The Official TV Thread

[rdowdall]

I really liked how they played with time.  It wasn't readily apparent.

Agreed. It certainly appeared that there were parallel stories going on at the same timeline, so I was fooled, but this much better quantifies the amount of time/ lifetimes it required for sentience/self realization to actually develop in the hosts.

It's going to be a long wait until the next season - 2018?

Yeah, my only gripe with the show is that no one recognized Bernard.  Surely someone would look at him and go "Hey, he looks exactly like so and so."

 

[bustaheims]

Yeah, my only gripe with the show is that no one recognized Bernard.  Surely someone would look at him and go "Hey, he looks exactly like so and so."

Actually, if you consider the age of all the other employees/the length of time they'd been with the company, that's understandable. None of them likely met his doppleganger.

Also, before they opened the park to the public, there wasn't anyone else around - at least, that's the story Ford tells (and no one seems to dispute it). So, it's actually quite likely there'd be no one who'd recognize Bernard.

 

[rdowdall]

Yeah, my only gripe with the show is that no one recognized Bernard.  Surely someone would look at him and go "Hey, he looks exactly like so and so."

Actually, if you consider the age of all the other employees/the length of time they'd been with the company, that's understandable. None of them likely met his doppleganger.

Also, before they opened the park to the public, there wasn't anyone else around - at least, that's the story Ford tells (and no one seems to dispute it). So, it's actually quite likely there'd be no one who'd recognize Bernard.

Yeah, I just think that is a little thin.  I get what you are saying, but I think that if you are a scientist that is working on something that monumental, that someone, somewhere is going to recognize Bernard.  For example, if Bill Gates were going to make a copy of Paul Allen, I personally would not recognize Paul Allen when he was younger, but I would think someone, somewhere would, and at least comment on it.

 

[Kin]

Yeah, I just think that is a little thin.  I get what you are saying, but I think that if you are a scientist that is working on something that monumental, that someone, somewhere is going to recognize Bernard.  For example, if Bill Gates were going to make a copy of Paul Allen, I personally would not recognize Paul Allen when he was younger, but I would think someone, somewhere would, and at least comment on it.

To be fair, I don't think they've ever tried to present what they did as being something seen as monumental by the public at large. Most people we've seen going there see it as just a theme park.

 

[rdowdall]

Yeah, I just think that is a little thin.  I get what you are saying, but I think that if you are a scientist that is working on something that monumental, that someone, somewhere is going to recognize Bernard.  For example, if Bill Gates were going to make a copy of Paul Allen, I personally would not recognize Paul Allen when he was younger, but I would think someone, somewhere would, and at least comment on it.

To be fair, I don't think they've ever tried to present what they did as being something seen as monumental by the public at large. Most people we've seen going there see it as just a theme park.

I think the only way we can test this is to build a 30 year old version of Roy Disney and get him to follow Bob Iger around and see if anyone says anything.

 

[bustaheims]

Yeah, I just think that is a little thin.  I get what you are saying, but I think that if you are a scientist that is working on something that monumental, that someone, somewhere is going to recognize Bernard.  For example, if Bill Gates were going to make a copy of Paul Allen, I personally would not recognize Paul Allen when he was younger, but I would think someone, somewhere would, and at least comment on it.

That's really only true if you're well known, if you're successful, and if you're not being super secretive about the thing. We don't really know how known either of them were before they started the project; by the time they were successful, there was only one of them left; and they were definitely being super secretive.

 

[rdowdall]

Yeah, I just think that is a little thin.  I get what you are saying, but I think that if you are a scientist that is working on something that monumental, that someone, somewhere is going to recognize Bernard.  For example, if Bill Gates were going to make a copy of Paul Allen, I personally would not recognize Paul Allen when he was younger, but I would think someone, somewhere would, and at least comment on it.

That's really only true if you're well known, if you're successful, and if you're not being super secretive about the thing. We don't really know how known either of them were before they started the project; by the time they were successful, there was only one of them left; and they were definitely being super secretive.

It's true we don't know how well known they are, but Ford carried around a picture of the three of them.  I mean all that needs to happen is he drops that picture or leaves it on his desk somewhere and then the questions could start.

 

[bustaheims]

It's true we don't know how well known they are, but Ford carried around a picture of the three of them.  I mean all that needs to happen is he drops that picture or leaves it on his desk somewhere and then the questions could start.

He doesn't carry it around. It's framed, on his desk, facing him. If access to his office is restricted to him - which it likely is - it's a non-issue.

 

[Kin]

Also worth mentioning that part of the whole William/MiB story is that he's there at first to evaluate the park financially and, eventually, is the reason why Delos takes on its ownership stake. I'm pretty sure Ford also refers to Delos' financial intervention as being necessary to keep the park going in the early years.

