WESTWORLD | OnStreaming

“She literally could not hurt a fly.”

Produced by: J.J. Abrams, Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy
1hourTV-MA

What does it mean to be human? Science fiction asks that question all the time. Blade Runner comes to mind, Steven Spielberg’s A.I., Battlestar Galactica, Isaac Asimov’s Robot series. The list is long, and it will surely grow longer as we get closer to the real life technological singularity.

In the meantime, Westworld is here to ask the question again, only with more sex, and more violence, and more… creepy than ever before. I mean, Anthony Hopkins interrogates nude androids in a sterile glass room. It’s hard to avoid Hannibal Lecter flashbacks.

The ten episode series is set in a western themed amusement park where fantasy is reality. Everything from a quiet family vacation to a brutal murder orgy is yours for the bargain price of $40,000 a day. Want to help some locals solve Scooby-Doo mysteries? Great. Or would you rather pile bodies high in a John Woo style shootout? Even better. The robot hosts don’t mind getting filled with lead. Well, most of them don’t.

I have some reservations about the show. It asks too many questions and takes its time getting around to the answers, like the writers are overly aware that their internet-age audience will scrutinize every detail week by week. I prefer that type of thing to happen naturally, rather than being so clearly crafted into the story. But that doesn’t prevent Westworld from being exciting science fiction, it undeniably gets a lot right. There’s a large cast of compelling characters, detailed world building, and a strong core concept to support it all. And even after all of the terrible things that happen in Westworld, I still want to visit.

Use your HBO Now subscription to watch. Available for purchase.

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