Trace Decay (Westworld)

"Trace Decay"
Westworld episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 8
Directed by Stephen Williams
Written by
Featured music Ramin Djawadi
Cinematography by
Editing by Tanya Swerling
Production code 4X6158
Original air date November 20, 2016 (2016-11-20)
Running time 58 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

"Trace Decay" is the eighth episode of the HBO's science fiction thriller television series Westworld. The episode aired on November 20, 2016.

The episode received very positive reviews from critics.

Plot

Bernard is distraught over having been ordered to kill Theresa, though Ford promises that once Bernard erases all evidence of their involvement in Theresa's murder, he will remove Bernard's memories of his relationship to Theresa and the murder, thus eliminating his pain. Theresa's death is classified as an accident, and her industrial espionage is exposed, as is her manipulation of Clementine. In light of the revelations, Charlotte is forced to reinstate Bernard as head of Behavior. Ford then has a debate with Bernard over whether hosts are truly conscious or not. Ford points out that there's little difference between humans and hosts, as they simply live the same routine every day and do whatever they are told. Bernard then asks Ford if he had ever ordered him to hurt anybody other than Theresa. Ford replies he had not, but Bernard sees a flashback of himself killing Elsie before Ford erases his memory.

With Theresa dead, Charlotte recruits Lee to help her. Lee believes that he has been working on Ford's villain Wyatt, which Ford assigned to him, but Hale reveals that the character he has been working on is not Wyatt. She takes Lee down to cold storage, where she uploads all of Westworld's data into Peter Abernathy, Dolores' previous "father" host. She then orders Lee to program Peter to smuggle himself out of the park with the data.

Maeve continues to have flashbacks to her previous life, which distress her. However, this does not stop her desire to escape the park. She tells Felix and Sylvester that she found some old software involving Arnold hidden in her programming waiting to be activated, and orders them to arrange to have the failsafe explosive in her body removed, allowing her to leave the park. And she wants administrative privileges, so she can control other hosts. In order to achieve this, Maeve asks the duo to sneak her into the Behavior department so she can modify her own code. While Maeve's systems are shut down, Sylvester orders Felix to wipe all of Maeve's programming. However, Felix disobeys Sylvester and changes her programming as planned. Maeve demonstrates the changes by cutting Sylvester's throat, and then orders Felix to close the wound since they might still need him. Maeve then returns to the park and tests her ability to control the other hosts, allowing her to direct their actions with verbal commands. However, as she prepares to leave the park, she has another vision of herself and her daughter being attacked by the Man in Black, and in her terror she inadvertently kills the new Clementine, alerting the park staff. She flees back to her room, where she has another flashback of Ford and Bernard erasing her memory of her daughter. Maeve then feigns a shutdown as the park staff arrive to retrieve her.

William and Dolores continue their journey down the canyon, where they find the bodies of more Confederados who were ambushed by the Ghost Nation. A mortally wounded Confederado reveals that Logan betrayed their location. Dolores then begins to have more vivid visions of herself as she and William move on. Eventually, they reach their destination, and Dolores walks off to find a small town full of people and park staff training them. However, when somebody arrives and kills all of the townspeople, it is revealed that she is having another vision. Dolores realizes Arnold arranged for her to come here in order to remember something, and begins breaking down, as she fears she can no longer tell what is real and what is not. Fearing for Dolores' sanity, William decides to take her back to Sweetwater. However, on the way, they are intercepted by a group of Confederados led by Logan.

The Man in Black and Teddy continue to track Wyatt and find a group of slaughtered settlers. They find a survivor, Angela, whom the Man In Black recognizes, as she was one of the Hosts who greets every Newcomer before they go into Westworld. The two are attacked by one of Wyatt's cultists, who appears to be immune to bullets. As the Man in Black battles the cultist, Teddy receives a flashback of the Man in Black attacking Dolores and, after killing the cultist, he knocks the Man in Black out. Teddy then interrogates the Man in Black, trying to find out where Dolores is. Instead, the Man in Black tells Teddy why he came to the park. His wife had committed suicide fearing and sensing the darkness in him, so the Man in Black felt he had no more purpose in life and came to Westworld to find it and learn about himself. After he killed the past Maeve and her daughter, as a test to see if he was truly evil, he became aware of the maze and has been obsessed with finding it ever since. Angela attempts to persuade Teddy to kill the Man in Black, but he physically cannot. Angela then stabs Teddy in the shoulder, revealing herself to be one of Wyatt's followers as more of his cultists appear from the trees, intending to bring the pair to Wyatt.

