Why You Can Trust CNET 5 Westworld hints we got from the writers of the show
After an AMA on Reddit with the two showrunners, we learned this season was inspired by a children's book and we could be seeing more than just ShogunWorld.
Westworld showrunners Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan were on Reddit Monday, April 9, for an Ask Me Anything session and provided some interesting commentary on their show. Because there were thousands of questions and some buried answers, we picked out the highlights for you -- and speculated about the pair's cryptic answers to others.
We could see more parks than just ShogunWorld
Nolan seemed to allude to the fact that he captured multiple parks for the season in different filming styles. "The new worlds required their own look," he replied to a user (emphasis all mine).
Responding to his own comment, Nolan added that they strapped a film camera to a drone and shared a clip. (Looks like Dolores and Teddy heading off together, right?)
Season 2 will reference Steinbeck, Blake and a very meta children's book
That's all if and only if Nolan is to be taken as his word. So, you know, a *huge* caveat there, and yet I'm inclined to believe him. The children's book he mentions, We Are in a Book!, features a pair of self-aware animals who begin to notice that they're being watched by readers outside their own realm. Tarkovsky's Stalker deals with a "stalker," or guide, who can lead people through the Zone where the laws of reality do not exist. (Nolan has cited the film previously as an influence on Westworld.)
Ford was written with Anthony Hopkins in mind
Who else could Dr. Robert Ford ever be?
Season 3 title *will* be revealed this season
A user asked if they planned out season names well in advance. In his response, Nolan hinted that the season three name will be hidden in the backend of season two. (Can you think of any early contenders?)
No, the writers are not influenced by our theories
Partly because that's not how they write, and partly because like many big budget productions (and unlike some longer TV shows), the whole season has already wrapped and locked before we even see episode one.
Lisa Joy also stressed that it's not about writing in twists, but that "the twists arise organically from what the characters in the show would experience."
Nolan had a proposition for fans but of course it was a joke
Nolan said that if his post on Reddit reached 1,000 upvotes, he would unleash a video with spoilers of season 2. Of course it got the votes -- and? No spoilers. Instead, with the help of a musically talented Evan Rachel Wood singing Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up, he Rickrolls us hard.
We kind of expected it, though. Nolan already told us at SXSW we can't trust anything he says ever on the platform: "We love to fuck with Reddit."
This piece was originally published April 9, and has since been updated to reflect that I called the Rickroll before it happened, there were no true spoilers, and Westworld is back this weekend.
