Westworld (TV Series) Crisis Theory (2020) User Reviews

Its just a bog-standard sci-fi now

[jareddavies-50035 · 6/10 · 5 May 2020]

Season 1 was a masterpiece, season 2, not so much but still decent in its own right (despite the convoluted story)

But this season, and especially this episode is a huge dip in narrative quality

First of all, the action scenes. these are for the most part, awful. stormtrooper humans are cranked up to 11, completely takes you out of the moment

as for the character arcs, Bernard was built up to be the most important piece of the puzzle, yet does (genuinely) nothing, and this episode was no different, save for a short post credits scene.

Why is Maeve following serac to see her daughter again? wasn't the whole point of her season 2 story that she has to let go of her past, and her daughter is now save in the sublime with her new mother

I think it has been massively dumbed down because it has to suit the hugely varying general audience as HBO's new flagship

The final confrontation was about as bog standard as you could get, with maeve suddenly changing her mind at the last second after dolores does a monologue, and stabbing serac

speaking of serac, (i loved vincent cassel as the character) why the HELL does he go to kill jesse pinkman (he's shown hes willing to personally kill people), but then puts the gun down and get his goon to kill him instead? (Also, ire that goon, he had the gun to jesse's head for like 3 minutes despite being given the order to kill him)

Overall, this episode, and this season wasn't terrible. it was OK. but very underwhelming and had some very stupid aspects.

Season Three Review

[southdavid · 8/10 · 17 August 2020]

Whereas I didn't find the drop off in quality from season one to season two as catastrophic as some people did, it was still apparent that the heights of what was a near perfect first season were unlikely to be hit again. Season three does the wise thing therefore, and tries to take the show somewhere else entirely, into the real world and into building on the shows themes of what free will is.

With Delores (Even Rachel Wood) having escaped the park in the guise of Delos boss Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) she sets about a plan of recreating herself, and other familiar hosts, and begins her plan of striking back against the humans that subjugated her for so long. Maeve (Thandie Newton) is also recreated in the real world by technocrat Serac (Vincent Cassel) who has much to lose in this world, so sets Maeve against Delores. But Delores has targeted a human of her own, Caleb (Aaron Paul) who has a bigger role to play in her plan.

I'm not sure if it's a reaction to the criticism of the second season as being too inert, but this series has a lot more action than either that have gone before, and it's new looking too - horses and six shooters replaced by drones and computer aided aiming rifles. I didn't hate all this, but I'm not sure it's very "Westworld" - it feels like a film version of the game "Deus Ex" or perhaps "Watchdogs". There's still much discussion about free will in this one, however, this time it's about human agency and less about ostensibly programed equivalency. If you have sufficient data (provided in part by Delos' monitoring of the guests) and processing power you can predict the whole world, and if you can predict it, you can then influence it. Storyline wise it's less clever than the first season, but a whole lot easier to follow than the second.

I didn't hate is as much as some reviewers have. Is it near the quality of the first season, no - but then how much TV is? Did I enjoy watching it, I did, and I'll be back for season four.

If your going to have a ton of shooting and fighting...

[BruceWayne3 · 6/10 · 5 August 2020]

Do yourself a favor and hire the choreographer from John wick 3. The shooting / fighting scenes all through season 3 has been cheesy and lacked imagination. Honestly makes me lose interest in what is going when these scenes are so badly written.

fever dream

[integer634 · 4 May 2020]

This season resembles that of a fever dream because it keeps jumping around and makes little sense, this episode in no exception. Characters showing up at convenient moments to carry the plot, gas station scene is pure nonsense. Dolores always twenty steps ahead and when asked for her motivations she responds "Don't ask about my motivations and I won't ask yours". This whole season Man In Black, Bernard, Charlotte accomplished absolutely nothing, stumbling from one location to the other to come upon some critical information or just conveniently someone shows up saves them/carries the plot. Pitiful action sequences all around the season and this episode, hero is surrounded and yet against all odds he survives over and over and over again not once have I felt worried that our "hero" will die.

