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Some people choose to see the ugliness in this world, I choose to see the beauty.

Dolores Abernathy

"The Original" is the first episode of the first season of Westworld, and the first episode overall.

Synopsis[]

Programmers at a visionary park worry over aberrant behavior by android 'hosts.'

–HBO

Plot[]

Dolores Abernathy[]

We hear a man's voice say "Bring her back online," and then see a nude Dolores Abernathy seated upon a stool.

Dolores Host

The series begins with Dolores in Analysis Mode.

The unseen man asks if she can hear him and Dolores replies that she can. She also admits that she's not “quite feeling herself". The man then tells her she can lose the accent she is more accustomed to, before asking her if she knows where she is. Dolores replies that she's in a dream. The man agrees that, yes, she is, and asks her if she'd like to wake up - Dolores replies "Yes, I'm terrified.", but her lips don't move and she shows no sign of emotion.

There is a smudge of blood on her left cheek. A fly lands and crawls from her forehead, down her nose and up to her left eye, yet Dolores doesn't react and remains motionless. The man assures her that there is nothing to be afraid of, as long as she answers his questions correctly. He then asks her if she understands his commands, and after she replies yes, the fly moves to the center of her unblinking eye. The man starts his questions: "First, have you ever questioned the nature of your reality?” She answers, “No.”

Dolores sleeping the original

Dolores wakes everyday to the same routine.

Our view switches to Dolores waking in her bed, her voice over guiding us through her normal morning loop. The questions continue: "Tell us what you think of your world." We watch as she walks downstairs, fully dressed. She answers him by saying: “Some people choose to see the ugliness in this world, the disarray. I choose to see the beauty. To believe there is an order to our days. A purpose.” Dolores eventually makes her way out to the porch and says good morning to her father Peter Abernathy, as he sits in his rocking chair. After a brief conversation, Dolores tells her father she is going to leave to do some painting.

The unseen narrator in voice over asks what she thinks about the guests. She says, "Do you mean the newcomers?"  As she talks our viewpoint switches to a train carrying guests to Sweetwater. One handsome man sits alone gazing out the window. Behind him two more men are talking. One man mentions his previous visits to Westworld. His first narrative was a family vacation, with fishing and hunting. His second trip he came alone. He admits to going “straight evil”, and that they were the best two weeks of his life.

Dolores continues to speak to the unseen narrator in voice over. She says that she likes to remember how her father taught her that everyone was once new to this world. She says, "The newcomers are just looking for the same things we are - a place to be free, to stake out our dream, a place with unlimited possibilities."

The Newcomers Arrival[]

Guests arriving the original sweetwater

Guests arriving by train to Sweetwater the same time as Teddy.

The train stops at the Sweetwater station and the passengers unload. One of the passengers, Teddy, walks past a couple who are visiting for the first time and are looking at Sweetwater in wonderment. The lady says, "It's incredible." The man says, "It better be, for what we're paying."

Teddy walks through town with his bag, and is bumped into by a tall, aggressive looking cowboy. Both their hands go to their guns, but then Teddy tips his hat by way of apology and moves on. Then he passes the Sheriff who is briefing a group of men about searching for a bandit named Hector Escaton. The sheriff says Hector gunned down the marshal and is holed up in the mountains. The sheriff asks Teddy to join the posse but he politely declines, saying "not today" and

The original view of dolores

Teddy see's Dolores from the saloon window.

walking on. Instead, Teddy makes his way into the Mariposa Saloon. In the bar, he orders a rye whiskey. Clementine, a saloon prostitute approaches him. "You're new. Not much of a rind on you," she says. Teddy turns down her offer for company. He says he prefers to win not to pay for a woman's affections. Another woman, the madam Maeve Millay, is listening and says that he has to pay in one way or another, the difference is her rates are fixed and posted on the door. But he's not listening. Instead he’s transfixed by the appearance of Dolores Abernathy, seeing her through the saloon window, as she exits the store across the street with her purchases. Moving away from the bar, Teddy tracks her movements down the street through the saloon windows, walking parallel to her, heading for the saloon door.

The questions and answers continue in voice over: "Do you ever feel inconsistencies in your world? Or repetitions?"

"All lives have routine. Mine's no different." she says. "Still, I never cease to wonder at the thought, that any day the course of my whole life could change with just one chance encounter."

The Bounty Hunter & The Rancher's Daughter[]

At her horse, hitched up outside the bakery, Dolores goes to pack her purchases in her saddlebag. In doing so she drops a can of condensed milk, which rolls behind her, to the booted feet of a man, Teddy bending to pick up the can, hands it to her with a smile "Don't mind me. Just trying to look chivalrous." . His appearance takes her a little by surprise. "You came back," she says. "I told you I would," he says. Now obvious that they already know each other. As she turns back to her horse, he asks if he can escort her home. She challenges him with a smile "That all depends? Can you keep up?" He points out he has to fetch his horse, and grinning as she mounts up she tells him "Better fetch him fast." riding away down the street, leaving him to quickly find his horse.

Dolores pointing out the Judas Steer to Teddy - The Original

The Judas Steer

We see him catch up to her outside town on a ridge with the mountains as a backdrop. They are in no rush. They stop to admire the stunning vista, and the sight of her father's men driving the cattle home. Admiring the sight, he tells her he's always wondered how they manage to get the cattle to all head in the same direction. Laughing a little she teases him saying that she forgets that while he dresses like a cowboy, that's about the extent of it. She teaches him about the Judas Steer, how the rest of the cattle just follow where he goes. When he asks how she knows which one is the steer, she just shrugs saying you just know these things, her tone turning a little more sincere when she adds, just like she knew he'd come back. Teddy jokily asks if she's calling him predictable? Chuckling she shakes her head and then earnestly tells him there is a path for everyone and his path leads him back to her. She knows things will work out the way they're meant to. As Teddy moves to kiss her, she stops him with a smile adding, just like she knows that her father still won't be pleased to see him. They turn to head back to their horses.

