The chaotic finale of “Westworld” Season 1 left a lot of unanswered questions — including the whereabouts of several characters.
Showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy gave fans some hints about who we can expect to return to the park in Season 2 in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly. We spotted a few of these characters in the trailer, but here are some new deets.
Programmer Elsie Hughes (Shannon Woodward) and security chief Ashley Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth) are still out in the wild of Westworld. “They’re finally getting to experience Westworld as guests and not in the managerial halls, but I’m not sure they’re enjoying their experience,” Joy said in the EW interview.
Tessa Thompson is back from Asgard to reprise her role as Charlotte Hale, who was lost in the crowd in last season’s finale when Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) shot Ford (Anthony Hopkins). Joy said not only is she back, but “causes trouble.”
“She went from this controlled person playing this chess game with Ford,” Joy said. “He takes out her king and queen in one fell swoop. Now she’s left at the mercy of the hosts like everyone else.”
Speaking of Ford, while he really is dead (no Jon Snow moment here), we will get a glimpse of his younger self in flashbacks.
In terms of fan-favorite hosts, Clementine Pennyfeather (Angela Sarafyan) and Peter Abernathy (Louis Herthum) will both be coming back online. Remember how poor Clementine (pictured above) was lobotomized last season? Well, she’s back, but her “surgery” results in a new iteration of her character. Maybe she’ll be help Maeve with her hostage situation (oh yeah, Delos’ sleazy head writer Lee Sizemore, played by Simon Quarterman, will be back, too).
As for Abernathy, we don’t know if he made it out of the park or not, but he’s “an important asset” to the new season because he’s one of two hosts that Dolores has an attachment to (the other is James Marsden’s Teddy).
Finally, if you were able to keep track of the several timelines going on in “Westworld,” you know that William (Jimmi Simpson) is the younger Man in Black (Ed Harris). We’ll be seeing more of both later this year–and we’re hoping that we’ll get to see more of what turned innocent William into the ruthless Man in Black.
“Westworld” Season 2 premieres on HBO on April 22 at 9 p.m.
12 Best New TV Shows of 2016, From 'Atlanta' to 'Westworld' (Photos)
2016 has come and gone. Even with a contentious election and all kinds of troubles, there was still some damn fine TV to enjoy at the end of the day. Here we celebrate a few of the shows that brought us joy this year (in alphabetical order).
"Atlanta" (FX)
"Atlanta" is unapologetically black. It tackles issues of racism in such a casual way that you might miss it if you blink, but that's the best part. It doesn't explain anything, it just lets it be. Plus, there's a whole bunch of random happenstances that make it great
One of the year's best new broadcast dramas, "Designated Survivor" was a perfectly timed escapist fantasy depicting the fictional destruction of the government during an exhausting presidential campaign. Kiefer Sutherland is perfectly cast as the morally upstanding president America wishes it could have, and he's surrounded by an equally capable cast of supporting stars.
Nobody was clamoring for a series adaptation of a 2001 Dennis Quaid sci-fi film, which makes the compelling nature of the 2016 "Frequency" all the more astonishing. Peyton List and Riley Smith deserve a lion's share of the credit for performing a warm, lived-in if unusual central father-daughter relationship that powers this otherwise standard police procedural.
The only non-fiction entry on our list, Samantha Bee became the latest "Daily Show" alum to carry her biting political commentary onto her own show. In the same vein as John Oliver, Bee fearlessly tackled political hypocrisy in truly hilarious fashion
We can't remember the last time a network had a show about two black women who were friends and simply navigating life and relationships. This show takes on everything in a hilarious way from the microagressions black women face in the work place to real issues in relationships that no one likes to talk about.
Marvel and Netflix found themselves with another hit on their hands with the story of this bulletproof superhero. Mike Colter was all charm as the titular hero, and he was backed up by a great supporting cast that included Simone Missick, Rosario Dawson, and Alfre Woodard
Reminiscent of the classic HBO series "The Wire," this show featured intricate plots and dynamic casts, but what truly sets them apart from other shows is their unquestioning look at dysfunctional bureaucratic institutions. The title of the show almost becomes ironic as we watch poor Nasir "Naz" Khan be put through the ringer of the American judicial system.
This cable drama about a mountain clan living in modern-day Kentucky proved to be a major surprise this year. The show is expertly written with incredible performances by leads that include Ryan Hurst, Kyle Gallner, Christina Jackson, Thomas Wright, and Gillian Alexy.
FX's drama had everything: Trial gossip, politics, 90s nostalgia, and stunt casting that made a meta-point about our fixation with celebrity. The script, acting and directing were basically flawless, but that doesn't explain the adrenalized rush or crushing lows of every episode -- it felt hyper-real, even more real than the unbelievable events that inspired it. We'll go there and call it the best limited series we've ever seen.
For a show as drenched in ‘80s nostalgia as “Stranger Things,” wearing influences from Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, Dungeons & Dragons and synth heavy new wave and post-punk music on its sleeve, it’s remarkable how fresh it feels. “Stranger Things” is scary yes, but it’s old-fashioned sci-fi suspense and horror fit for a kid in the vein of a classic like “E.T.” Kudos to the entire young cast for balancing the show’s action with a campy and cute sense of humor.
After record numbers of viewers watched the trailer, they were not let down by Dan Fogelman's unapologetically sentimental family drama that's also an expert at throwing in curveball twists. Can we all join the Pearson family?
The supposed successor to HBO's flagship program "Game of Thrones" took a forty year-old sci-fi classic and updated it to make it feel more relevant than ever. While plot twists and theories may dominate the news stories and social media feeds, what drives this genre hybrid is its incredibly intelligent takes on artificial intelligence, gaming's effect on humanity, and the quest to discover what truly defines a person.
Tired of quality programming? Be sure to look at our list of the 10 worst new TV shows of the year.
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TheWrap’s Best & Worst 2016: Despite it being a bumpy year to say the least, there has been a lot of good TV
2016 has come and gone. Even with a contentious election and all kinds of troubles, there was still some damn fine TV to enjoy at the end of the day. Here we celebrate a few of the shows that brought us joy this year (in alphabetical order).
FX
