Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
‘Westworld’ women electrify theme park
Done up as a fierce bandit queen, Evan Rachel Wood presides over the epic “Westworld” as the confounding android Doris.
Filled with wonder one moment, brutally ruthless the next, Doris keeps the sprawling HBO drama electric with uncertainty and dread.
“Westworld,” which starts its second season Sunday, is a show of breathtaking scenery, sets and ideas. What happens in a theme park when creations rebel against their creators? Can robots transcend their codes? Who is human and who is an andorid, or host?
Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy created the series, which was inspired by the 1973 film written and directed by Michael Crichton. Nolan and Joy have delivered a show that, like “The Twilight Zone” and “Lost,” keeps pushing viewers to ponder what they’re seeing. The drama also challenges the audience by vigorously jumping back and forth through time.
The first season supplied astonishing plot twists that continue to play out. A disaster in the season finale gives way to the sundry battles of season two, which are staged in inventive and horrifying ways. This theme park is not for the squeamish.
The actors keep “Westworld” inviting even when the series chills and mystifies. The drama supplies two of the strongest female roles in television.
Wood has compared Dolores to an acting Olympics, because of the quick shifts of emotion. The actress earns gold, even as the luminous Dolores stuns with her fury and demands.
Equally impressive is Thandie Newton as android Maeve, who operates with cool cynicism. Newton mesmerizes as Maeve gains new power.
Jeffrey Wright is poignant as Bernard, who is in precarious shape. As the Man in Black, Ed Harris remains a frightening, charismatic figure.
James Marsden ranges from shock to lovesick as dashing robot Teddy. Simon Quarterman supplies biting comic relief as Lee Sizemore, Westworld’s chatty story director.
Lee is appalled at how the androids go their own way. They’re on a quest for freedom and a new world. “I know how this story ends,” a weary robot says of the theme-park codes.
The same can’t be said for “Westworld,” which finds glory in bold, bracing style.