It is dark by the time they return to her farm. As they approach they hear a gunshot and see the flash inside the house. Teddy pulls out his rifle and tells her to stay put. Then gallops toward the house. At the house a man with a mustache and bowler hat (who we later learn is named Rebus) is tormenting Dolores' father Peter, who is lying on the ground in front of his house. Rebus is holding a glass bottle of milk. He says, "Ain't you got anything out here other than milk, old man?"  Peter remains defiant and Rebus shoots him. Rebus pours some of the milk on dead Peter. Rebus' partner, Walter is on the porch, complaining that Dolores' mother was killed before they could have any fun with her. Rebus says she's still warm enough. Rebus hands the bottle of milk to Walter, who turns and walks back into the house.

Teddy arrives and on seeing what they've done takes out both men easily. Going into the house Teddy kneels next to the body of Dolores’ mother, checking on her. As he does so the unseen narrator continues: "Last question, Dolores. What if I told you that you were wrong? That there are no chance encounters? That you and everyone you know were built to gratify the desires of the people who pay to visit your world? The people you call 'the newcomers.'"

A frantic Dolores arrives and kneels next to her father's body, grief stricken. Then another man appears . . . the Man in Black. He menacingly stands over her and says "Hello again" before hurling insults toward her father. Realizing he's involved Dolores grabs a gun on the ground and points it at him. Before she can shoot he knocks the gun out of her hands. He slaps her hard across the face. She falls to the ground. He asks if that's any way to treat an old friend. He reminds her that he’s been visiting for 30 years, yet she still doesn’t remember him after all they've been through. "They gave you a little more pluck, Dolores," he says. "Absolutely charming."

Teddy comes out of the house and challenges him. The Man in Black knows Teddy too and seems bored with the challenge. He torments Teddy, letting him have the first shot. Teddy shoots . . . once . . . twice. The bullets have no effect on the Man in Black. The narrator say, "What if I told you you can't hurt the newcomers? And that they can do anything they want to you?" It is at that moment it is confirmed that Teddy is not a returning human guest like the others that got off the train, picking up with Dolores from a previous visit. He too is a host. Teddy looks at his gun in disbelief, shocked that the bullets have no effect. The Man in Black continues to taunt Teddy. "I never understood why they paired some of you off," he says. "Seems cruel." Teddy shoots the Man in Black again. The Man in Black says he came to realize that the reason they did it was that winning doesn't mean anything unless there is a loser. He walks up to Teddy, looks him in the eyes, then says, "which means you are here to be the loser."

Teddy - The Original

Teddy shot by the MiB

Teddy doesn't understand. He gives up and falls to his knees, deflated. The Man in Black pats him on the back and says, "Seems you're not the man you thought you were." The Man in Black walks back to Dolores. He starts to drag her across the yard. "Come on beautiful." On hearing Dolores's cries Teddy rouses himself and goes to defend her. He shoots again in vain, once . . . twice. On seeing the MiB turn towards him, Dolores begs for Teddy's life. She says she'll do whatever he asks. But the Man in Black slaps her again. He tells her he didn't pay all this money for it to be easy. He wants her to fight. Teddy shoots again. The Man in Black is bored. He turns and shoots Teddy in the chest with a single shot. The Man in Black continues to drag Dolores toward the barn kicking and screaming. "It's good to be back," he says. "Let's celebrate."

Dolores dragged by man in black

After Teddy is killed, Dolores is dragged to the barn by the Man in Black

As Teddy collapses and Dolores is dragged away screaming, we hear the unseen narrator: "Would the things I told you change the way you think about the newcomers, Dolores?" We hear Dolores answer: "No. Of course not. We all love the newcomers. Every new person I meet reminds me how lucky I am to be alive and how beautiful this world can be." The camera zooms to Teddy's eye. His pupil expands, and in the reflection we see the barn door closing behind the Man in Black and Dolores, intent on raping her.

Behind the Curtain[]

The time loop for Dolores and Teddy begins again. Dolores wakes in her bed. Teddy wakes on the train. Two female guests on the train are discussing Teddy, remarking on how lifelike and perfect he appears. One of the women says that perfect is boring, and that she's more interested in the bad guys.

A view of the landscape pulls back. We see the train speeding across the landscape in the distance. Then we see the landscape is on a large, circular table in a control room. The Westworld Mesa Hub. People in matching blue shirts stand around the table holding tablets. The camera moves to a large hall where figures dressed in white "clean room" clothes are assembling an android horse. We continue through the hall where a woman is "exercising" a completed horse. In another area people are testing humanoid androids, some clothed, some not. There is a prostitute, a man with a bow, and a gunfighter. Bernard Lowe is sitting with Elsie as they observe a naked Clementine seated on a stool.

Clementine the host

While in Analysis Mode it's discovered that Clementine has learned a new gesture.

Bernard asks Elsie if she notices that one of Clementine's gestures is subtly different. "Her finger. That's not standard," Elsie says. Bernard tells Elsie that a new class of gestures has been added to "the update" by Dr. Robert Ford. The Hosts' experiences are always purged from memory at the end of every loop, but are not overwritten. The new gestures have been altered to refer to those previous experiences, tied to specific memories. Bernard says that Dr. Ford calls the new gestures "Reveries". Dr. Ford found a way to allow the "reveries" to access this unconscious memory, "like a subconscious." He says that it's the tiny things that make the Hosts so real, and make the guests fall in love with them. Bernard receives a call on his tablet. He leaves to answer. Elsie looks closely at Clementine. She pushes her hair gently back over an ear, then leans forward and kisses her. Clementine doesn't respond and Elsie sits back down, amused at herself for kissing an android.

