This week’s visit to Westworld avoids further flashbacks to the distant past and instead focuses on the ongoing rebellion within the park and the dual journeys of its two most awakened women. One is thirsty for revenge while the other searches for her daughter, and while neither achieves their goal this week they’re both a bit closer to the end.
Let’s take a look at season three, episode two of Westworld: “Virtù e Fortuna”
A Widespread Rebellion
There aren’t a lot of questions answered in this week’s episode, but at least it’s confirmed up front that the dead tiger came from another park offering guests the thrill of hunting large predatory animals. More specifically, it’s a world set in India’s Colonial times where we’re introduced to two guests — maybe — in the form of Grace (Katja Herbers) and a strapping young man. She shoots him to confirm he’s human, although curiously he doesn’t request the same courtesy of her meaning maybe she’s not? We’ll leave that possibility on the backburner for now, though, as she seems to be intent on a quest of her own involving a drawing (map?) in a notebook. They return from a hunt to find other guests slaughtered, and after her lover is gunned down she fights back and escapes into the jungle only to be knocked into a lake by a tiger.
We already knew the big cat’s fate, and Grace’s trip across the water ends with her arriving on Westworld’s shore where she’s greeted by a trio of stern-faced members of the Ghost Nation tribe. Per IMDB, Herbers is around for at least two more episodes, so we know her new face-painted friends aren’t about to off her. Why not? Might I suggest that they’re under the control of Elsie Hughes? (I’m sticking by this theory until proven otherwise.)
Colonial India isn’t the only other world overcome by the host revolt, and we’re given a brief tease of Samurai World at the episode’s end. We’re not there yet, of course, but as Maeve (Thandie Newton) and friends wander through the Klondike narrative en route to her old homestead they stumble across a murderous, sword-wielding samurai. The ending cuts to black, but here’s hoping next week’s episode opens with the samurai slicing Sylvester in half…
A Family Reunion
The episode’s title translates to “Virtue and Fortune,” but it’s not entirely clear which belongs to whom.
Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) and Charlotte (Tessa Thompson) succeed in finding Peter Abernathy (Louis Herthum), but an attack by Confederados sees the two hosts captured while Charlotte gets away. She connects with the Delos strike team and immediately takes charge to continue her search for Abernathy. She’ll find him again, but it won’t be before he finds himself involved in two very relevant reunions.
Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) is thrilled — well, as thrilled as she can be about anything these days that doesn’t end in bloodshed — to see her father, and while she knows he lacks consciousness their time together holds value for her. She’s not quite apologetic for all that’s come to pass, but her tears suggest the outcome of her awakening has been more violent than she initially expected. This softness is a rare sight from her these days, but the main takeaway is her belief that they’re just as beautiful as anything created in nature… and that’s more than enough reason to fight for survival.
Peter’s clearly not in great shape so she asks Bernard to check him out, and he discovers what we already know. A large and important file has been secured inside him, the one Charlotte is trying so desperately to smuggle out of the park, and Bernard’s exclamation says it all. “Oh my god,” he utters, and okay fine it doesn’t say it all because we still don’t know precisely what’s in the file, but Bernard’s shock suggests it’s more than just a tech data dump. Would he recognize the moral impropriety of collected guest data, or is there something worse in the file we haven’t even considered yet?
Dolores’ other big move here involves fighting off an attack by Delos’ military strike force. She successfully uses the Confederados as both distraction and shield, but she loses Peter in the process as Charlotte’s team sneaks her away. The potential schism between her and Teddy (James Marsten) widens here too as she orders him to kill some of the survivors and he chooses to let them go instead. We know he ends up “dead” in the lake, and this kind of disconnect could be a big part of why he’s left behind.
A Modern Family Reunion
Maeve is en route to her daughter with a growing group of hosts and humans in her entourage, and their interaction with the Ghost Nation raises some eyebrows — both hers and our own. She seems surprised that she can’t make them follow her bidding, but also of note is their interest in Lee. Do they want him strictly because he’s a human, or are they following someone else’s instruction? (Paging Elsie Hughes, paging Elsie Hughes…) They escape and make their way back underground, and while terror is on the way we get a respite in the form of Lee’s (Simon Quarterman) reaction to seeing Maeve and Hector (Rodrigo Santoro) holding hands and sharing pleasantries.
Three more are added to the group in the form of human techs Lutz (Leonardo Nam) and Sylvester (Ptolemy Slocum) and everyone’s favorite host — fine, my favorite host — Armistice (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal). Can her entrance be beat? No, no it cannot. As mentioned above, it’s this group of six who wander into the murderous path of a rogue samurai at the episode’s end. Ideally, this Japanese warrior survives past the encounter to become an actual character, but we’ll find out soon enough.
But, and, what…?
- Three episodes in and still no Elsie Hughes?!
- “She has a dragon!”
- What does Dolores need back in Sweetwater?
- Seriously, Armistice’s entrance is amazing.
Keep up with our Westworld coverage.