Mason Downey 
HBO's prestige sci-fi drama, Westworld, is back for a fourth season. Here's how it stands up to the show's complicated history, and what it means for its future as the robot uprising continues to unfold.
Westworld Season 4 Review — Close To Sublime
<p> </p><p dir="ltr">HBO's sci-fi epic Westworld is back for a fourth season and long gone are the days of quaint prairie-living robots and puzzle box mysteries. Over the last three seasons, the show has blown the doors off its own concept, figuratively and literally, unleashing the impossibly realistic "hosts" into the world outside of the unending loop of theme park stories, only to dig into deeper and more troubling mysteries about society at large. In Season 3, we got an up close and personal look at all the ways artificial technology has impacted humanity and hosts alike. Now, in Season 4, the show is attempting to push its boundaries even further.</p><p dir="ltr">Put lightly, Westworld Season 4 is just as dense and complicated as the seasons before it. The reality of the vast techno-conspiratorial empire that was Delos (responsible for the host-run theme parks) and Incite (responsible for the massive super AI secretly using people's data to engineer their lives in the real world) has come to light, leaving the world a more dangerous place for everyone--though, in the intervening time, most people seem to have done their best to get on with their lives and push past any reservations they may have about the tech they use on a day to day basis. Caleb (Aaron Paul) has settled down with a family, Maeve (Thandiwe Newton) has hidden away off grid for a while, Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) is going by a new name after having apparently lost her memories and been shoved into a quaint civilian life where she scripts NPCs for a video game of some kind.</p><p dir="ltr">Meanwhile, Charlotte (Tessa Thompson) who is probably actually Dolores (remember that whole situation from Season 3?) is making moves to bring about a robot revolution and she's using William (Ed Harris) hosts and clones to do it. Without going into spoilers, Charlotte (Charlores?) is still very much on the warpath to free host-kind and punish humanity, and she's discovered a way to potentially give humans a taste of their own autonomy-stripping methods.</p><p dir="ltr">Also in the mix are Bernard (Jeffery Wright) who has spent some time with his consciousness uploaded to the robot heaven, Sublime, and Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth), the robot killer who learned he was a robot himself.</p><p dir="ltr">These three groups of characters intersect with one another to form what is essentially a three-pronged plot for the season. There's Charlotte's scheme against the humans happening in tandem with Bernard's secret mission from the Sublime happening alongside Dolores's strange new life and a mystery she is carefully beginning to uncover. It's not all that difficult to see where and how these three plots are going to intersect with each other, which actually works in the show's favor--with so many other complicated card tricks happening (virtually every character mentioned--and some left out for fear of spoilers--has multiple incarnations, clones, or the ability to body-hop into new identities) having some low hanging fruit helps keep things from feeling too bogged down or cumbersome. It may have taken Westworld four seasons to learn this lesson, but it finally appears to have sunk in.</p><p dir="ltr">This season does have its fair share of stumbling blocks, however. While the plotlines themselves are all, at surface level, interesting and engaging, there are moments where their respective commentaries and winks to current events get a little too on-the-nose. At one point, a character makes an off-the-cuff reference to a "superspreader event" and, at another, Ed Harris makes a snide remark about being called "neuropergent" that both feel like they could have come from a 2022 Twitter thread, not a discussion in a far flung sci-fi future. Early on, Evan Rachel Wood gives a stilted explanation of her job "scripting NPCs" and it comes off as maybe the most awkward, clunky way to describe video game development possible. These bizarre moments feel too direct, too tongue-in-cheek, and too clumsy in the context of the rest of the show--and they happen with some regularity.</p><p dir="ltr">Thankfully, outside of these oddball bits of exposition and fumbled scenes, the production quality of the show has remained consistent. The visual effects are top tier, the production design remains interesting and thorough, and the performances given by the entire ensemble are as strong as they've ever been. There is a lot of potential here, assuming the back half of the season can follow through on the ideas the first four episodes laid down. Here's hoping.</p><p dir="ltr">Westworld Season 4 premieres June 26 on HBO.
Related News & Content
-
How to optimize ‘select found_rows()’ query? Several ‘high load average’ alerts daily
How to optimize 'select found_rows()' query? Several 'high load average' alerts daily,I have 5,000 regular posts, 6,000 posts in one post type and 2,000 posts in another post type. Needless to say, that has made the wp_posts table quite large. Not to mention, I have custom taxonomie... -
How to Use JSON With AJAX?
How to Use JSON With AJAX?,I've defined a PHP callback function to handle the communication between server-side and client-side: function json_render_modal_body() { check_ajax_referer( THEME_PREFIX . '-modals', 'nonce'... -
Filtering context for render_block function
Filtering context for render_block function,I am trying to use render_block within a function called from the WP admin via AJAX The render_block returns null/empty however if I run my function using the wp hook returns the rendered HTML for ... -
How do I hide submenus from the top menu bar?