Bernard walks down a hallway to the control room where he meets Ashley Stubbs, leader of the Quality Assurance (Q.A.) ground teams, and his boss Theresa Cullen Head of Q.A., responsible for the security of the Park, wellbeing of the guests, and the monitoring of the host. Theresa says that there's unscheduled android activity on sub-level 83. She tells Stubbs to send a response team with full armor. Stubbs saying he'll take care of it himself. Bernard elects to go as well. Bernard reminds them that the hosts can't hurt them by design. But Stubbs takes a more pragmatic view, noting that the hosts are like kids, "they all rebel eventually." Stubbs is worried and Theresa says it's because of the recent update and the possibility of a critical failure. Bernard doesn't believe there's any likelihood of that happening. He says there hasn't been a critical failure in over 30 years. Theresa is not impressed.

Stubbs, his armed team, and Bernard go down to the sub-level in a large elevator. As the door opens a large volume of water floods in. Stubbs says it's a weeks old coolant failure. "Gonna smell fantastic," Stubbs says. They go into a large badly lit area and then into a hall full of quietly standing androids.

Old android hosts in storage the original

Stubbs and Bernard enter a sub-level room of decommissioned, old androids/hosts.

At the back of the hall is an office with a large glass window. In the office Dr. Robert Ford is sitting and drinking with one of the earliest androids, Old Bill. The android's movements are slightly jerky and unnatural, it's words somewhat halting but it's clear that Ford feels some sort of affection toward it. Bill drinks whiskey and they talk about how people don't make anything like they used to, and the showdowns Bill has seen in his time. Ford tells Bill to drink to "deep and dreamless slumber." which turns out to be a command phrase. Bill freezing, his glass partway to his mouth. Ford then turns and talks to Bernard about the old style hosts and their limitations. Bill he says was the second host they built. Bernard mentions Clementine’s new gesture and compliments Ford on the reveries. "They are beautiful," Bernard says. Ford tells Bill to put himself away. Bill walks to a shelf and climbs up. He puts himself inside a large plastic body bag and zips himself up for safekeeping.

The Man He Was before[]

Peter Abernathy

Every day Dolores tells her father Peter good morning on the porch.

Dolores walks down the stairs and heads to the front porch with her paint supplies. Just like before she asks her father if he slept well, and they complete their exchange about her going out to paint. This time it continues with her confirming she is thinking about it, but not till after she runs her errands. He tells her he wants her back before dark because the bandit who gunned down the marshal is still up in the hills. Dolores reminds him she's a big girl now, and is amused when he starts to talk about when he was a lawman. She teases him about knowing all of his stories of when he was a lawman, as do all the boys that ever came courting her. He tells her he knows how boys think, he was one himself, given all manner of drinking and mischief. Indicating that his issue with Teddy isn't Teddy specifically. Wondering whatever happened to that nere do well, he grows more sincere, telling her he disappeared the day he became her father. Earnestly adding "I am what I am because of you, and I wouldn't have it any other way," he says. Touched, she then promises to be home before dark.

A Change in the Narrative[]

Guests go bounty hunting

Guests go on a bounty hunt for Hector Escaton.

In town, Teddy gets off the train once again, the same tall cowboy in a duster bumping into him. Tipping his hat to him again Teddy continues into town. He passes Sheriff Pickett, who again asks Teddy to join the posse in search of Hector Escaton. Again he declines and heads into the Mariposa Saloon, But two newcomers stop, Craig and Lori. Craig is excited about the idea, add coaxes his wife Lori to join in on the fun.

Inside the Mariposa Saloon, Teddy repeats his conversation with Clementine with minor variations. "Not much of a rind on you," she says. Again, he declines her offer. He'd rather earn a woman's affections than pay for it. This time however Maeve is standing off to the side speaking mandarin and drinking with three guests. Teddy sees Dolores through the window. Again, he walks out of the bar onto the street intent on heading toward Dolores. However, before he can cross the street he is intercepted by another guest, Clarence, who has a group of friends with him this time. Clarence tells his friends that Teddy was the one who helped show him around on his previous visit to the park, and prevails upon him to do so for them all.

Other Plans[]

Dolores and man in black the original

The Man in Black greets Dolores.

As a result of Teddy's being diverted, when Dolores drops the can of condensed milk, she turns to find it retrieved for her by the Man in Black. Her placid reaction to seeing him indicates she clearly doesn't remember him, and isn't alarmed in any way. He's charming and gives her the can back. "Sweet," he says. "But not as sweet as you." He tells her that he has other plans that evening and won’t be stopping by her home, leaving her puzzled as he tips his hat and walks away.

He heads into the Mariposa Saloon, where Clementine approaches him. "You're new," she says. "Not much of a . . . ." He lifts a hand to interrupt her. She stops. Then he sits at a poker game. Kissy, the croupier, tells the players to place their bets. The Man in Black smiles.

Aberrant Behavior[]

The couple, Craig and Lori, who joined the posse are on horseback. Craig is having a great time. Lori is not. She swats at flies buzzing around her head. While riding, they come across a body on the trail. Sheriff Pickett and Craig dismount to look at the body. "It looks like Hector has been this way," the Sheriff says. The a fly lands on the Sheriff's cheek and he begins to malfunction, repeating himself and mimicking a human stroke. Lori is frightened. Not knowing what to do, Lori insists they go back at once, so they leave the sheriff standing there, immobile now.

Sherriff Host

Sheriff Pickett malfunctioned while on the bounty hunt with guests.

