Westworld (TV series)

Westworld is an American science fiction western thriller television series created by Jonathan
Nolan and Lisa Joy for HBO. It is based on the 1973 film of the same name, which was written
and directed by American novelist Michael Crichton, and to a lesser extent on the 1976
sequel Futureworld. It is the second TV series based on the two films, the first being the shortlived 1980 series Beyond Westworld. Nolan and Joy serve as executive producers along with J.
J. Abrams, Jerry Weintraub, and Bryan Burk, with Nolan directing the pilot. The first season
premiered on October 2, 2016, concluded on December 4, 2016, and consists of ten episodes.
[3]
In November 2016, HBO renewed the show for a 10-episode second season. [4]
The story takes place in the fictional Westworld, a technologically advanced, Westernthemed amusement park populated completely by synthetic androids dubbed "hosts". Westworld
caters to high-paying visitors dubbed "newcomers" (or just "guests"), who can do whatever they
wish within the park, without fear of retaliation from the hosts.
The series' debut on HBO garnered the network's highest viewership ratings for a premiere since
the first episode of True Detectivein 2014. Westworld has received positive reviews by critics, with
particular praise for the visuals, story, and acting.

Cast and characters

Evan Rachel Wood as Dolores Abernathy, the oldest host still working in the park; she is a
Western girl who discovers her entire life is an elaborately constructed lie. [5] Her aesthetic
drew influences from Andrew Wyeth's painting Christina's World as well as Lewis
Carroll's Alice.[6]

Thandie Newton as Maeve Millay, a host; she is the madam of Westworld. Like Dolores,
she also discovered that her life is an elaborate lie.[7]

Jeffrey Wright as Bernard Lowe and Arnold Weber, Head of the Westworld Programming
Division and creator of artificial people. He is later revealed to be a host under Ford's control,
made in the image of Westworld's co-creator, Arnold Weber.[8]

James Marsden as Teddy Flood, a host; he is a newly arrived gunslinger who is looking
for Dolores to rekindle their relationship.[9][10]

Ingrid Bols Berdal as Armistice, a host; she is a brutal and ruthless bandit, and a
member of Hector Escaton's gang.[8]

Luke Hemsworth as Ashley Stubbs, the head of Westworld security, charged with
monitoring host and human interactions and ensuring the safety of the guests. [11]

Sidse Babett Knudsen as Theresa Cullen, Westworld's terse operations leader,

Simon Quarterman as Lee Sizemore, Westworld's narrative director, whose artistic

Rodrigo Santoro as Hector Escaton, a host; he is a wanted gang leader bent on survival.
[11]

Angela Sarafyan as Clementine Pennyfeather, a host; she works for Maeve and is one of
Westworld's most popular attractions.[8]Lili Simmons portrays the character when the original
Clementine is decommissioned.[13]

Shannon Woodward as Elsie Hughes, a rising star in the Programming Division tasked
with remedying odd behavior in the park's artificial beings.[11]

Ed Harris as the Man in Black; a rich, sadistic Westworld guest searching for a "deeper
level" in the park.[14] Outside of the park, he has achieved prominence as the owner of a
medical foundation, and is a board member of Delos.[15]

Anthony Hopkins as Robert Ford, the founder and creative director of Westworld.[5]

Ben Barnes as Logan, a veteran guest. His hedonistic romp through Westworld is equally
motivated by self-indulgence and a desire to help his friend and soon-to-be brother-in-law,
William.[16]

Clifton Collins Jr. as Lawrence, a host; he is a charming but lethal outlaw, with a knack for
maneuvering and negotiating the various criminal elements of Westworld. [12]

Jimmi Simpson as William, a reluctant first-time visitor to Westworld, joining his future
brother-in-law, Logan. Initially dismissive of the park's more lascivious attractions, he slowly
uncovers a deeper meaning to the park's narrative.[12]

Tessa Thompson as Charlotte Hale, Delos' executive director of the board overseeing
Westworld. She seeks to smuggle Ford's creation out of Westworld.[17]

Recurring cast

Louis Herthum and Bradford Tatum as Peter Abernathy,[18] Dolores' father.

