It’s a Mad, Mad Westworld

BY: Zak Wojnar

Fans of Westworld have been waiting a long time for the award-winning series to return. Indeed, the first season finale aired on December 4, 2016, almost a year-and-a-half ago, leading to a much longer gap than most TV viewers are accustomed. Based on the early looks at season two, it’s looking like the wait will be worth it.

Season one was entitled, “The Maze.” Season two will be “The Door.” In a bold move, HBO will be screening the season premiere as part of the Tribeca Film Festival days before it airs on television. With shows like Big Little Lies and Game of Thrones, HBO is perhaps the most cinematic TV network operating today. In fact, they had previously given episodes of Game of Thrones a limited run in theaters, so Tribeca should feel like a natural fit for Westworld.

While plot details of the new season are being kept tightly under wraps, audiences are prepped for a cyberpunk revolution  with the android “hosts,” as they are called, revolting against their human overlords. The tip of the spear is the Joan of Arc-esque Dolores Abernathy, played by Evan Rachel Wood, the first “host” to achieve and act on her sentience. One way or another, a feudal Japan-themed “Shogun World” will play some part in the new season, or “volume,” as the show’s creators call it, but much of the story remains a mystery for now.

We don’t have to wait long for the answers, though. Westworld returns to HBO on April 22, following its Tribeca screening on April 18.