Westworld Season 4 Review: A Welcome Fresh Start With Some Big Ideas to Explore

The post Westworld Season 4 Review: A Welcome Fresh Start With Some Big Ideas to Explore appeared first on Consequence.

The Pitch: The third season of Westworld did not have a lot of luck on its side — specifically, the timing of its premiere could have been better, as March 15th, 2020 was not an ideal day to launch a new season of a TV show which, over the course of eight episodes, became a tale of society nearly descending entirely into apocalypse.

But even since the first season, Westworld has experienced a lot of critical scrutiny, especially as the narrative has drifted further and further away from its original Michael Crichton inspiration of disaster at a high-tech amusement park for the ultra-rich. (Funny how Westworld literally is a response to one of Jeff Goldblum’s iconic quotes from another Crichton adaptation: “If Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don’t eat the tourists.”)

So while Season 2 was bogged down by the way it clung to the original park setting, and Season 3’s dystopian narrative was overshadowed by the very real disaster happening on a global level, Season 4 feels in some ways like a fresh start, with a brand new protagonist but also all the original elements which made the show an immediate fascination upon premiere — one of the best ensemble casts on television right now, incredible production value, and some big ideas to explore.

Fade In On a Girl… As the cast and producers teased earlier this month at ATXfest, Season 4 opens by introducing us to Christina (Evan Rachel Wood), a young single woman working as a writer in the not-too-distant future of New York City.

While very much her own character at this point, the connections between Christina and Dolores are clear from the beginning, though Christina’s “loop” is a relatively dull one — work, home, sleep, with the occasional set-up pushed upon her by her roommate (Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose, who proves to be a delightful addition to the cast, even given her limited screen time). However, events occur that end up shaking Christina out of her routine, and while she’s beginning to question the nature of her reality, there are plenty of returning characters to check in on.

In the seven years since Caleb (Aaron Paul) and Maeve (Thandiwe Newton) helped bring about the destruction of the superpowered artificial intelligence known as Rehoboam, they’ve managed to move on with their lives — until it’s revealed that the Dolores personality embedded in Charlotte Hale’s body (Tessa Thompson) has continued their quest for domination, with the Man in Black now a loyal drone in Hale’s army, and both Caleb and Maeve now being targeted as threats to Hale’s plans.

Westworld (HBO)

Buzz Buzz Buzz: While Wood brings a lot of human dimension to her new role, it’s fascinating to see how the new season ends up centering on Maeve as the new emotional center of the show, especially in her interactions with Caleb; not only are both Newton and Paul extraordinary as individual actors, but they make for a delightful team-up, with their scenes together driving a lot of the most engaging sequences. (Like Season 3’s trip to Warworld, Season 4 indulges in some of the transformative theme park fun from earlier seasons, but in a way that avoids being a retread, even adding a meta twist to the proceedings.)

As in past seasons, the first four episodes provide only a limited understanding of the full scope of faux-Charlotte’s plans, and honestly to say much more about what happens would tread a bit too far into spoiler territory. But it can be said that the recurring symbol of Season 4, reflected in updates to the opening credits as well as the episodes themselves, is the lowly housefly.

The Musca domestica was central to the very beginnings of Westworld, as the pilot episode ends with Dolores, who like other hosts was thought to be incapable of even hurting a fly, swatting a bug without remorse. As Season 4 progresses, though, the meaning of the flies takes on a terrifying literal component, but also a compelling thematic one.

Core to the concept of Westworld is that those you might overlook are capable of far greater things than one might imagine: a simple rancher’s daughter, as one example, or an ex-solider-turned-construction worker. It’s the bit of hope that this show offers us, even as it paints a picture of a bleak future all too rooted in our present.

The Verdict: The first four episodes of Season 4 contain plenty of hints at the twists to come, including the show’s signature time fuckery, while also remaining a visual treat packed with both moments of beauty as well as true horror. But while the narrative is less cohesive this season, with its core characters scattered to the winds, its capacity to fascinate us remains intact, especially as the themes which have always been lurking in the show become more present.

Westworld’s biggest twist was never the true identity of the Man in Black or whose consciousness was implanted in the Charlotte Hale host. It was always the fact that beneath the theme park chaos was a series deeply invested in exploring our relationship to technology — using its version of the not-too-distant future as a mirror for today. Rewatch Season 1, and it becomes all too apparent how much the show was playing the long game from the beginning; while it’s sometimes been less than successful at communicating its biggest ideas, its ambition is still worth celebrating.

Where to Watch: Westworld Season 4 premieres Sunday, June 26th on HBO. Subsequent episodes will debut weekly.

Trailer:

Westworld Season 4 Review: A Welcome Fresh Start With Some Big Ideas to Explore
Liz Shannon Miller

Popular Posts

• The Hollywood Vampires (Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper, Joe Perry) Reunite and Announce Tour

• Brad Pitt: "I Consider Myself on My Last Leg"

• Tom Hanks Screams at Autograph Hound for Tripping Wife Rita Wilson: "Back the Fuck Off"

• Bill Cosby Found Guilty of Sexually Assaulting 16-Year-Old Girl

• Mr. Bean's Rowan Atkinson Slams Cancel Culture: "The Job of Comedy Is to Offend"

• Why Kelly McGillis Isn't in Top Gun: Maverick: "I'm Old and I'm Fat, and I Look Age-Appropriate"

Subscribe to Consequence’s email digest and get the latest breaking news in music, film, and television, tour updates, access to exclusive giveaways, and more straight to your inbox.