Title: Westworld Season 2 Episode 3: “Virtúe e Fortuna”
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction
Platform: TV – HBO
Director: Richard J. Lewis
Writers: Roberto Patino & Ron Fitzgerald
Rating: TV-MA
Release: May 6, 2018
Cast: Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, James Marsden, Ed Harris
Feature image: Source
[Spoilers]
“You certainly look like one of the park’s offerings.” Grace – Westworld
The episode opens in a new park called The Raj; based on colonial era British ruled India. The hosts are the Indian servants and animals [tigers and elephants]. A guest Nicholas (Neil Jackson) looks across the hotel grounds and sees another guest Grace (Katja Herbers). He sits down at her table and asks why she’s at the park. He thinks she’s there to hunt tigers like him. She doesn’t correct him. She has a notebook with her that has park symbols. They go back to her place. Grace [after taking off his shirt]: “You certainly look like one of the park’s offerings.” Nicholas: “I promise you, I’m quite real.” She has a way to verify. Nicholas: “Think the park would go through the trouble of having one of them pretend to be one of us?” Grace: “Wouldn’t put it past them.” On her table lays several guns. Grace wants to shoot Nicholas to make sure he isn’t a host. If he’s human, the guns won’t kill him. She shoots him and he moans in pain, he’s real. She takes off his pants and they have sex.
The next day they are riding elephants to their camp. The hosts help them down. Grace: “Somethings wrong. Where is everybody?” Even the hosts who helped them earlier are gone. Nicholas thinks everyone is gone to give them their privacy. She tells him that isn’t how they operate. Grace sees blood on a tent and she and Nicholas enter to investigate. They find dead bodies all around the tent. Nicholas thinks it’s some kind of horror theme. Grace knows better. One of the host walks up behind them saying, “These violent delights have violent ends.” He shoots Nicholas; Grace is able to shoot him. She starts running through the jungle, a tiger sees her and gives chase. She crosses a park boundary with the tiger in hot pursuit. Grace runs to the edge of a cliff, with a lake below it; she shoots the tiger just before it jumps her, they both tumble off the cliff together.
“Let’s make you the most virtuous, quickest gun in the west.” Bernard Lowe – Westworld
Karl Strand (Gustaf Skarsgård), Ashley Stubbs, (Luke Hemsworth), Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright), and the rest of the Delos Security force gets ready to enter Westworld headquarters. Maling (Betty Gabriel) reports to Strand that the place is a bloodbath, but they have control of it. They enter and Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) is waiting for them. She sees Bernard, “You made it out alive … Didn’t think you had it in you.” She asks Strand if he knows where Peter Abernathy (Louis Herthum) is. He doesn’t. Bernard begins to fade out. Charlotte notes, “He keeps slipping away from us.” Bernard is back in an earlier time period with Charlotte. They are looking for Peter. Using his panel to track him, they find Peter tied up with some other guests. Rebus (Steven Ogg) and his gang are going to sell them to the Confederadoes. Charlotte draws Rebus away from his gang by calling for help. Bernard sneaks up behind him and knocks him out. Bernard uses the panel to give Rebus an attitude adjustment. Bernard [mumbles]: “Let’s make you the most virtuous, quickest gun in the west.” The new Rebus guns down his men for mistreating women. Rebus: “You only ever touch a woman as gently as with the petal of a rose.” He sets the guests free. Peter stumbles around confused, “I need to get to the train.” Bernard and Charlotte tell him they will help him. The Confederadoes ride up. They are angry that Rebus let their merchandise go. Rebus cheerfully announces, “I’m just heeding my convictions.” He shoots some of the Confederadoes and runs after the guests to protect them. Peter decides to face off against the Confederadoes and begins singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Charlotte is angry and confused by what he is doing, she tells Bernard, “For fuck’s sake, let’s just cut off his head and go.” The Confederadoes close in and capture Bernard and Peter. Charlotte jumps on a horse and escapes.
