get how it gets missed.

 

Exactly, so congress consists of 2 people and the FBI knows now that 1 is an issue but they are not going to tell the president?

 

Also the over the top military guy that wanted to bomb everyone was a little hookie...that and finding the guy in basically 5 days.

 

I have it on the DVR and will probably hang with it for a while.

 

 

[Chisoxfn]

Anyone else sticking with Designated Survivor so far?

Yep. I'm waiting to see where they go with it. I presume at some point, they will turn more focus into the plot behind what happened and I'm looking forward to that (and presume somehow Kiefer will get looped in). That story is better then the Kiefer part (right now). Still, as a whole, I enjoy it (but I have a general bias towards positivity because of Kiefer).

[Chisoxfn]

I like it in general, but I swear there is at least one moment a week where the show leaves me moaning about how unrealistic it is. For example this week, the guy who is the President after the entire capitol is bombed and all of Congress dies, is apparently wandering around a military hangar alone, and meanwhile a solider walks in, doesn't salute either upon realizing he is talking to the President, or when he leaves.

 

I am OK with the whole idea of his learning on the job, but some of the stuff is so common sense, I don't get how it gets missed.

Mine had more to do with the fact that you are going to have this huge strike on a person (who you had just lost) who is now embedded in a Hospital and instead of just authorizing it, the president spends all that time to fly out to meet with the seal team. Usually I try to ignore that stuff, but that stuck out to me. The salute stuff, eh. Fair points on him just wandering around the hangar alone.

[Brian]

I am to the point that it is awful. Have no interest.

 

I'm giving it until s1 ends. I think it's only like 5 more eps. Then I'll decide and let the world know whether I'm staying or going.

[southsider2k5]

Exactly, so congress consists of 2 people and the FBI knows now that 1 is an issue but they are not going to tell the president?

 

Also the over the top military guy that wanted to bomb everyone was a little hookie...that and finding the guy in basically 5 days.

 

I have it on the DVR and will probably hang with it for a while.

 

Then the President fired him, and there was zero blow back about that, compared to what he has gotten grief for. They would have buried him for firing the leader of the Joint Chiefs like that.

[southsider2k5]

Yep. I'm waiting to see where they go with it. I presume at some point, they will turn more focus into the plot behind what happened and I'm looking forward to that (and presume somehow Kiefer will get looped in). That story is better then the Kiefer part (right now). Still, as a whole, I enjoy it (but I have a general bias towards positivity because of Kiefer).

 

Yeah me too. I enjoy the show as a whole, but they really need to clean it up.

[flavum]

Spotless was added to Netflix. Quality show. Kind of a Dexter/Breaking Bad mix.

 

Anyone? Anyone?

[farmteam]

Possibly my favorite episode of Westworld yet. Really want to know what Lawrence is up to.

 

Also, does anyone else think it's weird that the park creator's name is Robert Ford? The writers/Crichton could have picked any name, and came up with the name of the guy who killed Jesse James?

[CanOfCorn]

Possibly my favorite episode of Westworld yet. Really want to know what Lawrence is up to.

 

Also, does anyone else think it's weird that the park creator's name is Robert Ford? The writers/Crichton could have picked any name, and came up with the name of the guy who killed Jesse James?

 

Things are starting to make a little more sense now. Really looking forward to Delores and the Man in Black and how they interact.

[shysocks]

Go watch The Good Place if you aren't already. It's really funny. I'm no big Ted Danson fan or anything, but he is perfect in this show.

[Boopa1219]

What I loved about that episode of Westworld is that it's the first episode where the writer's aren't catering to the view anymore. They're not explaining how every little thing works or how did certain host end up in certain places. Very little exposition throughout the episode.

 

I really want to know about MIB's life in the outside world, all we know is that he is a philanthropist that runs a very successful foundation and has saved tons of lives but nothing more. I also think that is a great avatar for the show. Here is this man, who in the real world (based on what info we have) is a good person as he saves lives and runs a charitable foundation but when he comes to WestWorld he (in his blackhat) indulges into his most sinister desires.

[Soxbadger]

Possibly my favorite episode of Westworld yet. Really want to know what Lawrence is up to.

 

Also, does anyone else think it's weird that the park creator's name is Robert Ford? The writers/Crichton could have picked any name, and came up with the name of the guy who killed Jesse James?

