'Westworld' Episode 4 review: Clues are unveiled, let the rebellion begin!

Once you are done watching the fourth episode in the series, 'Dissonance Theory', you'll think you have an idea of what's going on. In reality, you haven't the faintest! We do understand the major plot points and that the hosts are well on their path to rebel. But apart from getting an idea about the characters, we are still the Jon Snows of Westworld!

The majority of the episode takes place in the park. The Puppet Masters are very much a part of it, but the gradual awakening of the hosts is the focus of the episode.

We begin with the usual underground conversation between Dolores and Bernard about change and pain. Dolores shoots a line Bernard used on his wife and that makes him take a double take. In the next scene, Dolores wakes up in the arms of William. This is the first thing that throws you off. Last we saw Dolores, she had joined William and Logan's camp after running away from the bandits that killed her family. So the conversation between Bernard and her could be a thing of the past. Since we know that in the last episode, Bernard agreed to let her grow on her own.

Dolores joins William and Logan on their bounty hunt. She reaches Lawrence's hometown with the boys and meets his daughter who is once again drawing the maze in the soil and muttering cryptic lines at Dolores. The line put Dolores in touch with her reveries and she gets a flashback of her time with a church and her parents, basically, one of her previous stories. With this, she avoids going back to Sweetwater with the Sheriff. William and Logan press on. Logan has fun killing bandits, capturing one, then blowing off the head of the Sheriff, only to be part of a more lucrative ride with the bandit they caught. William gets dragged with Logan. White hat William is the moral centre of the show and he's got the feels for Dolores. Good Samaritan. Plus, there is a huge possibility that Logan and William are the representatives of the Board of Delos Corp. Same people part of the power tussle conversation between Dr. Robert Ford and Theresa Cullen.

Cullen is skeptical about the new mysterious narrative Ford is working on. She has all the reason to be, after the stray-gone-wild episode in which Elise merely survived. But Ford, who controls all the hosts and creatures he created for his world, a world in which he is the god who sees and remembers everything, has seen so many like Cullen come and go. He tells her that he knows about her and Bernard and will not hesitate to use that information. He recreates Cullen's childhood memory as a guest in Westworld and then demolishes it all in front of her eyes to remind her who is the real boss. Sir Anthony Hopkins has only this one scene in the episode and that cold stare, a little flick of the index finger, and half a smile is enough for you to remember why he is one of the greatest and that Dr. Ford too is not above having a secret agenda. 

In the meeting, we get the mention of Arnold. Ford tells Cullen that Arnold preferred hosts over humans. If we take this thread and tie it to the Man in Black's (MIB) conversations about Arnold, we can get an idea of what is wrong with hosts and what clues we need, to understand everyone's penchant for the maze.

ARNOLD

Dolores comes to know of the maze because of Bernard. He tells her that reaching the centre of the maze will set her free.

MIB talks about the maze with Lawrence. Then he sets himself a mission in exchange for Armistice telling him the story behind her rad snake tattoo. The mission is to free Hector - the same bandit whom we came across in Episode one. Remember how he rode into the town with Rolling Stones playing in the background and then later was shot dead by a meek guest? But there's no torture this time. Just a fun quest. Wonder what happened to the brutality of MIB? 

MIB has admirers in Hector's group. Guests who know him outside the theme park. One of them quips, "Your foundation literally saved my sister's life." MIB is not amused with the recognition. He is a man on a mission, returning to the park after thirty years to bust open the secret and unleash gruesome violence. His response? "One more word and I will cut your throat. This is my F-ing vacation." Some idea of a vacation! 

This is when he mentions Arnold. Talks about how he created a place where you can do everything except die. Ironical on Arnold's part since he died in the park. MIB also talks about the maze Arnold created and Armistice's tattoo is one of the keys to finding it.

A little shenanigan happens to get Hector out. MIB lectures Lawrence on how, being a host, he has always been a prisoner and another lecture to Hector about how the reality he lives in is not real. Pair this with Maeve's story in this episode and we have a rebellion on our hands.

Coming back to Arnold. The tattoo mystery mentions Wyatt. Same concept tied to Teddy Flood's narrative. This line again throws you off with regards to the timelines of the show. Is the Wyatt plotline new? Are we looking at different timelines waiting to be straightened later in the season? Because Armistice and Hector were part of Episode One. Wyatt was only introduced in Episode Three. (One day, I will be done with these timeline jumbles on American TV, ONE DAY!).

MIB and Lawrence leave to find Wyatt. They find a half-dead Teddy Flood on their way. Hector and gang go to Sweetwater, which already has new hosts coming in for the new narrative, to rob Maeve and steal her safe. Maeve is the most bothered host of them all. She remembers the cleaning decontaminating suits from when she ran naked in the halls of 'real world.' She has a Memento moment when she finds the drawings of the decon suits and remembers she has been drawing them since (a little nod to show creatorJohnathan Nolan's short story on which the movie Memento was based). 

Maeve wants answers to why she remembers this. Why she can feel a bullet in her and is still alive even after that. She wants to know which reality is real. One way to know is to get to that bullet. She asks Hector to cut her open. After much drama and Puppetmaster-induced bandit control, he does. They find the bullet and Maeve declares, "None of it matters." Preach, Maeve!

What were you thinking allowing AI to improve on its own? 

Let the rebellion begin!

For the rest of the season we shall be looking for answers to questions like - 

Everyone has a secret. What are these secrets for Bernard, Ford, MIB, Logan?

Who is Arnold?

Why does MIB want to solve Arnold's maze?

How morally correct is it to create something with a sense of entitlement and deny them the very same thing?

What are the moral boundaries we are willing to cross with AI?

And trivial questions like -

Where does all the sherry Maeve chugs go?

How are the hosts powered in the park?

One thing is clear. Even if the pace of the show gets a bit tedious and keeping up with the characters gets tiring (they still have fewer characters than Game of Thrones), one can easily get hooked to the puzzle solving.
 
Westworld airs in India on Tuesdays at 10 pm on Star World Premiere HD