Image Credit: WireImage.com
Ed Harris is coming to series TV: The Abyss and Apollo 13 actor has signed on as the Big Bad in HBO’s Westworld reboot.
The four-time Oscar nominee’s character is called The Man in Black, and is described as “the distillation of pure villainy into one man.” He joins previously cast star — and fellow series television newcomer—Anthony Hopkins, along with Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, and Shannon Woodward.
The Warner Bros.-produced sci-fi pilot produced by J.J Abrams, Jerry Weintraub, and Bryan Burk updates Michael Crichton’s 1973 classic film about a theme park where androids fulfill dark human desires. Harris’ description might sound like he’s playing the Yul Brynner killer-cowboy robot role, but it seems like actor Rodrigo Santoro was tapped for that part—and online production rumors suggest The Man in Black is actually a human character who sadistically abuses the androids.
Harris will soon be seen the feature film Run All Night, starring opposite Liam Neeson and Joel Kinnaman. Harris won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy for his work in HBO’s Game Change. [Reply]
The man in black (Ed), is timid William, who we meet in episode 2.
There's subtle hints they're showing 2 timelines.
MiB mentions he's been coming for 30 years.
Slightly different and updated logos between scenes.
The intro into town shows an evolution of how they arrive even down to in one variation the sheriff is recruiting a posse to chase down an outlaw bandit.
Fast forward and now they've got an army man recruiting.
Billy quickly takes a liking to Dolores.
The MiB clearly has a history and issues with her in the past for some reason to stray from his agenda and attack her...
like falling for her the 1st time he saw her only to find she will never remember him from his previous visits since she has her memory wiped routinely...
Except that the hosts are starting to remember their previous histories...
The makeshift oil derrick / cross is a great teaser!
He says, you could practically say I was born here or grew up here.
Given his age, he couldn't have been a kid, but he could be patient zero for the update glitch and one of the original hosts that Hopkins in secret turned loose with a fake human profile.
Remember the 2 techs check in on him and one asks if they should slow him down. The other guy says no and intimates he can do as he wants and has some type of special arrangement or status.
If Harris is a robot, the obvious direction is that he's become self aware and seeking to meet "the creator" and move into the "real" world. My guess is he's searching for the hidden access points within the park, and more specifically one of the unknown / secret ones that Hopkins uses that aren't monitored and possibly the maze leads to a point where he can confront Hopkins directly and bypass all the security on the other side?
That still doesn't explain how the other robots have the information he's looking for.
I also get the feeling that the young boy Hopkins talks with is a robot version of him as a young boy.
Which makes you wonder if the glitch is beta testing for transferring memories?
One man facing old age and death trying to escape his reality by transferring his consciousness and live forever artificially. His creation evolving and trying to break out of the reality that was his artificial origin.
Escape and transcendence.
... as Billy's friend said he was really interested in finding out who William really is.
Spoiler!
It doesn't necessarily have to be THAT big of a secret. The manic f-bomb dropping story-line dork was talking to corporate lady about what the real purpose, or next step, of WestWorld would be. He couldn't come up with it. Off the top of my head I had thought that the easy answer would be developing other complexes like the original movie (Roman World, Medieval World, etc.) but the more interesting one would be developing consciousness transference for the 'rich assholes' once they developed hosts complex enough to handle sentience. She never gave him the answer because he couldn't come up with it himself.
My gut feeling on Ed Harris is that he is a long time customer who is willing to pay a lot of money to go on his own special story-line. That he only appears inhumane to us because we are anthropomorphizing the hosts. He doesn't do that because he sees them in the same way that we would look at an old Teddy Ruxpin, or a character in Grand Theft Auto. Dolores is just the hooker you shoot to get your money back after you kick her out of your car. Harris is jaded and he just doesn't give a shit. [Reply]
Maybe this was already addressed and I missed it, but how do guests know they're interacting with a host/robot and not another guest? Also, are guests impervious to any kind of physical assault in the park, or just the parks firearms?
I'm really enjoying this show. Like GoT, it's one of those where I'm likely to re-watch the previous episode before watching the new one live. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KCUnited:
Maybe this was already addressed and I missed it, but how do guests know they're interacting with a host/robot and not another guest? Also, are guests impervious to any kind of physical assault in the park, or just the parks firearms?
