Thandie Newton wants Maeve to act “with more purpose” in Westworld season 4

Thandie Newton is an integral part of Westworld, with character, Maeve having grown into a force to be reckoned with. Long gone are the days when hosts like her were at the mercy of the gusts to the futuristic theme park. Maeve has come into her own, with Newton taking us on the journey.

It wasn’t that long ago (although it certainly feels like it) that Westworld aired its season 3 finale, leaving us with just as many questions as we had when the season started. Whether it was Maeve vs Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), Dolores vs Serac (Vincent Cassel), or humans vs robots in general, there were a lot of explosive power struggles going down. When all was said and done, we were left with Maeve and Caleb (Aaron Paul) still standing, facing a new world free from Serac’s algorithmic control.

But where do they go from here?

Speaking to Deadline, Thandie Newton discussed where she’d like to see Maeve go in season 4. Is she going to the Valley Beyond, aka robot heaven, to find her daughter? Or will she try and live in the new world she helped create?

"So her motivation has been keyed into Dolores. So, when we arrived in season 3. Maeve has no interest in being animated in any way. She doesn’t want to be alive in robot-form or any other form, because her whole life is a construct based on others’ pleasures or addictions or whatever. She doesn’t want to be a part of it. The most powerful thing she can do is to remove herself, and I loooove that. It’s like that scene in Crash where the character that I play said, ‘No, you’re not going to save my life.’ It’s, in fact, the power is…well, three seasons, like Maeve’s entire arc.So for her to be pulled back into the web of human, you know, sucker-y is not something that she’s interested in. The only thing that kept her there was the threat to the people that she had successfully managed to liberate in the Valley Beyond. But even that was…it was hard for her to really know whether Serac had the key. Even at the end of season three, we don’t know who has the key to that domain."

Indeed, Maeve doesn’t really have many ties to the human world, and I can’t really see her sticking around with Caleb. Or she does stick around, it’ll only be long enough to figure out how to join her daughter in the Valley Beyond, if that’s even possible.

Whatever Maeve’s role on the show going forward, Newton just wants her character to live with purpose, whatever that purpose ends up being. “I would love to see Maeve with more intent on what she’s doing, with more purpose. I think that it’s not just that I want to be the character, I think that she defines and represents an entire…she personifies freedom, you know? A freedom that has yet to be truly understood.”

"We’ve had this, you know, this crazy new world mapped out for us with this current season, where the best way to harness the energy of the world and keep humanity safe is to give everyone a role and a purpose, and keep everyone satisfied. But the only way to do that is to imprison or suffocate the outliers, which I thought was such an interesting premise, and I think we’re going to see more of whatever that means. Who these outliers are, I don’t think it’s what outliers represent. Are they the connection to the unknown, the spiritual world? Because that’s not something that Westworld has ever dealt with, which is the spiritual, you know, so it’s very much, but it’s either…the spiritual in Westworld are the robots."

The “outliers” were those who didn’t fit into Serac’s vision for how the world should run. Now that Serac’s supercomputer Rehoboam is no longer pulling humanity’s strings, the outliers will have their freedom back. But will it be worth it? The reason Serac suppressed some of them in the first place is because Rehoboam predicted the annihilation of the world if certain measures were not taken.

Another wild card in Westworld’s brave new world is the host formerly known as Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson), who’s now manufacturing hosts for some unknown purpose. I’m eager for some interaction between her and Maeve, which we didn’t get much in season 3.

"Oh, there’s definitely something going on there. Definitely. I mean I say definitely but I’m just a fan, like try to imagine. But yeah, I mean, Hale, is fascinating to me now, as an extension of Dolores. I mean, it’s really interesting, isn’t it? It’s like the apple falling far from the tree and all that. It is really interesting that Dolores has spawned these children basically because they very quickly separate themselves from her. I mean, I loved that evolution and they start with Hale just so distraught and clinging to her creator, Dolores, and by the end she wants to destroy her creator. It’s an interesting trajectory. So yeah, I’m fascinated in how Maeve will, if she plays into that."

Watching Hale’s transformation in season 3 felt reminiscent of Dolores’ journey in season 1. The more she became aware, the more she wanted to rebel and fight back.

I’m thinking that we could see a Maeve-Charlotte showdown in season 4, which could give Maeve that purpose she’s looking for.

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