Westworld S2 (show spoilers as it airs)

Andy and Barney were a bit nervous in a similar situation once.

I think that was interesting but…why? Like why would the bots do that? So it’s just “Wouldn’t it be crazy/cool if…”

Which is what I think the show is turning into.

Well we know that when non-self-aware Hosts exhauste their narrative they start losing their ability to improvise and start breaking down mentally. That combined with their perception filters and safety protocols being could lead to pretty bizarre and dangerous behavior in them. Still it’s kinda of funny (in a dark way) that the Chinese Hosts are still building a railroad.

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Yeah. I’m not sure to what extent the writers just intended it as neat-and-gruesome, but it does make a kind of twisted sense as a behavior that would end up when one set of commands (follow this storyline, play this role) conflicted with another one (engage in an uprising, overthrow the humans).

If that is why they were doing that, and it makes sense, why did MiB conclude that it seems he’s not the only one playing the game?

Truth be told, I’ve already stopped caring about the big conspiracies and shadowy plans and multilayered games and such and will probably watch just for the freaky stuff like the human rail ties.

Plus they have the examples of the experiences of their interaction with the guests and the park controllers, neither of whom were short of creative ways to be cruel.

Because the railroad was going a different direction than normal. There’s other things going on outside of just “kill all humans.”

That’s what I had thought. “No trains coming.” The utility doesn’t matter. But it still signifies more than integrating uprising with former narrative.

I’m wondering, though, about the narrative showing the Chinese laborers building the railroad by hand, as really occurred in the nineteenth century. Is this something the guests to the park really want to see?

Yeah, doesn’t seem like it would be a big draw. Maybe they “do” the big ceremony at Promontory Point every week? Some sickos might want to be supervisors, driving the coolies hard; even fewer would want to join the workers and swing a hammer or lug railroad ties into place, I suspect.

The other thing is that we were told that the park is dependent on Chinese funding (and perhaps Chinese guests?). So would the portrayal of the coolies be offensive to them?

And the whole scene of the railroad being built using nineteenth century technology seemed a bit comical given the advanced technology in use in the park.

Imaginary Worlds podcast

Just put up an episode of the Westworld Experience that they set up at South-by-Southwest. Very entertaining episode.

Of course, a few people took their cues from the show and decided they could do whatever they wanted to the hosts … or maybe they would have done that anyway? People acting the role of androids will naturally be treated inhumanely?

I would think that like Civil War reenactors some degree of historical accuracy (with allowance for artistic license for fantasy purposes) is desired. A Chinese guest might be more upset over covering that part of the history up. Would you expect an antebellum South recreation to not show Blacks as slaves? Few guests might choose to be the slave, or have the option given even, but they’d be expected to be part of what a guest interacted with whichever hat they chose.

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I wanna know if more hosts in the park are based off real life people like Bernard and Delos.

I missed the first couple of episodes, what’s the deal with zombie Clementine? Did she take some heavy damage or something, maybe her lobotomy was excessive?

Actually, I expect that the railroad would have been built in advance using whatever modern technology is available, but designed to look like it belongs in the nineteenth century. The Disney World approach, in other words. People come to Westworld for the Western experience, but I very much doubt they’re sleeping on nineteenth century beds. Or having to use a nineteenth century outhouse. Instead, I assume the bedrooms and bathrooms are modern.

I wonder if the American West would actually be of any interest to them. There may be other parks that they are far more interested in.

That’s a good question. We know about The Raj and Shogunworld in addition to Westworld. And I think there are three other parks yet to be described. I have no idea what would appeal to the Chinese guests.