What annoys me the most in this episode, this is a minor spoiler, Bernard finds out through some database that Dolores wasn't trying to end humanity but in his own words "She was trying to save it." HOW? By murdering people and causing massive riots? By murdering billionaires and stealing their money? How exactly was she trying to save it?! I'm sure even the writers themselves haven't thought of it, but put that as a cliff hanger so they can write it next season. And that's the fundamental flaw - past season one they didn't have the story written so they had to make it up on the go and for that I'd think you really need talented writers and a good sense of direction, neither of which are being used on this show anymore. They're not setting up for season four and frankly after this jest of a season I'm not that interested.

The story goes on

[deltastar-15250 · 9/10 · 4 May 2020]

Except for the cringy repetitive action scenes, the finale was good. But not the level of perfection that we wanted. It's best described as a good setup for season 4. We all wanted more of season 1 and we will never get enough of it because of its perfection but the truth is that season 1 is ended and will never come back. The story goes on in the real world not in westworld and it really makes sense despite of all this mess because I believe the mess is really part of the story.

Loved Season 1. It wasn't always going to stay like that..this is Syfi people!

[kboz25 · 9/10 · 4 May 2020]

Everyone loved season ONE <3. We all had to know that season 2 wouldn't be the same but..

..Season 2 was really confusing with the time jumps, Bernard, ect

And yes, Season 3 is a bit of a set up for S4. AND took 2 long years to come out ;(

But you can't just go from S2 to S4 and skip everything that occurred in season 3 lol. There was a lot of new stuff, characters, and 'real wold' problems we didn't know about previously in Westworld.

No I didn't enjoy S2-3 as much as the 1st season & they crammed a lot of cliffhanger moments into the end of the finale. But it is still a good SyFi show and I'm invested in what S4 has to offer once quarantine is over and the show can continue production!

Season 1: 9.5/10 Season 2: 8.5/10 Season 3: 9/10

Just my opinion ;)

"I HAVE CHOOSE TO SEE THE BEAUTY..."

[kataleja-martyr · 10/10 · 4 May 2020]

Despite the horrors that entirely fulfilled every aspect of her existence, Dolores has choose to see the beauty... Girl, you're my hero. Crisis Theory is a masterfully emotional filled ending of the season while containing a great announcement of exciting development we can eagerly expect to unfold in the fourth season. Thanks to the post credit scenes (layers of dust that covers Bernard) seems to bring the storyline into the distant future as well.

Messy and convoluted

[thenerdygamer · 6/10 · 5 May 2020]

Feels like a last minute idea slapped together the last second with no real direction and logic to this messy, convoluted and nonsenseical episode.

Post Credits Scene made this episode from a 9 to a 10...WOW

[ceekayschofield-37345 · 10/10 · 4 May 2020]

I always judge every episode on how much it shocks me and how much i can say i was not expecting that.

While some people choose to see the ugliness of this episode, i choose to see the beauty in this episode.

Round of applause to everyone who worked on Westworld, Series 3 has been outstanding for me.

WOW

Decent episode, Terrible finale

[saifkh-91827 · 7/10 · 4 May 2020]

I just don't understand how they messed it up, the season wasn't truly terrible, but they could've done a lot better, Season 2 is a masterpiece compared to this and it wasn't even the best season.

Season 4 needs to be mind blowing or this show will go down the same path as GoT.

Remember when this show was "Westworld"? Yeah, neither do I.

[MamadNobari97 · 5/10 · 4 May 2020]

I'm just gonna ask some questions;

• First of all, wtf is even happening? does anyone know what is happening anymore? what is this show? is this an A.I uprising story? or the story of and evil system that controls the world now they gonna destroy it? what is it?

• Why don't I feel anything for these characters anymore? I was pokerfaced throughout the whole episode like if the world ended and they showed every character dying I wouldn't feel a thing, seriously what happened?

Nolan also made Person of Interest and though it wasn't in any way a perfect show like Breaking Bad, I still gave it a 10/10 and the ending of that show makes me cry like a baby every time. So what happened with this show that I don't even care about any character at all?

• What was Maeve's motivation this whole season? Why did she ask Serac for her old gang if she wasn't gonna use them last episode against the only thing she needed them for and that was Delores?