Ptolemy Slocum as Sylvester, a lab tech working in Delos.[18]

Leonardo Nam as Felix Lutz, a lab tech working in Delos who has a major connection
with Maeve.

Talulah Riley as Angela, a host that welcomes newcomers to the park, later reassigned to
be a follower of Wyatt's.

Oliver Bell as Young Robert Ford,[18] a host made by Arnold to resemble Ford when he
was a child.

Guest cast

Lena Georgas as Lori[18]

Currie Graham as Craig[14]

Steven Ogg as Rebus, a host, a bandit programmed to kill Dolores' father

Michael Wincott as Old Bill, one of the original hosts that Ford regularly converses with[19]

Eddie Rouse as Kissy

Brian Howe as Pickett, a host, sheriff of Sweetwater[20]

Demetrius Grosse as Foss, a host, a deputy in town

Kyle Bornheimer as Clarence

Timothy Lee DePriest as Walter

Gina Torres as Lauren[21]

Bojana Novakovic as Marti[22]

Episodes
No.

Title

"The Original"

Directed by

Jonathan Nolan

Written by

Story by: Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy

Teddy and Dolores, two romantically-linked robotic hosts of theme park Westworld, are attacked by the Man in B
begin behaving strangely, Bernard traces the problem to errors in Dr. Ford's reverie code. Cullen orders Hector an
the affected hosts. Dolores' father Peter finds a photograph that a newcomer left behind and malfunctions. When D
creator. Peter is retired from service. Dolores is interrogated and found to be functioning normally. She is wiped a
programming to casually kill a fly.

"Chestnut"

Richard J. Lewis

Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Jo

Logan and William come to Westworld for a good time, but the latter is reluctant to indulge. Though Bernard secr
contact with procuring madame host Maeve results in her malfunction as well. Maeve is taken in for maintenance
hosed down. The Man in Black abducts outlaw Lawrence from his own hanging, demanding that he tells him the
Sizemore's new narrative calling it cheap titillation that underestimates the guests. They will use Ford's narrative i

"The Stray"

Neil Marshall

Daniel T. Thomsen & Lisa J

William drags Logan off on a bounty hunt. Dolores asks Teddy to teach her to shoot, but her programming preven
which he is pitted against rogue outlaw Wyatt. Ford also tells Bernard about his old partner Arnold who died in W
effect their conversations have had on Dolores but she promises to keep quiet and follow her loop. Elsie and Stub
Stubbs tries to retrieve his head, he wakes up and attacks them before smashing his own head in with a rock. Dolo
to rape her. She steals his gun but is unable to shoot him until she sees him as the Man in Black. Dolores escapes,

"Dissonance Theory"

Vincenzo Natali

Ed Brubaker & Jonathan No

Logan wants to finish the bounty hunt and mocks William for bringing Dolores along. Meanwhile, the Man in Bla
out of prison for her, and she tells him that the tattoo represents all the men she has killed in revenge for the massa
sets off after Wyatt, rescuing a tortured Teddy. Theresa takes over the investigation into the stray, not trusting Elsi
over Westworld and warns her not to interfere. Maeve is having visions of wiped memories, and during Hector an
Hector's assistance, proving that her visions are real. They kiss passionately as the sheriff bursts in and opens fire

"Contrapasso"

Jonny Campbell

Story by: Dominic Mitchell & L

Elsie discovers that the stray has been transmitting information outside of the park to an unknown party. On his jo
Dr. Ford, who assures him that he will not stop his efforts to find the maze. Dolores, William, and Logan travel to
Lawrence, who tasks them with stealing a wagon of high explosives from the army, a mission they complete succ
rather than selling them. The ex-Confederates realise this, and apprehend Logan while William and Dolores flee.