How do I hide submenus from the top menu bar?,My website is wiki-style and has a lot of pages that should only be reached through links on other pages. Having these all accessible from the top menu bar under their respective headings leads you... -
Register users without confirmation
Register users without confirmation,I'm looking to register users without requiring confirmation of their emails (and even better, no password when they register). Basically, I want them to subscribe their mails using wp registration -
How to use AJAX in wordpress front end?
How to use AJAX in wordpress front end?,I have two inputs in an HTML Widget block on a post. What I need to do: send the inputs (from the html widget) value to AJAX, construct and execute a query, render a table with the results back on ... -
Display posts from Custom Post Type, group by term, arrange term groups and arrange items within groups by menu order
Display posts from Custom Post Type, group by term, arrange term groups and arrange items within groups by menu order,I have a Custom Post Type 'my_cpt' and a custom taxonomy 'types' which has several terms, all of which have posts. I want to do is be able to control both the order of the groups (terms from my cus... -
How do I know if the custom theme is a child theme or a full-custom theme?
How do I know if the custom theme is a child theme or a full-custom theme?,Inherited a custom built WordPress site. How do I know if the theme it uses is a child theme or a full-custom theme? I would like to delete the unused themes for security and to free up space, but ... -
getEntityRecords/useEntityRecords: How to use CPT metadata?
getEntityRecords/useEntityRecords: How to use CPT metadata?,I use getEntityRecords as described in the official data API tutorial (https://learn.wordpress.org/lesson/retrieving-wordpress-data-records/). I.e.: const [searchTerm, setSearchTerm] = useState... -
Carol Kirkwood stuns in figure-hugging dress amid BBC Breakfast technical chaos
Carol Kirkwood stuns in figure-hugging dress amid BBC Breakfast technical chaos,CAROL Kirkwood stunned in a figure-hugging dress amid a technical blunder. BBC Breakfast was flung into chaos this morning after a string of sound issues. However Carol, 61, was all smiles as she p… -
Families ‘to sue prison’ where loud inmates ‘terrorise kids’ with screaming
Families 'to sue prison' where loud inmates 'terrorise kids' with screaming,Residents living next door to a new prison who say their kids have to sleep wearing headphones and some leave during weekends due to the racket are threatening to sue the prison service -
Doctor Strange’s Secret Wars Role May Be More Important Than You Thought – Looper
Doctor Strange's Secret Wars Role May Be More Important Than You Thought - Looper,According to entertainment leaker Alex Perez, Doctor Strange will find himself confronting his inner struggles as he headlines "Avengers: Secret Wars." -
Blondshell and Bully Team Up For New Single “Docket”
Blondshell and Bully Team Up For New Single “Docket”,Blondshell has teamed up with Alicia Bognanno of Bully for the newly released single "Docket." Listen to the track here. -
I’m a clown for not trying Korean beauty secret for glowy skin sooner – don’t worry, I’m not putting cheese on my face
I’m a clown for not trying Korean beauty secret for glowy skin sooner – don’t worry, I’m not putting cheese on my face,A BEAUTY influencer has regrets about not trying out Korean beauty advice for glowy skin sooner. Although the trick can look a little strange at first, she assured viewers that she was not putting … -
‘We are at risk’ – health expert in urgent warning for Irish people over Easter
‘We are at risk’ - health expert in urgent warning for Irish people over Easter,AN URGENT warning has been released to those jetting off over the Easter break. With measles already on the rise, there is an increased risk of a more widespread outbreak in the coming weeks. Trave… -
Black Holes Are Even Weirder Than You Imagined
Black Holes Are Even Weirder Than You Imagined,It’s now thought that they could illuminate fundamental questions in physics, settle questions about Einstein’s theories, and even help explain the universe. -
The odd history of on-hold music
The odd history of on-hold music,We've all been put on hold when we've tried to reach someone. Have you ever thought about the music that plays while you wait? -
‘What Jennifer Did’: Netflix doc explores shocking Ont. murder-for-hire case
'What Jennifer Did': Netflix doc explores shocking Ont. murder-for-hire case,Most of Jennifer Pan's entire life was made up of lies. When her parents began to catch on, she decided to bring in hired hitmen. -
Martin Scorsese to Spearhead Doc Series on Christian Saints for Fox Nation
Martin Scorsese to Spearhead Doc Series on Christian Saints for Fox Nation,Martin Scorsese signed a deal with Fox Nation to host and executive produce an eight-episode docudrama titled 'Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints.' -
Man Accusing CPAC Chair Matt Schlapp of Sexual Assault Was Paid $480,000: Report
Man Accusing CPAC Chair Matt Schlapp of Sexual Assault Was Paid $480,000: Report,The GOP strategist who accused Matt Schlapp of sexual assault last year reportedly received a hefty financial settlement to drop his lawsuit against the CPAC chairman.
