Westworld

As with many shows, I was seriously living under a rock with this one.  A rock with a house on top of it … and a felled tree on top of that.

I dig Westerns.  I dig The Matrix.  And I dig Jurassic Park.  A show that seemed to combine all three was a no-brainer for a geek like me.  (I learned later it was less The Matrix and a little more Asimov … with maybe some Skynet thrown in.)

If it hadn’t been for the positive buzz this show gained in the past few months, I honestly would have passed after seeing the first three episodes.  I got what it was trying to communicate, I got how it was trying to do it … I just wasn’t into it.  Specific moments felt way too Groundhog Day-ish, and–honestly–padded out the show with a lot of fat.  Still I carried on because the finale had been described by a large part of the online community as better than good.  Dope even.

The finale telegraphed the turns, slightly before they happened. Which is good. Ideally, you want an audience to figure things out right before the characters do.  But the last turn–and ultimately the most important–could have been achieved easily with a two hour build-up instead of an entire season.  The destination just wasn’t worth the ride.