Intrigue, action and a mind-bending plot: ‘Westworld’ is more than living up to its long, excitable hype.

The Show: Westworld

The Network: HBO

The Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller/Suspense, Western

The Challenge: Give a show four episodes with which to draw you in, impress you, challenge you, make you feel something deeply. Four episodes for the chance to find out if you care what happens to the characters you’re watching enough to become invested in the story. If after all that, it does none of those things for you? Then no biggie. You gave it a good shot and you can move on. But if you love it, you’ll be glad you stuck around.

The Premise: ‘Westworld’ is an amusement park populated by synthetic ‘hosts’-such as Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and Teddy (James Marsden). Rich guests pay to enter a dream world of the Wild West to play out their fantastical story-lines, able to do whatever they wish without any fear of harm from the hosts.. However, trouble arises when glitches to the system disrupt the utopia built by the mysterious creator Dr. Ford (Anthony Hopkins). The core cast also includes Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Ben Barnes, Luke Hemsworth, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Angela Sarafyan, Jimmi Simpson, Shannon Woodward and Ed Harris. Created by Jonathan Nolan (‘Person of Interest’, ‘Interstellar’) and Lisa Joy (‘Pushing Daisies’), it is based on the 1973 film of the same name, written and directed by Michael Crichton.

We’ve waited a long time for this, and it was well worth the wait-and then some.

‘Westworld’ opens immediately with intrigue. Who’s the narrator? What’s up with Evan Rachel Wood? And though the first episode-and its consequential ones-are not hugely fast-paced, it sneaks up on you. It’s crawling and seeping, and soon you find yourself haplessly sucked into the magical Westworld just like William (Jimmi Simpson) and Logan (Ben Barnes).

It’s a crazy juxtaposition between a hugely futuristic dystopia of making android-humans, seemingly, and a manufactured Western utopia where humans can’t get killed. In this Westworld, manufactured by Anthony Hopkins’ Dr. Ford, humans are practically immune. But it works so well in the way sometimes you forget. When William first gets shot, you immediately panic for him-until he reveals a bruise on his chest. And you realise it’s because he’s human.

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Perhaps, it is a little hasty to label it ‘utopia’. It may be utopia for rich humans willing to pay to experience a life where they are immune to being shot and can shoot manufactured ‘hosts’ as they want. Moreover, it may be a stretch to compare it to real-life humans who pay to fly to places like South Africa just to shoot lions bred for that purpose. But when you think of ‘Westworld’ and that Dr. Ford’s lab essentially creates these ‘hosts’ to play along certain ‘story-lines’ and its humans who pay to experience that world can essentially do as they please, it’s one messed-up, ethical tangle.

Its quality is undeniable, and as much talk as it’s attracted, ‘Westworld’ is undeniably thrilling viewing. Sucking in the largest viewership for HBO since True Detective’s first season, it seems the audience agrees too.

Have you seen the cast list?!

This one’s a no-brainer. Just looking at the IMDB page for ‘Westworld’ makes you shudder a little bit. The mish-mash of this calibre of this many quality actors is perhaps only matched by ‘Game of Thrones’. Everyone is impeccable in it-but Evan Rachel Wood makes it impossible for anyone to steal the show from her.

Undoubtedly, it’s helped by the setting too. There’s an insanely modern, almost ‘Hunger Games’-esque feel (initially) when you see Westworld zoom out into something utterly man-made. But when you see the characters-especially the hosts-acting within the Western setting and then as the manufactured sentients being questioned, it’s a stark contrast.

Thandie Newton is a standout, especially in episode two when Maeve aggressively breaks free and discovers something so otherworldly she cannot comprehend. Furthermore, Anthony Hopkins is reliably brilliant as the enigmatic Dr. Ford. Irresistibly, his chilling performance is hard to look away from. There’s so much mystery surrounding his character (and so many reddit theorists going wild, presumably) that after just four episodes, we’ve already sprung roughly five theories per character.

Lastly, Simon Quarterman’s impatient Sizemore was an entertaining joy to watch too. Somewhat malicious in his intent, he provides a slightly lighter tone to the dark, twisted content on display.

The plot is so mind-bending and filled with as many possibilities as Westworld itself-by episode two you’re already conspiring seven different possibilities.

Even by the first episode, when ‘Westworld’ revealed James Marsden’s Teddy was actually a host, we knew we were in for one heck of a ride. There’s so much going on yet it’s not set at a pace where you cannot catch up. ‘Westworld’ isn’t some high-paced, mental roller-coaster. Instead, it’s more of a ferris wheel that’s a little too dizzying, and that’s a good thing.

Most answers surely lie with the mysterious Man in Black. Impeccably scary is Ed Harris, but how could he be anything but? Clearly invincible, he seems to be a human who’s been in the park for a very long time. But as talk of the ‘maze’ begins to rise and Ford’s shroud of enigma thickens to a smog, can we begin to connect the duo? With Ford’s apparent bafflement at the violence of his park shown in episode two, and the Man in Black in the trailer:

The Man in Black: “What if I told you I’m here to set you free?”