And they both resurrect again but this time Delores has a new body and seems like she's just a skinny robot but when she puts some skins on her she becomes a host again? So what happened to all those white batters that they needed to create the hosts? Did she make a new robot body apart from what Delos made? Because they showed that the robot body was the first prototype.

• If this system controls the whole world and can predict literally anything, is some masked soldiers with shield and batons the best it can do? How is this logical that they can't even control riots?

• Also why in tf is Serac really in the room with them when we saw multiple time that he's not an idiot and don't go in person? I guess they were with Rehoboam but still, like every hollywood movies and shows, the villain is only smart until the end where the story demands it to be the same stupid villain with the sam "oh I really want to kill this guy but this guy has plot armor so here my dear henchman, you kill him for me!"

• Why is it that it's 2020 and Nolans still can't make a good logical fight scene? Like if you watch Chris Nolan movies you can clearly see that they don't know wtf they're doing in the action and hand to hand fight scenes, and this series shows it well that "Nolans can't do action". Like seriously you have all this money and you spend it on making the show beautiful with really good cgi, but you can't spend some on someone who really knows action and fight choreography to make the scenes better and believebale?

Like the bridge scene with Delores you have all these guys with guns but not one of them can shoot her even though she's busy fighting other guys and you're literally behind her and can blast her?

• What in the actual fork was the purpose of Man In Black character? No seriously, go and think about his character arc. wtf was the point? what did he even do in this show? what was the point of all this really?

• Did they really have just story and ideas for only one season and when HBO gave them all the money and green lit them forever, they decided to continue but didn't know wtf they were doing? Cause it sure looks like it!

Really disappointed with how this show is becoming another Game of Thrones and don't know why, they only made 3 seasons, 2 years hiatus between each season and this is the best they can come up with?

I was hoping that they will end the show on high note because Person of Interest, even though it was cancelled, they managed to end it really good and had one of the best tv finales. But after this season, I don't even know whats gonna happen next, are going to see a Mad Max world? is there gonna be WWIII? what is this show anymoe?

This is the new world...

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 4 May 2020]

...And in this world, you can be whatever the beep you want.

We've been waiting for this since the very first episode of season one, it's just taken us three whole seasons to get to it.

So it's no surprise that we knew already there was going to be a confrontation.

But this episode is in fact a shell game, where we think the bean or in this case "Delores' Pearl" was under one cup, when in fact it was somewhere else. Or, was that even what we were looking for?

It was all misdirection,

The things I liked about this season? The locations that they chose. The things I didn't like? Well I prefer 10 episodes to eight episodes, it gives just that much more time to flesh out the story.

Although they packed each episode with as much information as they could, sometimes it wasn't very clear exactly what was happening. Earlier we saw that one of Dolores' copies who was hiding inside of Musashi had been storing barrels of the white stuff that they make hosts out of in one of his warehouses.

So we know that one of Dolores goals was to prevent the extinction of hosts. But Rehoboam kept on figuring out what she was doing, so then she had to have plans within plans to trick Rehoboam into chasing the white rabbit into nowhere. She had to put its attention on her, when it should have been on Caleb or BernArnold.

We have seen some of Maeve's other allies like Clementine (finally!) and Hanaryo acting independently, were they also being coerced by Serac, or were they following their own agenda, and what happened to them? We saw them for a short time... and there never was any more Lee Sizemore, and I had hoped he would factor in sooner or later.

So it looks like they are seeding season four.

At the very end of season two we see William being interviewed by his daughter for "Fidelity", even though we thought she had been shot. And season three confirms that she was... and there is even an explanation of that, of sorts. But who was interviewing who at that time?

I guess the entire point was that Dolores had copied herself and put herself into several different hosts, which all gradually diverged from "The Original". But we learn something else here, it's not just that Dolores was the original host. She was much more than that.

There is so much more going on here, and I am very happy that they have kept up the level of complexity to Westworld standards. And now that we know where Westworld actually is, and all of the other Delos parks, maybe we can move the story back there in season four. After inflicting the world with Delores, Maeve, BernArnold and Halores, the Westworld parks might just be a much safer place...

Until next season, then.

