Westworld season 2

Some two years after the release of Westworld season two, I finally got around to finishing HBO's adaptation of the 1970s film which they hope to replace the gap left by Game of Thrones. The first season was a creative breath of fresh air as we saw a futuristic attraction where guests could live the life of a cowboy/girl in a physical world populated by android replicants and go however crazy they wanted to be. However things started to go a bit crazy when Thandie Newton's android caught glimpses of a world behind the scenes while Ed Harris' guest goes on a rampage to uncover the secrets of Anthony Hopkins' man in control.

Season one was an easy recommend for me and despite it's troubled production, there was little to suggest this wasn't a smoothly created show. In reality there were rewrites and budget problems which could ruin a show as inventive as this but it came together and made for an entertaining experience. Season two follows the aftermath of android uprising as guests are brutally hunted down while Jeffrey Wright scrambles to make sense of his world, Evan Rachel Wood leads the uprising and Thandie Newton seeks a way to save her daughter. It's not always easy explaining a TV show partly to avoid spoilers but also because this season was rather tricky to follow. Here there are twists aplenty, multiple timelines and enough flashbacks to turn some viewers off. This wasn't quite the smooth return.

With that said, the first episode starts off strong picking up from the events of last season and introducing new characters to the fray. Visually the show looks even better than before but for me it struggled at times to deliver a satisfying story. The first quarter was great and the last two were good but the second quarter which featured the highly advertised samurai theme park was a surprising disappointment that added very little to the story. Even at a neat ten episodes long, with the final at around 80 minutes long, this whole part of the show could have been removed and it would have been better for it. The other over complex aspects gradually became rather convoluted as well with a smugness of sorts that put me off a few of its characters. The 'smoke and mirrors' approach worked in season one but this needed a tighter direction and adding further twists just felt like the show was killing time.

When it works, Westworld season two is an entertaining adventure that is supported by a top cast but it didn't have the same addictive 'just one more episode' appeal the first season achieved. The show needs a better idea of what the endgame will be, less trickery with the audience and I think it's this which is what holds it back from getting me as engaged as I wanted to be. Nonetheless I'll still given season three a shot and hopefully HBO find a way to make it live up to its potential.