Westworld – S2E6 – Phase Space

Previously on Westworld, “Akane No Mai”

For the sake of some sort of clarity, I need to point out the all of the events in this episode (save one) took place before Bernard woke up on the beach in the premiere. It’s the first episode, I think, that stuck with one definite timeline and that’s a good thing because so much happened.

Maeve’s crew made their way to Snow Lake so that Akane could lay Sakura to rest… well, her heart at least. Akane and Musashi decide to stay behind. I may be in the minority here, but this was for the best. We got the perfect amount of Shogun World, and now I want to focus the back half on the stories set in motion in season one.

Maeve finally arrives at the homestead where she sees her daughter, who doesn’t know who she is, of course. Their reunion is interrupted by New Maeve before the Ghost Nation arrive. Maeve takes off running with her daughter as Armistice, Hector, and Hanaryo provide cover. Akecheta corners Maeve and tells her to come with them because they’re on the same path. Maeve is like, “I’m good, actually.”

Cowering in the field, Sizemore calls for help.

MIB’s reunion with Emily was short. He thought she was a host, at first; another tactic by Ford to make the game harder. Soon enough, he realizes it is his daughter and she’s there to bring him home. She apologizes for blaming him for her mother’s death, and doesn’t want him to go out via “suicide by robot.” He agrees to leave with her in the morning, but when morning comes, he’s gone.

“Motherfucker,” says Emily in her best Lawrence impression.

The first group of PMCs (no doubt the bodies we saw after Bernard is found on the beach) arrive after Charlotte sends word that they’ve secured Abernathy. Led by Coughlin (Timothy V. Murphy), these guys strut around with the confidence of men who have no idea what the hell they’e up against. They try to regain control of the park’s systems, but discover the cradle (where the hosts backups are stored) is fighting back.

Meanwhile, Elsie and Bernard sneak into the cradle so Bernard can hardwire in and discover what’s going on. There, he exits the train into Sweetwater where he sees Dolores, Teddy, and Ford. Ford is literally the ghost in the machine.

This discovery comes as Dolores and her crew — including Teddy “Too Much Sauce” Flood — arrive at the mesa. They sent one of the trains ahead to crash inside (RIP, black engineer guy) and all hell is about to break loose.

Analysis. What Prompted That Response? 

• MIB mistakenly remembered that Emily was scared of the elephants at The Raj when she was a girl, and she corrects him and says it was her mother who was afraid. This could be a hint that the MIB is a host theory is right, or he could just be a really shitty father.
• Akecheta didn’t seem to be interested in hurting Maeve or her daughter. This contradicts what we’ve seen of the Ghost Nation since things went left: they’ve been killing hosts and protecting the guests and employees.
• The opening scene was a continuation of “Arnold’s” conversation with Dolores in which he says the thought of what she might become frightens him. As it progresses, we see it’s not Arnold, but Bernard. And Dolores is testing him for fidelity.