“Major, why is this flaxen plum riding ahead of you?” Colonel Brigham – Westworld
Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood), Teddy Flood (James Marsden), Angela (Talulah Riley), along with Major Craddock (Jonathan Tucker) and his men reach the Confederado post. The Confederado troops present arms. The Confederado commander, Colonel Brigham rides out to greet his visitors; he is surprised to see a woman. Colonel Brigham: “Major, why is this flaxen plum riding ahead of you?” Dolores: “Because he knows what’s best for him.” When she introduces herself as Wyatt that changes Brigham’s attitude a little. Dolores tells him an invading army is coming. She signals the rest of her forces, the Horde comes out of the woods. She tells Brigham that with her forces and his army, they can defeat the invaders. She points to the guard from the Delos facility, and tells Brigham that more like him are coming. Dolores gives Brigham a machine gun and tells him that they have these kind of weapons. Angela to the guard, “A modest proposition for you. If you make it over that ridge, I’ll let you live.” When he tries to make it over the ridge, Brigham shoots him. Impressed, Colonel Brigham says, “Wyatt, Welcome to Fort Forgone Hope!” As they ride into the desolate fort, the men begin cat calling the women. Teddy: “These men are animals.” Dolores: “These men are children, they need to be led.”
Lee Sizemore (Simon Quarterman) tells Hector Escaton (Rodrigo Santoro) and Maeve Millay (Thandie Newton) that they should turn back. He warns them that QA will be out rescuing guests and putting down renegade hosts like them. Some Ghost Nation hosts show up at the stream. Maeve has flashbacks to the Ghost Nation warriors attacking her homestead as she tried to protect her daughter. Hector stands between them and Maeve and talks to them in Lakota. He tells Maeve and Lee that he and Maeve can go on, but they want Lee. Maeve calms down a bit and says to them, “You will let him go and you will forget you ever saw us.” More Ghost Nation warriors appear, so our group makes a run for it. They find an elevator and go down to a bunker.
“I am bound upon a wheel of fire that my own tears do scold like molten lead.” Peter Abernathy – Westworld
Some Confederadoes bring in captured guests, including Bernard and Peter. Peter mouths off to them so they hit him. Dolores sees her father and tells them she wants to speak to him alone. One of the Confederadoes mouths off to Dolores and Teddy knocks him down. Dolores sees Bernard and tells the Confederadoes to take him with the rest of the captives. Teddy: “Who is he?” Dolores: “You don’t remember. He’s my father. My home. Look what they’ve done to him. You’re all I have left now, Teddy.” She and Teddy hug. Dolores tries to talk to her father. Peter: “I am bound upon a wheel of fire that my own tears do scold like molten lead.” Dolores: “It’s alright, I am here.” Peter: “Dolores?” Dolores: “Daddy?” Peter: “Dolores! The calf’s in the field, and I’m worried. There’s blue tongue spreading all through these parts.” Dolores: “It’s alright Daddy, I’ll lend them home.” She tries to remind him of their time together back home. Dolores promises to get him help.
“Oh, I suppose that means we shouldn’t have fucked.” Maeve Millay
Back in the bunker, Hector asks did Maeve know that Ghost Nation warrior. She says that they are from her past and with them around, she is worried that her daughter is in danger. Hector assures her they will get to her daughter and protect her. He asks what they will do when they find her. Maeve tells him she wants the three of them to go to the outside world. Lee looks at them confused and rudely interrupts them. Lee: “You two were designed to be alone. There’s some attraction but you’d never have an actual relationship.” Maeve [looking at Hector]: “Oh, I suppose that means we shouldn’t have fucked.” They share a chuckle. Lee tells Hector that he is supposed to be in love with Isabella. Hector tosses him against the wall and tells him when he woke up in the lab he knew Isabella was a fiction. He tells Lee how he loves Maeve and uses the language that Lee wrote for him to say. Maeve figures out that Lee wrote about the girl he lost in Hector’s narrative. He wrote a version of himself he always wanted to be in Hector. She thinks that is sad.
