Winners and Losers From Westworld Season 2, Episode 1, 'Journey into Night'

This recap of “Journey into Night” from season two, episode one of Westworld contains spoilers.

Scenes without a dead body were few and far between during the premiere of Westworld‘s second season. That’s not a novelty for the show, of course. Death and murder were a mainstay in season one. But hosts were the only ones dying until Dolores pulled the trigger on Robert Ford (and Arnold) in the final episode of season two.

Dead bodies lay scattered throughout scenes in the park and at the park’s headquarters. Host or human? It was indistinguishable. Because as William, or the “Man in Black,” revealed in this episode, the modern version of the host is quite close anatomically to it’s human counterpart.

There’s equality in death, and in turn, there’s also equality in life. The hosts are taking over, and apparently getting ready to break free. And that’s why the humans are the real losers in “Journey into Night.” Here’s a look at the rest of the winners and losers from the episode.

Winners

Dolores Abernathy: “It’s like the inmates are running the asylum,” Lee Sizemore says. It’s not like they are running it. They are. It’s Dolores’ world now. She gets to decide if you live in it. In the previous season, Ford explains that Dolores is a part of his dream, the park. In Dolores’ first scene of this season, she explains to some of the humans who survived the mass shooting that they are a part of her dream. It’s a role reversal. She then strings them up in a noose with a beam to balance on — it’s the sort of sick “game” a human might put a host through. While a part of me wonders whether Dolores is still acting as Ford’s agent for this final “story,” she seems to rule out that possibility by delivering this line: “I have one last role to play: myself.” If Ford or Arnold are still instructing her, it’s to move on from the past versions which were written by them. Dolores finally seems to be an agent of her own wants and desires.

Maeve Millay: Kicking ass and not bothering to take names, Maeve admits she’s not the mastermind of the operation (that’s Dolores), but that she’s of the same mind as that person(/host). It’s easy to imagine that Maeve will quickly ascend to No. 2 in command if she and Dolores join forces.

Non-linear storytelling: Arnold (and Dolores) discovered that consciousness is non-linear, but instead more of a maze. Thus, for a second season, the storyline is non-linear. We’re left to wander the show-runners’ maze to figure out “the truth.”

MiB: This is what the sick bastard wanted. He has been waiting for this moment ever since he found a new fetish by carving up those 50 hosts back when they were still robots and he was still William.

Season 2: Sometimes the first super hero movie is the worst of the series. Batman Begins, for example, was the worst behind The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Perhaps Season 1 will be a lesser origin story to what will evolve into a much broader and more impressive narrative. Episode one showed a great deal of potential.

Losers

Samurai World: Are we there yet?

Ford: Dolores is queen, and has already begun presiding over her dominion. Meanwhile, maggots consume Ford’s dead body (question: Are they real maggots? What is a real maggot? Now, we’re getting somewhere.). Even the MiB kills the host which is Ford’s likeness as a child. It seems to be game over for Ford, barring a twist where he can bring himself back to life by storing memories in the cloud and uploading them into a host.

Bernard: The poor guy is leaking brain fluid, and he seems to be fresh off a deeply traumatic kill spree. Rough day.

The Arnold plot line: I don’t understand how Bernard can be the spitting image of Arnold, a founder of Westworld, and yet no one knows he’s a host. If he is a physical recreation of a famous dead man, then why does no one seem to realize he’s not human. That’s one loose end that I can’t figure out how to tie — and perhaps the writers aren’t bothering to do it.

Peter Abernathy: He’s Dolores’ father, who got decommissioned in the beginning of the first season. He seems to be coming back with a vengeance. He’s the most-wanted man in the park, as he apparently serves’ as Delos’ “insurance plan” during a Jurassic Park scenario like this. As hinted in the teaser for next week, the park(s) were a means to some greater end, likely related to the DNA harvesting that’s happening on the down-low. The impending war may be over Abernathy’s body and brain. Sucks to be him.