So it seems fairly safe to say that neither Ford nor Arnold would have been famous along the lines of a Jobs or Zuckerberg.

 

[rdowdall]

Also worth mentioning that part of the whole William/MiB story is that he's there at first to evaluate the park financially and, eventually, is the reason why Delos takes on its ownership stake. I'm pretty sure Ford also refers to Delos' financial intervention as being necessary to keep the park going in the early years.

So it seems fairly safe to say that neither Ford nor Arnold would have been famous along the lines of a Jobs or Zuckerberg.

I guess I find it kind of contradictory and somewhat convenient.  I get that the writer is setting it up that no one should recognize who Arnold is through these comments:

Ford, Episode 3:
When the legend becomes fact, you print the legend. My business partners were more than happy to scrub him from the records, and I suppose I didn't discourage them. His name was Arnold.

Logan Episode 5:
Logan: We're considering buying them out. Supposedly, this place was all started by a partnership. And then right before the park opened, one of the partners killed himself. Sent the park into a freefall. I mean, I don't know any of the details. I don't even know his name.
William: You must have a team of lawyers looking at this place.
Logan: Yeah, well, they came up empty. He's a complete mystery. Not even a picture.

However, later:

MiB Episode 4:
You ever heard of a man named Arnold? You could say he was the original settler of these parts. He created a world where you could do anything you want, except one thing; you can't die. Which means no matter how real this world seems, it's still just a game. But then Arnold went and broke his own rule. He died right here in the park. Except I believe he still had one story left to tell. A story with real stakes; real violence. You could say, I'm here to honor his legacy.

So Man in Black was able to figure out stuff about the scrubbed partner.  Also, Ford gave Bernard, the exact narrative of Arnold.  I think there are a lot of questions around this area.  Like, what became of Arnold's wife?  Did she die?  Did she have any involvement with Westworld?  Did they just pay her off?  How did Ford flush out Bernards backstory in order to get him hired?  He would have had to have said something in order to get him hired there I would think. 

I just think in a world where something becomes popular, and people want to disseminate information as much as possible about things that are popular, I think hiding something like a partner that committed suicide in the park would be hard to do. 

 

[McGarnagle]

I liked the parts with the robots.

 

[L K]

Dirk Gently is quite enjoyable.

 

[herman]

Anyone watching this?

How's your brain holding up?

 

[Bender]

Poorly because I don't know what it is.

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk

 

[herman]

Poorly because I don't know what it is.

Legion

 

[Kin]

I gave it a try. Was a little too out there for me. Like a whole series built around the Kevin Finnerty episodes of the Sopranos.

 

[Deebo]

Like a whole series built around the Kevin Finnerty episodes of the Sopranos.

There must have been some symbolism or something that I missed with those episodes.

 

[herman]

It is triiippppppy. Honestly unsettling at times.

There's a method to the madness though, but I don't have the cinematographical vocabulary or the eye to suss it all out without a lot of help and repeat viewings. There are visual and audio motifs all over the place, aspect ratio changes, visual tension in the framing, Xs everywhere. It seems to give the audience more credit than most network shows tend to, so I'm going to finish this ride.

 

[Kin]

It is triiippppppy. Honestly unsettling at times.

There's a method to the madness though, but I don't have the cinematographical vocabulary or the eye to suss it all out without a lot of help and repeat viewings. There are visual and audio motifs all over the place, aspect ratio changes, visual tension in the framing, Xs everywhere. It seems to give the audience more credit than most network shows tend to, so I'm going to finish this ride.

I'm sure everything is being done deliberately but I don't think the problem is that it's too complex for me. As a professor of mine once said "As an author you can use a crow to symbolize death or war or whatever but you still have to make me care about the crow".

It's not a network show, fwiw. It's from FX. I like Hawley's other show for them(Fargo) but I think that's a much better example of doing something complex while also coming at you straight away with a compelling narrative structure.

 

[herman]

I'm working through Iron Fist (at Ep 9). Not quite the same narrative structure as previous Netflix Marvel shows have been, but very similar beats. The back half has been a lot more compelling than the first six episodes, which is a bit of a reversal for this series as well.

Early reviews take a big dump on Finn Jones for a) being Danny Bland; b) surprisingly weaksauce fighting; c) not doing anything to overcome the inherent Asian appropriation/white saviour issues with the story. For the most part, this is accurate so far. It's the Matt Martin of the Netflix Marvel lineup.

The (probably sole) redeeming quality that prevents this show from being unwatchable: Jessica Henwick's portrayal of Colleen Wing.