One of the main “loops” explored in Westworld is the tragic fate that befalls Evan Rachel Wood’s character Dolores and her family. Every morning, Dolores will wake up and leave her home and then (provided a guest doesn’t disturb the loop) arrive home just in time to see her parents murdered by bandits.
While the pilot episode explored the relationship between Dolores and her “father” Abernathy (who was replaced by a different host after he was infected by a virus), we’ve only heard Dolores’s mother scream off-screen and seen her dead face down on the ground.
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The decision to keep Dolores’s mother off-screen wasn’t lost on some Westworld fans, especially those who see the HBO series as a meta-commentary on entertainment. And it turns out it was a deliberate decision by Westworld‘s producers. When asked about Dolores’s mother by Insider, executive producer Jonathan Nolan actually laughed. “In truth, we wanted to keep the emphasis in the pilot on her father,” Nolan said. “And the mother aspect of it is something we’re hoping to explore down the line.”
In last week’s episode, Abraham Ford, the creator of Westworld, admitted that a host’s “mysterious” past was only mysterious because he had never bothered to give the host a backstory. According to Nolan, keeping Dolores’s mother off-screen was a play on the very same ideas. “The fact that the mother is sort of a non-character works for us with what we’re trying to say,” Nolan said. “Which is these people think they have relationships but they don’t actually have relationships.”
Mind you, the first three episodes of Westworld has shown that Nolan’s statement isn’t entirely true. Because of a recent glitchy update, the hosts in the park are beginning to remember their past (often horrific) experiences, thus creating a sort of truth out of fiction. Dolores’s “father” Abernathy suffered a meltdown of sorts triggered by his desire to protect her after he realized that their existence in the park was a lie.
The best part about the absence of Dolores’s mother is how meta the story could become. With Dolores slowly growing aware of her true nature, would she even accept if/when Westworld cast an actress to play her mother? Or would she realize that her “mother” was just a host inserted into her narrative after the fact?
Questions and possibilities like this is why Westworld is such an amazing show. We can’t wait to watch the next episode on Sunday, but stay tuned to ComicBook.com for more theories, questions, and ideas about the show!
(Quotes via Insider)