The malfunctioned Sheriff Pickett is back at the Westworld labs and is being analyzed. The top of his skull has been removed. Lee Sizemore is berating Bernard and demanding to know what happened. The Host’s behavior is very unusual. Failures don't normally occur this way. Bernard says he hasn't finished his diagnostics. Theresa presses Bernard about the failure. She asks if the update is the likely cause. Bernard is noncommittal, but doesn't rule out the update. She asks how many hosts have been updated. He says about 10% of the population. Theresa says they should recall the updated hosts and rollback the update. Sizemore complains that pulling that number of hosts, about 200, will wreak havoc with his narratives. Theresa is unimpressed. She tells him that guests interrupt "your precious story lines" all the time. "When they want to," Sizemore responds, emphasizing the word "they". "We sell complete immersion in 100 interconnected narratives," he continues. He tells her that if they pull one character the overall story adjusts. But if they pull 200 at once it will be a disaster.

Bernard is watching the two argue. He notices how Theresa's brow line pulls into an arc when she's angry and tries to control it. "It's elegant," he says. He asks if he can record it to show to his team later. She tells him that he cannot record it and brings him back to the safety issue: 1,400 guests and a possible problem with aberrant behavior from the hosts. She needs to know if they are in danger. He reassures her that the Sheriff's core code is intact. "He literally couldn't hurt a fly," Bernard tells her. She relents, agreeing to the diagnostic being run before any action is taken. She leaves instructions and implied threats in her wake as she leaves.

Target Practice[]

Clarence and the other men who approached Teddy in the street are drinking and having sex with naked prostitutes in a cabin overlooking the mountains. One of the men enthusing about how the place is wild. Clarence shrugs that off however telling him this is basic, level one. If you leave town, he says, that's where the real demented stuff begins. Clarence tells his friend that Teddy is like a guide. But his friend feels creeped out by Teddy. Who is sitting outside on the porch, staring out into the distance at the mountains, oblivious to what is going on behind him. Clarence says not to worry about it, and that if they get bored out in the canyons they'll just use Teddy as target practice. A fly lands on Teddy's cheek and walks toward his eye. Teddy doesn't flinch as it, like with Dolores before, crawls across his eye.

One of Them[]

Theoriginal3

A young guest asks Dolores if she is "one of them".

Dolores rides to the river and sets up, painting wild horses and the scenery on the riverside when a family walk towards her, the father telling his wife that they need to stay on this side of the river, as it's 'too adult', for their 10 year old boy. On catching sight of Dolores, the wife apologizes for disturbing her, but Dolores is warm and welcoming They talk briefly about the beautiful view of the horses, river, and mountains, and Dolores catches sight of the boy gazing at the horses. Assuring him that they are very gentle, she shows the little boy how to feed the horse. Out of the blue the boy says, "You're one of them. aren't you? You're not real." Dolores smiles, a little bewildered, but is unfazed, She then tells them she needs to go, and so should they before nightfall. "There's bandits in these hills," she says as she walks away.

Doesn't Look Like Anything To Me[]

Back at the Abernathy Ranch, Dolores’ father with the sun setting, Peter rides the herd in with his men before dismounting to stand watch them herd the cattle into a pen. At his feet he notices something strange sticking out of the dusty earth. He digs at it with his boot, then pends to brush and draw something out of the dirt. A modern photograph. Vaguely perplexed he looks at it closely.

Peter and dolores look at pic

Peter shows Dolores the photograph

Dolores returning home, walks her horse up to the house, to find her father sitting in his chair on the porch. Setting aside her groceries, she teases him for waiting up for her, saying she told him she'd be home before dark. Peter, however shows her the photo he's still perusing, telling her he found it in a field. The picture is of a young pretty woman in a modern city. The woman is smiling, with city lights behind her. But on taking it in, Dolores shrugs slightly, saying "Doesn't look like anything to me." not seeming to find anything unusual in the anachronistic photo. Unlike Peter, who persists, asking "But where is she? Have you ever seen anything like this place?" "Doesn't look like anything to me," Dolores repeats, completely unbothered by the photograph. Affectionately kissing her father she tells him she's going to help her mother put supper on. But Peter remains where he is, fixated on the image.

Office Politics[]

Theresa Cullen is standing at an overlook at Mesa Gold looking at the landscape. She's smoking a cigarette and trying to relax at the end of the day. Lee Sizemore approaches her and tries small talk. She sees through it. He tries to apologize for being rude earlier that day, and tries to justify his behavior. Theresa doesn't accept his apology. He says he is opposed to the update. He says that the work to make hosts more lifelike is inappropriate - that the hosts are too lifelike already. He says this place works because the guests know the hosts aren't real. He wants to roll back the updates; make the hosts more manageable. "Lobotomies tend to do that," Theresa says.

Lee hints that there is something bigger and more important that the board of directors is interested in, other than the usual park operations. Lee continues to talk before she corrects his grammar, a way of putting him in his place. He tells her she has his support. She toys with him and his clumsy attempt at office politics. She says this place is one thing to guests, another thing to shareholders, and another thing completely different to management. She asks him what he thinks management's real interests are. He doesn't know. She tells him he's smart enough to see there's a bigger picture but not smart enough to see what it is. She tells him that makes his support useless to her. She walks away.

Final Hand[]

The saloon is closing for the evening. Maeve and Kissy are leaving. Before the bartender stops Kissy. Resigned, Kissy returns to be frisked by him, commenting that he thinks the bartender is getting sweet on him. The bartender commenting that its all because Kissy is half cornhusker. and if he tells him which half is which, he'll just frisk that half. Pulling coins from Kissy's pockets he tosses them on the table, A disgruntled Kissy walks outside, muttering about it being the half that will cut the bartender's throat, pausing on hearing a creek behind him. Turning around thinking its the bartender, he comes face to face with the Man in Black who has his gun trained on him. Before he slashes Kissy's throat and drags him away.

