HBO
"Westworld" was one of the most ambitious and complex series to hit the television airwaves when it premiered in October 2016. Over 10 episodes, it slowly peeled back layer after layer of its immersive theme park world until we realized we were watching multiple timelines and we didn't know who was human and who wasn't. Luckily, HBO has compiled a handy Season 1 recap video to help prepare us for Season 2, which premieres tonight.
Whether you saw the first season or not, it's been so long that this refresher is coming just in time. Or maybe you never got around to watching the first season -- what have you been doing? -- and you don't have 10 hours to spare before the premiere. Well how about four minutes?
HBO
6 Wild 'Westworld' Theories and Answers to Expect in Season 2
View StoryThe recap gets straight to business, including spoiling one of the first season's biggest twists within the first minute, so if you want to watch the story unfold as the creators intended this may not be for you. But if you just want to get to the nitty-gritty of what happened, the network has done a good job of consolidating its sprawling epic's opening salvo.
We've barely begun to scratch the surface of this amazing universe of storytelling possibilities, with only one world uncovered. Coming up in Season 2, we move from Westworld to Shogun World (and possibly more beyond that). The hosts (replicants, robots, whatever you want to call them) have gained sentience and are tired of being man's playthings.
Season 1 was about their awakening, realizing what they are and why they were made. By the end of that season, they'd come to the conclusion that they wanted and deserved more than the pseudo-life their creators had given them and so they took it, claiming Westworld for their own. Season 2 is about them stepping into the light to try and claim the lives they want and hold onto the freedom they've so tenuously achieved.
Catch up now and then watch the hosts their first steps into a bold new world when "Westworld" returns tonight at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
HBO
