# Westworld - premieres Sunday (show spoilers as airs) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413 "2016-10-01T21:12:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/442 "2016-11-03T20:15:53Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > … I still wonder if Dolores’s as-yet-unseen mom, murdered/raped nightly at the Abernathy farmhouse, is going to be significant. It could be; or possibly the character isn’t needed yet. That would make casting it now an unnecessary (and somewhat risky) expense. > [@msmith537](#): > > … I’m sure they aren’t. Otherwise they wouldn’t be going “off script” doing things like banging offline hosts, dabbling in programming birds or engaging in petty bickering. They wouldn’t need personalities to perform mindless maintenance. … They might. The functioning of the brains of the hosts, we’ve been told, is enhanced by giving them ‘back-stories.’ And the hosts that interact with guests clearly _do_ have personalities. Why would the operators of Westworld go to the trouble of creating a _separate_ line of robots without personalities, for the staffing of non-guest-contact jobs? Wouldn’t they just grow the workers in the usual way and give them the usual back-stories (including being sexually attracted to comatose hosts, for example), so that they’d function efficiently? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/443 "2016-11-03T20:45:27Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I would assume that what we’ve seen so far indicates that the lab techs are robots. We’ve already seen workers (non “hosts”) in the fields who are robots; Who are you referring to? The farm workers when Ford was talking to the woman at the restaurant? Why would you assume they are anything other than regular hosts, just like the hundreds or more that populate the other locations? ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/444 "2016-11-03T21:31:12Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Who are you referring to? The farm workers when Ford was talking to the woman at the restaurant? Why would you assume they are anything other than regular hosts, just like the hundreds or more that populate the other locations? Why would you assume that I assume they are anything other than regular hosts? ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/445 "2016-11-03T21:33:12Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > The functioning of the brains of the hosts, we’ve been told, is enhanced by giving them ‘back-stories.’ Memories. You’re talkin’ about memories! ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/446 "2016-11-03T22:48:16Z")
> [@Randolph](#): > > Memories. You’re talkin’ about memories! Yeah. And surely part of the theme-question of the show is the connection between having memories and being human (or so close to human as to make no difference). That’s a staple of robot stories, of course, other than that fraction of robot-stories either written by or inspired by Isaac Asimov’s ‘three laws of robotics’ works—for those, the main point is the exercise of logic involved in testing rules. But most robot stories created in recent decades–even the movie made in 2004 with the name inspired by Asimov’s “I, Robot”–are not about the logical conclusions that derive from premises, but instead are about that persistent preoccupation of homo sapiens: how to enslave others without guilt. If the slaves are non-sentient (or non-sapient, as some prefer) robots, hey, no guilt! But if the robots begin to gain self-awareness…if their owners have to start wondering whether they might be _persons_… As this show’s makers know well, the concept of enslaving persons offers all sorts of titillation–perfect for HBO, of course. (Personally I’m happy to see an HBO show in which the titillation focuses a bit less on sadistic slaughter than is the case with their other hits. But leave us be honest: it’s still titillation.) ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/447 "2016-11-04T02:59:05Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Yeah. And surely part of the theme-question of the show is the connection between having memories and being human (or so close to human as to make no difference). > > That’s a staple of robot stories, ) Lol. Speaking of robot stories, Randolph was making a Blade Runner reference. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/448 "2016-11-04T18:55:59Z")
Yes, I could hear Harrison Ford’s voice as I read. I suspect that Nolan and Joy have borrowed a fairly major plot element from _Blade Runner_, by the way: robots of the ‘host’ quality are almost certainly banned on Earth\*, or William wouldn’t have been so fascinated by the host who got him kitted out. So whoever is mucking about with the hosts’ brains is, very possibly, trying to get them into a condition that would let them pass for human, so that they can be used on Earth without fear of prosecution. (Echoing the BR storyline of replicants being used only offworld.) \*Westworld could be on Earth, but probably on an artificial island, domed, and inaccessible to the rest of the planet. Or it could be in space (and the problems of Earth-like gravity and/or quick space travel are being hand-waved away). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/449 "2016-11-04T19:10:42Z")
