Westworld: Top 5 things we’d change about season 2

Now that second season Westworld is over, we can marvel at its convoluted timelines and theorize like crazy until the show returns. If I could go back and change anything at all, it would be because some parts could have worked better.

In Westworld season two there are quite a few things I would have modified to make the story stronger. Everything else I would change is out of pure selfishness. Mostly, out of love for the characters.

Caution: Major Westworld season 2 spoilers ahead! 

Here are 5 things I would change from the second season of Westworld:

Shogun World would have been tied to the main plot

Akane and Maeve were soul sisters cut from the same cloth. Under the pressure of a tight deadline, Lee wrote the same story for both Westworld and Shogun World featuring the same characters, plots, and adventures. It was fun to see how the same story was developed in another setting.

However, Shogun World came across as a scenic route on the way to the real story, Maeve’s daughter. If you erase the Shogun episodes, the story moves along without any difference at all. There was no enrichment of the main plot–just some bonding between Maeve and Akane. And the only thing team Maeve gained was an additional member, Shogun Armistice. (a nickname that proves her significance in the plot because I still don’t know her name.)

I would have liked for Akane, Sakura, and all of the characters that were featured in the Shogun world, to have had a more significant contribution to the overall plot. Basically, Maeve needed to walk away with something that would help add to the main goal of rescuing her daughter. They needed an essential plot device that would have made Maeve’s story impossible without the Shogun episodes. (Maeve’s mesh network powers don’t count she would have gained them eventually.)

A recognizable clue pointing to the Dolores/Charlotte reveal

One of the best parts about watching Westworld is trying to figure out the puzzles hidden within the story. Reddit’s Westworld section alone had theories galore as the episodes progressed ranging from multiple Bernard’s to Teddy existing in another host’s head.

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But finding out that Dolores was in Charlotte’s host body in the most present timeline, felt like someone dropped an anvil from the sky out of nowhere. After rewatching the series, I realized that there were only a few times that Haleores (Hale + Dolores) was actually on screen and Tessa Thompson played her character differently to emphasize that it wasn’t Charlotte.

The first time I watched Haleores, I thought that time was running out for Charlotte to get Abernathy’s control unit and she was getting anxious. To be perfectly frank, I remember seeing Haleores putting her face within centimeters of Bernard’s and wondering if she had become increasingly obnoxious because the Delos corporation was threatening to kill her. But no, that’s Delores’ Wyatt program in full force within Charlotte’s robotic double.

The Haleores clues were so subtle, fans were creating theories out of scene details that weren’t even clues. I would have liked a viable tip hidden within the episodes directly suggesting that Charlotte was not herself. Not obvious enough for everyone to know the truth, but an indication that would have been slightly more obvious. Even if the hint didn’t point to who it was that was posing as Charlotte, the audience would have been able to have some agency in predicting the conclusion.

Akecheta would not disappear into the Valley Beyond

I would have never let Akecheta enter the Valley Beyond and that’s because I’m selfish. After watching “Kiksuya,” Akecheta came out as one of the most fleshed out and likable characters of the season.

Since showrunners announced that they will be pulling back from Westworld to put their focus on the other worlds and the human world, it makes sense that the Native American narrative would be retired to allow for other areas to come forward.

It’s a shame that he went into the Valley Beyond and will not make a return to the series (or so they say).

Maeve and her daughter would be reunited permanently

Maeve sending her daughter into the Valley Beyond was a selfless act that showed the magnitude of a mother’s love. I would have prevented the young girl from also disappearing into the Valley Beyond because I’m a self-interested TV groupie that wants to witness her favorite characters reach the happiness they work hard for.

I would have liked for Maeve and her daughter to have been reunited permanently. And I would have wanted the young girl to have remembered the time in which Maeve was her mom.

As sure as I am that Felix will be piecing Maeve together, I know that next season Maeve will have a new motivation. But it would have been nice to witness Maeve in all of her mom glory.

I would spare Elsie or Robert Ford–for Bernard’s sake

I have no idea what Bernard’s new life will look like in season three. Will Dolores have him living on the outside? Will he get a cozy part-time job at the Apple store? No matter where he ends up, I wonder what life will be for Bernard who has lost his closest friends.

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Elsie is dead, and Ford’s out of the picture, who does Bernard have to talk to? They were his confidants even if he clashed with them occasionally. And with no real family or friends, only his rival (Dolores) lurking about in the human world, Bernard is left to wonder about another machine’s motives alone. (or maybe Ford will appear as the voice in his head?)

I would have left either Elsie or Ford alive because Bernard is going to need someone to talk to when he’s contemplating how to handle Dolores and her latest tactics against the human world.

Would you have changed anything else in season two of Westworld? Share your thoughts below!