 

 

What I loved about that episode of Westworld is that it's the first episode where the writer's aren't catering to the view anymore. They're not explaining how every little thing works or how did certain host end up in certain places. Very little exposition throughout the episode.

 

I really want to know about MIB's life in the outside world, all we know is that he is a philanthropist that runs a very successful foundation and has saved tons of lives but nothing more. I also think that is a great avatar for the show. Here is this man, who in the real world (based on what info we have) is a good person as he saves lives and runs a charitable foundation but when he comes to WestWorld he (in his blackhat) indulges into his most sinister desires.

 

Im going to comment to both in a single post. So there are a lot of theories

that there are at least 2 separate timelines going on in Westworld. The "present" timeline is man in black. The "past" timeline is William. Some people theorize that William actually becomes the MIB. A lot of people think that the last episode with "Lawrence" has confirmed this theory as in the "past" Lawrence was Lazlo and the MIB's search is all connected to a past event that occurred with William, Delores and Lawrence.

 

The more I think about it, the more I am starting to believe that this is an actual possibility. I thought William's hat becoming "grey" was big pretty big foreshadow of how the episode was going to play out. His once "white" hat, now changing as the lines between good and bad become blurred. Which ultimately goes back to the idea that William is MIB, and that in reality MIB isnt a bad guy at all, that he is just playing a part in something that he thinks is much bigger. What could it be? I think that it is ultimately connected to his original relationship with Delores and the idea that they are "more" than robots.

 

For me you can see a small glint of evidence in the first few scenes in the first episode:

 

Passenger: Now, the first time I played it white hat.

My family was here.

We went fishing, did the gold hunt in the mountains.

- And last time? - I came alone.

Went straight evil.

It was the best two weeks of my life.

 

Then the first scene with the MIB:

 

Is that any way to treat an old friend? I've been coming here for 30 years, but you still don't remember me, do you? After all we've been through.

They gave you a little more pluck, Dolores.

 

If William is MIB, then this line makes much more sense, William and Teddy were "good" guys back when he originally started coming to Westworld so thus the "old friend" remark.

 

 

And then I realized winning doesn't mean anything unless someone else loses.

Which means you're here to be the loser.

Let me help you, son.

Seems you're not the man you thought you were.

Come on, beautiful.

Oh! Oh, no! No! Teddy! Teddy! (Gunshots) No, no, no, please don't hurt him.

I'll do whatever you say.

(screams) I didn't pay all this money 'cause I want it easy.

I want you to fight.

 

I think the last line is the most telling. If the multiple time line theory is correct, what MIB is really trying to do is get Delores to break out from her coding like she did in the last episode where she uses the gun to save William. I think he believes that somehow by putting the "hosts" through extreme duress that it causes them to break from their code and helps to "reveal" the bigger picture. If that is true, then I think MIB believes that somehow getting to the center of the maze will "free" the hosts, which is probably connected to his original relationship with Delores.

 

I used spoiler tags because its a lot of theories from outside sources and thus its up to you guys if you want to see it or not.

 

 

[CanOfCorn]

Im going to comment to both in a single post. So there are a lot of theories

I used spoiler tags because its a lot of theories from outside sources and thus its up to you guys if you want to see it or not.

 

 

Response:

I may be mistaken, but didn't we see William AND the Man In Black in a scene together? Didn't they pass each other on the street? I can't remember if it was this past episode or the one before.

 

[Jenksismyhero]

I'm still not sure what to think of Westworld. It's beautifully shot, i'm engaged on a "wtf is going on" level, but....I dunno, something is missing. There's been little character development, so i'm not sure who i'm supposed to be rooting for/against. I don't know anything about the main, non-host characters except for Ford, and really there i'm not sure what we've been told. He's got a God complex and wants to find out what his partner did 30 years ago. Beyond that I have no clue. What are Bernard's interests, for example? MIB is the only person we know that has a goal (the maze) but who knows wtf the maze is, if anything.

 

And i'm still not sure how the park works, which is still sort of bothersome. We keep getting these episodes where Delores is talking to William or whatever, and then it cuts to her being interviewed. That has to be on a different timeline. Same with the prostitute. And her storyline is weird because it seems like that whorehouse is a common stop for all the guests, but if she's being shot every night and fixed, wouldn't guests have a period of time where she's not around? Do they use doubles? I wouldn't think so if the point is that the hosts are remembering things.

