Daily Times

Here’s a great memorable quote that rounds up the end of ‘Westworld’ Season One. A Dr. Robert Ford, played by Anthony Hopkins, says: “I’ve told you, Bernard. Never place your trust in us. We’re only human. Inevitably, we will disappoint you. Goodbye, my friend.” This hard-hitting dialogue galore in the TV series has been accounted as one of the few reasons for inspiring fan theories in the way mainstream and commercially successful shows like Game of Thrones, etc. have. And now, the show’s creators have been pulled in to rethink their approach for season two, all set for its premiere on Sunday, April 22.

The first season of the show – the series being originally based on the 1973 movie of the same name – reveals folds of the characters’ stories through multiple timelines that take place in a futuristic sort of theme park featuring incredibly realistic robots, who are coming to terms to realise the reality of what they are and that they don’t have to keep doing whatever the humans have programmed them to do, as they are finally achieving their ‘sense of self’.

Towards the end of the first season, fans went wild with their theories, of course, and many of the theories that sprang up in a fit turned out to be completely accurate, like the ones which suggested that William (played by Jimmi Simpson) and the Man in Black (Ed Harris) were actually the same people, or that Ford’s sidekick Bernard (played by Jeffrey Wright) in the alter world of the maze was actually an android himself, based on the mythical park co-creator Arnold.

These theories were out there in the open by episode two, but the story obviously didn’t unfold until the end of the season. This disappointed a lot of fans who felt that they had the whole thing figured out way too soon and were basically only dragged into it for reasons that kept their curiosity fueled. Apparently, this entire shenanigan disappointed creators Jonathon Nolan and Lisa Joy as well, who have come up with a plan (maybe jokingly) to spoil the show for a few die-hard fans in order to make it, so the slightly less die-hard fans can enjoy the twists and turns in undeniable peace.

Just recently, as part of an AMA on Reddit, Nolan and Joy offered to reveal “a video that lays out the plot (and twists and turns) of season two,” for any fans who tend to report on a whim based on online guesswork and those who basically want the season spoiled for them. They continued that the video will explain everything, “The whole sordid thing. Up front.” Those fans can then be tasked with the job to “protect the rest of the community” by “helping to distinguish what’s ‘theory’ and what’s ‘spoiler’ for the rest of the population”.

“It’s a new age and a new world in terms of the relationship between the folks making shows and the community watching them,” the message added. “And trust is a big part of that. We’ve made our cast a part of this decision, and they’re fully supportive. We’re so excited to be in this with you guys together. So if this post reaches 1000 upvotes we’ll deliver the goods.”

Though we’re not saying that all of this is a marketing ploy (with a few highly placed sources having reached out to HBO for confirmation), it certainly does make an appropriate amount of sense to take away power from viewers who are so determined to figure out what exactly us going by just telling them what, in fact, is going on. However, ultimately, this plan seems to miss the entire point of fan theories: it’s a fun game to try and keep guessing what’s up other than just simply sitting and watching it. Plus, if the said spoilerific Westworld video targets an audience of people who use their fun time to speculate and write on elaborate fan theories, then why would they want something they can’t speculate on or write about?

Nolan and Joy have described their plan as “potentially highly controversial”, as it indeed does sound like a gimmick that doesn’t make a lot of sense for anyone involved. The video could also possibly end up being a troll, especially after Nolan joked while speaking at the Westworld SXSW panel: “We love to f–k with Reddit as much as possible.”

But then again, we shouldn’t forget that there are those kinds of fans all over who like to know where the train is going before they hop on to it. These are the same people that will skim to the ending of a book before thoroughly or head-first diving in. This new strategy of the creators behind the show will serve two subfactions: the ‘protectors’ and the ‘seekers’. Pretty cool, isn’t it?

The writer is Editor Lifestyle and Culture at dailytimes.com.pk. She tweets @EeshahOmer and instagrams @eeshaww

Published in Daily Times, April 12^th 2018.