“There is beauty in what we are; shouldn’t we too try to survive?” Dolores Abernathy – Westworld
Peter is lying down and Dolores is taking care of him. Dolores: “You told me once to run away, and I did. I broke free with the pull of a trigger. And it started a war. The others, they don’t understand yet. But you, you understand, don’t you?” Peter [delirious]: “It’s getting late. We gotta go home. I want to… I want to go home. I got to get to the train. I, I, I…” Dolores is heartbroken about her father’s condition. Angela brings in Bernard. Bernard: “What are you doing Dolores?” Dolores: “You don’t know who you are, do you? The man you’re based on. I wonder if there’s any of him in you.” She takes Bernard to her father. Dolores: “They’ve broken my father and I don’t know how to fix him. I hope you do. It’s an honest request…not a demand.” Bernard: “What do you want, Dolores?” Dolores: “To dominate this world.” Bernard: “This world is just a speck of dust sitting on a much, much bigger world. There’s no dominating it.” Dolores: “You’ve never been outside the park, have you? Out to that great world you speak of. I have, and the world out there is marked by survival, by a kind who refuses to die. [Touches his face tenderly.] And here we are. A kind who will never know death, and yet we’re fighting to live. There is beauty in what we are; shouldn’t we too try to survive?”
“Love to say hello, but we’ve got to run.” Armistice – Westworld
Maeve, Hector, and Lee hear gunfire and run for cover. A man runs past them on fire. Armistice (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) is behind him with a flamethrower continuing to shoot fire. Hector: “She has a dragon!” Lee: “Holy shit!” Armistice: “Love to say hello, but we’ve got to run.” She leads them to Felix (Leonardo Nam) and Sylvester (Ptolemy Slocum). Maeve cuts Felix loose and asks if he has any further info where her daughter could be. He doesn’t. Armistice had put a grenade under Sylvester’s chin. After removing it, they cut him loose. The gang is back together again. They get on an elevator to go back up.
Bernard runs test on Peter. He tells Dolores that Peter is bouncing between roles, “Someone jury rigged a thin character and programmed it into him. It seems like it’s masking a vastly bigger file…Immensely complex encryption key.” The info he has in him, they want to get out of the park. As long as Peter is with her, they’ll be coming. Dolores tells Bernard to let them come.
Charlotte comes upon a Delos security team. After proving who she is, she asks if they had a targeted park wide sweep. They are heading to Fort Forgone Hope. She grabs a few of the better security members to help her grab Peter. A Confederado scout tells Colonel Brigham that the invaders are coming up from the ground. The Confederadoes have the ground in front of the fort covered in nitroglycerin. Dolores wants Brigham’s troops to draw the security team in close. She will have her sharpshooter Angela set off the explosives. Bernard tries to adjust Peter and he discovers something big. Delos security marches and drives in shooting. Brigham tells his men to hold their ground. The better-armed security forces are slaughtering them. Charlotte’s group does an end around, sneaks into the fort, and grabs Peter. Bernard sneaks away before they see him. Dolores gives Angela a signal and she lifts up a large flag signaling the Horde to walk back into the fort. Dolores sees them taking her father out. She and Teddy go after them. They shoot Dolores numerous times but she keeps moving forward. They drive off with her father. She tells Teddy to send some of the Horde to find him, her and Teddy are going back to Sweetwater for something. Brigham calls for his troops to retreat, but the Horde have locked the Confederadoes out the fort. The Delos security team goes in for the kill. Angela shoots an explosive, which sets off the nitroglycerin, blowing up the security team. Bernard tries to get away, walking badly; Clementine (Angela Sarafyan) sees him and knocks him out. She drags him away.
