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Primus

HI Jimmy, YEY thanks for the reaction, loved it. You can think of it this way. The kid was (let's say 'groomed') by samaritan, you can view him as brainwashed so he will portray better (visually) the beliefs of his AI. Also you can look at the kid performance like you would the actor. The kid in his own mind would try to get his point across as good as he can portraying the ''evil eyes' to Root (as would the actor trying to act). Root on the other hand is not brainwashed and choose the machine willingly. Also Samaritan choose the kid to portray the shape of things to come so of course it had to be a kid that samaritan essentially brainwashed. It all comes to a head now. It would be great for continuity to look at the next one now. I cannot wait to see if you do and your reaction! Cheers Jimmy.

escalator_dropdown

Your point about Samaritan’s avatar (the kid) is dead on. Something about that scene, which I otherwise love, always bothered me. I just couldn’t put my finger on it until you said it. I love Root’s performance — at points, she’s clearly surprised by what the Machine is saying (and the Machine sounds more like Harold than Root here — that the world belongs to humans, and that they deserve free will). And the child actor’s performance is good too. But he’s embodying Samaritan, whereas Root is clearly relaying the words of the Machine. The two avatars should really have been both serving as relays. I suppose they wanted to convey the menace of Samaritan since it’s a less developed “character” than the Machine, but it did create some dissonance. Anyway, great episode and great reaction!

Primus

Howdy, check on my comment, let me know what you think of my theory.

aleph-0

Yes, the child scene is interesting. I think they were going for a kinda Nietzschean take on the child ("The child, is innocence and forgetting, a new beginning, a sport, a self-propelling wheel, a Sacred Yes"). So the child is creation, play, has no rules and so on and ushers in the new age. I think they let the child act it out on purpose too because Samaritan wants to completely take over human life whereas the machine wants to let people have their free will.

Anonymous

It amuses me that Samaritan's visualization looks like a 3D version of Timeline that Facebook introduced in 2011 (basically a newsfeed with a vertical literal line on which posts were attached).

Steve Mercier

Yeah...the kid. It was a weird choice...one of the few on this show, which I love, that felt just a little off. Didn't hate the kid, but I think maybe I would've preferred Root talking to a bunch of screens in an otherwise empty room or something. Or maybe Samaritan could've strung together a bunch of clips of various kids speaking to act as its voice, or something. Otherwise, spectacular episode, spectacular reaction, to one of my all-time favorite shows. Good shit.

Meredith

Next pleeeeeease!!! :)

Anonymous

I agree, I am not a fan of Samari-kid, that is my one beef with this otherwise great episode. I get the symbolism of Samaritan being the future and still only growing, but creepy kids are shark-jumping territory IMO. Also think the dialogue is a bit prosaic in that scene. A rare misstep on the AI front. Love the rest of this amazing setup episode. The young Greer stuff was probably predictable but no less effective and fitting. And Harold's hissy fit on ASIs was great too. For a man who builds AI, he is terrified of them. Also, how cool is the Samaritan theme - a menacing inverse of The Machine theme. Sammy gets the best theme and interface, sorry Machine!

Ninaofthe90s

yeah...I can see why the scene with the kid seems a little off. However - I really liked it because I interpreted like this: Samaritan wants to take control over mankind so it makes sense to me that it completely took over the kid. He basically had no free will and Samaritan basically made him into its servant. While the machine on the other hand thinks that the world belongs to mankind and they should have free will. So you can see that Root is using the words of the machine, but she is using her own voice and her own emotions as well. This is why I really like that scene because it shows the differences between the two "gods".

Anonymous

The brilliance of this episode kinda makes me sad that I'm not enjoying Westworld as much. Here you got Finch and Shaw arguing about the nature of a just society in the context of AI. I mean, this is absurdly nerdy stuff. But it's conveyed by two characters we've come to care for and in the context of tangible threats. You feel a certain way (AIs are scary) but you arrived at that feeling naturally. On the other hand, I often find myself appreciating Westworld's ideas intellectually but feeling absolutely cold. Do you feel the same way? It's sad for me because I really like the Dark Knight and POI both of which were written by Jonah Nolan

Anonymous

Great episode and agree on the kid. Next ep is a series favorite!!!

Anonymous

I agree my friend. Westworld has all the things that should make it next level but doesn’t do half the things that this show does right.

Anonymous

The child (character) acting as Samaritan's avatar is named Gabriel. Not only is Gabriel one of only three archangel named in the Bible, but he's the 'Herald Angel' the one who brings God's messages. Although unnamed, Gabriel is assumed to be the angel who alerted the shepherds that Jesus was born. Samaritan really does think of itself as a god. I can't wait for you to react to the next one.

4Tom4lepus4

Omg I agree so much on the kid. I always hated that. The kid is a good actor, but it was such a cringey choice tbh.. I'm not a fan. I think it would have been better if they had made that girl from the Nautilus episode Samaritan's avatar - for one, the audience already knows her, but she is also literally presented as Samaritan's version of Root. Would have made sense.