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Review: Westworld Season 3 clumsily sets up a new status quo for the series

By Tim Augustin - 11 Mar 2020

A couple negatives, and then a verdict

This is a real slow-burn

Maeve is in quite a pickle this season, stuck in a World War II-themed park. | Image: HBO

Most of Season 3 will have viewers play catch-up - which makes sense, because none of us really know what’s going on anymore. Season 2 was a machine gun full of twists, and ended with most of the main cast dead or left behind. The first few episodes of this season can often feel like episodes of Where Are They Now? as a result, since the entire show has essentially gone through a soft reboot. 

Unfortunately, that can make the show pretty uninteresting at times. Dolores’ storyline continues to be the most appealing part of Westworld, with her taking down various members of Delos in an effort to find the person who built the oh-so-mysterious ‘system’. She then teams up with Caleb, who - thank goodness - makes for a much more interesting sidekick than Teddy. Evan Rachel Wood is fantastic as usual as the steely and extremely capable Dolores, and Aaron Paul plays off her really well. 

Bernard has been trying to lay low since the events of Season 2, but that might not work out for him in the long run. | Image: HBO

Unfortunately, their attempts to unravel the system take far too long to actually get interesting, which is a problem this season seems to suffer from in general. I don’t remember Westworld’s dialogue feeling this forced and cheesy, but we’re a far cry from the philosophical spiel that gave this show so much atmosphere early on. The plot is painfully slow-moving - and part of that is because there’s so much world-building to do all of a sudden, and it’s nice when it works - but the new world isn’t always unique enough to feel exciting on its own.

Season 3 also has a lot going on, and not all of it will be a great watch. Maeve (Thandie Newton) returns from the dead this season, and as we’ve seen in trailers, finds herself in a mysterious World War II-themed park. Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) teams back up with Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth), and the duo trek across the world to stop Dolores and uncover secrets.

From cowboys to nazis. Maeve just can't catch a break. | Image: HBO

Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) - who has now been replaced by an android host (whose identity remains unclear), is having problems adjusting to her new reality. Even William is going through a whole lot of trauma since the events of last season and Ed Harris, as always, sells the hell out of his character. 

Some of these story threads are more interesting than others, but all of them move much slower than necessary, which is a real shame. There’s something brilliant under there, but it’s way too stretched out. 

 

Verdict

Host-Charlotte is having trouble embracing her new self. | Image: HBO

Westworld’s first few steps into the real world are shaky, at best. Though the new world is an excitingly fresh setting for the show and several new cast members fit in nicely with the rest, the writing isn’t quite as sharp and bewitching as it used to be. The show’s returning cast put on some great scenery-chewing performances however, and it’s a lot of fun to see what has changed in the world of tomorrow. Attempts at action scenes are clumsy, which is in line with previous seasons, at the very least. 

However, Westworld has always saved its best for last, and that might be the case here. I won’t write off the entire season based on its first few episodes - which might as well serve as one long pilot for an entirely new show. Westworld is trying to reinvent itself out of necessity, and that’s a pretty brave thing for any show to do.

In the last episode we were given to review, the story finally began to simmer and out-of-nowhere revelations were tossed out with aplomb. It felt so much like the Westworld I used to know, while being something entirely new at the same time - and that's where this season shines. 

***

Westworld Season 3 will premiere on March 16, 2020 on HBO and HBO GO. 

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