Writer’s Note: Every Westworld episode review this season will involve spoilers of some kind so you have been warned.
!! Spoilers Start Now !!
Tessa Thompson Stuns
Absence starts with a moment from Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) in Season 2, where she records a video message to an unseen character as the hosts’ start their rebellion. We quickly pivot to the current day as she integrates into the world of Delos. A small tidbit of this was shown in the first episode, but we finally get to see some predictable moments play out, such as where the Host-Hale (yeah, let’s go with that title for now) doesn’t know key details of her life and it comes to bite her in the ass. She tries to seduce her ex-husband (played by Michael Ealy) who had come to scold her for not picking up their child, Nathan, who also calls out his mother for not loving him.
Then we get the unpredictable parts: Host-Hale isn’t handling the role well. She cuts herself, starts to mentally break down, and needs a visit from Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) to heal and get herself straight. This leads to a few key moments where she learns of Hale’s softer side: that desperate video message on the island was a song to her son and she uses that moment to start repairing their relationship. However, that healing is cut short, notably, when she kills a man in broad daylight who was preying on her son, seemingly merging both the drive of Hale’s identity and that of Host-Hale’s. It’s this interesting dynamic that Thompson does a great job conveying and leads to questions: Did Dolores program this host with some of Hale’s memories? Is the host’s character tree meant to mimic code Dolores saw or knew of Hale? (Remember, we learned from books in The Forge that humans were quite predictable, it’s possible Dolores programmed that into the host).
Through Host-Hale’s Delos interactions, we also learn a few key details which put her at a disadvantage: Serac has bought the majority stake in Delos through shell accounts and companies, and key Delos hardware (like Maeve’s control unit) are missing from the island (we knew that, but now Delos has learned this) and indicates a mole.
The neat bow tying it all together: Hale was the mole. She wasn’t spending last season trying to get data out for Delos, she was trying to get it to Serac. We get to see Thompson masterfully navigate the confusion towards the end when Host-Hale digitally meets Serac, learns she was the mole, and has to play defense the rest of the way. It’s a truly clever reveal at the end that makes sense with Hale’s previous character and will bear out plenty of great moments the rest of this season.
Predictive Algorithms & Morpheus
The Matrix & Blade Runner parallels have been here since the beginning, but they have really come out full-force in Caleb’s interactions with Dolores – echoing the themes of choice and control in this season. She’s started to take on that Morpheus role, using the restrictive visions/paths that the Rehoboam AI creates for people as her catalyst to rally Caleb (Aaron Paul) towards her cause. She reveals a lot of Caleb’s backstory such as how his mother’s schizophrenia affected his childhood in order to gain his trust. She explains how the cyclical nature of Rehoboam’s predictions (it predicted Caleb would eventually commit suicide) cause employers and organizations to deny him job offers, promotions, and unwittingly fulfill/put him on that predicted path.
With this season focusing on how our data is used, it really starts to take shape in this episode. Giving us Caleb’s viewpoint as this pair starts dismantling the system will yield a number of conflicts for him and us as the audience. He will definitely come into conflict with Dolores’ vision for the future at some point. We saw how Teddy (James Marsden) fared when his character couldn’t completely approve of Dolores’ methods. It should shock no one that an actual human, even one with Caleb’s moral gray streak, would have an even harder time signing off on Dolores’ genocidal campaign. But this show has never made it easy to root for anyone (especially Dolores) so don’t be surprised when (not if) Caleb has a darker element of his life revealed that complicates things further. (Maybe that flashback with his ex-military friend needs more explaining…hmmm.)
Who Is Charlotte Hale?
This question is likely to plague us for a while. I have a few theories below based off a few things: whomever Dolores picked to inhabit Hale’s body must be in her inner circle, especially since Dolores said she “trusted them,” though also calling them the only other predator she knows is damned confusing. At the least we know that their values must be relatively aligned. If we take character deaths at face value, it can’t be someone who went to The Valley Beyond, and they probably aren’t a member of Maeve’s crew (though they could exist in the other control units).
To me, that leaves Angela (she died while detonating The Cradle) and Clementine (who was shot outside the portal). They both were loyal to Dolores until the bitter end and when Host-Hale intuitively attempted to seduce her ex-husband, that seems like something only Clementine or Angela would know or think to do.
Case for Angela
Angela is nearly as old as Dolores, had attended the same Delos parties off-island, should have extensive knowledge of the corporation, reached sentience on her own, and was the determined, head-strong, right-hand woman. Dolores’ vote of confidence makes a lot more sense directed towards Angela (though Clementine definitely showcased her worth to Dolores in season two plenty of times).
Case for Clementine
There’s a short clip of Tessa Thompson after the Season Two finale where she compared intentionally executing Hale’s and Dolores’ mannerisms (she changed her Hale vocal delivery, arm swing, etc to match Dolores whenever it was Dolores-Hale on screen). Host-Hale spends a considerable amount in front of the mirror, which is something we’ve seen Clementine do a lot in the past two seasons. It’s the face mannerism and how she touches her face that really makes me think this is the winner.
Not to mention, there’s a moment near the end of season 2 where Clementine runs into her replacement host, which I don’t believe for a second was an accidental choice. It could help better explain the confusion and conflict Host-Hale is feeling right now.
My money is on Clementine, but I won’t be disappointed if it’s someone else or someone I have completely missed on. As always, I’m sure Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy won’t reveal it until the best possible moment. I have thoughts on who the final 3 control units may be, I’ll be sure to get a prediction article out before Episode 4 comes out this Sunday.