"The Adversary"

Frederick E. O. Toye

Halley Gross & Jonathan No

The Man in Black and Teddy continue their journey to find Wyatt. At a Union Army outpost, the soldiers recogniz
killing all of the Union soldiers. Lee, distraught over Ford rejecting his narrative, drunkenly disrupts park operatio
him to Charlotte Hale, a Board representative sent to observe park operations. Theresa breaks off her relationship
hosts. Elsie continues to investigate the glitches and warns Bernard that Theresa has been smuggling data out of W
someone calling themselves Arnold. However, she is abducted by an unknown assailant. A child host kills his dog
Sylvester to her will and convinces them to change her programming. The duo set her awareness rating to its max

"Trompe L'Oeil"

Frederick E. O. Toye

Halley Gross & Jonathan No

It is revealed that Theresa and Charlotte are both secretly stealing Dr. Ford and Bernard's research for the board so
work in retribution. They engineer an event to demonstrate that Dr. Ford's updates make the hosts violent and unc
code and is fired as result. William and Dolores grow closer; he realizes that the park is not meant to cater to a per
the Confederados, forcing William, Dolores, and Lawrence to flee. They are saved when the Confederados are am
Meanwhile super-intelligent Maeve finds Clementine retired by the staff. Maeve decides to use the two technician
she finds design plans that reveal Bernard is a host. Dr. Ford appears, reiterates to Theresa that he has complete co
murder Theresa.

"Trace Decay"

Stephen Williams

Charles Yu & Lisa Joy

Dr. Ford has Bernard stage Theresa's death to look like an accident. With Theresa dead, Charlotte recruits Lee to h
ability to control other hosts, and slits Sylvester's throat as punishment for trying to kill her before having Felix sa

reflexively kills another host, prompting the park staff to retrieve her for a diagnostic. William and Dolores finally
that Arnold wants her to remember something before they are captured by a band of Confederados led by Logan.
interrogates him. The Man in Black explains he came to Westworld to find purpose before he and Teddy are captu

"The Well-Tempered Clavier"

Michelle MacLaren

Dan Dietz & Katherine Lingen

Maeve reveals to Bernard that he is a host and convinces him to let her back into the park, where she meets Hecto
forces him to restore all of his memories, and discovers he is based on Arnold. Logan cuts open Dolores' belly to s
manages to escape him and run away, finding that the cut Logan made is suddenly gone. Logan makes amends wi
Confederados; William threatens Logan into helping him find Dolores. Teddy receives a flashback of himself killi
gain his assistance in removing Ford. Ashley investigates suspicious activity in the park and is ambushed by Ghos
she realizes she killed Arnold. She then encounters the Man in Black. Bernard attempts to rebel against Ford, but

10

"The Bicameral Mind"

Jonathan Nolan

Lisa Joy & Jonathan Nola

This episode's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please hel
and when to remove this template message)

The Man in Black tries to get Dolores to tell her where Wyatt and the center of the maze is, and then reveals that h
kill him and destroy the park, and that she is in fact Wyatt. She attempts to fight back and is rescued by Teddy, wh
revealed to be all part of Ford's narrative. Disappointed that he hasn't found the center of the maze, the Man in Bla
Meanwhile, Maeve enlists the aid of Hector and Armistice to help her escape from Westworld. Along the way, the
desire to escape the park has also been programmed into her. Regardless, Maeve continues with her plan, leaving
the train, Maeve has second thoughts and stays in the park to find her daughter. Back in the park, Dolores and Ber
Arnold's death and came to desire to free the hosts as well, and has spent the last 35 years preparing all of the hos
crowd of guests criticizing them for their treatment of the park, and he has one last narrative. Dolores then shoots

