(Some minor spoilers for the season 1 finale of “Westworld” are below.)
Late in Sunday’s “Westworld” finale some of our characters wandered through a section of the park’s administration facility we hadn’t seen before. Here we saw hosts dressed as samurai — obviously, these are not Westworld hosts.
The implication here is either that there are other themed parks in existence or Delos, the company that owns Westworld, is preparing to start up a new one with feudal Japan as its theme.
It’s not that much of a surprise — in the film on which the show is, loosely, based, there are a number of similar parks aside from Westworld.
Presumably those other ventures will play a big part later in the series’ run, but “Westworld” co-creator Lisa Joy told TheWrap that no matter where the show goes, or even if, hypothetically, another park becomes the focus of events in the future, they won’t be changing the title. “Westworld” will always be “Westworld” even if it’s no longer set there.
And that’s not just for branding — there’s a thematic reason for the focus on Westworld.
“The West is the perfect template upon which to tell this story because it’s about the rugged frontier, man pushing out against the unknown, and in this case the man is an artificial intelligence,” Joy said. “It’s the way in which, against the stark contrast of nothing that’s on the frontier, you’re better able to define and test yourself. And that’s why Westworld is the perfect setting for this exploration of humanity within both the hosts and the humans.”
Joy made a point of noting that they won’t be abandoning Westworld as a setting, either — at least not in the foreseeable future.
“There’s a lot more to explore in Westworld itself,” Joy said.
There’s also “a lot more people to kill in that park,” co-creator Jonathan Nolan added.