Michael Crichton (MC) has been one of the prolific story-tellers when it comes to dealing with sci-fi themes by presenting facts and fiction weaved and inter-weaved in such a gossamer-ish cobweb that it is sure shot to confuse even an expert spider and get them entangled in their own web, pun intended! His novels have always carried the trope of willing suspension of disbelief which forms an intricate and integral core in all his books.
Let's take Jurassic Park as a prime example as I am sure almost everyone would have watched the blockbuster countless number of times, if not read his book, by revelling in the mesmerizing world created by the ace director Steven Spielberg. Scientists have fire extinguished MC's seemingly probable and realistic theory that the Dinosaurs can be resurrected from mosquitoes preserved in amber. However, the way he had put forth the possible idea that the DNA could be retrieved to create these magnificent beasts was something remarkable that you can only get it when you read his work or watch it on the silver screen.
So, it was no surprise that when HBO announced Westworld was to be premiered and helmed by Jonathan Nolan, remember Memento, The Prestige?, I was as super-thrilled as the electrons in an atom when they are in excited state. The chief reason also being that Westworld was a movie in the 1970s by Michael Crichton who, I think, might have woken up on one fine, sunny morning and decided to directly direct a film instead of writing a book first and then adapting it!
It was extremely evident from the first episode that the androids uprising was imminent much in the same way as in The Matrix where the human beings, led by Neo, rebel against the machines to live and lead a consciously free life. By the fag end of the last episode in Westworld, Dolores and Maeve ensured that the putsch was on when the hosts shoot an incredulously amazed, awed and bring-it-on expression given by the Man-in-Black that it was like a student hiding their pleasant and uncontrollable happiness when a teacher says that a class test is called off.
It was indeed like a bolt of greased lightning striking the ground when the beans was spilled out that everything was actually the work of Ford who decided to carry on the legacy of Arthur's work to instill consciousness in the hosts which made me to beg the question "Was Ford the real Ford when he was shot dead by Dolores?" in the Season's finale.
In the earlier episodes when Bernard kills Theresa in the basement on the watchful eyes of Ford, we are shown that there is some kind of activity happening in the background which made me to ponder and wonder whether the Ford who was murdered by Dolores - a robot or the Anthony Hopkins in flesh and bone. As we are on the talk on Anthony Hopkins, the old man is as good as gold being a ruthless, scheming and always having an ace up his sleeve by holding all the cards close to his chest knowing that Charlotte and Co. were at all times on the lookout to bring him down.
Likewise, Bernard and Maeve simply sizzles on the screen when they project their internal struggles and conflicts to come in terms with their lives. All the machinations for the power struggle that's prevalent in a typical organization is also a part of the grand design as envisioned by Nolan through the various characters - on and off the theme park.
Just like the Westworld's maze which was the subject and object of curiosity to everyone, the entire script of this western Sci-fi drama was also an elaborately complex maze that challenged your thinking powers to decode the innumerable sub-plots and plots like Sherlock Holmes as to who are the real people and who are not in this visually brilliant and stunningly created sets of the themepark. The shot where Maeve ascends the elevator on her short tour in the corporate headquarters was as mind-blowing as the library scene with Sam in the last episode of Game of Thrones.
Likewise, the background score was as fresh as daisy and colourful as tulips when they hit the right chord for each and every scene matching and capturing the mood with consummate ease. Ramin Djawadi continued his brilliant work from Westeros into creating the westerly mechanical and artificial lilts that makes you actually feel for the droids especially Dolores.
As her name, Dolores is always shown with melancholia and sombre expressions in her Disney princess blue costume which made me to think and relate to Rachel's bubble gum pink dress in Friends:
However, Dolores was smoking hot when she transformed herself into a cowgirl shedding away her Alice in Wonderland attire. But, the way she turned and went into a mean, bullet firing spree at the end showcased how her corked up feelings were vented off like erupting steam in a geyser. No wonder George R Martin wanted to be the writing captain of this fast-lived and hedonistic amusement park which was right up his alley to bring in the experiences to the fore as a result of Game of Thrones.
Like a kid dashing out of the gates as soon as the final school bell rung, Westworld's initial and early episodes created the sense that it is going to be extremely unique and different coming from the brainy cells of Jon Nolan. The plot seemed like losing the plot, pun intended, in between when the bots were eternally shown to be in caught up in a perpetual web of die-repair-reactivated loop and it was close to pushing the audience (Read: Me) to the borders of boredom if not for the eye candy visual and nirvanic aural treats.
However, the train picked up its lost speed and gained momentum when the season was on its last legs (final 3 episodes) with their plentiful secrets were out in the open like an enormous oil spill from a tanker ship especially the big reveal of the Samurai coats in the finale's cliffhanger moments. That particular scene made me to breathe a heavy sigh of relief that Jon Nolan was also on the lines of MC when the latter created his version of the adult and sybaritic 3 theme parks - Westworld, Medieval World and Roman World.
With the hosts being given the ostensible power of free will, God only knows, okay! Jon Nolan does!!, what actually is going to happen in the so-called Samurai World as well when WW makes its return in 2018.
The wait is worth it.
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