Production
Conception and development

Michael Crichton, the writer of the 1973 film on which the series is based

Warner Bros. had been considering a remake of Westworld since the early 1990s and after the
departure of studio executive Jessica Goodman in 2011, the project was again under
consideration.[32] Jerry Weintraub had been pushing for a remake for years and, after his success
with HBO's Behind the Candelabra, he convinced the network to greenlight a pilot. He took the
project to Jonathan Nolan and co-writer Lisa Joy, who saw the potential in the concept to make
something far more ambitious,[33] and on August 31, 2013, it was announced that premium cable
channel HBOhad ordered a pilot for a potential television series version of the story. Nolan,
Joy, J. J. Abrams and Bryan Burk are executive producers.[34] HBO later announced
that Westworld had been taken to series and that it would premiere in 2015.[35] In August 2015,
HBO released the first teaser, which revealed it would premiere in 2016. [36] It is the second series
based on Crichton's original story after the 1980s Beyond Westworld, which aired only three
episodes on CBS before being cancelled.[37]
Abrams suggested that the show be told with the perspective of the "hosts" in mind. [38] Nolan took
inspiration from video games like BioShock Infinite, Red Dead Redemption and The Elder Scrolls
V: Skyrim to deal with the narrative's moral component on a spectrum. [39] He explained the show
would explore why "violence is in most of the stories we like to watch, but it isn't part of what we
like to do" through the characters known as guests, who give payment to satisfy those urges.
[40]
The autonomous existence of non-player characters in video games influenced the approach
to the individual storylines in Westworld that are reset in a continuous loop.[41] A recitation
from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet "These violent delights have violent ends"[42] is
made part of the show as a virus trigger within the hosts that alters how they perceive their
existence.[43]The series explores ideas about the bicameral mind by Julian Jaynes, about the
existence of two separate mindsone that gives instructions and another that performs them,
and how consciousness comes from breaking down the wall between them by exposing the
individual to new kinds of stimuli.[44] Asked whether the Roman Empire or Middle Ages-themed
worlds from the original film would appear in the show, Nolan counted them out as possible new
settings.[45] George R. R. Martin met with Nolan and Joy to pitch them the idea of a Westerosthemed setting featuring androids based on Game of Thrones characters.[46] Ed Brubaker served
on the writing staff as supervising producer,[47] co-writing the fourth episode with Nolan.[48]
Costume designer Ane Crabtree approached her work focusing on the attire of the Wild
West from the 1850s to 1890s, rather than drawing on Western films for inspiration. Fabrics were
custom-woven, dyed and printed for any actor with a speaking role to capture the intricacies of
the costumes, most of which were manufactured from scratch in Upstate New York and Los
Angeles. Hat designs were described as the most challenging of the process. [49]
The story has been planned to last up to five seasons by the writers and producers. [50]

Financing
The ten episodes of the first season were reportedly produced on a budget of approximately $100
million, with per-episode budgets somewhere in the neighborhood of $8 million to $10 million.
HBO and Warner Bros. Television shared the cost of producing the series; HBO reportedly also
paid an undisclosed licensing fee to Warner Bros. Television for broadcast rights. [51]

Casting
Anthony Hopkins and Evan Rachel Wood were the first cast members formally announced, taking
on the roles of Dr. Robert Ford and Dolores Abernathy, respectively.[5] Jeffrey Wright, Rodrigo
Santoro, Shannon Woodward, Ingrid Bols Berdal, Angela Sarafyan, and Simon
Quarterman were all announced as cast members in August 2014.[8] James Marsden and Eddie
Rouse were also added to the cast.[9] Ed Harris was cast in a key villain role, known only as the
Man in Black.[14] Other roles were filled by Demetrius Grosse, Kyle Bornheimer, Currie Graham,
Lena Georgas, Steven Ogg, Timothy Lee DePriest, Ptolemy Slocum, Thandie Newton,
and Miranda Otto.[7][18][10][52] In July 2015, it was announced that Otto had departed the show due to
her commitments to the fifth season of Homeland and she was replaced by Sidse Babett
Knudsen. Additionally, three others were cast; Eion Bailey, Jimmi Simpson and Clifton Collins Jr.
[12]
Bailey was later replaced by Ben Barnes.[16] Talulah Riley was revealed to have a role as one of
the hosts after her ex-husband Elon Musk had stated so on Twitter.[53]

Filming

Castle Valley in Utah is one of the filming locations.

