On “Trace Decay,” the latest episode of HBO’s Westworld, Bernardbot (because he’s a host) was forced to come to terms with the fact that he is not human.
Realizing that Dr. Ford had been controlling every detail of his life since he was created made for a rather tragic scene.
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Bernard, who was always pegged as a man of extreme intellect, learned that he wasn’t smart enough to figure this out on his own.
Because he has such a deep level of understanding for how the hosts function, he suddenly realizes that Dr. Ford has also been manipulating him. For example, giving him a fake backstory, and wiping away his memory and pain.
For the viewer Bernard instantly became an unreliable, untrustworthy character. There is no way to tell if anything he has said or done from his point of view was real or fake because Dr. Ford purely used him as a puppet.
While Bernard is grappling with the murder of Theresa, we see exactly how Ford uses him, as he instructs Bernard to cover all tracks and then wipes his memory.
We also have no idea if this is the first time Bernard realized he is a host, or if Ford just keeps wiping the slate clean.
Bernard very clearly asked Ford, “Have I ever killed anyone else?”
Ford, refusing to make eye contact, responds with, “No, of course not!”
At that moment, Bernard has a very clear memory of grabbing his co-worker Elsie by the neck and choking her out from behind. This spooks him.
The mystery man who assaulted and most likely killed Elsie after she disovered that Theresa was stealing information from the park was in fact, Bernard.
Now, imagine a co-worker who you thought was on your side assaulting you out of nowhere.
There is still one thing that doesn’t make sense. If Ford was on a mission to figure out what Theresa was doing and Elsie was helping expose her, then why would he send Bernard to kill her? Wouldn’t they all be on the same side?
Ashley Stubbs, head security officer, approaches Bernardbot in the hallway near the end of the episode and simple asks if he has heard from Elsie. Bernard tells Stubbs that she is just enjoying her time off.
From this interaction alone, Stubbs knows something is not right. As of now, we can assume that Elsie is either dead or chained up somewhere by Ford and Bernard.
With only two episodes of Westworld left, and so much ground left to cover, we doubt that we’ll be getting anymore answers on Elsie soon – which is a total shame. She seemed to be the only one NOT under Ford’s control.
The one-hour drama series Westworld is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, it explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged.
The cast of the 10-episode series includes Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Jimmi Simpson, Rodrigo Santoro, Shannon Woodward, Ingrid Bolsรธ Berdal, Ben Barnes, Simon Quarterman, Angela Sarafyan, Luke Hemsworth and Clifton Collins, Jr.
NEXT: IS BERNARD REALLY ARNOLD?
MORE WESTWORLD: Mythology Of The Maze Revealed / What We Know About Dolores So Far / Angela Sarafyan On Host Evolution / The Man In Black Is Going To Free The Hosts / Who Is Arnold / The Man In Black’s Backstory Revealed / What Planet Is Westworld On / Logos May Reveal Two Seperate Timelines
Westworld airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
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