Milk, Ain't For You[]

Bernard, is gazing at a well worn picture of his son, having finished working on the host Sheriff. He tells the Sheriff that he envies his forgetfulness, before Elsie comes into the room and tells him there's a problem with another host.

We cut to a bottle of milk dripping onto the floor of a shot up saloon. At least 6 hosts are on the floor dead. Milk being poured over one, the same way Rebus treated Peter Abernathy. as the voice of Walter comments that 'This one is still thirsty' before adding 'Not gonna die this time, Arnold' No one gonna kill me. Walter appears to have several gunshots in his chest and abdomen as he shoots another wounded host and pours milk over him, before his eyes drift towards two guests who are cowering on the floor as Walter approaches the dead hosts and pours milk on their bodies, He tells the guests they can't have any milk. "Ain't for you," he says. He drinks the milk and it pumps out of a wound in his torso. He is unfazed. He walks outside. Rebus is on the ground dead. There are 6 empty milk bottles set around his body. "Found me another bottle," Walter says. He kneels over Rebus and pours milk into his dead mouth.

Then the scene freezes. Spotlights turn on. Bernard, Elsie, and Stubbs are on site. Stubbs goes to talk to the guests inside the saloon. Bernard and Elsie discuss what's happened. Elsie says they (referring to Walter and Rebus) are supposed to turn on each other but only if a guest takes them on the High Sierra story line, and then "Walter always buys it." Bernard says, "Well, I guess Walter got tired of buying it."

Theresa appears and points out that the sheriff’s malfunctioning wasn't an isolated incident. Bernard says it confirms the update is the problem. He will roll them back, clean them up, and put them back in service. Theresa rejects his idea. She tells him that hosts are supposed to stay in their loops with minor deviations. This isn't minor. This is a disaster. She tells Stubbs to pull all updated hosts, examine them, and decommission the faulty ones. Bernard points out that it will damage a lot of narratives. She responds that Sizemore has a contingency plan. Sizemore will advance the saloon heist a week and make it twice as bloody. It will give them cover to recall the remaining hosts. Then she tells Bernard that he gets the job of telling Dr. Robert Ford about the problem. She still thinks it was Bernard who caused it. Bernard hasn't told her, or anyone, that the part of the update likely to have caused the problem was Ford's unofficial addition.

Westworld-The-Original-Bernard-ford

Bernard delicately tells Dr. Ford about the Host's glitches and mistakes in the upgrade.

Later, Bernard finds Ford watching a new android being created in a milk-like white liquid. Ford isn't angry after Bernard confronts him. Instead, he teases Bernard about not finding the problem sooner. Ford knows the mistake was his, and is amused that Bernard doesn't want to say so, or call out the mistake. They talk about evolution and how it depends upon mistakes. Ford thinks that the evolution of humans has ceased, that no more improvement will occur.

The Maze[]

Kissy Man in Black The Original

Kissy is scalped by the Man in Black to retrieve The Maze.

In the desert, the Man in Black has bled Kissy almost dry, saving his blood in metal buckets. He taunts the terrified host, The Man in Black trying to get answers from him, wanting to discover the deeper levels of Westworld. He's determined to discover the secret. He wants Kissy to help him get there. When Kissy refuses to tell him, the Man in Black scalps Kissy. On the bloody inside of the scalp there is a map imprinted in the tissue, a maze.

These Violent Delights[]

Peter and dolores the original

After remaining perplexed by a modern day photograph, Dolores' father begins acting strange.

As always with her loop, Dolores wakes again in the morning and walks to the front porch, where her father is sitting, as usual. She starts her routine dialogue, but this time her father doesn't respond. He is still staring at the photograph unable to take his eyes from it. Dolores, frowning at his lack of response turns to take him in and then asks if he's been outside all night? He says he had a question he's not supposed to ask. To an answer he's not supposed to know. He asks Dolores if she wants to know the answer. Frightened for her father, Dolores yells out to her mother to come quick, trying to wipe the sweat from his face, before Peter grabs her and tells her to go, leave. "Don't you see? Hell is empty and all the devils are here," he says quoting Shakespeare's The Tempest. Then he whispers something in her ear, inaudible except to her. Terrified for her father, she tells him to stay right there, she's going for the doctor.

Galloping into town she dismounts, Teddy seeing her and emerging quickly, bypassing the disinterested pair of Clementine and Maeve, who watch as she frantically bangs on the doctor's door. Not finding him, Dolores turns and is stunned to see Teddy moving across the street towards her, Her expression changing to utter relief, she runs to him, throwing herself into his arms, "You came back," she says, Teddy, holding her and smiling at her reaction, responding "I told you I would," as usual, until he pulls back to see her face and immediately asks "What's wrong?" She tells him he has to come home with her right away because her father is very ill. Teddy moves to go with her, but stops her when he sees a group of people on horseback ride slowly through Sweetwater wearing blankets over their heads to cover their identities.

The piano in the saloon kicks in, new music indicating a new storyline. The people on horseback are Hector and his gang, including Armistice. Armistice lock eyes with Dolores & Teddy, holding her stare as she rides past them. Teddy getting the sense of what is about to happen, telling Dolores 'We'd best stay put' before quickly guiding her into a side alley.

Of All the Saloons...[]

Theoriginal4

Hector and his gang arrives in Sweetwater to steal the safe from the saloon.

In the Mesa Hub control room. Lee Sizemore says that he has managed to massage events to "inspire" Hector to head to town a week early. Lee proudly announces that he's also written a new speech for Hector. Theresa wryly states that she can barely contain herself.

