The Well-Tempered Clavier (Westworld)

"The Well-Tempered Clavier"
Westworld episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 9
Directed by Michelle MacLaren
Written by
  • Dan Dietz
  • Katherine Lingenfelter
Featured music Ramin Djawadi
Cinematography by Jeffrey Jur
Editing by Mark Yoshikawa
Production code 4X6159
Original air date November 27, 2016 (2016-11-27)
Running time 59 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

"The Well-Tempered Clavier" is the ninth episode of the HBO's science fiction thriller television series Westworld. The episode aired on November 27, 2016.

The episode was lauded by critics in particular to Arnold's revelation and Jeffrey Wright and Anthony Hopkins's performances during the final scenes.

Plot

After being pulled in for analysis, Maeve pretends to be functioning in stand-by mode while Bernard troubleshoots her. Having acquired administrative privileges to control other hosts, she freezes Bernard briefly and reveals to him his identity as a host. Bernard, who at this point in time was already wiped of his memory of killing Theresa and of realising he is a host, re-confronts his identity crisis. Maeve convinces Bernard to let her back into the park while she encourages him to search for the deeper truth concerning himself. Maeve meets Hector back in the park and convinces him to help her escape when she correctly predicts his crew attempting to betray him and shows him the safe he stole is empty. She even helps unlock some of Hector's previous memories. The two have sex after Hector asks about "the way to hell", where Maeve responds by tipping over a kerosene lamp to start a fire, intending to kill them both.

Teddy, still convinced that Wyatt forced him to kill his own men, receives a flashback of himself as a sheriff killing the townspeople of Escalante, including Angela. Angela remarks that Teddy is not ready to join them yet, but perhaps in the next life, when she stabs and kills him in the present. After being knocked out by Angela, the Man in Black wakes up the next morning to find his neck leashed with a rope to the saddle of his horse. He grabs the knife that Angela stabbed Teddy with and frees himself just in time as the horse gallops away. He encounters Charlotte, who tries to gain his vote – as he is a long-time member of the board of directors – in removing Ford, to which he indifferently agrees. He then continues his journey to the maze.

Logan takes the captured William and Dolores to a Confederado camp. William tries to convince Logan to use his contacts in the park to smuggle Dolores to safety, but Logan instead cuts open Dolores' belly to show William she is not real, and she cuts Logan in the face in response. She manages to escape him and run away, but when she inspects herself again, she finds that the cut Logan made is suddenly gone. Logan makes amends with William, promising him that whatever happens in the park stays in the park. However, the next morning, Logan awakes to find that William slaughtered all of the Confederados during the night; William boasts that he's figured out "how to play the game" and threatens Logan into helping him find Dolores. Dolores returns to Escalante, the abandoned town and receives a vision of entering the church, where other hosts are sitting on the benches and appear to have conversations with someone only they can hear. Dolores goes into the confessional box, which takes her to an underground lab, where she remembers that she killed Arnold. She then encounters the Man in Black when she returns to the surface, much to her terror.

Ashley investigates a signal from Elsie's handheld computer in a remote section of the park and is ambushed by Ghost Nation warriors who ignore his voice commands to stand down.

Bernard, now aware that he is a host again, confronts Ford and forces him to restore all of his memories despite Ford's warnings that it could damage him. Bernard relives the memory of his son's death and realizes that it is the "cornerstone" his personality is based on. Believing he can find Arnold if he "goes back to the beginning", Bernard finally lets go of the memory of his son and remembers when he was first activated. In the flashback, Ford bestows him the name of "Bernard", and shows him a picture of himself and Arnold, upon whom Bernard is based. Finally learning the truth, Bernard declares that he will rebel against Ford and free all of the sentient hosts. Ford explains to Bernard that the self-aware hosts would not survive if set free, as "Humans are alone in this world for a reason. We murdered and butchered anything that challenged our primacy." Bernard attempts to kill Ford, but Ford uses a backdoor in Bernard's code to disable him. Ford laments that he built Bernard in Arnold's image and allowed him to become self aware in the hopes that he would willingly join him, which Arnold refused to do. Seeing that his experiment has failed, Ford forces the still aware Bernard to commit suicide.