Production

"Trace Decay" was written by novelist Charles Yu and series co-creator Lisa Joy, and was directed by Stephen Williams.[1]

Music

In an interview, composer Ramin Djawadi spoke about the song "Reverie" by Debussy, that was used by Ford to calm a Host, when she was not responding to verbal commands. He said, "The music is being controlled, and it's being chosen for a reason".[2] Djawadi continued, saying, "The great power of music is that something subconsciously happens when you listen to a piece of music, even if you don't pay full attention to it. It just does something to us that nothing else can do, other than music."[2]

Amy Winehouse's Back to Black and The Animals's House of the Rising Sun is also featured in the episode.[2]

Reception

Ratings

"Trace Decay" was viewed by 1.78 million American households on its initial viewing.[3] The episode also acquired a 0.8 rating in the 18–49 demographic.[3]

Critical reception

Evan Rachel Wood received praise for her performance as Dolores.

"Trace Decay" received positive reviews from critics. The episode has a 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes and has an average rating of 8.2 out of 10, based on 18 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "Providing its major characters rich layers of context, Westworld's 'Trace Decay' begins pulling together the elements of the park's origins and setting the stage for what is sure to be a thrilling conclusion."[4]

Terri Schwartz of IGN reviewed the episode positively, saying, "While Westworld didn't offer any true resolutions to some of its biggest questions, it teased them out in an interesting way and offered a lot more context to major characters like Maeve and the Man in Black."[5] She gave it a score of 8.7 out of 10.[5] Scott Tobias of The New York Times wrote in his review of the episode; "Thandie Newton has become Yul Brynner in the original Westworld, a robot hellbent on destruction, only infinitely smarter and more devious. Her liberation is the show's, too."[6] Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club wrote in his review, "With two episodes left in the first season, the action is pulling together and the stakes are rising, and yet elements crucial to our understanding remain withheld."[7] He gave the episode a B.[7]

Liz Shannon Miller of IndieWire wrote in her review, "We can't expect major twists every week, but while 'Trace Decay' didn't feel like it was stalling, it perhaps could have pushed things further. It's a minor complaint, though — a bump in the ride we're still enjoying."[8] She gave the episode a B+.[8] James Hibberd of Entertainment Weekly wrote in his review, "There are only two more episodes left, almost everybody has been captured, or in the process of being captured, and poor Bernard doesn't remember anything! How will it end?"[9] Ed Power of The Daily Telegraph wrote in his review, "For once it was worth paying attention as Westworld dropped further breadcrumbs regarding the park's origins and Bernard's role in its creation."[10] David Crow of Den of Geek said in his review, "The hour felt like a comedown, a slowing and re-calibration before the final two episodes presumably blow us all away as if we're a poor, dull-eyed sheriff walking away from Armistice while she has a rifle trained on our backside."[11] He gave the episode a 3.5 out of 5.[11] Erik Kain of Forbes also reviewed the episode, saying, "Where does it all go from here? I don't know, honestly. What I do know is that I can't wait to find out. Without doubt, Westworld is the best thing on TV right now."[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Westworld 08: Trace Decay". HBO. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Vineyard, Jennifer (November 23, 2016). "How Music Is Controlling the Hosts on Westworld". Vulture. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Porter, Rick (November 22, 2016). "Sunday cable ratings: 'The Librarians' returns slightly lower, 'Walking Dead' dips a bit more". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Trace Decay - Westworld: Season 1, Episode 8 - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  5. 1 2 Schwartz, Terri (November 20, 2016). "Westworld: "Trace Decay" Review". IGN. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  6. ↑ Tobias, Scott (November 20, 2016). "'Westworld' Season 1, Episode 8: Maeve Plays God". The New York Times. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  7. 1 2 "A lack of answers leads to an uneven Westworld". The A.V. Club. November 20, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  8. 1 2 Miller, Liz Shannon (November 21, 2016). "'Westworld' Review: 'Trace Decay' Reminds Us That We're All Just Stories, In the End". IndieWire. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Westworld recap: 'Trace Decay'". Entertainment Weekly. November 20, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  10. ↑ Power, Ed (November 20, 2016). "Westworld, episode 8, Trace Decay recap: Bernard wants to die, and the Man in Black reveals himself". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  11. 1 2 "Westworld Episode 8 Review: Trace Decay". Den of Geek. November 20, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  12. ↑ Kain, Erik (November 20, 2016). "'Westworld' Just Dropped A Huge Clue About Another Big Fan Theory". Forbes. Retrieved November 22, 2016.

External links

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