/
As we close the first half of the season we unpack “Contrapasso,” an episode full of clues and revelations. Is Dr. Ford destined to face his own sins? Is there a connection between Logan and the Man in Black? Who is sabotaging Westworld? John and Roberto dissect all of these questions, throw in a dash of philosophy and speculation, and share your feedback!
Links:
Singing for Power: The Song Magic of the Papago Indians of Southern Arizona
by Ruth Murray Underhill
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
PocketCasts
Spotify
Stitcher
RSS
First Off, I was apparent wrong about the woodcutter and why he smashed his head. I was a little disappointed but it doesn’t really matter.
I do agree with you guys that there is a time disparity between the storylines but I do not think it is extensive. Days or hours rather than weeks, months, or years. I also disagree that either William or Logan are the Man in Black in the future. There is no mention of Wyatt at all until Ford creates him out of whole cloth when he is tinkering with Teddy. It seems that Wyatt is a central character in that new narrative that Ford is tearing up half the park for. And if you remember the timeline for Delores is she is attacked by the Man in Black in the pilot, she meets him again the next day or so, then the Man in Black goes to find Lawrence and she meets William, then Peter malfunctions and frees her, then she is attacked by the bandits, she imagines the Man in Black is coming to rape her and it is implied that it is a kind of PTSD flashback to that scene in the pilot, she escapes and finds William. So them being in relatively the same time fits better. But I would bet that when they meet they will know each other. I do think that the scene with Ford and Old Bill is the one that Bernard interrupted in the pilot though.
To me the orgy scene wasn’t gratuitous as much as it was dull. I think that the people involved in Westworld are, as much as HBO needs a new Game of Thrones, trying to be the anti-GoT in a lot of subtle ways. I don’t know if it is the lighting, direction, acting, writing, or what but every nude or sex scene seems less titillating. I think it is somehow sitting in the background that none of this is really consensual and so it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Either that or I’m getting old. Also, with all these theories and the Bicameral mind and so much philosophy and biblical references, it is becoming more and more clear that the people behind Westworld do not think that their audience is stupid. The guys who work on Game of Thrones do. They ignore themes, references, coherent plots, rules about sexual consent, context, and continuity, they even rename characters who have similar names to other characters.
There is no doubt in my mind that Arnold is still alive somewhere and in some form within the park. Whether he downloaded his consciousness into a hard drive, another host, or just made a fake corpse and hid out for a generation he is still around.
That Man in the Maze story was amazing and spooky and I loved it. I can’t wait to hear from Robin next time. I love his History of Byzantium podcast. Even if a little prone to lulls of mind numbing boredom between highs of epicness that would make Tolkien green with envy. There is just no happy medium in Constantinople.