You wouldn’t need to take a train to get there if WW were on a space station. You might (through an ocean- or lake-bottom tunnel) if it were on an island. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/450 "2016-11-04T19:11:40Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > \*Westworld could be on Earth, but probably on an artificial island, domed, and inaccessible to the rest of the planet. Or it could be in space (and the problems of Earth-like gravity and/or quick space travel are being hand-waved away). Ugh. I hope it’s not in Futureworld. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/451 "2016-11-04T19:31:27Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > You wouldn’t need to take a train to get there if WW were on a space station. You might (through an ocean- or lake-bottom tunnel) if it were on an island. The ‘train into Westworld’ could be part of the experience no matter where it is, as with the way things originally were at Florida’s Magic Kingdom–you parked far away and had to take the Monorail or a ferry to get to the place the fun would begin. The journey was part of what made it special. But I’ll be annoyed if they’ve decided to put Westworld in space, because even though ‘artificial gravity at the touch of a button’ is a staple of sci-fi, it’s so wildly advanced a technology as to make all the rest of the plot silly. (As in, ‘if they’re advanced enough to do THAT then why are they grubbing around doing corporate politics,’ etc.) Same thing with putting it on Mars–they’d need not only the gravity-at-button’s-touch but also implausibly-fast space travel (because a vacation destination you have to spend months to get to and from, makes little sense as a business proposition). ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/452 "2016-11-04T19:50:15Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > But most robot stories created in recent decades–even the movie made in 2004 with the name inspired by Asimov’s “I, Robot”–are not about the logical conclusions that derive from premises, but instead are about that persistent preoccupation of homo sapiens: how to enslave others without guilt. It’s really a matter of “who can I get to do the stuff that needs to get done but that I don’t want to actually do myself?” Expanding on that, there is probably a lot of stuff that people might want to do to or with what appears to be another human (or even a specific human) that would be too dangerous, impractical, physically impossible, unethical, immoral or unlikely to receive the other human’s consent. Like you might not actually want to murder your boss. But it might be a fun team building event to have a hunt an artificial, unfeeling facsimile of your boss. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/453 "2016-11-04T20:01:37Z")
I wonder if the administrator who is sleeping with Bernard is involved in the data smuggling. It would explain why she denied Elsie access to the runaway host’s corpse. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/454 "2016-11-04T22:42:13Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > … Like you might not actually want to murder your boss. But it might be a fun team building event to have a hunt an artificial, unfeeling facsimile of your boss. Heh. I’m trying to picture the boss who would okay that particular team-building event. But the concept does hint at the enormity of the impact on any society in which completely realistically “human” robots are legal and available. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/455 "2016-11-05T01:27:00Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Heh. I’m trying to picture the boss who would okay that particular team-building event… All the Michael Scotts in the world would probably think it was a cool idea. Before they realized otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/456 "2016-11-05T18:20:58Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > I wonder if the administrator who is sleeping with Bernard is involved in the data smuggling. It would explain why she denied Elsie access to the runaway host’s corpse. Hmmmm. Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/457 "2016-11-06T00:25:09Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Harris puts two bullets in the little girl’s hand. Didn’t see where he was going with that at first - brrr. > > The little girl’s change in demeanor and voice, warning him, was also a creepy moment. Something pre-programmed, or did the staff intervene to make her do that? Now that Bernard has sent Dolores to find the maze, I wonder if he’s the one who switched on that aspect in the little girl. I also wonder if the voice that tells Dolores to go outside and find the gun, and kill the man, etc. is Bernard (kinda sounds like him) or Arnold? Or is there some connection between Bernard and Arnold IS Bernard Arnold somehow? ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/458 "2016-11-06T04:20:10Z")
> [@Algernon](#): > > Hmmmm. Interesting. Just rewatched 105 and noticed that the Woodcutter was slated to be incinerated, ostensibly with minimal autopsy. Either the MEs there were told not to perform a proper autopsy, or they’re pretty sloppy for not noticing a bunch of glowing laser emitters all throughout the corpse’s arm. Could be the admin was trying to destroy the evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/459 "2016-11-06T15:50:06Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > In that case is the boy supposed to be a younger version of Arnold? Not necessarily, since Ford also typically wears an old-timey white shirt/vest combo. In the photo, he’s probably wearing the same thing, just with a jacket on over them. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/460 "2016-11-06T16:18:01Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > Just rewatched 105 and noticed that the Woodcutter was slated to be incinerated, ostensibly with minimal autopsy. Either the MEs there were told not to perform a proper autopsy, or they’re pretty sloppy for not noticing a bunch of glowing laser emitters all throughout the corpse’s arm. Could be the admin was trying to destroy the evidence. That laser emitter that Elsie found in the host isn’t going to be destroyed in an incinerator. It will be damaged, certainly, but I think it will still be recognizable. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413/461 "2016-11-06T16:25:53Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > That laser emitter that Elsie found in the host isn’t going to be destroyed in an incinerator. It will be damaged, certainly, but I think it will still be recognizable. Well maybe but we have no idea of their system. Maybe after incineration everything is immediately shot down a garbage chute, never seen by humans. Or so hot it reduces the metal to slag. Even our regular crematorium temps nowadays would melt aluminium. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/westworld-premieres-sunday-show-spoilers-as-airs/767413.md?page=24)