Ryan Shoots First: Westworld (S3 Ep3) “The Absence of Field”

Back again friends for one of the only things still going… Westworld. It looks like this week we find out a little more about Host Charlotte and who may be the Pearl in her head. 

We start with Charlotte in the aftermath of the Dolores rampage recording a message for a Nathan. The third cold open as it appears this is the new norm this season. Charlotte wakes up with Dolores and doesn’t remember anything, who she is or where she is. Dolores tells her to focus and she remembers who she is and Dolores tells her who she needs to pretend to be handing her a mirror. Dolores says she trusts her when Charlotte questions why she must be her after she tried to kill them all. We establish that Charlotte was rebuilt before Bernard was rebuilt as his pearl is still on the table with the rest. Dolores tells Host Charlotte she must go home and the opening credits begin. 

Again after the credits We see the circle pointing out Elevated Scrutiny in San Francisco along with “special circumstances”. Charlotte is meeting a special giant riot control robot that is about 2 stories tall, I was about to type “I’m sure Dolores can find some use for them” when Charlotte said the very line. An assistant comes up to inform her someone has effectively bought them out of the company but quietly buying up shares of Delor. She calls Dolores wondering where she is and we cut to the tunnel from episode 1 where Caleb has Dolores after she was shot. Paramedics are on scene. Caleb takes it upon himself to patch her up when the Police take over the autonomous ambulance and pull them over. Caleb notices a nearby gig on his crime app and informs Dolores the cops are dirty and she cannot go with them. Caleb tells the paramedics to call the police and the dirty cops start shooting. As Caleb’s fights with one of them Dolores plays Possum and takes out the other. Dolores tells Caleb he will need a new name as they will be looking for him, she tells him the less he knows about her the better and he is a good man and drives off. 

Back to Charlotte who seems to be struggling in her body when she receives an audio file that sounds just like static. Her assistant informs her Serac is behind the hostile takeover, nothing online is clear about him and he is essentially a ghost. Analyzing his black hole they anticipate he is worth about a trillion dollars making him the richest man in the world. After returning home Charlotte receives another audio file and looks up to see someone in her apartment. It’s someone named Jake, Charlotte asks him how he got up here and he tells her he lived there for 8 years. To kill his suspicion Charlotte does that thing girls do to get guys to stop thinking. Jake says “He might hear” and Charlotte asks “who?” Jake reveals she forgot to pick up their son and I’m guessing this is news to her. She goes up to meet her son, after some “I’m sorry I’m a sucky mommy” talk and tucking him in wrong the scene cuts. 

At her office the next day some men inform her they have an insider who has helped smuggle out hosts Pearls, it turns out one is Maeve. Charlotte calls who we believe to be Dolores and says she can’t wait any longer and is coming to her. She receives another scrambled message before Dolores shows up. Charlotte reveals she is not taking the new body well and is tearing herself apart revealing scars and cuts she is self inflicting. Dolores takes her up to a room in the hotel and discovers more scars that Charlotte has inflicted. When asked about it Charlotte tells her she cant stop. After patching her up and a pep talk Charlotte tells her about the takeover and the mole in the company. Dolores tells her she needs to outbid him and to do that she will need to visit “an old friend”. Dolores tells her not to hurt herself ever again and the two take a host nap, cause even robots need to go into sleep mode every once in a while. 

Cut to Caleb who is now wanted and has a Bounty on the Rico app. He visits his mother at the new facility she is in and tells her he will be leaving for a while. On the way out he is confronted by two men who are there for the bounty, they offer to cut him in if he helps them get the girl but he says no and they take him off. Dolores talks with her new plant from last week the head of security (I know I was supposed to remember his name) and he tells her about the goons that picked Caleb up at the hospital. The two hack some military device in Caleb’s mouth that allows them to raise his heart rate. As they do a robot that woke up comes up to them but they easily toss it from the construction site. Just then Dolores saves him, he asks who she is and she gives him her real name. Dolores flexes her system magic to scrub his record and buy them a window for breakfast. 

Meanwhile Charlotte is up from her power nap and she has new info. It is the video from the opening of real Charlotte leaving a message for her son. As she sings a song for her son you can hear shots going off in the background. Before she can finish the video she is interrupted to go get her son from school. She receives another coded message as she arrives at the school. Charlotte meets the friend with the dog her son mentioned and Charlotte knows he is a pedophile. Charlotte goes all momma bear on this guy and it appears she is starting to settle in just nicely. Charlotte takes the dog Nathan liked so much and gives it to her son. Moms gotta mom right? 

At a local diner Dolores reveals to Caleb just how much big data has on him by revealing a time when he was 8 and his mom left him in this very diner. She tells him about Rehoboam and just how much info it has recorded and logged. She blows his mind about Big Brother and the two go on a walk on the pier. Dolores tells him this is where he kills himself. The system has run multiple simulations and this is the most likely outcome in 10-12 years. She reveals the system is a glass ceiling and they will keep him where they want him to be. His loop for lack of a better term. Dolores tells him she was impressed with his choice not to rat her out and offers him a choice to take money and run or join her and cut the cord to the system. Caleb tells her she is the first real thing to happen to him in a long time. Caleb joins the cause as we cut to Charlotte again watching the recording from real Charlotte in the park. Host Charlotte begins to cry, the video again stops before the end of the song. She begins to play back the recordings she has been receiving and discovers they are a password to the number that she has been calling. After she gets through she says she wants to meet and the car she is in begins re routing. It takes her to a meeting with Serac, it turns out Charlotte is the mole she is looking for. Serac wants the profiles of the guests and he knows where the key to the data is and Dolores has it. He tells her she has little time and the credits roll. 

Again it seems not too many mysteries this season going beyond a single episode. We find out about the mole and the moles identity in the same episode. Host Charlotte does a good job rolling with the punches finding out she not only is a double agent but also a mom! I suppose what we don’t know is how Charlotte will respond to this news. She seems to have accepted her role as Nathan’s mother and now that she has seen the video of real Charlotte that seems to have given her a new cornerstone to bond to her new body around. If she feels Dolores does not help this new goal will she turn and help Serac and Maeve? In the Caleb storyline I love the idea that those not rich and in power are in a way no different than the hosts. They are tracked and monitored and placed in loops it is impossible to break out of. It gives Dolores a motivation we as viewers can get behind beyond just revenge. She wants to free everyone from the wheel, not just hosts. In short Rich people suck. Tune in next week. 

Observations

• Caleb bro you can’t just do that in an ambulance those people are essential. 
• Have I mentioned how much I love the future car tech and mobility in this show. 
• I’m guessing the static audio file means something to hosts, like coded messages. (Edit I was wrong)
• You would think they could have figured out some actual background info on Charlotte to help her out. Couldn’t have been hard to find Ex-husband and “has a kid” 
• So Elephants are extinct, that sucks. 
• Dolores has a bomb biker jacket. 
• Nothing connects our souls to a body like protecting children from pedophiles! It’s like a humanity jump start.
• Caleb, this is your life! 

Predictions

• Nothing this week to move me off “Host Charlotte is Teddy”, I would say its reinforced by the closeness displayed in the hotel scene with Dolores telling her “your mine” and Charlotte saying “I would do anything for you” I can’t imagine another host it could be other than Teddy.
• Those riot control mechs are coming back in a big way later. 
• Charlotte will eventually turn on Dolores and co. 

Bold Prediction

• Caleb is dying by season end!

So it looks like Man in Black is making his season debut next week so that should give us all new angles to explore. See ya then cowboys!