Westworld was my favourite show - and i don't like what happened with it

[RdZ1201 · 6/10 · 6 May 2020]

Westworld S01 was my favourite season from any shows, ever. It was beautiful, smart, creative, twisted, and had amazing phylosophical thoughts about our beliefs, our gods, our motives, our morales - generally about ourselves. The dialogues were smart, the characters were amazing, and with the plot, we really felt like we were also in the labyrinth - just like the hosts.

Season 2 had it's problems (the plot was especially messy) but it had some great moments and messages - this time about free will, immortality, and generally about our self-consciousness. Also there were some amazing twists and episodes, such as the story of Aketcheta. I was really looking forward to this season, and it started well. But to the end of the season, nothing really worked out well.

Let's start with the positives. Dolores' character ark, and Evan Rachel Wood's performance was awesome. I liked Maeve's decisions at the end (for the first time of this season), i hope she 'll be her old self in the next season. The moral lessons were not that bad in my opinion: the AI-ruled society and the dilemma about the controlled order or the free chaos was pretty interesting, but it didn't get enough attention. Also, the acting generally was great. So was the music.

And now the negatives. This season had no focus. It just had random storylines running through and crossing each other. The fight scenes became kind of ridiculous. I wanted to see a coherent and clever plot with amazing dialogues and a creative world - just like in S01. Instead, i got some empty action flick. The fights had no purpose, and no consequences.

The characters were pretty simple. Willian was just wondering around - as through the whole season. He had no purpose, just that stupid "i'm gonna save the world" cliche. His transformation through the seasons didn't make any sense at the end. The scene after the credits was just the final straw.

I already mentioned Maeve. Her relationship with her daughter isn't that stupid as some people think: it means that even though her daughter is just a code, her feelings are real, and that makes her the person she really is. Sad, that here, she was just a puppet till the end.

According to this episode, Bernard can be a key player next season, but here he just played a plot detective. Caleb had no charisma. I really like Aaron Paul, and Caleb was a pretty interesting and well-written character, but i just couldn't picture him as a leader of a rebellion. Charlotte-Dolores made an appearance, but i just couldn't follow her motives - her change was too fast and too radical. She just had a family she cared about with humans, why does she suddenly wants to kill all of them? But the really bad decision i think comes with Serac. They completely destroyed his character.

I shouldn't even go through the logical mistakes of this episode (for example: how the hell could Charlotte-Dolores go inside the Delos facility, when everyone knows she's a host), i will talk about the main problem istead. I think they brought back too much characters from death, they made too much plot twists and alternative storylines in people's head, or in other realities, that they can't surprise us. Nothing has consequence. They kill off a character, but they can bring them back in the next episode. They can make a twist, and then turn it back. We just can't follow which happening is real with real stakes, or which is just a filler. So we can't root for anybody.

I'm still gonna watch the next season. I care about this show too much to stop there. But i don't like the direction we're heading...

Third season is a total disappointment

[shor-46612 · 3/10 · 5 May 2020]

Where all talent and inspiration went? Probably left in the Westworld. No sense, no logic, no true emotions. Pathetic.

S3: A second stepdown in a row, although the resources poured in help it a lot

[bob the moo · 16 August 2020]

At time of writing Westworld has been renewed for a 4th season, with a statement suggesting that it will run for a full six seasons. I hope it can find its feet in a meaningful way in the next season, because for now it appears to be a very general plot searching for something in the way of depth. After the second season, I felt it was trying to repeat the tricks of the very strong first season, but did benefit from digging into the ideas of AI and humanity. The third season sees the war taken out of the park and into real life, and it is delivered in a comparative straight way. At first I thought this was good, because I was watching for the 'different timelines' thing again; however after a while the plot started to get messy, have convenient writing, and not be quite as interesting as it appeared.

The huge budget helps to cover this, as we have great setpieces, effects, casting, and locations; all of it makes it look like a fantastic show - it is only the writing that lets it down. The world expands rapidly, and a lot of it doesn't wholly gel together in a way that will satisfy and reward as you watch. At 8 episodes though it is short enough to carry you along in its wake, and to be fair I did quite like burning through it in less than a week, but even with rewatching some of it, and reading about it, I must admit I didn't find it particularly compelling or that it set me up for any more seasons.

If you have watched 2 seasons already then this shorter season is worth a look; just don't expect it to be as good as it was in that first season.