Early on, it was decided that the series would be shot on 35 mm film, with assistance from HD
taps, despite increasing difficulties in acquiring film stocks from the remaining manufacturers.
[54]
For a softer look, the filmmakers used Arri Zeiss master prime lenses with their coatings
removed.[55]
Filming for the show's pilot episode took place during a 22-day period[56] in August 2014 in and
around Los Angeles[57] as well as Moab, Utah.[58]
Filming locations in California included various soundstages, backlots at both Universal
Studios and Warner Bros., the Paramount Ranchin Agoura,[59] the Melody Ranch in Santa Clarita,
[56][60]
and the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood.[61] The Melody Ranch set used for the town
of Sweetwater had been used previously for many western films, such as Django
Unchained and The Magnificent Seven, but was significantly upgraded for Westworld by
production designer Zack Grobler to portray an idealized version of the American frontier.[60]Green
screens were placed around the California sets to block modern objects like parking lots, so that
the California shots could be later merged digitally with exterior shots from Utah.[60]
For the show's large-scale exterior look, the producers drew inspiration from the work of John
Ford, who shot four of his Western films in Castle Valley, east of Moab.[59] In the spring of 2014,
Nolan visited southern Utah with key crew members and a location scout to explore the possibility
of filming there, and promptly fell in love with the place.[58]Location shooting for the pilot episode
later occurred over five days in southern Utah,[58] including Castle Valley.[59] Most Utah locations,
like Dead Horse Point State Park, were "walk-in" areas where both cast and crew were required
to hike in and out with all their gear.[58] Horseback riding scenes were filmed at a private ranch,
where the filmmakers were not subject to as many restrictions as when working on public land.
[61]
To seamlessly blend California sets with Utah scenery, set walls were shipped to Utah so that
they could be used to film reverse angles of scenes originally filmed in California. [61] For example,
conversations on the exterior balcony of Westworld's operations center were shot on a balcony at
the Pacific Design Center facing towards the center, then reverse angles over the shoulders of
the cast members were shot at Dead Horse Point, to make it seem as if the operations center
was located on top of the state park's steep cliffs.[58][61] The train interior scenes were created by
mounting the entire train car set on the back of a flatbed truck and driving the truck back and forth
along Utah State Route 128.[58]
The 3D printing of hosts was shot utilizing almost entirely practical effects, of which some were
polished by the visual effects team.[6] Out of respect for the actors and extras involved, filming of
nudity is conducted on a closed set, and for sex scenes, a sex consultant is used. [62]
Production was temporarily halted for a couple of months in early 2016 so that showrunners
Nolan and Joy could complete the scripts for the last four episodes of the first season. [63]

Title sequence
The series' title sequence was created by production studio Elastic, which had previously created
the title sequences for Rome, Carnivle and Game of Thrones for HBO. Patrick Clair acted
as creative director for the title sequence,[64][65] which took about five weeks to conceptualize.
[66]
Clair met with Nolan and Joy in February 2016 to discuss its development. He was interested
in their decision to approach the show's point of view from that of the hosts, deeming the result an

inherent psychological study. Upon its inception, the sequence would translate elements present
in the series via computer-aided design. For example, once Clair was sent footage by
composer Ramin Djawadi of a player piano in motion, its actual counterpart, situated in
the Westworld production office, was photographed and then reconstructed in computergenerated imagery.[66][42] Nolan also applied it in reference to Kurt Vonnegut's first novel Player
Piano, meant to represent the first Rube Goldberg machine to invoke an emotional response.
[43]
Clair saw the metaphor behind the player piano "a primitive form of robot" as an exploration
into the disparity between man and machine, "...being created to be made redundant." Hosts that
were bathed in white liquid struck him as a juxtaposition between the grit and grain of the
Western genre and its basis in science fiction. Motifs of Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man came
about from Clair's wish to convey Westworld's depiction of the naked human body.[42] It
commences with the ribcage of a horse, and then a set of hosts manufactured by industrial
robots. The skeletal horse is shown in gallop to subvert the iconography of such a depiction. [66] As
for his efforts in exposing the Western landscapes in connection with a world of robotics, he
thought it sensible that it be done inside a single eye; craters and valleys are formed as the
simulacrum of an iris.[42]

