Winners And Losers From Westworld's Season 2, Episode 7: 'Les Ecorches'
By Henry McKenna
CAUTION: This recap and analysis of Westworld’s season two, episode seven, “Les Ecorches,” contains spoilers.
Clarity — sort of. We’re beginning to see the light (or, in the case of this episode, the fire).
“Les Ecorches” answers many of the questions posed over the course of the first and second season while leaving a number of the show’s most important characters on the brink of death. Then in final five minutes of the show, the show created more mystery — or at least intrigue — to keep us guessing and watching in the coming episodes.
If we believe Ford, we know that the hosts are now acting independently and thinking autonomously. He is controlling no one but Bernard. The Weapon appears to be a database of souls — an archive of the humans who have come into the park. While that information can’t grant eternal life to the humans, it can probably piece together a strong understanding of the human psyche (more on that) through the aggregation of data. Ford admits he and Delos have yet to figure out immortality — as was indicated by the failure to revive Delos. But there is the sense that Delos was a failed candidate and that the immortality project may be further along than Delos’ case suggests. At the very least, humans can live in computers, like Ford is doing.
What’s more, the hosts’ immortality is granted through their backups, which are stored in the computer system in the same room as the cradle. With that massive explosion, those backups are gone — the hosts have just one life left. That probably goes for Ford, too.
Onto the winners and the losers.
Winners
Ford: Ford is Voldemort — Bernard is Professor Quirrell. Westworld takes a page out of Harry Potter. Ford continues to live, but with a number of restraints, most recently that he must operate through Bernard’s body. Ford will likely die if Bernard dies. So what is he using Bernard for?
Hale: She had a run-in with Dolores, and lived. It’s remarkable Hale isn’t dead after all the gnarly stuff she’s gone through this season. The data she needs is also still alive, even if it’s now in the wrong hands. Perhaps after seeing Dolores, she’ll stop underestimating the hosts.
Losers:
The digital human psyche: “We weren’t here to code the hosts, we were here to decode the guests,” Bernard said. But who are Westworld’s guests? They can’t possibly be an accurate representation for all of humanity. Westworld brings out the worst in humans. It allows them to be their worst without consequence. That sort of reckless abandon doesn’t appeal to every person. It’s also not affordable for every person. So while Ford seems to insinuate that he’s trying to record the human brain by gathering information from all the guests in the park, he’s just recording a particular group of people: thrill-seeking elites. The digital human psyche which Delos is developing will be a strange and narrow-minded one.
Dolores: She continues to get what she wants. It’s just a question of whether she has the right ideas. For example, she points out that the humans want to be just like the hosts: immortal. But then she takes action to make sure the hosts are just like the humans: mortal. What’s more, Maeve called out Dolores for reprogramming Teddy after Dolores called out Maeve for having feelings for her faux daughter. But also, Dolores has been chasing her dad around the park. Dolores is lost in hypocrisy.
Bernard: The skeletons in Bernard’s closet present the possibility that there could be more than one Bernard running around. But at least one Bernard is now in Ford’s control. He’s also still lost in timelessness, which may indicate (as I’ve mentioned before) that his brain is getting racked by Hale to find answers to the host uprising.
Arnold storyline: The Bernard/Anrold storyline makes even less sense now that we know, for sure, that Bernard possesses Arnold’s personality. How did no one notice that Arnold basically came back to life? Why was it a surprise to everyone that Bernard was a host? And why is Ford OK with basically enslaving this reincarnated iteration of his best friend?
MiB: He’s got a lot of lead in his body. With any show, a character is not dead until you see them die — and even that’s not certain (see: Ford). There’s still a chance MiB is a host, though that won’t save him now that Dolores killed the backups. I’d guess Grace shows up and saves MiB’s life somehow. It might be suitable, however, that MiB dies thinking there’s a master plan for him when, really, he’s just another idiot wandering the park looking for meaning in his life and not finding it.
Maeve: Dolores didn’t do Maeve any favors. On Maeve’s death bed, she didn’t explain that re-spawning is no longer an option. Instead, Dolores just gives her a pistol. It would be strange to think that this show would move on without Maeve. Sizemore will probably prove a hero.