Why are people so unable to adjust to a great vibe in S3

[spikeyoung-58169 · 10/10 · 5 May 2020]

This episode was astounding. Haleores finally sumbits herself to her true nature and embodies Charlotte Hale again. The Man in Black is now back to his old ways. Bernarnold has one of the most emotional scenes in the history of the show. Dolores' plans are illuminated, proving her "poetic sensibility" that Bernard knew she had. Bernard has the key in his mind. Maeve has a beautiful convo inside Dolores' mind. Serac is Rehoboam, as was suspected. Caleb's interaction with Dolores shows why Dolores knew his every move (she accessed his file in The Forge). Marshawn Lynch trucked some cops, making it known that he is beastmode. Lawrence had a cameo. Dolores kills some-12 people without backup. Bernarnold is traveling to the sublime, which could eventually mean that we could see some OG hosts in season 4. Dolores (supposedly) dies with the new world on her shoulders. What more could you ask from an episode? Stop giving bad ratings because you weren't able to adjust to a new vibe that we got in season 3, this is top notch television. Don't compare to GoT season 8. Watch the show. Absolute Masterpiece.

It's a Season Finale not the Series Finale

[thevipinsingh · 9/10 · 4 May 2020]

Westworld is a show which we can't compare episode by episode rather a whole experience itself. But yeah, Season 3 is not like Season 1 where we got so many twist and turn and brilliant dialogues from Hopkins with a great storyline. Compared to that Season 3 is okay because It's kind of a reboot where of Season 1 and since we mostly experienced many things it obvious they won't amaze us to that extent. The role was different of each characters. As Dolores find her true nature in Season 1 with the help of Ford, Caleb find about himself with the help of Dolores and got freed from a loop of whatever. Now Caleb is Dolores and Dolores is Ford in Season 3. We can't know for sure if all these things were necessary for the plot until the show is over. Then we can find truly know the reason of a particular event and its importance. So, keeping that in mind, I know that I can't judge some of the factor but some things can such as visual effects, level of details, action-sequence, creativity in dialogues, soundtracks, and direction. And for that I can absolutely give 9 out of 10 for the finale.

Season 3: The (Real) World-Building Pays Off In The End

[zkonedog · 9/10 · 14 May 2020]

After four episodes of this third season of Westworld, I was convinced it was the worst installment of the series thus far. It didn't seem like the puzzle-box show of S1, nor was it the deep philosophical musing on consciousness of S2. But at this point, I should know not to doubt Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy, as S3 ultimately turns into just as compelling of an outing as its two predecessors.

I think the key concept to keep in mind with S3 of Westworld is that it has to establish an entirely new world--the real one. Gone are the "cowboys and horses" from the first two seasons, replaced by sleek, futuristic landscapes. The show is clearly now more action-oriented than it had ever been before, and plots progress in a bit more of a linear fashion. Of course, in typical Westworld fashion, there are also plenty of big reveals and twists saved for the finale.

Because Westworld is, in a certain sense, all about spoilers, I'm not going to go into too many details here. A very broad overview sees the season center on Serac (Vincent Cassel), a mogul who has created an AI device for ordering society. In his mind, this is the only way to bring stability to the chaos of humanity. Delores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood) disagrees, of course, and along with newfound companion Caleb (Aaron Paul) sets out to free humanity from their self-imposed "loops", if you will. The Man in Black (Ed Harris) is still trying to figure out his place in all the proceedings, of course, while Bernard (Jeffrey Wright), Maeve (Thandie Newton), and Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) play crucial roles themselves.

As is typical for a show of this depth, one could write a 2,000+ word essay and still not completely cover all the reverent themes. So, suffice it to say that I won't try that here. What I will say, however, is that the final 4-5 episodes of this season represent the show in its peak form, complete with action spectacles, ruminations on deep themes, and twists that you won't see coming. So please, whatever you do, hang in there past about episode four! In the early goings of S3, it may feel like the show has "sold out" and become an action/adventure spectacle with little depth. But I can assure you this is NOT the case! Yes, the sleek, noir style is necessary to replace the western vibe from seasons 1-2, but it simply takes some time to feel comfortable in those surroundings and aesthetics.

