Shirley
Da 5 Bloods
On the Record
I May Destroy You
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Westworld undermines its third season's big ideas by rushing to conclusions, hiding behind cool visuals instead of letting its characters to grow, turning a once innovative show into just another sci-fi series.
The moral questions meant to keep you invested in the characters largely disappear, too. Season 3 doesn't bother developing its characters because it refuses to let them question the nature of their own reality.
Though the third season often succumbed to mission drift, the show did at least follow through on the likelihood that the cost of freedom would be oblivion. But the payoffs elsewhere were close to nonexistent.
As overwrought as previous seasons may have been, they feel much meatier than Season Three's fast-food sci-fi. Yes, the short, eight-episode order has something to do with that.
Westworld season 3 ended in a rather Westworld-ian way: By hitting its narrative control-alt-delete keys all at the same time for a potential re-re-reboot of the story for next season.
Certainly not enough to justify the show's elevated presentation. It's not revolutionary science fiction. It's not especially thoughtful or unique. It's just shiny and slow and kind of dumb, and it's always going to end up less than the sum of its parts.
As Westworld goes on and on about legacy and destiny, it certainly is strange to see "Crisis Theory" undo its own in real-time; especially when it is doing so in favor of some obtusely-defined, completely unexplored social 'revolution'.
A few limp revelations, repetitive confrontations, and a major surplus of subplot has the unfortunate consequence of making Westworld's third season finale feel both overstuffed and altogether pretty thin.
Season Three finale of Westworld was a mess of brain orbs, memory wipes, riots, robot FaceTime, and more riots... There were approximately 30 storylines sinking and swelling throughout the episode.
Sure, this installment was perhaps a bit more straightforward than previous finales... but that doesn't mean that the show didn't pull out all the stops to shock and surprise us.
I like that most, if not all, the questions we had were answered by the end of this season as well. And I like even more that there was less sleight of hand in the narrative.
We see a satisfying turn in the relationship between Dolores and Maeve, the two finally understanding one another.
A rushed, action-heavy hour that betrays the sense of sci-fi sophistication the show was always aiming for.