Paul and Caroline Daley review TV - Handmaid's Tale | The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel | This Is US | Westworld | Stranger Things

First, the title: Trace Decay. It relates to another theory about how our brains work (recall bicameral mind?). This one has to do with a Nolan favorite, our memory. As the theory goes, memories begin in your mind as a trace and unless -something- happens to lock in that memory, like rehearsing the memory or some other multi-sensory association, it will decay over time. Pieces can come back, but after a memory gets hazy, it eventually goes away. The process even starts with short term memory.

Memory, the dependability of it and to what extent it should define your current reality, is very much at the heart of Westworld. Both of our female host POV characters, Delores and Maeve, are starting to fray at the edges of their sanity. Their memories, whether they lived through it or simply had them programmed, are not only coming to them as flashbacks, but are now overlaying on top of their perception. What they see and hear is now indistinguishable from memory, making it nearly impossible for them (and us) to tell the difference.

Luckily, we have sound effects and semi-consistent camera / editing tricks we can use to look back and pick apart what we've been shown. Delores, being further down the path, is living through three different realities: Where she's at, where she was 30 years ago with William, and now where she was 35 years ago in the little nameless town. Kind of reminds me of what they say in time travel stories about being in close proximity to another time period's version of yourself: don't do it; it causes drastic problems. Witness Delores' freak out at the nameless / buried / ho-down hosting town for proof.

Looks like I was wrong about Stubbs and Elsie. Having Bernie taking out Elsie might tell me something about to what extent the show is willing to screw with me though. The previous episode was edited in a way to make me think Bernie was too far away from Elsie at the point she was grabbed. The only way Bernie can be in place to take out Elsie is if the show is willing to fool me by editing things to look concurrent, but they're really not. Delores' scenes have been edited to fool me though, so it shouldn't have been a surprise. I thought the non-host timelines were safe, but as I write this, I'm realizing there -was- a host involved: Bernie. His perception of time passing is unreliable and he knew right where to go (because she told him).

Anyway, here's our roundup for the week:

35 years ago: Someone starts shooting up the town where they have dance lessons in the street. It may be Delores and she may have gone suicidal at the end of her rampage.

30 years ago: After finding a town once known for its dance lessons now empty, Delores and William are caught by Logan and his band of sore loser Conferados.

Now:

Delores find the town buried except for the black steeple and a couple of roof peaks. Memories overlay perception like crazy and she can't tell what's what anymore.

William is starting to act like a dick and looks like he's about done with his first trip to Westworld.

Logan is back with vengeance on his mind.

Maeve can now reprogram other hosts with her words, but is on the run from HQ.

Bernie has covered his tracks too well about Cullen and now Stubbs senses something wrong with him.

Teddy has taken the MIB hostage, but Wyatt's forces have them surrounded.

MIB is tied up at Teddy's camp. I kind of just said that. Keep up.

Hale has turned Sizemore into her latest data-mule since Cullen's death screwed up her previous plans. She has chosen, out of an entire sub-level full of hosts, Tom Abernathy to be the vessel to carry the data. What could go wrong?

Who's revved up for ep 9? If they follow the Game of Thrones equation, ep 9 could be the season's "BIG" episode...

If you're reading this / listening to this podcast, we assume you've seen the episode.

With that out of the way... WOW! We had anticipated Bernard to be revealed as a host (a host-ified version of Arnold, actually), but didn't expect it so soon or so devastatingly. Big reveal, very well done.

Maeve's plan to escape doesn't look like it will have a happy ending...

Delores is happy to have company on her journey to self- fulfillment, but call her a key...

William is sounding more and more like the Man In Black with each passing episode...

Elsie is on "leave" since her abduction last week. That implies that whomever took her, could have made that change in the company computer... My money is still on Stubbs.

If you're reading this / listening to this podcast, we assume you've seen the episode.

With that out of the way... WOW! We had anticipated Bernard to be revealed as a host (a host-ified version of Arnold, actually), but didn't expect it so soon or so devastatingly. Big reveal, very well done.

Maeve's plan to escape doesn't look like it will have a happy ending...

Delores is happy to have company on her journey to self- fulfillment, but call her a key...

William is sounding more and more like the Man In Black with each passing episode...

Elsie is on "leave" since her abduction last week. That implies that whomever took her, could have made that change in the company computer... My money is still on Stubbs.

No multiple timeline funny business this week. Still an enjoyable episode with a juicy cliffhanger...

No multiple timeline funny business this week. Still an enjoyable episode with a juicy cliffhanger...

We've seen enough.

There's enough to work with at this point to adopt the Internet's "multiple timeline theory" as being for real. In the podcast, we'll talk about the couple of times this episode where you can spot the clearest evidence so far. The run-time on this episode is a little on the longish side, but did you see that episode? So much happened! We've added Adam again this week and we just kept finding more to talk about. I know we're late, but... you know. Adam and I had Dr. Strange tickets.

Let's catch up with all of our favorite characters:

Delores: She shook off the prairie dress and, "aw, shucks," persona and traded up for something more in the Lara Croft vein. She's also been chatting with Arnold. The best theory going places Delores physically in the same location in two timelines. 35 years ago, she had an adventure with William and Logan. In the modern timeline, she's retracing her steps and seeing her memories play out before her.

William: Wound up feeling conflicted about taking out an army delivery crew. Left Logan to fend for himself with the angry "Confederados" in Pariah. Go HERE to read about modern day descendants of the real Confederados.

Man In Black: The ultimate Westworld gamer has a chat with Ford and winds up reinvigorated in his quest for a real challenge. Although he can't hurt Ford with his knife, his wicked tongue landed a few blows that no one else would dare attempt.

