Self Determination

"Westworld" began its second season on April 22. The series, created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, is based on the film from Michael Crichton, and is poised to be HBO's next big dramatic series. Each week I'll be exploring the episodes through recaps of season two.

"We each deserve to choose our fate. Even if that fate is death." — Maeve, "Westworld"

We are at Memorial Day Weekend. In addition to being the unofficial kick-off to summer, it's a time when we pause and reflect on all those that sacrificed so much for our freedom. The freedom for self determination is a hard fought right that's the bedrock of America. And it felt fitting, in some ways, that the fight for self determination was a major theme in last night's "Westworld."

Maeve (Thandie Newton) has arguably been the best and most compelling character this season. And Newton has given the best and most engaging performance. She's really sunk into the character and made that storyline compelling. And last night, a good chunk of the episode was about her and this idea.

Maeve has been awakened to the world. She's driven by the life she had that was snatched away, and she's fought like hell to get to her daughter — a daughter unlikely to even remember her. She has amassed an army not through violence and will, like Delores (Evan Rachel Wood), but through this vision she has that's become infectious. The same has been true in Shogun World, where they found themselves last episode.

Picking up where they left off, Maeve has destroyed the army — or rather led them to destroy themselves. And she continues to be moved by Akane (Rinko Kikuchi) and the loss of her daughter. On the way to take her daughter's heart to its resting place, Musashi (Hiroyuki Sanada) challenged their captor to a duel. Akane asked Maeve to use her powers to intervene, but Maeve said no. Instead following the request with the quote above.

She believes that they all have the right to determine their own path, no matter what that path may be. Musashi won the duel, and he and Akane found their place to stake their own path. It was a beautiful moment.

And Maeve continued on her journey — at last finding her daughter. A daughter who didn't remember her, and instead clung to a new mother. At that point, oddly, Maeve went away from her philosophy. Rather than working to open her daughter's eyes, she snatched the girl and ran, leaving her to suffer the loss of her mother — or at least the woman she sees as her mother — again. It will be interesting to see where this story goes from here.

A couple other notes:

* I enjoyed seeing William (Ed Harris) and his daughter, Grace (Katja Herbers), interact and bond. It feels like the first season, and the first part of this season, was explaining how William became The Man in Black. It's fair to wonder if the back half of this season will be about his redemption. And that fireside chat was a touching moment, albeit one that still has a ways to go.

* New Teddy (James Marsden) is not a good guy. His violent delights even seemed to somewhat alarm Delores, which wasn't a great sign. We've seen his end, so it's fair to wonder if Delores made a tactical error.

* Ford (Anthony Hopkins) isn't quite gone. He's now just part of his creation, and one has to assume that will end badly at some point for someone... probably William.