Thus, once again, Westworld managed to craft a solid season filled with everything that fans of the show are looking for--even if it may not feel the same. I actually commend the creators for this, as simply riding the "cowboys and robots" formula into the ground would have been stagnating. Instead, chances and taken and new ground is broken, and it's almost all for the better. While perhaps not perfect at all times in the execution, S3 serves notice that Westworld can survive and thrive outside of its titular theme-park.

Westworld is no longer westworld

[dribrahimbakhsh · 6/10 · 5 May 2020]

This season feels like whole other different show, and finally it's over. If there is going to be season 4, hope it will be better than this.

A masterclass of a season finale.

[TheFirst01 · 10/10 · 4 May 2020]

I wouldn't expect anything less from this season's finale. The twists and the fights were all worth it and there are some really good payoffs. We can't judge this season well without having seen how the next season will be, but all I can say is overall, it's the second best season that has come so far. Season 1 is just on a class of its own where the philosophical questions being planted were truly great, whereas now it's become a little cliche what's gonna happen. There is too much plot armor, and you can expect a lot of the things that happen. Overall a great episode which leaves me hanging wanting to know what's gonna happen in season 4.

It was okay

[dhruvvarma · 7/10 · 4 May 2020]

Dont get me wrong, the whole season was quite amazing. I was skeptical in the starting as to what will be new thing without them being inside the westworld, but it was turning out quite well. This episode just felt like a low blow, it didn't feel like an ending of zeaskn.

The dumbest decision ever

[drbodarobert · 1/10 · 5 May 2020]

Killing off William is probably the dumbest decision made by any showrunner ever. Besides that there are the boring, dragged out and completely unrealistic fight scenes. The "twists" were all predictable and not very great. I hate how they massacred Bernard's and William's characters. Serac started out as a great villain but in the end they completely wasted Vincent Cassle, just like Ed Harris and Jeffrey Wright this whole season. Utterly disappointing.

This is Westworld!

[lucajsimi · 10/10 · 4 May 2020]

This is the whole point of what Westworld is. And this episode was great. You can't compare this too any other season because each one is different in its own way. This season was about who human really are and it was amazing

Too Ambitious For Its Own Good

[energyzeezo · 6/10 · 24 September 2020]

Brief Review of the Season and its Finale.

Cinematics and Character Development are outstanding. But you will be disappointed in the main plot. Not because of bad sequencing, but rather deviation from Pragmatism to pure Fiction.

They explore big concepts like Human Complexity, Societal Engineering & Political Turmoil but without giving enough explanation on the Why, How & What. Instead of involving Experts and Academics in the writing of this deeply complex subject, the writers just opted for the generic Hollywood vision of future AI, which pretty much killed its signature scientific vibe; the main foundation of the Show. This Season drastically shifted from the Thought-Provoking Masterpiece it once was to yet another Show about Human Revolt against an Oppressive AI.

In regards to the actual plot, you will notice a barrage of Plot Shields that will really kill the experience. Too many events rely on perfectly timed coincidences, which created too many plot holes. Plus, the way they tie everything together like it was planned all along is just ridiculous, it made the main character look like some sort of Jesus figure. It can be very childish sometimes.

Finally, lack of actual wisdom, first season had many memorable quotes that will live on, but season 3 is jam-packed with recycled generic quotes that are overused. Which makes the season look immature compared to Season 1.

The story flow is nice, they established a man vs robot plot for season 4 to continue. But they need to drop this whole 'human revolution' plot. The writers are not qualified to write on this subject. They need to Focus on AI Consciousness. There are enough plots in Cinema and Video Games that explore Human Revolution and Cyber Oppression. Westworld was always about understanding Consciousness & Human Morality, and questioning many concepts we take for granted.

I think I'll park it here with Westworld

[grandomeur · 4/10 · 4 May 2020]

Season 1 was a masterpiece. Season 2 was a mess. Midway through this season, I was getting my hopes up that this might end up being a decent watch -nowhere near season 1 mind you, but a good passtime nonetheless - but it all came burning down in the last few episodes. And the season finale was horrendous. Not looking forward for season 4 and this will likely be the end of the line for me Westworld-wise.