WestWorld Season Two
AI think, therefore AI am
released OUT NOW! 2018 | 15 | Blu-ray (4K/standard)/dVd
Showrunners Jonathan Nolan, lisa Joy Cast Thandie Newton, evan rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, ed Harris
Westworld tackles the “difficult second season” with ease, pulling off that delicate balancing act of being both the same yet different – and not just by introducing Shogun World (though that helps). While season one was all “What happens when AI becomes more like us?”, season two asks “What happens when we become more like AI?” while examining the currently controversial topic of data mining as it reveals the real commercial basis for the parks.
Deep questions aside, it’s also enormous fun, with stunning production values, excellent action and multiple plotlines – populated by rich, fascinating characters – that twist like an MC Escher picture. And in “Kiksuya” – a bittersweet, Black Mirror-esque standalone about the Ghost Nation – it can boast one of the greatest TV episodes of 2018.
Extras Two and a half hours’ worth, of which about an hour was already available on the internet: that said, the 10 “Creating Westworld’s Reality” behind-thescenes featurettes are a cut above. Also, you get three 15-minute roundtable interviews in which various cast trios – including Thandie Newton, Evan Rachel Wood and James Marsden – are interviewed by the guys who play Lutz and Sylvester. Peculiarly, the same sessions provide four shorter “Conversations With The Cast” segments. Two documentaries complete the package: “The Truth Behind Delos (12 minutes) and “These Violent Delights Have Violent Ends” (11 minute) – both look suspiciously like they’ve been cobbled together from leftover “Creating Westworld’s Reality” footage. Dave Golder
The main street of the village in Shogun World has the same layout as Sweetwater, right down to the order of the shops.