Ford: Secret, naked chat with Delores (Bernie never makes he sit there naked) and a trip into the park to see for himself just what in the heck the MIB is up to.

Elsie: Conducts her own investigation into what's going on at Westworld HQ. We learn you do not want to be blackmailed by Elsie. She will crush you.

Bernie: Deeply concerned about Elsie's data theft discovery.

Teddy: Looks like crap until he hears the magic words from Ford, and then, BLAM! He's ready for action once again!

Maeve: Has developed more control over regaining her memories after a reset. Uses a gunshot wound to gain entry into Westworld HQ and wakes up.

We've seen enough.

There's enough to work with at this point to adopt the Internet's "multiple timeline theory" as being for real. In the podcast, we'll talk about the couple of times this episode where you can spot the clearest evidence so far. The run-time on this episode is a little on the longish side, but did you see that episode? So much happened! We've added Adam again this week and we just kept finding more to talk about. I know we're late, but... you know. Adam and I had Dr. Strange tickets.

Let's catch up with all of our favorite characters:

Delores: She shook off the prairie dress and, "aw, shucks," persona and traded up for something more in the Lara Croft vein. She's also been chatting with Arnold. The best theory going places Delores physically in the same location in two timelines. 35 years ago, she had an adventure with William and Logan. In the modern timeline, she's retracing her steps and seeing her memories play out before her.

William: Wound up feeling conflicted about taking out an army delivery crew. Left Logan to fend for himself with the angry "Confederados" in Pariah. Go HERE to read about modern day descendants of the real Confederados.

Man In Black: The ultimate Westworld gamer has a chat with Ford and winds up reinvigorated in his quest for a real challenge. Although he can't hurt Ford with his knife, his wicked tongue landed a few blows that no one else would dare attempt.

Ford: Secret, naked chat with Delores (Bernie never makes he sit there naked) and a trip into the park to see for himself just what in the heck the MIB is up to.

Elsie: Conducts her own investigation into what's going on at Westworld HQ. We learn you do not want to be blackmailed by Elsie. She will crush you.

Bernie: Deeply concerned about Elsie's data theft discovery.

Teddy: Looks like crap until he hears the magic words from Ford, and then, BLAM! He's ready for action once again!

Maeve: Has developed more control over regaining her memories after a reset. Uses a gunshot wound to gain entry into Westworld HQ and wakes up.

Although this episode maintained the high aesthetic standards of the ones preceding it, I have trouble summing up what this one was "about". We caught several of our main characters in the middle of their respective narratives and, except for Maeve, no one had a single episode character arc. This show has been compared to LOST and in a lot of ways, I agree with that comparison. One thing that LOST did very well was it let you know whose story was being covered in a given episode. So far, Westworld is casting a large net every episode when it comes to POV characters, allowing the story to advance through many different points of view. This is fine, but sometimes you end up with episodes like this one. Episodes like this where we find out a couple of tidbits we've been wanting to know and basically serve to position characters where they need to be later on in the season. You can practically feel the writers' hand moving William and Deloers' party to smack into the Man In Black's party at some pivotal time and place, can't you?

Although this episode maintained the high aesthetic standards of the ones preceding it, I have trouble summing up what this one was "about". We caught several of our main characters in the middle of their respective narratives and, except for Maeve, no one had a single episode character arc. This show has been compared to LOST and in a lot of ways, I agree with that comparison. One thing that LOST did very well was it let you know whose story was being covered in a given episode. So far, Westworld is casting a large net every episode when it comes to POV characters, allowing the story to advance through many different points of view. This is fine, but sometimes you end up with episodes like this one. Episodes like this where we find out a couple of tidbits we've been wanting to know and basically serve to position characters where they need to be later on in the season. You can practically feel the writers' hand moving William and Deloers' party to smack into the Man In Black's party at some pivotal time and place, can't you?

One unexpected brain-dump of Westworld mythology later and now we have Arnold. With him comes tons of new questions like:

Is the Man In Black somehow related to Arnold?

Is Arnold a first name or a last name?

Is Arnold like a ghost in the machine presence in Westworld?

Did Ford tell the whole truth about Arnold?

Immediately, I'm reminded of Jacob from LOST. For a looong time, Jacob existed only in the shadows, speaking through others (sound familiar?). We had to watch all the way to just about the end of the final season before we got the entire backstory on the guy. It's unknown with only 3 episodes in the can whether or not Westworld is a show that condones entire-show flashbacks or not, so we may never get a filmed version of "This Is What Arnold Did". I hope we DO get some corroborated info from some other sources on Arnold though. Ford seems like the kind of guy that takes Obi-wan Kenobi's "truth from a certain point of view," from Return of the Jedi and RUNS with it. Honesty, but not the whole story.

Quick recap of where the main characters wound up:

Bernie: Bad day at work, found out about Arnold, and decided NOT to reset Delores' programming. Also, has a dead son. Sad.

Delores: Starting to overcome programming limitations, but it's having a bad effect on her mind. She winds up in William and Logan's camp. Being able to pull that trigger, no matter where you think the gun came from, was pretty huge.

Teddy: All the sudden, he's got a nemesis: Wyatt. Too bad Wyatt and his been don't seem to be affected by bullets.

Ford: His agenda became muddied for me this week. Last week I thought he was trying to expand the hosts beyond their programming through reveries and possibly introducing religion. This week he demonstrated is ardent belief that hosts are machines capable of nothing more than their programming allows. At least we have his Arnold story to noodle on this week.

William: Got into the swing of things and killed a host! Hooray for robo-cide!

We try and dig into the bicameral mind stuff and other questions this week, so have a listen!