On the streets of Sweetwater. Hector, Armistice and their gang draw up outside the saloon. Deputy Sheriff Foss immediately challenges Hector, recognizing the horse he's riding, accusing him of robbing it. Hector shoots him, admitting the theft of the horse, and the Sheriff's rifle too. Which he uses again to shoot him in the head. Hector heads into the saloon carrying one end of a rope. The other end is tied to a horse. Armistice unloads several long guns wrapped in a blanket; two lever-action rifles and one pump shotgun. She takes one of the Winchester Model 1873 rifles and starts shooting outside the saloon. She fires 11 shots, hitting each target, women and men, armed and unarmed. She swaps her weapon for another rifle.

Inside the saloon Hector shoots the bartender then pours himself a glass of whiskey. Maeve, calm but irritated, asks with banks and trains available to him he chose to rob her saloon. He replies that everyone here is indulging their vices, so he came to indulge his vices. Two of Hector's men run up the stairs. Outside, Armistice is still shooting. Now she has the shotgun. She shoots a man off a horse and then hits him four times as he's being dragged. She is ruthless.

Teddy - The Original2

Teddy takes a bullet for Dolores

As the barrage of shootings continue Teddy and Dolores stay low, but Dolores is desperate to get back to her father. Before Teddy can stop her she makes a break for her horse. Two of Hector's men spot her immediately and turn their rifles on her. Teddy yelling at her to stop, grabs a hold of her and pulls her back behind him, drawing on the men and taking out one from distance. Getting Dolores back, he turns to join her, but the second man shoots him, getting him on the right side of the chest, his legs buckling he falls to the ground, Dolores horrified kneeling next to him. Trying to re-assure her, Teddy says "Don't mind me. Just trying to look chivalrous," but there is blood in his mouth, and Dolores, in tears, knows it's bad.

Lee Sizemore looks pleased with himself as he watches from headquarters, knowing Hector will soon give the speech he had programmed him with.

Inside the saloon, the men upstairs have tied the rope around the safe and are pushing it over the balcony. Hector is still drinking at the bar then starts walking toward the door. Maeve remains cool and stands in his way. Hector easily picks her up and moves her two feet to the left. The safe smashes to the floor where she was just standing. Hector whistles and the horse takes off with the safe. Hector heading out to join Armistice.

One of the two men of Hector's gang still insides, stops, his eye falling on Clementine cowering, staying low near the piano. Deciding they should have something for themselves, intent on taking her so they can rape her. frightened. When the man reaches for her, Maeve shoots the man through the back of the head. Blood sprays on the rotating sheet music on the player piano. Then she shoots another man.

Guest couple The Original

The guest ends up killing Hector outside of the saloon before he can say his 'speech'.

Outside Armistice is still at work with the shotgun. Hector starts his new speech just outside the saloon entrance. "You wanted me. Well let this be a lesson. The lesson is . . . ." That's as far as he gets when he is shot in the neck by a guest. It is Craig, the very guest that had been on the bounty hunt for Hector when Sheriff Pickett malfunctioned. Then he shoots Armistice twice in the chest. She falls to the ground.

Lee Sizemore is pained and utterly deflated. Theresa very amused.

Craig is very excited. His wife Lori is also having fun for the first time. "Look at her wiggle," Lori gleefully exclaims pointing at Armistice. Craig tells Lori to get a photographer so they can get a picture. Lori cheerfully runs off.

"Maybe you'll get to your speech next time," Theresa says to Lee.

On the street, Dolores is distraught, helpless with Teddy's life ebbing away in front of her. "At least I got to see you one last time," he whispers. But Dolores is adamant through her tears that he's not going anywhere. "There's a path for everyone," she tells him, caressing his face, "My path is bound with yours." Kissing him fiercely, she pulls back to find Teddy dead. Crying his name and futilely trying to revive him, she shakes him, telling him "No, we've only just begun," before she breaks down in grief over him.

Teddy & Dolores & Elsie Hughes - The Original

Elsie sends Dolores into a dreamless sleep to end her grief over Teddy

Later, with night having fallen, Craig and Lori are having their picture taken with Hector's propped up corpse inside a standing coffin. (The shot a call back to many westerns, including Ned Logan propped up outside the saloon in "The Unforgiven.") Craig takes Hector's hat, while Elsie in full period costume, watches on. Looking around she spots, and walks down the boardwalk, towards Dolores, still kneeling, crying and distraught over Teddy's body. Looking up at her approach Dolores pleads with her to help, telling her her father is ill, and she has to get back to him, but she can't leave Teddy out there on the street. Dolores now has Teddy's blood on her. The same blood stains on her neck and left cheek that were there at the start of the episode. Elsie gently and sympathetically kneels next to her, caressing her face, similar to the earlier scene with Clementine. "Soon this will all feel like a distant dream," Elsie says. Then she issues the command: "Until then, may you rest in a deep and dreamless slumber." Dolores shuts down and collapses on Teddy. Elsie then calls for staff members to pick up both of the hosts. She walks away speaking into her microphone earpiece, "We got them all." The camera lingering on Dolores & Teddy entwined together, as yet another trauma ends.

The Terrors of the Earth[]

Teddy's body along with other hosts are brought through the hub on carts. Bernard tells Theresa that most of them are checking out fine. But they have one that is definitely not. Peter Abernathy has become a problem.

Stubbs and a Diagnostic Programmer bring a naked bloodstained Dolores back online. Dolores waking panicked and distressed. Stubbs, "calms" her by getting the programmer to turn off Dolores emotional affect, and display cognition only. On being asked does she know where she is, Dolores apologizes saying she's not feeling quite herself. Stubbs gets her to lose her accent, and it becomes clear that his questioning mirrors that of the voice over narration at the start of the episode. Dolores thinks she's in a dream and is terrified and Stubbs progresses through the same questions before adding more "First, have you ever questioned the nature of your reality? . . . Has anyone around you? For instance your father." He asks about her father, who she defends as being frightened. He asks her about her father and the picture. He asks her if there was anything odd about the picture. She says there was not. "It didn't look like anything to me."

