Generation Lost
This is the first episode this season that actually starts with the opening credits. Bit of a random observation but something that immediately makes the wait to find out what’s happened to our characters all the more tantalizing. Anyway, episode 4 of Westworld Season 4 begins in the past, as we see more context to Caleb and Maeve storming that small compound and taking out Rehoboam with explosives, symbolically destroying the remnants of season 3. When Caleb awakens, he finds himself on the floor with Charlotte watching over him. She scoffs at his attempts to get up, claiming that he’s her pet and this is just the start. She’s intent on spreading her disease, coming in the form of these flies. This is just the “first wave” and Charlotte has plans to expand and take over all of humankind. Meanwhile, William nonchalantly tells Maeve that he’s taken out all of her kind and she’s the only one left. Maeve reaches out and manages to control the computer’s frequency levels. After messing with her own audio fields, making sure she’s silenced, she blasts out a massive soundwave that takes out William and leaves him lying face-down on the floor. The ensuing shockwave also takes out most of the glass too, allowing Caleb to hold Charlotte up at knifepoint (or, well, glass-point I guess!) Anyway, Maeve shows up and the pair leave the floor, but only after Caleb admits that the parasite is actually inside him. They need to get out the park, believing that every human could be infected by now. Charlotte is adamant they won’t make it to the extraction point, as that familiar frequency sounds again, sending all the humans after them. It’s an interesting juxtaposition, seeing the humans now acting as hosts. Unfortunately that includes Caleb as well, who struggles to fight off the parasites inside him as he raises the machine gun and looks to fire. However, someone sneaks up behind him and stabs him in the gut. Maeve takes off with him, intending to try and save him, as we get a glimpse at the past, and when Maeve left. It turns out she did so to keep him safe, watching over Caleb after he got injured following the raid on Rehoboam. Maeve apparently went off-grid for all those years to try and keep him safe. She got curious one day and reached out, which is when the grid went out and thus, caused all of this to drama to ensue. When they arrive at a demolition site, everything goes awry. Charlotte attempts to control Caleb but he somehow manages to stave off the parasites. Down on the floor though, Maeve sets off a bunch of explosives that consume both Maeve and William, the latter having shown up just prior to this and attacking her. Meanwhile, Christina awakens to find things very different. She’s been up late painting and it seems to be that tower again. Mia encourages her to head out on another blind date… and that happens to be with none other than Teddy. The pair hit it off immediately, with Christina getting the sense of deja vu as the pair connect. Of course, we know they’ve had a long, storied history together and it brings up that intriguing idea of fate and two lives entwined together alongside true love. Speaking of which, we cut back to Bernard, who happens to be with his group using a fan to blow sand across the ground trying to find this weapon. Now, there’s an interesting cut from Charlotte mentioning Frankie to seeing Bernard with “C”, who happens to be the girl Bernard hitched a lift with. It could well be that this is a different time, sometime in the future. Anyway, this actually rings true but it goes deeper than that. It turns out the parasite has been working for a long time. 23 years to be precise since Caleb died in the park. He’s been there all this time and in fact, he’s actually still in the park but confined to the same cell that Dolores was in originally. That weapon Bernard is after? Well, it happens to be Maeve, who’s buried in the sand. Remember the tower? Well, that actually happens to be what’s in charge of the frequency within the world Christina is a part of alongside Teddy, the other hosts and Charlotte, which happens to be a controlled “park” where humans are under Charlotte’s control. It’s a massive bombshell and whoever is left watching this show will likely be shocked by this revelation.
The Episode Review
Westworld has always been one of those shows that’s about the long game and big reveals. This narrative regarding the killer flies has been brewing for a while and after several twists involving William, Westworld shows its hand in this shocking chapter. Of course, one could argue that the construction of this tower is a bit farfetched but this chapter in particular reframes everything we’ve learned so far this season. The tower, Christina’s life, the splintered visions, Bernard’s journey and the timelines; these all converge into 10 minutes of non-stop twists and turns. Revealing that Caleb has been dead for a while and using the same narrative crux from season 1 but reversing that to include humans instead of hosts, is a deliciously poetic bit of storytelling and something that raises those ethical questions that made the first season so endearing. Of course, there’s still half a season to go and it could well be that things change going forward. It could be that Westworld has shown its hand way too early but we’ll have to wait and see on that front. Westworld has been a really enjoyable watch and it seems the series is back on track.
