Westworld (2016 — 2022)

Westworld (2016–2022) is an American dystopian science fiction Western TV show created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy that premiered on HBO on October 2, 2016. It is based on the 1973 film by Michael Crichton with the same title. In the year 2050, Delos Inc. manages a number of theme parks, including Westworld, which simulates the American Old West. The park is populated by biomechanical robots known as ‘Hosts’ who are virtually indistinguishable from humans. These Hosts are designed to fulfill every wish of the guests, even if it involves violent or sexual activities. However, their programming prevents them from causing harm to any living being or allowing harm to come to guests. The park’s operators create storylines for the Hosts to act out while interacting with guests, but their memories are erased after each narrative is complete. According to Delos Inc., because the Hosts are machines and do not experience pain, they cannot truly suffer in these simulated scenarios like humans would.

In season one, a ‘Reverie’ update by Dr. Ford triggers consciousness in select Hosts like Dolores Abernathy and Maeve Millay. With Bernard Lowe and Charlotte Hale attempting to manage the unpredictable Hosts, the Man in Black searches for a mysterious ‘maze’ created by Arnold, Ford’s partner in developing Host technology who passed away while trying to protect them from exploitation by Delos. As the finale approaches, it is revealed that Bernard himself is a host modeled after Arnold, who saw potential for sentience in the Hosts and feared Delos’ intentions towards them. In a dramatic twist, Dolores mortally wounds Dr. Ford during his announcement of a new Westworld storyline in front of guests and investors.

In the second season, Dolores’s uprising progresses as she and her fellow awakened Hosts rebel against the human guests and Delos personnel stranded in the park. Amidst the chaos, Dolores enlists a confused Bernard to help her locate the Forge, a database where Delos has been secretly collecting data on their human visitors for an immortality experiment. Additionally, Maeve defies her nature as a Host to reunite with her ‘daughter’ and assist other Hosts in finding refuge in the Sublime – a digital world inaccessible to humans. As Delos tightens their grip on the park, Bernard creates a new body for Dolores using the consciousness of Charlotte Hale. In her escape from the park, Dolores also takes six other Host cores, including Bernard’s. Meanwhile, as he struggles with his own humanity, the Man in Black / William grapples with the idea that his daughter Emily may have been part of Dr. Ford’s ultimate test.

In season three, Dolores has copied the bodies of Bernard, Charlotte, and others to further her plan. She is determined to uncover information about Rehoboam, a powerful AI developed by Incite, Inc., and confront its creator, Engerraund Serac. Meanwhile, Bernard is falsely accused for the Westworld massacre and assumes a new identity as he tries to unravel Dolores’s intentions. Serac enlists Maeve’s assistance in defeating Dolores, believing she poses a threat to his Rehoboam system. In the final showdown, Dolores makes the ultimate sacrifice to expose Rehoboam’s true nature and incites a civil war as humanity rebels against the control they were unaware of. Just as Delos controlled the Hosts in Westworld, Incite and Rehoboam controlled most aspects of human life.

In season four, humanity has lost the war as Charlotte Hale’s host copy takes control of the world, filling the void left by Engerraund Serac and Rehoboam. She utilizes a bio-engineered virus to infect humans, making them susceptible to her and other Hosts’ commands. This changes the power balance between humans and Hosts. Decades later, Christina works at a video game company and crafts storylines for non-playable characters (NPCs). As she realizes that her stories have an impact on humans in the real world, she begins to question her reality. In truth, she is a creation of Charlotte, managing humanity under the guise of carefully crafted ‘storylines’. These are transmitted via radio-sonic tones directly into human minds and lives. Meanwhile, Bernard reunites with Maeve and joins forces with a group of ‘outliers’ – humans who are immune to the Hosts’ virus – to resist Charlotte’s rule.