SPOILERS AHEAD! If you did not watch the season finale of HBO’s Westworld, read no further. A Westworld host will be happy to assist you and put you back on the train. On behalf of Delos, Inc., we hope you’ve enjoyed your stay and that you will return soon. Follow this link to return home.
NOW THEN…
There were a lot of payoff moments in Sunday’s Westworld season finale, “The Bicameral Mind.” For once, crazy fan theories were right – and no so crazy after all. The Man in Black is William. Dolores was the key to the various timelines and she is also Wyatt. Bernard/Arnold (Let’s call him “Bernarnold”) was brought back to life. (“Life” being a concept that is relative and explored on the show.) The final two episodes of Westworld had more payoffs than a whole season of Lost. And, really, if the show ended now, nobody would feel like there were many loose ends.
Viewers had plenty of feelings about the show, so we checked in with Canvs, which analyzes tweets about media and measures the emotional reactions (ERs). First off, here’s the bar graph that shows the top ERs about the show as it aired from 9 pm – 10:30 pm ET:
Source: CANVS
So, lots of love here. But let’s first dig into the Crazy. Because this was CA-RA-ZEE. The ending was wild. “Host” android Dolores shot Westworld’s co-founder (played by Anthony Hopkins) in the head. Twitterers went into shock:
Omg…westworld was crazy
— Mr. 2:22 (@KallMeTank) December 5, 2016
DAMN. That was just insane. #Westworld
— Stewart Moncure (@rsmon77) December 5, 2016
#WestworldFinale Mind blown. Quite literally. Thank you @HBO wow.
— Ernie Mourelo (@ernie_mourelo) December 5, 2016
Hopefully @ernie_mourelo means his mind was blown figuratively, but it was certainly a jarring ending that people are still parsing today. Not everyone was pleased:
Ok, pointless #Westworld
— Gretchen H. (@gretchi) December 5, 2016
OK Westworld is over and in conclusion that was dumb.
— Ben Dreyfuss (@bendreyfuss) December 5, 2016
But the top emotional reaction for the show was love. That peaked at the show’s end:
Westworld, thank you for an absolutely amazing season
— Cory (@just_CMW) December 5, 2016
#Westworld season finale was one of the best season finales of any show, ever. Well played @HBO well played.
— Rebecca L Stakem (@Becca_staykm) December 5, 2016
Damn, #Westworld, not only did you tie up all the story threads but you set the stage for one hell of a second season. Very impressed.
— Matt Serafini (@MattFini) December 5, 2016
One other note: Stars Evan Rachel Wood and Sir Anthony Hopkins had a little Mutual Respect Society meeting going on Twitter:
.@evanrachelwood you have brought Delores to life. You are spectacular. #Westworld
— Anthony Hopkins (@AnthonyHopkins) December 5, 2016
Westworld fans are going to have to wait a while for season two. HBO’s programming president said in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter that the next season may not arrive until 2018.
That should give you plenty of time to think about what that Samurai World is all about…
