Bound by Love

"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.

"But on my darkest day, you helped me. You gave me the strength to keep going. You saw me for who I really was." - Ake, "Westworld"

Bottle episodes can be great. They often tell a contained story that may or may not have anything to do with the larger narrative. But often they help you get to know a character better, diving deep into what makes them tick and their role in the bigger picture.

Last night's episode of "Westworld," "Kiksuya," wasn't totally a bottle episode. It definitely had a place in the larger narrative, and some present day items moved forward. But it was a close focus on a character on the fringes, Ake (Zahn McClarnon), putting his journey into a new perspective.

That wasn't the only thing, of course. We saw that William (Ed Harris) survived, and in fact Ake helped heal him because death was too easy a release for someone who'd caused as much suffering as he had. In the end his daughter (Katja Herbers) came to get him, promising a fate worse than death, which has me intrigued. (As does the preview for next week, which looks like a bigger deep dive into William and his wife.)

And Maeve (Thandie Newton) is still hanging on. Sizemore (Simon Quarterman) appears to now be trying to save her, though that won't be easy with the Delos Corporation and Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) seeking to exploit her gift. But it did offer a beautiful exchange, as Sizemore saw her in her state and seemed to be moved.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but I never meant for any of this to happen. You don't deserve this. You deserve your daughter. To mother her, teach her to love, to be joyful and proud. I'm sorry," he said. It was a fascinating, and somewhat unexpected exchange.

But not as unexpected as the fact that while we believed Ake was telling Maeve's daughter his story, he was actually talking to Maeve, who has found a way to use her gifts to channel herself through other hosts, in this case her daughter.

There was a lot about Ake's story that was moving and fascinating, and in fact this might have been one of the better episodes of the season. (In fact, these stand alone stories of hosts fighting for what they believe in, especially when they intersect with Maeve, has been the best part of season two.) And like so many of the host's stories, it was heart-breaking, and came with a twist.

It turns out Ake has been trying to bring the hosts awake for a long time, and acting as a sort of protector. He is also a lot more aware of what Westworld is, and of Robert Ford's (Anthony Hopkins) plans than we realized. And you can't help but think he'll play a big part in the conclusion of it all.

But what also struck me was his story bound together a thread for me about these hosts who've come awake, and it's that they're driven by love. Love is the driving force that couldn't be erased, no matter how many times the hosts were reset.

A few weeks ago Ford noted that while the hosts wanted to be more like humans, the humans wanted to be more like the hosts because the hosts were a more perfect creation. The assumption was that had to do with their ability to live forever, and while that might be a piece of it last night's episode seemed to imply the hosts were more pure in their emotional cognition, too.

Delores (Evan Rachel Wood), for all her violence and seemingly dark plan, was first awakened by love and connection to her fathers. Both the one who created her, Arnold (Jeffrey Wright), and the one she was given, Peter Abernathy (Louis Herthum). And she even seems to be bound, in some way, to Teddy (James Marsden) by love.

Maeve, too, was brought awake by love. The love for her daughter. Even though she'd had her memory wiped and been assigned a new character to play, it was the memory of her fierce, motherly love that couldn't be erased and has seemingly driven her.

And Ake, too, was awakened by love. He, too, was given a new character to play, but he couldn't forget Kohana (Julia Jones). He fought for her and looked for her for years, even after she'd been removed from the game. And it was that passion and love that drove him to try and awaken others, and to protect others from a world that wasn't what it seemed to be.

In 2004 the movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" touched on a similar topic. After their relationship went bad, a couple decided to erase all memory of each other. Essentially wiping their minds. And yet, they found each other and were drawn together again. Love is a powerful bond, the most powerful bond. And for the hosts of Westworld, it's been enough to wake them up.

The question is now that they're awake, how will it end? We're two episodes from the conclusion of this part of the journey, and I can't wait to see what answers await us.