At the Abernathy ranch people are walking around the exterior with flash lights. There is some type of car or all-terrain vehicle to the left with its headlights on. Inside the house people in "clean room" clothes are searching the house. Finding the photography they bag it.

Ford The Original Ep with Peter

Ford analyzes Peter Abernathy

Theresa, Ford, and Bernard examine and discuss Peter Abernathy. Theresa wants the problem host "put down". Reminding them that If he breached, that's the policy. Ford however points out that maybe it might be pertinent to find out 'why' it happened before they make any decisions. Bernard says the results of their diagnostic test are confusing. Ford sits with the Peter Host to examine him. Ford asks Peter what happened to his program. Peter jerkily responds again with a quote from Shakespeare, this time from King Lear. Stopping him Ford asks Peter if he has access to his "previous configuration." Yes, he replies, Ford duly asking him to access it. Ford then asks him his name and Peter, sounding much more his normal self affably answers Mr. Peter Abernathy and off of Ford's next question answers that his 'key drives' are "Tend to my herd. Look after my wife." and your final Drive Ford asks? Peter smiling answers "My daughter Dolores. I must protect Dolores." Much as he said to Dolores herself he goes repeats to Ford that he is who he is because of his daughter and he wouldn't have it any other way....but on reaching the final few words starts to divert...fearful, worried, saying "I have to warn her!" "The things they do to her," Peter's clarity growing "The things *you* do her. I have to protect her. I have to help her. She's got to get out!" Ford calmly telling him that's enough. Peter stilling.

Bernard points out that this behaviour is miles beyond a glitch. With Theresa still watching closely, Ford doesn't reply, instead telling Peter to access his current build, and on Peter doing so, Ford again asks him his name. This time Peter replies "Rose...is a rose, is a rose," quoting Gertrude Stein. When Ford asks him what his itinerary is , Peter's eyes rise to meet him and quietly and a little ominously replies "To meet my maker." Ford glances at Bernard and looks back to Peter telling him he's in luck and asks him what he wants to say to his maker? Peter's voice grows soft, menacing, as he again quotes Shakespeare, moving from Henry IV "By most mechanical and dirty hand. I shall have such revenges on you, " Both he snarls looking to Bernard, as he returns to King Lear. "The things I will do. What they are, yet I know not, but they will be the terrors of the earth."

Leaning forward suddenly he takes hold of Ford's arms. "You don't know where you are, do you?" Peter says. "You're in a prison of your own sins." Security rushes in and off of Theresa's instruction turns Peter off, freezing in his glare at Ford. Theresa demands to know what happened. Bernard says he doesn't know, he's off script, they didn't program any of those behaviors for him. "Shakespeare," Ford notes, drawing their attention, rising he reminds Bernard that they've used Peter in a number of different roles prior to being Dolores's 'father', 'Have we not?" Bernard responds that since he himself has been there, he's been Peter Abernathy for 10 years, Sheriff for a while before then, and before that....he checks. Ford beating him to it, "The Professor" he pronounces. Yes, Bernard concurs. From a horror narrative called "The Dinner Party", a leader of a group of cultists in the desert. "He liked to quote Shakespeare, John Donne, and Gertrude Stein." He admits the last one is a bit of an anachronism, as her work would have come after the 19th century period the Park is set in, but he couldn't resist. "These are fragments of prior builds," Bernard says, feeling that the Reveries are allowing the Host to access them. "No cause for alarm, Bernard," Ford is the picture of equanimity, feeling there is no cause for alarm, "Simply our old work coming back to haunt us," he says wandering out.

Meanwhile Stubbs is still speaking to Dolores. He asks Dolores what her father whispered to her. She replies her father told her not to tell anyone. After Stubbs promises that he won't tell anyone else. she tells him, Peter said, "These violent delights have violent ends", another Shakespearean quote, this time from Romeo and Juliet. She says she doesn't know what it means, though a flash of memory shows Peter continuing to whisper to her. Stubbs double checks by asking if she has ever lied to them. "No," Dolores replies immediately. Would you ever hurt a living thing? he asks. "No. Of course not," she replies softly adamant. After a moment of reflection Stubbs seems satisficed by her responses.

Peter The Original

Because of his odd behavior, Peter is taken out of commission and replaced with another Host.

In another area of the Diagnostic lab, we get our first glimpse of Sylvester and Felix, two diagnosticians tending to Peter. Sylvester politely asking Peter to tilt his head back, inserting a small drill up his nose, as they perform an unnamed procedure that looks very much like a lobotomy.

Wouldn't Hurt a Fly[]

With Dolores still in Analysis Mode, the Diagnostic Programmer with Stubbs informs him that he wipe is complete, but while Stubbs seems satisfied by Dolores's responses, she is not so sure, voicing her concerns that the trauma involving Dolores father might have affected her core programming. '"Not good old Dolores," Stubbs says, before asking the programmer "Know why she's special?" He explains that Dolores has been repaired so many times she's practically brand new. "But don't let that fool you." She is, he says, the oldest host in the park. He asks Dolores what she thinks of this world. Dolores smiles and replies on script from the beginning of the episode in her Western accent. "This world?"

We see Dolores wake up in her bed starting her loop. She walks down the stair. In voice over we hear Dolores say "Some people choose to see the ugliness in this world, the disarray."

Dolores walks out onto the front porch. She says hello to her father. Only now it a different host. The bartender from the Mariposa Saloon; Dolores reacts to him exactly as before, and he answers her with the same lines as Peter from the prior loops, his script now.

We cut back to a large door opening in the sub levels. Bernard, Stubbs, and a security team in full armor are putting Peter and Walter away in Cold Storage..

