After a few weeks of interpreting, theorizing, and arguing—plus about nine hours of actually watching the show—we’ve finally come to the season one finale of HBO’s Westworld. Will it stick the landing and set the stage for a similarly thrilling and mystery-filled season two, or will it stumble at the finish line and end up like the later years of Lost? This quick teaser can’t tell us one way or the other, but it does make it look like the finale will be pretty intense, due to the typical array of quick, dramatic shots of familiar characters in dramatic situations. Then there’s the initial voiceover from Anthony Hopkins’ Dr. Ford, setting the stage for his much-hyped/dreaded “new narrative,” followed by Jeffrey Wright’s Bernard Lowe (or whoever…) quoting the line that seemed to trigger the robot freakouts in the pilot: “These violent delights have violent ends.”
You’ll get to see those violent ends for yourself this coming Sunday on HBO.