Is the Man in Black’s ultimate end-game to implode Westworld from within? And is Ford somehow in on it? After all, he’s the master of all of this-so how is the Man in Black allowed to commit all these monstrous acts without Ford knowing of it?

And then there’s Bernard.

His consistent secret meetings with Dolores just ring alarm bells. If Dr. Ford’s conspiring with the Man in Black for a Westworld implosion, is Bernard trying to do it with the hosts? Is he trying to open the hosts up to themselves? And how will that affect the park, which relies on the hosts following their scripts word-for-word? And is he a host himself?

The production of this impressive ‘mini-movie’ type show makes you instantly understand just why ‘Westworld’ took so long-and when you see it, it’s breathtakingly worth it.

Ramin Djawadi has constructed magical, intense scores for hugely successful shows such as ‘Person of Interest’, and most memorably, the three huge ‘Game of Thrones’ episodes (‘Blackwater, ‘The Rains of Castamere’ and ‘The Battle of the Bastards’). And he’s worked his magic here yet again. The score on ‘Westworld’ is stunning. It’s perhaps Jonah Nolan’s connection to ‘Person of Interest’ that’s hooked Djawadi into another correspondence with him again, and man, isn’t that such a good thing?!

His quietly intense score is irresistible and consistently sets the mood for the scenes. It may be a small thing to note but perhaps that is what differentiates some shows from others. ‘Westworld’ doesn’t need a CW-type ballad at the end of the episode to match some cheesy montage. Its score has set the entire episode up right from the beginning.

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Another production value that cannot simply be left to a brief mention at the end of this article is the sweeping, beautiful cinematography and location scouting. Huge credit has to go to the wonderful direction (notably by Jonah Nolan in the pilot) and the executive production team, headed up by J.J. Abrams. The insanely beautiful cinematography work by Paul Cameron in the pilot, in which the beauty of Utah is used to its full extent is simply gorgeous.

Of the location, Nolan said:

“We went to that classic, iconic sense of the John Ford Western. That geography is exquisitely, exclusively American. John Ford made Monument Valley famous with his films. But his last four films were shot in Castle Valley… which is where we went back to for Westworld. It’s an incredibly beautiful place.”

We need to talk about that scene.

Dolores is clearly programmed to be the guests’ ‘damsel in distress’ to rescue-and Teddy’s programmed to be her ‘white knight’ designated to die every time. And right off the bat, there had been controversy about the scene in which Dolores was dragged by her hair to be raped off-screen by The Man in Black.

Personally, I did not find the scene offensive at all. But that doesn’t mean that criticism of that scene is invalid at all. In fact, criticism of that scene is perfectly valid, especially if it upset or hurt viewers. And whilst television should inflict emotion within us, using rape as a plot device isn’t. Was that the producers’ intention? It seems not. Does it matter to fans? For some, it doesn’t-but here is what Lisa Joy had to say:

“Sexual violence is an issue we take seriously; it’s extraordinarily disturbing and horrifying. And in its portrayal, we endeavored for it to not be about the fetishization of those acts. It’s about exploring the crime, establishing the crime and the torment of the characters within this story and exploring their stories hopefully with dignity and depth and that’s what we endeavored to do.”

HBO’s programming chief agreed that the “criticism is valid”. It’s something to be discussed-it has to be. But again comes the question of humanity and what it means. Is humanity superior to non-humanity? Is it different because Dolores is an android? Did people see beyond it, or did people just see it as a plot device? Either way: the debate is a necessary one.

Final Verdict: It’s the year of ruddy good television and ‘Westworld’ is jostling right up there with the very, very best.

We’ve waited a long time for ‘Westworld’. And it impressed. Boy, did it impress. There are so many questions left unanswered, fan theories sprouting all over the place (and it’s difficult not to have a dozen of your own, too). You cannot just watch ‘Westworld’. Jonah Nolan and Lisa Joy have ensured that. Just as it’s supposed to be a dreamy experience for the rich human who can afford it, it’s luxury for us to lap up as an audience.

It’s surpassed sky-high expectation in so many ways. Boasting the brilliance of its cast. Beautiful camerawork. Chilling narrative and endless possibilities. Perfect pacing.

It hasn’t been without its controversies. Understandably, it’ll leave some watchers never wanting to touch the show. It’ll leave readers of this article somewhat disgusted by the praise given. And that’s okay. It’s something that does need to be talked about, because without discussion, there’ll never be change.

What did you think of ‘Westworld’? And what are your theories? Spill all, at @TVAfterDark!

Catch episodes of ‘Westworld’ on HBO on Sundays, 9pm ET.