Varun Patel
The third season of the Westworld sees the plot expanding to new heights and a global theater of war, as opposed to a single amusement park. Dolores has taken her fight against the humans into the real world, plotting world domination meditatively yet menacingly. Meanwhile, the rest of the characters find themselves in riveting new places, teasing a satisfactory cohesion.
Westworld Season 3 Episode 3 Recap:
The episode begins with Hale recording a message for Nathan using a host. Then, a host’s eye and body are produced. A host with Hale’s body is “woken up” by Dolores. Dolores asks the host to pretend to be Hale.
“Hale” inspects a new riot control robot. Then, her assistant informs her of Delos’ hostile takeover. “Hale” inattentively scratches her arm. On the other hand, Caleb calls an ambulance for Dolores. However, a police car stops the ambulance midway. Caleb finds out that the police officers are actually hired criminals through the Rico app.
Dolores kills the criminals and advises Caleb to get a new name and disappear. “Hale’s” assistant tells her that a man named Serac who seems to have no online presence is responsible for Delos’ takeover. “Hale” gets an anonymous voice message with meaningless noise.
“Hale” returns home to find her husband, Jake there. “Hale” does not seem to recall something. Jake reminds “Hale” that she forgot to pick up their son, Nathan once again. Hale goes to tuck her son in bed. “You aren’t doing it right,” Nathan tells “Hale.”
A couple of Delos executives tell Hale that some host control units are missing including that of Maeve. The executives speculate that it is a top-level job and “Hale” suggests there is a mole in Delos who has been speaking to Serac. “Hale” decides to meet Dolores when the latter does not respond to her messages.
“Hale” tells Dolores that she feels like she is changing. Dolores takes “Hale” inside a hotel room where she finds out that “Hale” has been scratching key-like marks on her body. The host tells Dolores that Hale’s brain is trying to fight it off. “Hale” tells Dolores about the mole and Serac’s takeover. Dolores asks the host to kill the mole and convince the board for a counter-offer. She asks the host to prepare for meeting an old friend.
Caleb visits his mother at the hospital. A couple of men forcibly take Caleb to the under-construction building where he is depicted to be working in the first episode of the season. Dolores calls Martin (Liam’s right-hand man) who informs her of Caleb having been taken.
The men inject something to the “drip” on the roof of Caleb’s mouth palate. Then, a device is used to raise Caleb’s heart rate, in order to torture him. The men ask Caleb about Dolores, threatening to push him out of the window. Caleb’s robot friend, Rin Tin tries to save Caleb but gets pushed to floor, getting destroyed. Dolores comes on time to rescue Caleb.
A Delos executive shows “Hale” the recorded message from the first scene of the episode. It shows Hale singing a song for Nathan. Then, “Hale” goes to pick up Nathan where she finds him talking to a stranger with a dog. “Hale” sends Nathan away and proceeds to choke the man to death.
Dolores takes Caleb to a restaurant that he frequents and places his usual order. Then, she makes Caleb read a statement from a tragic moment in his childhood when his mother had forgotten to take him back from the same restaurant. Then, she takes Caleb to a pier and tells him that he will commit suicide here after twelve years.
Dolores tells Caleb that Incite not only knows who he is, but also who he will be allowed to become. She tells him that Incite has decided his fate and would ensure that he does not become anything more than a construction worker/petty criminal by not “investing” in him. Dolores tells Caleb that she was surprised that he could make his own choice and not tell the criminals about her.
Dolores asks Caleb to join her in her revolution and he agrees. Meanwhile, “Hale” cries after looking at the video message again. She has been receiving multiple voice messages from an anonymous number that she cannot seem to call. However, when she plays the messages one after the other, they form the song that Hale sings for Nathan in the message. The tune turns out to be a password and “Hale” is able to call the anonymous number. Her car gets automatically rerouted to a house.
Inside the house, an Asian woman makes “Hale” wear a pair of glasses. A holographic projection of Serac appears and tells “Hale” that she seems to have forgotten their arrangement. Serac tells Hale that he wants the profile of every Westworld guest. “Hale” tells Serac that there is a necessary encryption key which is in Dolores’ head.
Westworld Season 3 Episode 3 Review:
Do we even need to continue reviewing ‘Westworld’ anymore? By now, I am of the firm belief that the show’s makers can never err. The third episode is yet another display of the magnificent perfection of the show. From its realistic vision of the future, a wittily designed narrative and some truly deep themes, the science fiction television series continues its glorious run, justifying its coronation as one of the best TV shows of all time.
To begin with, the third episode belongs to Hale. A narrative structure with a focus on a single character each episode seems to be emerging for the third season. However, knowing how unpredictable the series can be, it would be hasty to say that the rest of the season would follow this mold.
To begin with, Hale’s story adds a lot to the premise of ‘Westworld’ as she teases to be a make-or-break character for Dolores’ mission. Her plight is chronicled in a layered manner, depicting the sheer depth of the show. There are a couple of instances of symbolism featuring an eye that seem to be alluding to something. There is the shot wherein the host impersonating Hale’s eye is shown being produced. Apart from that, Hale is also depicted standing in front of an eye-shaped building. Have a look:
This most likely indicates the fact that Hale is the mole, the eyes with which Delos is spied on by Serac. It could also signify something larger, which would probably be revealed later on. Moreover, one of the writers of ‘Westworld’ also recounts how her experience of motherhood helped her shape Hale’s experience of change.
Apart from that, the episode highlights how ‘Westworld’ nails its setting simplistically. The aesthetic is a minimalist one, inspired by ‘The Matrix’ and does not feel flashy at all. The future is already here and can be observed in places like Los Angeles and Spain where ‘Westworld’ is filmed.
Moreover, the show’s central criticisms and mirroring of our society also come to the fore. The concept of predictive analytics and the merging of humans and machines is something ‘Westworld’ will tackle and one can expect that to be executed in the most nuanced manner imaginable. For instance, the scene where Dolores tells Caleb that Incite will not “invest” in him harkens back to the fact that for businesses like Facebook, we are the products.
Read More: Westworld Season 2 Episode 2
