A Choice Between the Unknown and An End
Throughout this season, Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) has been lost in the tangle of his own memories. A classic interview between Bernard and Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) opens episode six, a continuation of their conversation from the season two opening episode. As so many times before, Bernard asks Dolores questions and she answers earnestly and truthfully. This time, the tables turn. In episode four, William (Jimmi Simpson) tested Delos’ (Peter Mullan) fidelity. At the top of episode 6 titled Phase Space, Dolores reveals herself to be testing Bernard’s. Whose consciousness has Dolores implanted into Bernard’s body?
The man who rode that train was built weak and born to fail. You fixed him. Now forget about it.
Where Is My Mind?
Elsewhere in the bowels of the park — perhaps also elsewhere in Bernard’s memories — he and Elsie (Shannon Woodward) discover deep inside the control room that the system that controls the AI’s intelligence, the “cradle”, is fighting back against fixes the devs try to launch to repair the park’s internal programs. The cradle contains all of the collective minds of every AI in the park. “It’s like a hive mind,” Elsie describes. In order to understand the system, Bernard has Elsie extract his own “mind” and put it into the system to try and see what’s triggering what appears to be an improvised response by the park’s programming.
Still deeper inside the control center, Abernathy resurfaces, in custody of Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson). They staple his body in gruesome fashion to a bed and openly discuss Delos and his reaction to their find. This seems to indicate that this timeline occurs during a period in the past when Delos is still alive, or far enough into the future that his mind could be sustainably implanted into an AI body.
The End of Maeve’s Journey
We each deserve to choose our fate. Even if it that faith is death.
Back in Shogun world, where the vast majority of the dialogue is now taking place entirely in Japanese, Maeve (Thandie Newton) and Akane (Rinko Kikuchi) grapple with the murder of Akane’s daughter. Her slaughter has moved Akane to accept consciousness, and Maeve to push her AI-mind control powers further still. Thandie Newton credits her remarkable skill with the Japanese language to dialect coach Junko Goda. In Westworld, Newton speaks a traditional Japanese dialogue dissimilar to the modern Japanese spoken the in the country today. She also utilized an earpiece to further assist during certain scenes, and post-production audio recording to ensure that the dialect was perfect.
Maeve’s long journey through Shogun world finally lands her back at the homestead she remembers from her past role in Westworld. She’s there to retrieve the daughter she remembers so vividly, who now waits for her on the front porch. But her joy is short-lived — Maeve quickly discovers that she has been replaced as a mother to this girl by a new host. Now her daughter and the new mother live out an endless loop of attacks over and over on the homestead. In the chaos, Lee (Simon Quarterman) makes a call for help.
Maybe you’re more suited to my line than you want to admit.
Finally, The Man in Black (Ed Harris) and his daughter share a drink by a campfire, where his daughter confronts him about his inability to let go of the fantasy that is Westworld. But the allure of the park is inescapable, especially when it holds so many mysteries still. Including why the specter of Ford plays piano inside the Cradle.
Westworld continues Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO. Missed last week’s recap? Catch up here.
Phase Space was written by Carly Wray and directed by Tarik Saleh
Photo and video credit courtesy of HBO.
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