‘Westworld’ Episode 6 Recap: A Real Family Man
Warning: This recap contains spoilers for the “The Adversary” episode of Westworld.
Among the many mysteries still inside Westworld’s plus-size Mystery Box is whether we’ve been watching a new version of Michael Crichton’s 1973 film — a la the remake of Coma that aired on A&E a few years ago — or a continuation of that earlier movie in the vein of Jurassic World. Sunday’s episode, “The Adversary,” subtly tipped the scales in the direction of the dinosaurs. Early on, we watch as Bernard ventures into a previously unexplored basement level — B82 — in the giant complex that rests beneath Westworld.
Stepping aboard an elevator, Bernard descends to B82 and emerges in an office that’s clearly seen better days. Debris is scattered around, furniture is overturned, and fluorescent lights are trapped in a perpetual flicker. As Bernard heads to an improbably still-functioning computer terminal, he passes by an out-of-focus figure dressed in black in the background.
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No, it’s not Ed Harris’s Man in Black; instead, that figure is an (admittedly fuzzy) dead ringer for Yul Brynner’s Gunslinger, who bedeviled James Brolin and Richard Benjamin when they visited Westworld back in ’73. That film ended with Brynner’s metal assassin stalking his prey in the subterranean corridors of the park and causing plenty of damage, before whirring to a stop after he gets acid tossed in his robotic face and then set on fire. Thirty years later within the world of the show (40 years in our reality), and he’s apparently still part of the park’s infrastructure, buried, dormant, and forgotten to everyone … except Bernard and, almost certainly, Robert.
Dr. Ford is part of the other hint that the show may be taking place on a similar continuum as Crichton’s film. During his sub-subterranean trip to B82, Bernard discovers that five park hosts are living off the grid in the supposedly disused Sector 17. Visiting their homestead, he comes face-to-face to Arnold’s kindest (and cruelest) gift to his former colleague: robot versions of Robert’s childhood family, including the greyhound we heard so much about on last week’s episode.
And these are old-school, first-gen ‘bots, whose faces open to reveal their metal innards when Ford utters their trigger phrase: “Turn the other cheek.” Gazing at that robot skull, it’s hard not to flash back to the moment in the Westworld movie when the Gunslinger’s face comes off and reveals the network of wires and chips behind his plastic eyes. “[They’re] ghosts now, survivors of the wreck of time,” Robert tells Bernard, once again alluding to a cataclysmic disaster that happened in the distant past — the same disaster that must have spilled into B82. Obviously, we can’t take these developments as absolute confirmation that film canon and show canon have merged. All the same, I’m starting to get excited for a rare Richard Benjamin cameo.
The Hosts
No Dolores this week, but she wasn’t remotely missed thanks to Maeve, who takes center stage for one of the best single-episode storylines of the entire season. After purposely encouraging a client at the brothel to strangle her, the bordello madam once again awakens to find hapless technician Felix standing over her in the Westworld operating chambers. Playing by the adage “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” Felix has decided to be Maeve’s conduit to information about her existence — her oracle, if you will. A very nervous, very bumbling, oracle. It’s Felix who reveals to Maeve just how much her personality, thought patterns, and even her basic speech have been created for her.
He also takes her on an eye-opening tour of Westworld’s underground operations, walking past glass-paneled cells housing familiar animals and faces she recognizes from the world above, before ending up in front of a television advertising the sights and sounds of the park, including footage of the past life she half-remembers. (As fantastic as that entire sequence is, it’s somewhat improbable that she and Felix would be able to roam so freely without discovery. For a top-dollar theme park, Westworld’s security operations seem remarkably lax.) Having attained this level of enlightenment, Maeve isn’t about to let it go anytime soon. Instead, she forces Felix to rewire her brain chemistry — something that another unknown party has already been fiddling with — increasing her perception levels way past their normal range. “Dear boys,” a newly perceptive Maeve says with a smile. “We’re going to have some fun, aren’t we.” Well, you sure are, Maeve. Hard to say how much fun it’s going to be for everyone else.
The Staff
Boy, Bernard must be regretting his choice to play detective this week, huh? Besides learning about Robert’s creepy robot family, he also discovers that his extracurricular recreational partner, Theresa, is the one leaking data to an outside party and appears to get Elsie killed in the process. To be fair, he did try to warn Elsie of tracking down the rogue relay computer on her own, and she in turn really should have realized that a deserted, dilapidated theater is a prime place to be attacked by a saboteur. Robert did ask Theresa to be gentle with Bernard, but if her cover’s about to be blown, that’s not a request she’ll be able to follow.
“The Adversary” also set aside time for a significant personnel introduction: Creed star Tessa Thompson joined the ensemble as Charlotte, the executive director of the Devos board that theoretically oversees Westworld, even though Robert makes a point of operating as if he’s the park’s one true authority. Before revealing her identity, Charlotte makes a point of getting close to narrative director Lee Sizemore, whom Ford has essentially kicked to the curb while pursuing his own storyline. With his career already in tatters, Lee decides to get fired in spectacular fashion by literally pissing all over his workplace. But Charlotte appears to stay his professional execution, no doubt with the intention of using him as bargaining chip in the looming war between corporation and creator.
The New Players
Logan’s fate remains unclear, and William and Dolores are nowhere to be seen. Consider their game on pause.
Related: Westworld Star Jimmi Simpson Talks Fan Theories and William’s Future
The Wild Card
The Man in Black and Teddy are hot on the dreaded Wyatt’s trail, a mission that requires them to decimate an entire troop of Union soldiers in the process. They also share a brief but presumably crucial conversation about this all-important maze that the park veteran is searching for. Asked by the Man in Black to explain the myth of the maze, Teddy first speaks in metaphorical terms: “It’s the sum of a man’s life, the choices he makes, the things he hangs on to.” But then his story gets more specific, as he describes a legendary man at the center of the maze who was killed over and over again, until he finally vanquished his enemies once and for all. “He built a house; around that house he built a maze so complicated only he could navigate through it.” Hmmm, Robert appears to have built a house for his robot clan. And in Westworld, it does seem like all roads eventually lead to Ford.
Westworld airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.
