Westworld (Spoilers)

I think it's a really interesting show.  I've watched both episodes that have aired twice, and I think it has a ton of potential.  It's written by Jonathan Nolan, and I really like most of the stuff that he's written.

There's a lot of cool stuff about human nature, artificial intelligence, evolution, and even some superhero stuff (as the Man in Black is essentially a Superman in the world).

SPECULATION ON THE MAN IN BLACK

*
*
*
*
*
*

There's a rumor that he's actually the same guy as William.  If you look at some hints, there's some indication some of the action takes place at a different time period:

- The head security officer said that an incident happened in the park 30 years ago.  The Man in Black says he's been coming to the park for 30 years.
- In the first episode, they show a run-down part of the building with escalators and a giant Delos corporation globe.  It looks like a lobby....suspiciously like the same lobby that William enters when he arrives at Westworld (shown at a different angle but similar).
- When William goes up the escalator, a promo for Westworld is shown with a retro-70s looking logo.  In the background of the lead writer's presentation this week, a different sleeker logo for Westworld is shown.  It could've easily been updated in 30 years.
- William is attracted to Dolores at first and the MiB indicates that they've had a history together that she never remembers.  The only other Host we've seen him with that has existed in the MiB storyline is Clementine (the Host at the brothel), and when they talked about getting rid of Maeve (the madam), they mentioned that Clementine would be promoted to the madam because she's been there before.
- As they are walking into town in the first episode, the Sheriff is recruiting people to help hunt down the killer from the first episode.  When William walks into town, it's a Union soldier recruiting people.  It could simply be that the Sheriff was malfunctioning and/or the killer storyline ended, but it could also be an earlier storyline that they did.

As far as I know, there's no evidence that directly disproves it.  The hardest evidence to argue about is the idea that the Hosts used to be pretty noticeable when they first started, but we don't really know how long the park has been in service.  There's a chance that the park has been around for 50 years, and the robots were perfected 20 years later.  That would leave the robots to be indistinguishable from humans in both time periods.  I've also seen people argue that the crazy prospector from episode 2 is proof that the robots *aren't* perfect in William's time.

Had an interesting plot twist in Sunday nights episode:
We know that Bernard is actually a host and I gather that he is a replica of one of the founders, the guy known as Arnold.

And when those bloodthirsty white covered Native Americans attacked that employee who was there to do some service in the park. Are Mauve and Dolores not the only hosts to become self aware?  they should not have attacked him...I thought WTF

Finale to air this coming Sunday
Stay tuned

Did you notice Ford's handshake with Bernard at the end?  They say you can identify a host by their handshake....

....the Ford that died was a host.