Westworld season 2, episode 2: Who plays Williams’s father-in-law Jim Delos?

This episode, titled “Reunion”, is much more action-packed than last week’s.

Brian: There were a bunch of notable meetups this week, from William and Lawrence to William and El Lazo (more on that in a second) to Dolores and her new undead army (more on this, too), but my favorite moment was Dolores and Maeve bumping into each other with their respective henchmen/lovers getting all trigger happy. Jeffrey Wright offers us a subtle, pained wince from Arnold, as his emotional bubble is slightly burst when he’s reminded of the imperfection of his creation. It’s a weapon according to Dolores.

At (seemingly) the same time, the Man in Black (Ed Harris) finds Lawrence (Clifton Collins Jr.) in his poaching storyline, and saves him so he can conscript him for his own uses. Yes, she’s mad. Yes, she has a lot to get even about but what else might be driving her is being purposefully hidden behind a lot of circular speechifying.

The Man In Black/William described this weapon as his “biggest mistake”, so could this be a decision in the park’s development which went awry? When Gmail, Facebook, Blogger, Twitter, YouTube, and other future tech giants were starting and growing in the 00s, nearly everyone realized, at least on some level, that they were handing over an unprecedented amount of personal information to private companies and/or the world at large. If humans were repeatedly killing the park’s sophisticated androids in the name of research, or as some sort of preparation for modern warfare, then at least there might be some sort of goal to their behavior, even if that objective wasn’t a terribly attractive one.

Hopkins’ character Robert Ford is technically dead now, although the actor did make a voice-over cameo in the same episode Esposito appeared in.

The backstory of Delos’ initial investment in Westworld is slowly woven into this episode, with the timelines diverging between a present, chaotic park full of unsafe renegade robots, and the stark contrast of past in the real world where all-too-perfect and very polite AI’s attend parties and networking events in search of funding for their creator’s vision.

It could be premonitions after seeing the advanced capabilities of the hosts, but what if Westworld was created to wipe out humanity? These violent delights have violent ends, after all. A new character who knew the Man in Black. The episode was written by Roberto Patino and Ron Fitzgerald, with Richard J. Lewis-who directed the first episode of the second season-at the helm behind the camera. “But you must play it alone”.

What happened to James Delos? We knew then that he had played meek and prudish so that he could disarm and outflank Logan (Ben Barnes), his future brother-in-law. Perhaps with hindsight, we’ll look back at this episode and see the foundation for what will come next. Delos doesn’t feel that the park is worth additional investment, but William notes that while the park was fake, the guests who live out their fantasies there are real. This has caused tensions between the three of them, with Logan being seen injecting drugs outside the party.

Will there be a host civil war?

Arnold also brings Dolores to visit his home that is under construction in the city, and their conversation reveals that while Dolores is capable of remarkable improvisation, she can also be repetitive. Information is power (and freedom) in this show.

Writer/producer Carly Wray points out that James Delos is “ailing” (you can tell because he coughs once, which is a guaranteed death sentence in any movie or TV show), and that “there is something they are working on to fix that ailment”. “I can’t believe I fell in love with you”.

When Westworld is on it’s one of the best shows around.

We have learned, however, what the tip of the iceberg looks like at the core of the park.

Westworld season two continues in the United Kingdom on Sky Atlantic Mondays at 9pm, and airs Sundays on HBO in the US.