"I choose to see the beauty," Dolores says in voice over.

Bernard leans next to Peter and whispers something. We can't hear. Peter and Walter find their place with all the other decommissioned hosts.

"To believe that there is an order to our days,"

The train's whistle sounds and Teddy wakes up on train restarting his loop. But his hand rubs absently at the exact same spot he was last shot in.

" A purpose,"

We see the Man in Black look at the map inside Kissy's skull. He gets on his horse and rides into the desert.

Dolores back on her porch with her new father, looks out at the view and smiles. A fly lands on her neck.

Back in the lab we see Dolores still sitting with Stubbs with the same smudge of Teddy's blood on her left cheek. "I know things will work out the way they were meant to," she says.

Dolores-kills-a-fly-westworld

Hurt a fly...

Back on the porch, Dolores swats the fly against her neck with her hand, killing it.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

Co-Stars[]

Deaths[]

  • Dolores' Mother (Physical Body, Off-Screen)
  • Peter Abernathy (Physical Body)
  • Teddy Flood (Physical Body, 2 times)
  • Kissy (Physical Body, Off-Screen)
  • 12 unnamed Sweetwater host residents (Physical Body)
  • Mariposa's bartender (Physical Body)
  • Hector Escaton (Physical Body)
  • Armistice (Physical Body)
  • 6 unnamed farm hosts (Physical Body, Off-Screen)
  • Rebus (Physical Body, Off-Screen)
  • 3 members of Hector Escaton's gang (Physical Body)

Quotes[]

Dolores Abernathy to Ashley Stubbs: All lives have routine. Mine's no different. Still, I never cease to wonder at the thought that any day the course of my whole life could change with just one chance encounter.


Teddy Flood to Dolores Abernathy: Don't mind me, just tryin' to look chivalrous.


Bernard Lowe to Theresa Cullen, on the hosts: It's the tiny things that make them seem real, that make the guests fall in love with them.


Dr. Robert Ford to Bernard, on the success of their work: ."Mistakes" is the word you're too embarrassed to use. You ought not to be. You're a product of a trillion of them. Evolution forged the entirety of sentient life on this planet using only one tool The mistake...of course, we've managed to slip evolution's leash now, haven't we? We can cure any disease, keep even the weakest of us alive, and, you know, one fine day perhaps we shall even resurrect the dead. Call forth Lazarus from his cave. Do you know what that means? It means that we're done. That this is as good as we're going to get.


Dolores Abernathy to Peter Abernathy (about a modern photograph) "Doesn't look like anything to me."


Peter to Dolores (whispering): These Violent Delights Have Violent Ends


Stubbs to Bernard, on Hosts: You don't have kids at home, do you Bernard? If you did, you'd know they all rebel eventually.


Dolores to Teddy, on the "Judas Steer": The rest will follow wherever you make him go.


Dolores to Teddy: There's a path for everyone. My path is bound with yours.

Music[]

  • Paint It Black — The Rolling Stones[1]
  • Ain't No Grave — Johnny Cash[1]
  • Black Hole Sun — Soundgarden[1]
  • Sweetwater — Ramin Djawadi
  • This World — Ramin Djawadi

Trivia[]

  • "The Original" refers to Dolores Abernathy; the oldest host in the park and the 'original' host. (See more in episode names' meanings article)
    • It also may be a homage reference to the 1976 film Futureworld. In this sequel to the first film, Westworld (1973), Delos have reopened the park. The collect DNA from the (rich and powerful) guests, and grow clones which return home instead of the guests themselves. The guests themselves are referred to in the film as "The Originals".
  • The (original) Peter Abernathy host used to be a part of a narrative called "The Dinner Party" and portrayed a cultist turned cannibal who used to quote Shakespeare, John Donne and Gertrude Stein. Several quotes from these appear in the episode
    • To Dolores - “Hell is empty And all the Devils are here.” - Ariel - The Tempest, Act I, scene II:
    • To Dolores - "These Violent Delights have Violent Ends" - Friar Lawrence - Romeo and Juliet, Act II, scene VI.
    • To Ford - "When we are born, we cry that we are come To this great stage of fools." Lear - King Lear, Act IV, scene VI
    • To Ford - "Rose...is a rose, is a rose." - Gertrude Stein from her 1913 poem "Sacred Emily",
    • To Ford - "...by most mechanical and dirty hand." Pistol - Henry IV, part II, Act V, scene V
    • To Ford - "I will have such revenges on you both That all the world shall—I will do such things— What they are yet I know not, but they shall be The terrors of the earth." - Lear - King Lear, Act IV, scene IV:
    • "As flies to wanton boys are we to the Gods; they kill us for their sport" Gloucester - King Lear, Act IV. scene I
  • Westworld is HBO's biggest premiere since True Detective, with an audience of 3.3 million people.
  • This episode was dedicated In loving memory of Eddie Rouse (1954-2014) who played Kissy and who died after filming the first episode.
  • The fly on Dolores's face is real. A "Fly Wrangler", put a very cold fly - too cold to fly away - on the actor's forehead and let it wander around as it warmed up. However, the fly that enters her eyes is CGI special effects[2]
  • Flies could be representative of computer programming "bugs", and become a repeated image through the Seasons.
  • It's mentioned that Dr. Robert Ford was involved in the very early stages of the theme park's development.
  • During the scene where Walter is going on a rampage with hosts in the saloon, he mentioned a man called Arnold.
  • Walter can sometimes be part of the "High Sierra" narrative.
  • The Man in Black mentions he believes there's a deeper level to the "game".
  • There are some similarities between The Tempest and Westworld themes.

Gallery[]

The gallery below is automatically generated and contains images in the category "Images from The Original". Images added to that category turn up in the gallery after a short time.

External links[]

References[]

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