Commentary: ‘Westworld’ Reinvented Its Premise Before The End

One of the hardest things for a show to do is pivot in subsequent seasons. This is especially true for shows that are built upon a premise that’s fully exhausted once the season is over. Shows always should be applauded for this maneuver since it shows a reluctance to remain stagnant and keep the status quo. The trick is creating a new foundation from which the show can rise up. After its first season, which was an overwhelming success, Westworld struggled a bit to find its footing as the plot progressed. This was apparent in its final season, resulting in its cancellation. But there’s one aspect of its last run that should be praised: its reinvention and pivot.

Westworld started off by depicting a western themed amusement park. As the story progressed and moved outside of the park, the show pivoted several times to figure out what it wanted to be. In the fourth season, as the show began to deal with questions of artificial intelligence and control, the protagonists were thrown unknowingly into another amusement park. This one took place during the prohibition era and saw many of the same storylines and character profiles from the western park were recycled into the new one.

While this new park didn’t take up a lot of the season’s plotlines, it was still interesting to see. It only lasted for an episode, and perhaps the season would have been much better if they had given this idea more room to breathe, but it was an impressive pivot and deserves to be praised. It took the show’s original premise and dressed it up into something new. As the show was unsure about where it wanted to go, it succeeded (briefly) by breathing fresh life into the old. This was an interesting shift of the show’s status quo that was both new and familiar at the same time.

Westworld is currently streaming on HBO Max.