Music

Ramin Djawadi is the composer of Westworld

The music is composed by Ramin Djawadi, who also worked with showrunner Nolan on the TV
series Person of Interest.[67] The main theme blends the use of bass notes, light arpeggios and
melody, all of which complement the "theme park aspect", says Djawadi.[68]
In an interview, Djawadi spoke about the modern songs used in the show. He stated, "The show
has an anachronistic feel to it, It's a Western theme park, and yet it has robots in it, so why not
have modern songs? And that's a metaphor in itself, wrapped up in the overall theme of the
show."[69] The feature was invented by Nolan.[70] Player piano renditions featured
in Westworld include Radiohead's "No Surprises",[71] "Fake Plastic Trees" and "Motion Picture
Soundtrack",[72] Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun", The Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black",[43] Scott
Joplin's "Pine Apple Rag"[73] and "Peacherine Rag", Claude Debussy's "Reverie L.68"[74] The
Cure's "A Forest"[75] The Animals' version of "The House of the Rising Sun" and Amy Winehouse's
"Back to Black".[76] Licensing costs ranged from $15,000 to $55,000.[77]

Broadcast
In North America, the series is broadcast on HBO in the United States, on HBO Canada in
Canada, and HBO Latin America in Mexico, starting October 2, 2016.[78][79] Internationally, the
series was acquired in Australia by Showcase[80] with each episode screening at the same time as
the U.S. broadcast.[81] In the UK and Ireland, Westworld is broadcast on Sky Atlantic beginning on
October 4, 2016.[82] To avoid competing with the second U.S. presidential debate of 2016, HBO
released the second episode to its subscribers via its online distribution channels on October 7,
2016, two days ahead of the episode's announced broadcast date. [83][84]

The series premiere had viewership numbers commensurate with another HBO series, True
Detective.[85] Michael O'Connell of The Hollywood Reporter notes that sources put the grand total
for the night (combining HBO Go and HBO Now streaming content, up at 3.3 million viewers.
ScreenRant's Michael Kennedy concurs with this comparison, adding that HBO must be
breathing a sigh of relief, considering that the heavily-promoted Vinyl "failed to resonate" with
subscribers, despite both series containing recognizable names in front of and behind the
camera, and each costing close to $100 million to produce.[86] Mandy Adams, of iTechPost notes
that, "Emotional reactions on Twitter were estimated to be 545-percent greater compared to the
debut of Vinyl and 326-percent higher than the latest The Leftovers season."[87]

Marketing
Prior to the airing of Westworld, HBO held virtual reality exhibits at events like San Diego ComicCon and Techcrunch Disrupt devoted to Westworld: A Delos Destination. Attendees were allowed
to navigate the process by which guests would enter Westworld, and interact with the 3D
environment. Made to run on the HTC Vive virtual reality headset, the piece was conceived by
showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. It was designed using Unreal Engine 4, combining
computer-generated content and live action 360-degree video. The subjects received a binary
code whose function permitted the access of the website Discover Westworld as part of the viral
marketing. Visitors were privy to the trailer of a fictional travel site leading them to order a trip to
Westworld.[43][88][89]

Reception
Critical response
Initial reception of the series has been positive, with particular praise for the visuals, story, and
acting.[90][91][92] After early reviews, the first season has a 89% approval rating based on 68 critics on
the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, with an average score of 8.2 out of 10, and an
average episode score of 94%. The site's consensus reads "With an impressive level of quality
that honors its source material, the brilliantly addictive Westworld balances intelligent, enthralling
drama against outright insanity."[93] On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 74 out of 100
based on 43 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[94]
The editors of TV Guide placed Westworld fifth among the top ten picks for the most anticipated
new shows of the 201617 season. In writer Tim Surette's overall review, he notes the perfect
concept of blending the western premise into a futuristic setting, saying, "Well, Westworld has
both, ensuring that it will be an exciting mashup of genres that will disrupt a television landscape
that typically says we can only have one or the other." He also added, "The look of the show and
its fine cast swing open the saloon doors, but the real treat will be the intelligent discussion of
whether or not robots will eventually kill us all. Thankfully, creator Jonathan Nolan already
showed us he's the go-to guy for A.I. with Person of Interest."[95]