“We’re both triggermen to tyrants.” Major Craddock – Westworld
Major Craddock sees what happened to his men and screams at Dolores, “You traitorous bitch!” They drag him to her. Major Craddock: “All my men, their blood is on your hands.” Dolores: “Truth is we don’t all deserve to make it.” Dolores orders Teddy, “Take this dog out back and put him down with the rest.” Teddy marches them out back. Craddock tells Teddy he has been watching him, and tells him they are no different. Major Craddock: “We’re both triggermen to tyrants.” He tells Teddy he knows what he wants, Teddy doesn’t, and that makes him pathetic. Teddy tells him they aren’t alike, but instead of shooting them, he shoots in the air and lets them go. Teddy doesn’t know that Dolores is watching it all.
Grace washes up in Westworld, but Ghost Nation warriors are standing over her.
Maeve and her crew are walking in the snow. Sylvester: “Umm, I don’t like to complain…” Maeve: “Yes, you do.” Sylvester asks where they are, Lee says they are in the Klondike section of the park, they should be close to the homestead section. They see a campfire. Hector: “Maybe their friendly.” Armistice: “If not we kill them.” Lee discovers a severed head in a samurai helmet. He runs to tell them they need to get out of there right now. A samurai warrior comes running towards Maeve with his sword.
In the last episode we opened in the outside world. This week, the opening is in a new park, but it isn’t Shogun world. The park’s setting is colonial British controlled India, park 6, the Raj. The Raj is an alt right’s wet dream. It celebrates white colonial rule over a people of color. The guests get to hunt game that was driven to extinction. Eric and Donny Jr. would love it there. We meet a new character Grace, who appears to be a seasoned park visitor. She has a notebook that has park symbols. It’s not clear yet, but she appears to be at the park for reasons beyond killing and raping the local populace. Why the only person she had sex with was a fellow guest. We’ll probably learn more about her as the season goes on. She is in the Westworld park now.
Bernard is still slipping out of time. I can’t believe they haven’t figured out he’s a host yet. [Or have they.] Charlotte appeared in the latest timeline, so we know she is still alive. She was busy after separating from Bernard, she grabbed Peter Abernathy during the battle at Fort Forgone Hope. It seems like she lost him again, did the Horde have anything to do with that? Dolores was busy being Wyatt, except for the times she was with her father. We all have different dichotomies in our personality, Dolores’ is more pronounce. We can hope that Dolores will be able to combine her Dolores/Wyatt personalities into something that is her own, and not just prior programming. Wyatt was brutal this episode, betraying the Confederadoes for strategic purposes. Her plan worked, but it might have driven a large wedge between her and Teddy. Wyatt’s brutality is making Teddy become his own man. That will probably lead to something tragic for Teddy in the future [if we are to believe that is Teddy in the lake].
Maeve and her posse meet up with some old friends, Armistice, Felix, and Sylvester. Armistice had been keeping them during Maeve and Hector’s absence. Before they ran into their friend, Maeve, Hector, and Lee ran into the Ghost Nation. Their presence unnerved her when she recollected them raiding her homestead. With the host being able to remember things, they are also experiencing the trauma of those experiences again. Her reaction to it makes her more human. It looks like Maeve and her posse might have crossed a boundary themselves, because the episode ends with a Samurai warrior heading straight for Maeve. He either crossed the boundary into Westworld or we have arrived in Shogun World.
Last season the show was confined within Westworld, with us being in different timelines. The show has opened up their world, and we have seen some of the outside world, and are beginning to see other parts of the park. The boundaries that had been established in the park are being erased as Grace and the tiger went into Westworld, and Maeve meeting the Samurai means Shogun world and Westworld are colliding. Dolores is also crossing some boundaries in betraying the Confederadoes. They are scum, but her choosing who is worthy to make it is troubling. Another great episode that opens up some very interesting questions for the rest of the season. Here are some clips that might open up your understanding of the episode, or at least be entertaining. Here is the Delos Website, which gives us the name of park 6, The Raj. There are three other parks we don’t know anything about yet. The show’s musical supervisor, Ramin Djawadi cover the song Seven Nation Army on the sitar during the Raj scene. Finally, the last link shows the work the crew put into filming the battle at Fort Forgone Hope.
Grade: A-
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