Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Aaron Paul, Angela Sarafyan, Ed Harris, James Marsden, Luke Hemsworth, Ariana DeBose, Aurora Perrineau, Celeste Clark, Manny Montana, Michael Malarkey, Daniel Wu, Morningstar Angelina, Rodrigo Santoro, Fredric Lehne, Arturo Del Puerto, Alex Fernandez, Aaron Stanford, Brandon Sklenar, Jasmyn Rae, Jack Coleman, Saffron Burrows, José Zúñiga, Liza Weil, Lili Simmons, Zahn McClarnon, Cherise Boothe, Nico Galán, Hannah James, Paul-Mikél, Emily Somers, Nicole Pacent, Evan Williams, Alec Wang.
There are moments that we see that we cannot truly understand, but in which the spectacle leaves us breathless, it makes us question our place in the universe, and ultimately where humanity is heading; whether this effect is caused by the monumental face of reality, the moment for example when people witnessed the falling of The World Trade Centre, or the explosion on board the space shuttle Challenger, or in the world of fiction, there is a point where the two cross the fine line driven between them where questions pertaining to are we real, are we experiencing a Matrix-style existence, are bound to come to mind.
Westworld, across the first three series of the acclaimed drama, has already proved that as a psychological weapon such thoughts can be held, and it is nothing new, to believe we have been replaced by an automaton, a robot, a being of our own creation is the ultimate term of sacrificing our humanity, and we might not even be aware of it.
Such is the power of Westworld’s intricate and complex storytelling that it is not to feel shame if the sophisticated drama at times leaves you partly flummoxed, feeling if you yourself have been replaced by a model that is missing a vital component of reason and logic, and yet what transpires in its fourth, and possibly final series, is one of complete one upmanship on almost any other drama in its class.
The fear that we are all replaceable, that our actions and movements are predetermined as if controlled by a higher function that does not conform to free will, is understandable, and as Evan Rachel Wood in the dual roles of Christina and Delores Abernathy discovers in loss and devastation, in extinction, humanity and synthetic share a common ancestry, the desire that comes with bettering themselves comes from the need to rise above its maker.
It is to this end that series four of the insightful drama hangs its large bag of responsibility upon the viewer, and with excellent performances from the long-standing cast, including Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, the impeccable Ed Harris, and the sublime Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld is going to prove that despite gaps between series, it is one that has caught the imagination of the viewers with absolute engagement.
Westworld can be seen as a warning, a portent of where humanity is heading if we continue to move away from what makes us unique, and one that perhaps is already too late to reconcile. Simple, polished, magnificent, Westworld is an epitome of excellent storytelling made real.
Ian D. Hall