What Happened This Week On 'Westworld' Season 3: "Crisis Theory"
Westworld season 3 is over, and while it might be a controversial stance, let's call this the worst season of the series yet. Yes, there were plenty of valid complaints about season 2. But even at its worse, season 2 was at least mildly interesting. The same can not be said of season 3, which managed to make non-stop action and full-blown societal chaos boring. So let's see what happened on Westworld season 3 this week.
Dolores Gets a New Body
First thing's first: after "dying" last week, Dolores gets herself a fancy new body, with a little help from Caleb. Unfortunately, it's going to be a short-lived new body experience, because by the end of the episode, Dolores is dead, again. Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be back in season 4, with some dumb explanation at the ready.
William Wants to Save the World
Boy oh boy, William's storyline sure went nowhere this season! After spending the bulk of season 3 in a mental institution, William faced his demons and declared himself to be the "good guy." He also plans to "save the fuckin' world" from Dolores. And then he vanishes for almost the entire episode! Only to then return in a post-credit sequence in which he comes face-to-face with both Charlotte (who still has a burned-up arm to remind herself of the cruelty of humanity), and...himself. Yes, there's now officially a robot William. More accurately, it's a robot Man in Black. And he seemingly kills the real William by slitting his throat. However, the throat-slashing is handled in such a way that I wouldn't be surprised if we find out next season the real William survived. In any case, Charlotte – who completely turned against Dolores – has an entire room in the basement of Delos where she's constructing new robots. What's she up to? Find out next season! Maybe!
Ed Harris has expressed disappointment with how the show treated his character this season, and now that season 3 is over, it's pretty easy to see why. Maybe now that he has the robot Man in Black to play he'll start having fun again.
Bernard Has a Family Reunion
This season was so committed to action that this scene – which is supposed to be quiet and emotional – just kind of falls flat. Bernard ends up reuniting with Lauren, who was the wife of Arnold, the human that Bernard was based on. This is something of a big reveal because it was never entirely clear if the wife and son Bernard kept seeing in flashbacks were real, or were false memories implanted in Bernard's robot head. Turns out they were real memories that belonged to Arnold. But does that even matter at this point?
Dolores and Caleb Have a Past
As it turns out, Dolores and Caleb have met before. We see in a flashback that Caleb's army training took place at the mysterious Park 5. Caleb and his army buddies were training with hosts, and one of their missions was to rescue a group of female hosts who were being held captive. One of those female hosts was none other than Dolores. When one of Caleb's army buddies suggests having their way with the female robots, Caleb talks him down. We learn this is why Dolores ultimately chose Caleb to be part of her revolution, because she saw he had the power to make the right decision.
Maeve Chooses a Side
As if we didn't see this one coming. After reluctantly working for Serac this season, Maeve finally decides enough is enough. Especially after she has a mind-meld with Dolores in which it becomes clear Dolores doesn't want to destroy humanity, but save it (sure, whatever you say, Westworld). Maeve retaliates, using her sword against Serac's goons and teaming up with Caleb after Dolores dies.
Caleb Destroys Rehoboam
Dolores helps Caleb gain full control of Rehoboam, the giant A.I. machine that has been running everyone's lives. Caleb uses his new power to promptly tell the machine to erase itself, much to the horror of Serac. Side-note: Serac sure turned out to be a weak villain in the end, easily beaten at his own game. Oh well.
Bernard Goes to Robot Heaven
Surprise! The key to The Sublime, aka The Valley Beyond, aka Robot Heaven, was not in Dolores' head. Instead, it's been in Bernard's head all along, hidden there by Dolores who knew she couldn't trust herself with such a key. With the world thrown into chaos, and Stubbs bleeding out in a bathtub, Bernard does what any of us would do: he goes to Robot Heaven. Why is he going there? To look for answers. And he apparently finds them, because in the other post-credit scene we see Bernard waking back up, his body covered in dust, indicating some time has gone by since he stepped into the Valley Beyond. I suppose season 4 will tell us all about what Bernard learned on the other side, but I may never find out for myself. Because I'm pretty sure Westworld season 3 broke me, and I'm done with this show.