I'm really enjoying this show. Like GoT, it's one of those where I'm likely to re-watch the previous episode before watching the new one live.
Originally Posted by L.A. Chieffan:
I'm pretty sure it's just guns, they mentioned something about how dangerous an axe could be.
There are three levels of 'protection' and the rest is suspension of disbelief.
The guns are engineered to treat visitors like paintball [feel and see impact, but no lasting damage], and treat hosts like video game casualties [strike positions start damage subroutines in the unit].
Some hosts are and others aren't programmed for handling of dangerous utilitarian items, such as axes, whips, and fire.
In addition to the 'do no harm' programming, the hosts are programmed to utilize human 'skills' to divert guests from danger. ie, if someone is pushing for a fist fight, or to shove a guest into danger [cliff, animal pen, fire, etc], the host will either try to diffuse the situation or offer him/herself up as the sacrificial victim. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KCUnited:
Maybe this was already addressed and I missed it, but how do guests know they're interacting with a host/robot and not another guest? Also, are guests impervious to any kind of physical assault in the park, or just the parks firearms?
I'm really enjoying this show. Like GoT, it's one of those where I'm likely to re-watch the previous episode before watching the new one live.
It's a combination of Asimov's three laws of robotics and the lore of the West World franchise. Have you seen the original movie(s)? [Reply]
It doesn't necessarily have to be THAT big of a secret. The manic f-bomb dropping story-line dork was talking to corporate lady about what the real purpose, or next step, of WestWorld would be. He couldn't come up with it. Off the top of my head I had thought that the easy answer would be developing other complexes like the original movie (Roman World, Medieval World, etc.) but the more interesting one would be developing consciousness transference for the 'rich assholes' once they developed hosts complex enough to handle sentience. She never gave him the answer because he couldn't come up with it himself.
Spoiler!
No way its to open up new places. Its either the rich guy angle or soldiers for the military.
Originally Posted by listopencil:
It's a combination of Asimov's three laws of robotics and the lore of the West World franchise. Have you seen the original movie(s)?
I haven't. The guest on guest crime is my biggest question. With things so real at the park, I'm sure jealousy and other emotions are just as real if not more than in a person's real life. [Reply]
No way its to open up new places. Its either the rich guy angle or soldiers for the military.
Spoiler!
Yeah, the whole super soldier thing occurred to me, but it's so cheesy and obvious. That would take the show from interesting and modern to Knight Rider.
Originally Posted by KCUnited:
I haven't. The guest on guest crime is my biggest question. With things so real at the park, I'm sure jealousy and other emotions are just as real if not more than in a person's real life.
Everything is very heavily monitored. I don't think you're going to get away with anything. [Reply]
Originally Posted by listopencil:
Everything is very heavily monitored. I don't think you're going to get away with anything.
Yeah, I'm not really envisioning getting away with it. People get beat to death going to NFL games. I'd think a couple bros who've "made it", going on a trip for the purpose of rape and pillage would clash every now and again. Like a guest taking an axe to another guest in a spontaneous emotional outburst, maybe even thinking it's a robot, but maybe that's over thinking it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KCUnited:
Yeah, I'm not really envisioning getting away with it. People get beat to death going to NFL games. I'd think a couple bros who've "made it", going on a trip for the purpose of rape and pillage would clash every now and again. Like a guest taking an axe to another guest in a spontaneous emotional outburst, maybe even thinking it's a robot, but maybe that's over thinking it.
I'm sure it's possible that there would have been murders committed in the 'history' of the resort. I think it would be very unlikely with all of the monitoring being done by people who would have had substantial training in human behavior though. And the hosts themselves would be programmed to intervene and take the hit instead. The original West World is worth a watch, by the way. Future World is shit though. [Reply]
Yeah, the whole super soldier thing occurred to me, but it's so cheesy and obvious. That would take the show from interesting and modern to Knight Rider.
Spoiler!
it would be the biggest and best way to make the company rich
it would be the biggest and best way to make the company rich
Spoiler!
They could pretty much charge whatever they wanted for consciousness transfer if it worked. And it would dovetail nicely into the option of becoming a permanent return guest.