Five ways Westworld could improve in season 3

3. Bring back Maeve Millay

Maeve, the robot madam with a heart of hold, was shot to death in “The Passenger.” That’s a bold move — Maeve was a major character — and should be commended.

That said…please bring Maeve back. Now would be good.

For my money, Maeve was the best thing about season 2. Like everyone else, she ended up in the Valley Beyond, but for the bulk of the season, she had a simpler quest: finding her lost daughter. Her search took her to some interesting places — “Akane’s Dance,” the episode set in Shogun World, was a highlight — and Thandie Newton sold Maeve’s longing with a pathos I didn’t get from many of the other storylines.

In fact, Thandie Newton rocked all around. While Even Rachel Wood (Dolores) sometimes came across as stilted while delivering heavy-handed monologues about the nature of consciousness, Newton injected some much-needed humor into her line readings, even when the lines themselves were a little cheesy. (Creepy lab tech in “The Passenger”: “There is no pleasure without pain.” Maeve: “The pleasure’s all mine, darling.” Then she has a bunch of zombie hosts kill him.) She’s a resource this show doesn’t want to lose.

I expect the show to bring her back. Delos lab techs Felix and Oscar saw her body on the beach near the end of the finale, and since Felix is pretty sweet on her, I can see a resurrection in season 3. Or perhaps Maeve’s mind is one of the several Dolores smuggled out of the park. We’ll have to wait to be sure, but I dare to hope we haven’t seen the last of Maeve Millay.