 

I was also confused about one timeline - a few episodes back Ford goes with Bernard on a walk and they go to a new area Ford is cooking up and it shows a church. Is that supposed to be the same church as the one we saw in the last couple of episodes that Delores is having flashbacks about (with the girl who drew the maze in the dirt?) If so, wouldn't that mean that the Ford/Bernard conversation actually happened in the past, and the storyline with Delores and William was in the present? But how does that make sense given that Ford has the conversation with the MIB?

 

I'm so utterly confused.

 

Lastly, holy s*** was that orgy scene overrated. I just caught the last episode last night (f*** the Cubs!) and I read a bunch of stories about it this week as if it was some big thing. It was all background dressing. Don't understand why that was talked about so much.

Edited November 4, 2016 by JenksIsMyHero

[Jenksismyhero]

Reading Sepinwall's review, he makes a good point:

If the William/MIB theory is correct, that would mean Delores goes rogue in the past, but in the present has gone back to being obedient Delores (since she's still the farmer's daughter watching her father be killed). Sort of anti-climactic.

[farmteam]

Yeah, I've been reading a lot of the theories and while the dual-timeline theory is enticing, there's too many holes to fully buy-in. The biggest one to me is that there's no discernible difference between the hosts in William's scenes vs. those in MIB's scenes. The ones in the present timeline should be way more advanced. Just look at how jank that old host Ford likes to chat with is.

[Soxbadger]

Westworld replies

 

I completely agree that I am not 100% sold on the theory but given Nolan's past "The Prestige" and "Memento" I am also not going to completely dismiss it. I think that if I went back and re-watched all of the episodes with the single intent of trying to determine multiple timelines I could probably get a better grasp but right now that just seems to be too much effort.

 

With respect to the Delores let down, the climax would be MIB successfully getting Delores to break the mold again.

Edited November 4, 2016 by Soxbadger

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

And i'm still not sure how the park works, which is still sort of bothersome. We keep getting these episodes where Delores is talking to William or whatever, and then it cuts to her being interviewed. That has to be on a different timeline. Same with the prostitute. And her storyline is weird because it seems like that whorehouse is a common stop for all the guests, but if she's being shot every night and fixed, wouldn't guests have a period of time where she's not around? Do they use doubles? I wouldn't think so if the point is that the hosts are remembering things.

 

How the park works is my biggest "gripe" with the show. How do the bullets work? What stops one guest from killing another? How does one guest even identify another guest? How long are the guests in the park for? Obviously longer than 1 day, but a week? Can they just stay indefinitely and pay a giant bill when they get out? Where do all these guests sleep? Especially when the hosts start every day the same way, wouldn't it totally confuse them if they woke up next to a guest? Obviously the park has to be shutdown at night for them to clean up all the hosts and their scenes for the next day, so do the guests all have to go to some waiting area overnight?

 

I need like an entire episode dedicated to how this park operates and it's rules, because I hate just accepting everything blindly.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Ugh, SNL. I don't have anywhere to hide from the Cubs.

[Jenksismyhero]

No discussion about the latest Westworld? I liked the "behind the scenes" angle, but man it really strains credulity to believe those two techs are so stupid and could walk a bot all the way up to the front lobby without someone saying "what are you doing?"

Edited November 10, 2016 by JenksIsMyHero

[Kyyle23]

No discussion about the latest Westworld? I liked the "behind the scenes" angle, but man it really strains credulity to believe those two techs are so stupid and could walk a bot all the way up to the front lobby without someone saying "what are you doing?"

 

I agree that scene was good and bad. Thandie Newton also seemed to be speaking in an english accent which i found strange

 

Definitely looks like they are setting up a bot revolution from the inside, though

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Well, one of those internet theories was right about Westworld.

 

Bernard IS a host. I was skeptical of that theory all the way up until he said "What door?" to Theresa inside of the cottage. At that point I realized something was off with him and he wasn't processing clearly. Now that they killed Theresa, will they replace her with a host that looks and acts just like her, so no one realizes she's gone?

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Also,

 

I think the younger black lady who is from corporate, is a host created by Ford to spy on Theresa and put her in the situation she was in. That lady not only knew that Theresa started smoking again (and Theresa reacted to that), but she is the one who mentioned a blood sacrifice to Theresa, which Ford repeated back to Theresa in the basement of the cottage, again IIRC, also to Theresa's confused reaction.

[SoxAce]

How in my now just seeing Dave Chappelle's skit on SNL..