HBO’s Westworld quickly attracted a wealth of eager fans when it arrived last fall due to its twisty-turny, high concept plot. With easily-missed clues and easter eggs hidden throughout, the drama about a robotic theme park gone amok encouraged viewers to put the pieces of the puzzle together themselves. And make no mistake about it, people definitely rose to the challenge as, when the time came for some major reveals to be unveiled in the season finale, many fans had already worked out what was to come.
According to Evan Rachel Wood, who plays android host Dolores Abernathy on the series, the viewers are supposed to be able to second guess the narrative as it’s all part of the fun of watching.
“Usually I’m like, “Okay, I think I have an idea of where this is going,” and then the payoff is always so incredible, so much bigger than I could ever imagine. I think the same goes for the audience — you’re supposed to figure out the show, and even if you do, it’s okay because the payoff will always be way more than you could ever dream up.”
You can see Wood’s point here. Few of the fans who guessed the twists complained about it and instead felt a sense of achievement at having worked it out. Likewise, the actress is right in saying that showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy will always have something else up their sleeve that the audience haven’t guessed. For instance – spoiler warning! – everyone was shocked when Anthony Hopkins’ Robert Ford, Westworld’s founder, was killed by his own creations in the finale.
However, despite Wood’s comments, ultra sharp fans can cause problems with the production if they foresee too much of the plot. For instance, Nolan has admitted that at least one major twist had to be rewritten as Reddit users had already sussed it out.
So far, season 2 looks to be raising the game even more than what came before it, as after their awakening at the end of last season, the hosts will hunt down their former human oppressors. We’ll just have to wait and see though if fans guess the next lot of twists as well as they did the first time around when Westworld returns in spring 2018.