Production

"The Well-Tempered Clavier" was written by Dan Dietz and Katherine Lingenfelter, and was directed by Michelle MacLaren.[1] It is the only episode of the season to not be written by either Jonathan Nolan or Lisa Joy, but rather by individuals who had worked with the two of them in their previous endeavors (Dietz with Nolan on Person of Interest and Lingenfelter with Joy on Pushing Daisies).

Reception

Ratings

"The Well-Tempered Clavier" was viewed by 2.09 million American households on its initial viewing.[2] The episode also acquired a 1.0 rating in the 18–49 demographic. [2]

the episode also continued the steady rise of viewrship being slightly less in views than series record high in the third episode of 2.10 million viewers.

Critical reception

Jeffrey Wright (left) and Anthony Hopkins (right), received praise for their performances.

"The Well-Tempered Clavier" received positive reviews from critics. The episode has a 89% score on Rotten Tomatoes and has an average rating of 8.2 out of 10, based on 19 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "'The Well-Tempered Clavier' confirms a multitude of popular theories in an episode marked by bleak revelations and tragic results."[3]

Terri Schwartz of IGN reviewed the episode positively, saying, "'The Well-Tempered Clavier' did a lot of heavy lifting for Westworld, confirming a huge theory and getting very close to confirming a couple other biggies."[4] She gave it a score of 9.1 out of 10.[4] Scott Tobias of The New York Times wrote in his review of the episode; "The experience of watching "The Well-Tempered Clavier" did underline the unique ambition of Westworld, which is appreciable even when the ins and outs of the show are confusing."[5] Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club wrote in his review, "As the show finally starts showing its cards, it means getting to see the relationships that have been hiding right out in the open, and those relationships are, in their way, just as thrilling as the fireworks they set off."[6] He gave the episode an A-.[6]

Liz Shannon Miller of IndieWire wrote in her review, "Thanks to Game of Thrones, we're somewhat conditioned to expect epic mayhem from the penultimate episodes of an HBO series, but Westworld, as usual, proves committed to developing its own models. 'The Well-Tempered Clavier' didn't stall by any stretch of the imagination, but it's clear that the big action is coming in next week's finale."[7] She gave the episode a B+.[7] James Hibberd of Entertainment Weekly wrote in his review, "There were three big clues that I counted and I probably missed one or two as well."[8] David Crow of Den of Geek said in his review, "The penultimate episode of Westworld season 1 offers confirmation to some game-changing theories."[9] He gave the episode a 4.5 out of 5.[9] Todd Kenreck of Forbes also reviewed the episode, saying, "Jeffrey Wright is just so remarkable in this episode, as is Anthony Hopkins."[10] Todd VanDerWerff of Vox also reviewed the episode positivly, saying, "Westworld is a mystery show, like Twin Peaks or Lost, but where both of those earlier shows had most of the mysteries swirling around the characters, Westworld keeps developing mysteries within its characters."[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Westworld 09: The Well-Tempered Clavier". HBO. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Porter, Rick (November 30, 2016). "Sunday cable ratings: 'The Walking Dead' hits a 4-year low". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  3. ↑ "The Well-Tempered Clavier - Westworld: Season 1, Episode 9 - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Schwartz, Terri (November 27, 2016). "Westworld: "The Well-Tempered Clavier" Review". IGN. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  5. ↑ Tobias, Scott (November 27, 2016). "'Westworld' Season 1, Episode 9: You Broke My Mind". The New York Times. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "A thrilling Westworld starts to show its hand". The A.V. Club. November 27, 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  7. 1 2 Miller, Liz Shannon (November 27, 2016). "'Westworld' Review: 'The Well-Tempered Clavier' Goes Down the Rabbit Hole For Answers". IndieWire. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Westworld recap: 'The Well-Tempered Clavier'". Entertainment Weekly. November 27, 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Westworld Episode 9 Review: The Well-Tempered Clavier". Den of Geek. November 27, 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  10. ↑ Kenreck, Todd (November 27, 2016). "Westworld's 'The Well-Tempered Clavier' Is The Soul Of The Show". Forbes. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  11. ↑ VanDerWerff, Todd (November 27, 2016). "Westworld season 1, episode 9: "The Well-Tempered Clavier" reveals how memories are subversive". Vox. Retrieved November 28, 2016.

External links

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