The 1973 "Westworld", written and directed by Michael
Crichton, is a fan favorite. The same can be said of its '76 sequel, "Futureworld" and its initial, though short-lived, '80 television offshoot, "Beyond Westworld".
Some would have us believe that the recently revived (arguably sequelized) "Westworld" (fashioned/produced by Richard J. Lewis, though accompanied by poster-promoted J.J. Abrams, Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan) began with unconditional support at "magnanimous" HBO, founded on unconditional respect for what came before. That's far from the case. In fact, the latest incarnation went through several suspicious pauses and restarts per the pay-through-the-nose network before adapting a steady production run. Because the show was a ratings bonanza, a ten-episode extension was granted.
It's odd that "Westworld", a saga of murderous, bullet-blasting
androids (who just so happen to attain their sense of identity via vengeful violence), would be welcome in the roost that Bill Maher
rules. Still can’t wrap my head around that. (I've always presumed that the host's anti-gun stance might be a possible reason why HBO hasn't yet made that pistol-packin', Bass Reeves miniseries). Anyway, I wonder if the insubordinate, mechanical-cowboy premise has now been compromised. There’s so little plot information to be found on
Season 2, and those few shared tidbits are so damn vague...
We've been told at least that Ed Harris; James Marsden; Evan Rachel Wood; Thandie Newton; and Jeffrey Wright will be back and that twelve, new characters
will surface. Gustaf "Vikings" Skargard and Katja Herbers will portray two of
them. We’ve also been told that Shogun World will be added to the story line. That's swell (I bet "Futureworld'"s Mr. Takaguchi would be quite pleased), but aren't we overdue for a walkin'/talkin', CGI Yul Brynner Gunslinger? Come on, already!
The surreal trailer for the new season does feel foreboding, if not soul-searching, and therefore conveys the appropriate atmosphere. However, as anyone who’s witnessed Joe Dante’s infamous "Tidal Wave" trailer knows, clever editing can be misleading.
Nevertheless, the artificial-intelligence genre is the new in-thing. As long as "Westworld" continues to explore Crichton’s concepts (in addition to Phillip K. Dicks', which are now inescapable for any synthetic-life story to be told), we might be satisfied.
Then again, if some sneaky, "let's reinvent the wheel" slant is the game plan (and with HBO and Abrams being linked, I wouldn't be at all surprised), we could see yet another decades-spanning franchise bite the disgruntled dust.
"Westworld: Season 2" begins April 22, 9 pm.
