Westworld keeps trying to answer questions no one is asking
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"Imagine the making of a television show as the construction of a house," says Brandon Katz. "The main characters and central themes are the sturdy foundation that support continued development. The main storylines are the walls that give structure and definition to the interior. Now throw in a series of trap doors and secret passageways that double for deliberately confusing and misdirecting mysteries. That might be cool in a fanciful sort of way, but possess a very limited utility. You don’t want to throw a dinner party only for your guests to end up stuck inside a wall. And yet, following the fourth episode of Westworld‘s third season, 'The Mother of Exiles,' it’s hard not to feel as if the audience is trapped in a carnival fun house. Westworld remains a big and bombastic fusion of science fiction, fantasy, western, and spy genres yet it has largely abandoned the elements that make each compelling at their best. Science fiction presents us an opportunity to actualize the What If, fantasy empowers the impossible, westerns uphold the conquest of chaos in the name of civilization and the spy genre is just flat out cool. While Westworld still has a foothold in each of these worlds, the series is more intent on generating and answering questions fans are least invested in."
